"Ah..?" Belle croaked, not expecting such an offer from the undercover agent.
Jane Doe was a very capable fighter, even just in Zenless Zone Zero. Add in magic from Solo Leveling? Belle figured the sexy Thiren was definitely stronger than Miguel. So dealing with her definitely warranted some caution.
At least.. it should have.
'Ratsexratsexratsexratsexratsexratsex'
Thankfully, her desires weren't transmitted through the half mask covering her face.
Jane pursed her lips and prepared herself for anything. Though she had a good guess as to what the 'mysterious vigilante's' goals were, she was always cautious. Their first meeting had gone rather strangely, but that didn't mean cooperation was impossible. She quite liked the way she operated, after all. No unnecessary killing, leaving the perps for Pubsec and not being too heavy handed with the injuries inflicted on the bandits definitely made her interested enough to reach out.
"You don't seem like vigilante material, Miss." Belle, finally expunging her lewd thoughts answered, giving Jane another glance.
To be fair, Jane had a certain appearance that screamed 'Femme Fatale'. Perhaps some kind of female villain or spy role suited her current look. Black short shorts, grey and black coat that cut off at her midriff, black stocking/tights combination and grey boots suited for combat.
Jane tilted her head. It was certainly true that while she didn't put on a getup like Belle's, it wasn't like being a vigilante required you to wear clothes like that.
"Perhaps not but what should matter most is that we do share the same targets~." Jane said, clasping her hands as she strut over to Belle.
And it suddenly hit her. It escaped her notice before but now she couldn't help but smile. The vigilante she was interested was quite short. Her head only just reaching Jane's bust. She had to admit, she found it cute, especially when said vigilante was looking straight up at her with a twitching eye.
Belle composed herself once more and asked, "Those bandits. Some of them are ex-Hunters. Can you handle something like that?"
Jane smirked and walked around Belle, observing her slim and fit physique and sliding her right hand along her shoulder.
"Don't you worry about me. I can handle myself just fine. If you need reassurance, however.. I know where we can go to prove my capability. A certain hideout used by those bandits within New Eridu. How about it? Want to dismantle the bandit hideout with me?" Her sultry voice whispered in her ear. Though she wasn't completely turning on the charm and excessively touching her, only enough to probe how comfortable Belle was with her touch.
'I was going to hit up some bandits anyway, doing so with the sexy rat lady? Mama yes!' Belle thought, making a display of carefully thinking it over before answering. "Very well. I look forward to seeing you in action. I'll follow you."
They both made their way down to the streets. Though they stayed away from public places and stuck to moving in the alleys and less crowded side streets. Eventually, they arrived at Port Elpis after thirty minutes.
"Not that I mind the exercise but if we're going to work together, I think we may need a car." Belle stated, watching as Jane's tail coiled around her own thigh.
"Hmm~ That certainly couldn't hurt. But that kind of talk can wait until after we take care of this group. See that ship over there?" Jane pointed over to a large ship used to transport dozens of huge metal shipping containers across the sea.
Belle looked over, seeing a few mini spotlights and bulky figures on the deck. They all wore helmets and hoods with monstrous faces designed on them, likely for intimidation purposes. And they all stuck to a certain color scheme. White, orange, browns and gunmetal greys.
"Bold of them being so.. out in the open like that. They're not really hiding- Hm.. wait. Nobody's around the port, are they? Do they mainly operate at night?" Belle mused, watching the bandits patrol the ship.
"That's right. They're usually operating during the night. During the day? It's a regular crew working. Thing is, nobody leaves after their shifts. So the entire crew are bandits. To be more specific, they're a splinter group from a now illegal guild, Carrion." Jane explained.
"A branch of a Dark Guild then? So, not just ordinary bandits. We'll see some ex-Hunters here too." Belle stated, folding her arms as her excitement started to rise.
Jane smirked and leaned againt the nearby wooden bench used by the locals who frequented the food stands nearby. She watched Belle expectantly, hoping her gut feeling about her was correct.
"Alright, loud and brash or quiet and cunning? You're showing me what you can do, so this decision is up to you." Belle said, watching as Jane's eyes lit up for reasons currently unkown to her.
Covering her lower face with her hands, Jane hid her small smile and answered, "We'll slip in quietly. It may go loud when we encounter the ex-hunters, so it's best to silently incapacitate the grunts and put them somewhere out of the way if that does happen."
Belle nodded and gestured toward the ship.
"I'll follow your lead then."
From there, the two began to sneak over to the ship. As it turned out, there were a few of the bandits stationed outside the ramp of the ship, ensuring nobody unauthorized got on.
Their surprise could be understood when a Sharkboo waddled its way over in front of them.
"Ey, Jeremy?" One of them called out to the other.
"Yeah John?"
"Am I hallucinating or is a Bangboo twerking in front of us..?" The bandit asked incredulously. The other, 'Jeremy' stared at the Sharkboo as it continued to twerk its round, oval shaped rear in front of them.
"You see it too? I was worried.. I thought I drank too much coffee-Ghk!" Their conversation was interrupted via Jane and Belle putting both in a headlock from behind, knocking them both out and putting them in rest position before turning their attention to the Sharkboo, who had stopped at this point.
"Ehn-na! Nah!" The Sharkboo seemed to thank them as it pocketed the fifty dollars Belle had given it to distract the men.
"What an odd fellow~" Jane stated, amused.
'I said to distract them and bro started twerking.. I guess it worked though?' Belle shrugged, waving off the Sharkboo before hiding the unconscious men behind a shipping container and proceeding onto the ship.
From there, Belle thought the real task was starting. But Jane surprised her. Jane was lightning quick on her feet, knocking out the grunts with quick and powerful attacks to specific areas. She could and would often break through their helmets and deliver precise strikes to the jaw and temple. If they were too tall? Kicks and elbow blows to the liver did just as well.
Of course, Belle did the same. Blows to the neck to knock the regular grunts out, while the bigger, more muscular bandits took a shot to the ribs, to ensure the air in their lungs was quickly ejected, before being put in a chokehold and knocked out.
After twenty goons were taken care of, Belle and Jane met up outside one of the doors leading down to the lower decks. The warmup was over. Down below they could feel ether and magical energies from several people.
"Time for things to get loud. Don't expect these ones to go down as easy as the grunts. Unless they're E ranks, it'll take at least a few strikes to take them down." Jane warned while stretching her limbs, as if she were going for a workout.
"Of course. Needless to say, I'll watch your back if it gets bad down there." Belle replied, rolling her shoulders.
For a moment, Jane couldn't help but express her surprise. Before Belle noticed, she had already schooled her expression, though her voice sounded particularly playful and seductive.
"I'll keep my rear open to you then~ Just be gentle down there, okay? It's our first time together, after all~" Jane said with a smirk, internally pleased she got a visual reaction, seeing as Belle's face reddened, even past her half-mask.
"Y-Yes, of course.. I'll take good care of you. Now, let's go." Belle forced herself to be composed and opened the door.
'Oh she may be even more fun to flirt with and tease than Zhu Yuan~!'