Acker's pleading made the man following him and the two blocking his way burst out laughing.
"Leave you a little?
I'll leave you a little!"
The man behind Acker grinned viciously and kicked him in the small of his back.
Acker immediately fell to the ground.
The money flew from his grasp, the flour in his hands spilled everywhere, the meat rolled into the dirt, and the eggs shattered across the ground.
Acker looked at the scene in anguish, but the punches and kicks that followed left the honest father with no choice but to cover his head and curl up.
Fists rained down.
Feet stomped viciously.
The man who had chased him was soon panting.
"Fuck, this old bastard runs fast. If I hadn't grown up in the Old District too, he would've gotten away."
The pursuer cursed in frustration.
As he cursed, he stomped on Acker again.
"Enough. Don't beat him to death here.
The boss said we need him to threaten his son and daughter.
This old man's still worth something."
The leader of the three spoke as he went to check on Acker. Finding that the honest father had been beaten unconscious, he turned and waved dismissively, signaling his two underlings to pick up the scattered money.
The two immediately bent down to collect it.
They had been eyeing that money for a long time.
If their leader hadn't kept silent, they would have picked it up already.
Now that he had given the word, they certainly weren't going to refuse.
After all, things weren't like they used to be.
When the Hite Furniture Store was shut down, they, as its suppliers, had been implicated too. Fortunately, their boss had abandoned everything the moment he sensed something was wrong, allowing them to escape disaster. Otherwise, they