East End Gangs

East End Gangs

Xue forced out a smile. "Maybe, maybe it's a gang lookout. You might not know this, but gang lookouts always keep an eye on strangers who come to the East End."

Hobart said, "It's better to be careful. Hmm, let's turn at the intersection ahead, find somewhere to hide, catch the follower, and force him to tell us whose subordinate he is."

"There's absolutely no need for that." Xue laughed. "Don't worry. Pretty much all the gangs in the East End know me. No one would dare do anything to us!"

Hobart reminded her, "But we were just extorted yesterday."

"Hehehe." Xue was nearly sweating with anxiety. "That, that was because DakHorm had only just become the boss and hadn't dealt with me before."

Hobart looked at Xue's unnatural expression and nodded thoughtfully. "I think I understand now."

When he had split the spoils with Xue last night, Hobart had trusted her quite a lot, because he knew her personality from the original work and understood her fairly well.

But he had overlooked one thing: Xue did not necessarily trust him.

From Xue's perspective, for the sake of safety, she naturally had to guard against Hobart doing something unlawful and immoral for the sake of 1,600 pounds' worth of property.

Hobart offered no explanation. He believed that in a few days, Xue would come to know his character. Only after this matter could the two of them build enough trust.

They soon arrived at Gaspin Street No. 56. It was an utterly ordinary residential building in the East End, shabby and filthy from the outside, with peeling walls in many places.

The two went to Room 303. Everyone had gone to work at this hour, so Hobart and Xue simply broke in again.

Just as Hobart had anticipated last night, there were only a few somewhat dirty work clothes here. It looked as though no one had lived here for a long time.

This was perhaps one of Hayman's small hideouts. He could change clothes here and calmly carry out certain operations in the East End.

After confirming that there was nothing to gain, the two went to the Azalea Bar. DakHorm was not there, but his subordinates immediately recognized Hobart and Xue.

For a moment, the seven or eight thugs were like rats whose nest had been discovered. They used every possible method to scatter and flee through the bar's various exits.

Xue kicked one fleeing thug to the ground. After threatening him with just a few words, the thug immediately agreed to take them to his boss.

DakHorm's residence was much better than Veil's, at least clean, tidy, and free of strange odors.

When DakHorm saw Hobart and Xue, he propped himself up on his crutch and tried to run.

Xue said coldly, "Do you want me to break your other leg too?"

DakHorm stopped at once, his face piling on a friendly smile. "What can I do for you two?"

Seeing that DakHorm knew what was good for him, Hobart shamelessly jerked his chin toward the door, without the slightest concern for a gentleman's manners. "Aren't you going to invite us in for tea?"

DakHorm said, "It would be my honor."

As he led the way, he instructed his subordinate to boil water and make tea.

Clearly, DakHorm was someone who knew how to enjoy life. His home had a living room and a bedroom, and the decor was fairly good. It did not look like a place in the East End.

Hobart dropped onto the sofa and tossed the letter from his pocket to DakHorm. "Read it yourself."

DakHorm immediately had a bad feeling. He hopped over and took the letter from the table. After only a few glances, his expression changed drastically. "Th-this is a letter from Boss Zachary!"

Hobart said leisurely, "Sorry, wrong one. This is the one."

He tossed the letter DakHorm had written to Hayman onto the table. DakHorm took one look at the envelope and collapsed onto the sofa.

The smile vanished from DakHorm's face. With a miserable expression, he asked, "Did you capture Mr. Hayman?"

Hobart answered vaguely, "I think you'll be the true boss of the Azalea Bar from now on."

Not only was DakHorm not happy, he looked worried instead. "Th-then Zachary..."

This time, Hobart spoke with certainty. "You'll never see him again."

DakHorm leaned back on the sofa. Only after a long while did he ask, "What do you two want from me?"

"I want you to tell me how you met Hayman, and why you obeyed Hayman's orders."

"Sir, I had no choice." DakHorm gave a bitter smile. "As far as I know, every bar in the East End has some mysterious backers behind it.

"They include ambassadors from various countries, noble lords, Highlanders, and even landowners from the Southern Continent."

By "Highlanders," he meant the dry plateau at the beginning of the Hornaches Mountain Range. The people there were brave and skilled in battle, and for a long time in the past, they had been one of the Loen Kingdom's greatest headaches.

Only with the improvement of gunpowder weapons over the past century or two had these Highlanders been completely subdued. Some of them entered Backlund, and because they dared to fight and kill, they quickly became a distinctive kind of gang in the East End.

DakHorm spread his hands. "Too many people in the East End have lost hope in life. They're well suited to be spies or assassins. Who could refuse such cheap Warriors who aren't afraid of death?"

He continued, "No one knew who owned the Azalea Bar, but Zachary had been the bar's boss since long ago.

"Before Boss Zachary left, he took me to meet Mr. Hayman. Only then did I learn that Mr. Hayman was the bar's true boss behind the scenes.

"I was more like someone working for Mr. Hayman, helping him gather intelligence, run the bar's Black Market, and hand most of the bar's profits over to him.

"I once tried to falsify the accounts and pocket some of the profits, but Mr. Hayman immediately saw through my little trick and nearly broke my right leg."

Of course he saw through it. Hayman was an expert at deceiving people!

Hobart nodded. No wonder DakHorm's right leg had seemed injured when he saw him yesterday. "I also want to know more of Hayman's hideouts."

He said, half-truthfully, "We destroyed several of them, but didn't find what we were looking for."

DakHorm immediately said, "Gaspin Street No. 56! Every week, I went there to hand over the bar's account books and earnings."

Hobart shook his head. "We just came from there."

Xue had been yawning nonstop ever since she entered. Seeing that Hobart's tone had turned unfriendly, she immediately perked up. At last, it was time for her favorite part: interrogation.

DakHorm grew a little flustered. "I-I only know that one place."

Unhurriedly, Hobart took out materials such as "Holy Night Powder" and "Amanda" hydrosol from his pocket. "I know of a potion that can muddle your thoughts into mush. If I throw out questions while you're like that, you'll definitely answer honestly.

"But unfortunately, from then on, your mind will remain muddled forever, and you'll become a madman!"

Xue committed all of Hobart's words to memory. It had to be said that Hobart's interrogation methods were quite novel, greatly enriching Xue's aesthetic of violence when dealing with criminals.

Request for recommendation votes, request for monthly votes~ The author lives in one of the northern "porcelain capitals." Today, a friend came looking to buy ceramic vases, so I took him to browse the market. This was the first time I'd visited the ceramics market this year. Did not expect so many shops to have closed down. I had no idea how long this slump would last.