Yuan–Bucket

Yuan–Bucket is a practical alliance built around transport, security, and access to ammunition amid the rivalries surrounding Fleshmarket. Bucket supplies intelligence and a commercial proposal; Yuan supplies the Spirit-train and protection. Their bargain gives each a concrete return, while Bucket’s lavish deference reveals a second, less comfortable dimension of their relationship: he sees Yuan not only as a business partner but as a holy Gunsoul, a status Yuan does not consider a personal achievement.

A Deal Born of Sect Conflict

Yuan’s dealings with Bucket take shape after Yuan has assisted the Flesh Mansion Sect in protecting the interests of its slave trade. The work leaves him disliking Sects and their ultimatums, and he remains wary that Gayak’s people may not let Holster leave without further trouble. Bucket recognizes that Yuan is dissatisfied with the choice between opposing sides and proposes another course: a way to waste both sides’ efforts. Rather than asking Yuan to accept one sect’s terms, he invites him to consider an opportunity that could turn the conflict into a source of supplies.

That opportunity is the Ammobog, a marsh near Fleshmarket and the resting place of the Gunsoul said to have defeated Czar Zoa. Bucket explains that this Gunsoul’s bullet-core became a fertile source of magazines and gunpowder, making the marsh a place where ammunition can be harvested. For Yuan, the proposal is more than a detour: it offers a chance to provision the Spirit-train while pursuing an arrangement independent of the sects’ demands. Bucket’s value to the partnership begins with the knowledge that lets Yuan see a resource where he had seen only another unfamiliar place.

Terms of the Transport Partnership

The proposal becomes a concrete contract when the Spirit-train leaves Fleshmarket at sunset for its first courier job. Bucket boards with six Bullet Church cultists and enough crates to hold a sizable cargo. In return for a free round trip to the Ammobog and the opportunity to harvest ammunition, he provides money and supplies; Yuan also gets his choice of weapons and ammunition. Yuan’s contribution is transportation and security. The exchange is therefore reciprocal, but carefully specified: Bucket receives passage and access to the harvest, while Yuan gains both provisions for his train and a commercial return for carrying the group.

The departure time reflects the risks built into the deal. Yuan chooses twilight rather than morning because darkness and Moonburn make raids less likely, even though daylight would give the travelers better visibility. He expects either sect might intercept them or steal the shipment. Bucket praises the decision, but the circumstances make clear that the praise accompanies real exposure: the cargo, the passengers, and the ammunition sought at the marsh all require the protection Yuan has agreed to provide. The partnership is not simply an exchange of goods; Yuan’s security is part of what makes the expedition possible.

Deference and Its Cost

Bucket’s manner toward Yuan exceeds ordinary commercial courtesy. He flatters him as a holy Gunsoul and attributes to him the judgment of a sniper, while describing Orient as a beauty who must be his wife. Yuan feels uneasy rather than gratified. In his experience, Scraps either resent cultivators or worship them, but both responses arise from the gulf between what cultivators can do and what ordinary people can do. Bucket’s reverence belongs to the latter response.

Yuan dislikes receiving that admiration for what he is rather than for what he has done. He also sees that worship creates expectations: those who elevate cultivators may then demand attention, protection, or favor. He is unwilling to give more than his contact’s obligations require. That distinction defines the relationship’s limits. Yuan accepts the security duties written into the bargain, but Bucket’s admiration does not convert a paid arrangement into unlimited personal responsibility. The contract provides a boundary where reverence might otherwise blur what Yuan owes.

The Relationship’s Practical Meaning

The partnership sets Bucket’s opportunism beside Yuan’s guarded sense of obligation. Bucket sees a way to turn sect rivalry into a profitable ammunition run and approaches Yuan with a proposal instead of another ultimatum. Yuan accepts because the terms answer practical needs: the Spirit-train can carry cargo, acquire supplies, and arm itself, while the journey has a defined purpose and return. Their alliance depends on complementary contributions, not on an asserted intimacy.

At the same time, the arrangement shows how Yuan’s identity complicates even a straightforward transaction. Bucket’s praise follows him into the expedition, and Yuan must separate the genuine responsibilities he has accepted from the wider demands that others may attach to his status. Their relationship thus rests on both exchange and restraint: Bucket can rely on the transport and protection promised by the deal, but not on reverence as a substitute for terms. The Ammobog expedition makes that negotiated boundary tangible, turning a proposal made in the shadow of Fleshmarket’s sect conflict into a working commercial partnership.