Collector

[Part 1 · Black Eats Black]

"You! And you!" Jim Crow pointed at David Victor's nose, then kicked Jack Martin hard in the leg. "What on earth did you two do?!"

Wen Bucai had been playing cards and betting with Jim Crow the whole time. Boss Jim had no idea what had happened with the circus fire.

The naked half-beast shapeshifter had first been shot for no apparent reason. In his panic, he triggered the mechanism in the dealer's seat and escaped. In barely ten minutes, his entire entertainment complex had been burned to the ground.

"Jim Crow!" David Victor recognized the face from the boss's photo on the posters. "Are you an assassin sent by the Big Leader? Did you set an ambush at this inn to kill us?"

"Huh?!" Jim had no idea what Victor was talking about. He had only found a temporary refuge. He didn't know what lay at the root of the chaos in Sloth Town, nor that the Big Leader was hiding in his circus.

Seeing Mr. Jim's bewildered expression, Jack Martin hurried to get his tongue in gear and spin a few lies. He was an expert at making things up.

"You stupid pig! The Big Leader's been hiding on the circus's main stage! He was wearing your magician's cloak! He knew all along that you, the traitor, were up to no good! He started the fire! He wanted to wipe us all out!"

"What?! What did you say?!" Jim Crow was stunned, his face filled with shock and terror. "He knew all along?"

Jack pressed on with his bluff. "Of course he knew! Did you think he was easy to fool? There's a secret passage from the circus with a little window into your casino. He's been watching you every day!"

"This