Kazan Will Never Be Enslaved

"Splash!" "Splash!" ...

In a dark, damp underground passage.

A group walked slowly along, their footsteps splashing through the pooled water and sending unsettling sounds echoing through the empty space.

A young man with a bruised and swollen face led the way.

He spoke to the group behind him from time to time, an ingratiating smile on his face, terrified of taking another beating.

He had no choice.

Youth and strength won fights. He was considered a decent fighter himself, but after witnessing Uvogin's terrifying strength, he didn't dare harbor any other thoughts.

"Your boss stays in a place like this?"

Behind him, even Uvogin couldn't help looking disgusted.

The underground passage smelled awful, after all.

He couldn't understand how anyone could be willing to stay in a place like this!

The young man hurriedly explained.

"The gangs have been fighting a lot lately. The boss had no choice but to find somewhere safe to hide. Hardly anyone comes here normally."

Ian had no interest in the fighting between the gangs.

He still held the same view he had in his previous life.

These cancers on society deserved to be celebrated whenever one of them died.

The group turned this way and that, finally reaching a wide-open space half an hour later. The air smelled much fresher, too.

But a lot of people had gathered here.

Ian, Uvogin, and the others curiously observed the people there. Some looked miserable, while others appeared weak and unsteady. They seemed to be a group of vagrants.

"Boss Kazan is just ahead. I'll take you to him!"

The bruised young man passed the group and hurriedly spoke to Ian and the others with great care.

Before long, in an "office" made of sheet metal.

Ian and his group met the young man's boss.

He was a plump, dark-skinned middle-aged man, somewhat similar in appearance to Angsa, the man in charge of Meteor City's exchange point.

But his hair was a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot, as though he hadn't slept for days and nights.

"Boss, these people want to discuss a big deal with you!" the underling hurried forward and said.

The messy-haired, plump middle-aged man glanced at him, his gaze briefly lingering on his bruised face, before he said irritably.

"Kid, did you go looking for trouble again?"

"How many times have I told you to find honest work? You just wouldn't listen. Now that you've messed with someone you shouldn't have, maybe you'll finally learn your lesson!"

"B-Boss... I..."

The underling tried to speak, but in the end, he could only shut his mouth. He tilted his head up, a tear slipping involuntarily from the corner of his eye.

He really hadn't done anything this time! They were the ones who had come looking for trouble with him!!

Ignoring him.

The plump middle-aged man named Kazan looked at Ian and the others, narrowing his eyes slightly as a sharp light flashed in them. He said in a deep voice.

"May I ask what kind of big deal you guests have come here to make?"

Ian stepped forward and got straight to the point.

"We need identity papers for eight people. Can you handle that?"

After hearing Ian out, Kazan looked as though he understood. He reflected for a moment, then said in a hoarse voice.

"It's been a long time... since anyone from Meteor City showed up here..."

As soon as they heard him.

Uvogin, Nobunaga, Feitan, and the others' gazes turned cold, as though they would cut his head off the next moment if he said the wrong thing.

"Sounds like you know something about Meteor City?" Ian asked curiously.

Kazan noticed what Uvogin and the others were doing, but paid it no mind. He said calmly.

"Of course. Leaving aside the case from two years ago..."

"Outsiders all think Ejin City is the city farthest out on the edge of the continent..."

"But how could those of us who grew up here not have noticed some clues?"

He scratched his messy hair, seemingly recalling the past.

"This city wasn't always so prosperous. It used to be just a somewhat larger village..."

"I don't know when it started."

"But an endless stream of large trucks began passing through here, heading for the desert to the south. That was what spurred the city's development."

"As for Meteor City, I imagine government agencies know more about you than I do..."

"After all, the bloodshed those people caused sparked a huge public reaction..."

Ian's expression shifted at his words.

He guessed that Kazan was referring to the case of a vagrant from Meteor City who had been falsely accused and died as a result.

That country had forcibly prosecuted the vagrant, who denied the charges, and the court had found him guilty without giving him a chance to explain.

Later, a criminal's confession proved that the vagrant was innocent.

Soon after that, all thirty-one people connected to his wrongful conviction were killed: police officers, judges, prosecutors, eyewitnesses, jurors, lawyers...

As for the killers' method.

According to eyewitnesses, they all carried bombs with switches and detonated them while smiling and shaking hands with their targets.

The thirty-one people, who were in different places, were all blown up at the same time.

That was how Meteor City earned its fearsome reputation.

"Sorry. When you get old, you can't help reminiscing..."

"But you've come at just the right time. Before now, getting identity papers would have been quite troublesome."

"But now the gangs are fighting all over the place, and plenty of slots open up every day. It's just that the cost..."

As he spoke, he rubbed his fingers together, indicating that it would cost a considerable sum.

"As long as the papers are handled without a hitch, money isn't a problem."

Ian spoke calmly.

"But if you don't get it done, I think you know how we do things. You'd better not disappoint us."

Kazan snapped his fingers. Having secured a deal, he was clearly in a good mood. He smiled and said.

"No problem!"

"Two million Jenny upfront, and another million Jenny per person once it's done. Do you have photos? If not, I can take them here, but there's a fifty-thousand-Jenny fee."

"Hey, you're charging way too much!"

Uvogin and the others were somewhat indignant. Over the past few days, they had gained a rough understanding of the value of money in the outside world.

But Ian stopped him.

Ian didn't care about money. As long as he drew a suitable item, something like the all-purpose piggy bank, he couldn't possibly run short of it.

"We agree. We'll pay the deposit today. I have only one request: keep a close eye on this and make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Of course. Don't worry, I wouldn't ruin my own reputation!"

Kazan nodded seriously.

Uvogin, Ian, and the others soon went out under the underling's guidance to have their photos taken and pay the deposit.

As they prepared to leave, Nobunaga asked curiously.

"What do those people do?"

He looked at the group of vagrants outside, wondering what they were doing gathered in this sewer.

The underling hesitated, but answered anyway.

"They're all people who offended gangs out there or had their family businesses taken away by gangs. As things stand, there's no way for them to survive in the city."

"The only thing they can count on and rely on is doing work for Boss Kazan. Boss Kazan has it hard too. He keeps finding jobs for everyone, barely managing to feed them all!"

"Here... I mean, are the gangs in Ejin City really that rampant!?"

After hearing that, Uvogin and Nobunaga were somewhat surprised.

They hadn't noticed anything wrong with the city at all.

They hadn't expected the gangs here to be even more ruthless than the elders of Meteor City, wiping people out and leaving them no way to survive.

Just then.

"Rat-a-tat-tat!!"

The piercing sound of gunfire suddenly came from a distant passage!

Everyone's expression changed sharply.

The underling's face changed, and he shouted nervously.

"It's those bastards from the Kalie Gang and the Sharku Family! They've broken in!"

When Ian and the others heard the name "Kalie Gang."

They couldn't help marveling at how small the world was. They had run into that gang again!

Just then.

Kazan, who had been in the sheet-metal room, suddenly rushed out!

He wore a steel helmet and was covered in ammunition magazines, holding a submachine gun in one hand. He looked completely different from the greasy middle-aged man he had been before. His face was red, and he looked livid as he roared.

"Brothers, the Kazan Family will never be enslaved!"

"Anyone with guts, follow me! Let's fight those little bastards from the Kalie Gang to the death!"

With that, he strode outside.

A group of elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people carrying iron pipes and cleavers followed him, looking fierce.

Ian and Uvogin were stunned by the sight.

Even Chrollo fell silent. After a long while, he finally said.

"That guy seems pretty spirited..."