Cash jerked one step backward, angling his body and pointing the gun straight at Cassian. Three guns, three fingers on the triggers. For two long seconds, no one even breathed. Natalie was the first to break the silence. "Not bad. You've got yourself an AK rifle, huh?" A flash of pride crossed Cash's face. "You think you're the only one who can get weapons? How about this—mine's bigger than yours." Natalie's lips curved. "You really think all I've got is a gun and a dog?" Cash blinked, thrown off. Before he could answer, Natalie lowered her weapon. She let the two men stay locked in a standoff while she calmly unzipped the backpack slung over her shoulder. Inside were two thick bundles of Grayhound Sect explosives. "Go ahead. Shoot my man. Or tell your malnourished little tiger to take a bite out of my dog. I dare you." Cash stared at the explosives, silent for a long beat before his arm slowly dropped. Who the hell was this lunatic? Showing up to flex with bombs? He ground his teeth and spat, "No need to kill each other, okay? What the hell do you actually want?" Natalie smiled and zipped the bag shut again. "Told you. I'm here to reclaim my supplies. Once I find them, I'm gone." Cash shot back stiffly, "I already said, there's nothing here that belongs to you." Natalie studied him for a few seconds, then her tone turned thoughtful. "Funny. Everyone in your camp looks half-dead from hunger—except you. You've got the healthy glow of someone eating well."His face darkened instantly. That line might as well have been a confession—she knew he'd been hoarding her goods. "My complexion is none of your business." Natalie ignored him and shifted her gaze to the white tiger. "So what does your tiger even eat?" The mountain outside was barren; nothing edible for miles. Yet the tiger wasn't starving—and it hadn't turned on them. That meant someone was feeding it regularly. Even if the beast wasn't half as smart as Lucky, it still knew the difference between a full belly and an empty one. As long as it was fed, it obeyed. Natalie's eyes flicked past Cash to the back of the tent. Cassian had already told her the warehouse entrance was hidden in the rock wall behind this very tent. From the moment she walked in, she'd noticed the design—an extra flap, a back exit. Lift that curtain, and she'd bet money it opened right into the supply cache. Cash noticed her glance and immediately stepped sideways to block her view. "What my tiger eats has nothing to do with you." Outside, night had fully fallen. Two of his Black guards lit candles, the waxlight trembling across their faces. Natalie stopped playing coy. "Alright, let's drop the small talk. I'm here for my supplies—the same ones you've been enjoying lately." Cash's expression went pitch-black. He cast a look at his men. "All of you, out." The underlings exchanged nervous glances but obeyed. Only the pockmarked man stayed. He muttered in his native Borduric tongue, "Boss, we can't give it back! Those supplies are the only reason we're still alive!"Having drunk the magic spring water, Natalie understood every word. So that's why this one's fatter than the rest, she thought. The boss's favorite piglet. They'd been living large on Cassian's supplies while everyone else outside was wasting away. Cash glanced at Natalie, then turned to soothe his man, switching into that same native tongue. Since Natalie had pretended all along that she couldn't understand foreign speech, they assumed she was clueless. Feeling clever, they ditched Broric altogether, whispering openly in their own language right in front of her. Cash said, "Relax. I'm not giving the supplies back." The pockmarked one whispered, "Then what's the plan? They won't leave until they get it." Cash smirked. "So what if they're tough? Don't forget, we stacked explosives inside the warehouse. No one's getting past us to take a thing." Explosives? Natalie and Cassian locked eyes. Cash caught their quick exchange and frowned suspiciously. He glanced between them. "You don't think they understand us, do you?" The pockmarked man said firmly, "Impossible. The idiots in this country hate our kind—none of them bother learning our language. "That woman lost her temper the moment she realized where I'm from. No way she'd waste her time studying my mother tongue." Right on cue, Natalie said lazily, "What's all that muttering? You two ever gonna shut up?"Cash watched her closely for two seconds, noting her impatient scowl. Combined with what his man had said, it reassured him. He forced a friendly smile and said in halting Drakoric, "Wait a moment, I'm just calming my subordinate." Then, he switched back to his native tongue, fast and quiet. "I'll negotiate with them. Offer to split the supplies. If they agree, I'll lure them inside to ‘inspect' the stock—then we detonate the bomb."