Fred Luo

Fred Luo is the owner of a very far-reaching security and military arms conglomerate. An implacable, shrewd businessman and master negotiator, Fred is in control of a vast wealth for his age. However, he is overall a kindly and gregarious kind of individual, and is a good friend of "Hot Ice" Hilda. He has also known Zev Raregroove for at least ten years, and to say he possesses strong affections for the First Prince of Jurai would be an understatement of gross proportions.

Biography
Quite friendly and benevolent, not to mention magnanimous for his wealthy status, Fred Luo is quite willing to help anyone who's truly in a jam - So long as the price is right, of course. He gladly puts his money and prestige to use in philanthropic gestures, as well as simply to help old friends in need. However, he's also rather clingy and dependent as a friend, and is quite a handful when he gets worked up. Zev Raregroove tends to be on the receiving end of the majority of Fred's affectionate energy, and for better or worse, is first and foremost in knowledge of how to keep his friend calm and collected when Fred begins to succumb to his Chicken Little tendencies; read, convinced beyond consolation nor reasoning that the world is crumbling around him.

History
Mentioned a number of times by such characters as Hilda and Kokonoe as a candidate for borrowing substantial amounts of money from, Fred Luo was properly introduced meeting the space pirate known as "Hot Ice" - As well as Zev Raregroove, Namah, and Melfina - when they personally arrived at his compound and mansion on Hei Fon 4 to hammer out an agreement on Fred paying their docking fees at the warehouse he had bought for them.

Fred promptly hugged Zev within an inch of his life, and it took such little convincing on Hilda's part to sway him that she instantly knew something was afoot. Fred revealed that he was pursued by a bounty hunter assigned by the Fon Pirates to take his life, and would need the group to protect him. Without revealing that Zev himself was hunted by the bounty hunter "Twilight" Suzuka, also contracted by the Fon Pirates, the group agreed to protect Fred. Together, they waited for the mystery assassin to arrive, so as to capture them and extract information on the Fon Pirates' reasons for hiring them.

It would turn out that the bounty hunter hired to attack Fred was none other than Suzuka herself, and when she arrived, the following battle with Zev and Namah decimated the room they were in. Upon her leaving at the stroke of noon, Zev was forced to take Fred to a local dive so as to calm his old friend down. On their way back, Zev convinced Fred to go on back ahead of him so that he could "pick something up". Once Fred had safely hailed a cab and headed back to his complex, Zev addressed the figure who had calmly waited for him to leave: Suzuka had little to say before leaping to attack him.

Trivia

 * Fred Luo's surname is pronounced the same as the word "low".