Let's Kill the Prophet

"Arbitrator" Chuck, the most powerful boss in South City, was a mafia godfather-level figure.

He wore an exquisite brown suit, a heavy wool overcoat, and a bowler hat pulled low over his brow.

He had a thick beard. Although he was not particularly tall, his arms were impressively muscular. His angular features looked as if they had been carved by knives, and his deep-set eyes resembled those of a wolf. His air was as steady as a mountain.

The president of the "Iron Cross Society" fulfilled everything Suren had imagined a mafia boss would be.

When the president arrived, the members of the Cross Society greeted him one after another. "President!"

"You've all worked hard."

Chuck nodded at everyone, then looked at the unconscious captive on the ground.

Qiantiao took the initiative to explain, "That guy tried to kill himself when he realized he couldn't escape, but I stopped him. He looks unfamiliar. He should be a mercenary from North City."

Old Lindun's Outer City had three major gangs, each of which occupied one of the eastern, western, and southern districts. North City was close to the Inner City, so it was still managed by the city's Public Security Office. No major gang could extend its reach there.

As a buffer zone between the slums and the Inner City, North City had a complicated mix of forces.

It was also home to various neutral organizations, including the "Mercenary Guild," "Alchemy Guild," "Wasteland Hunter's Guild," and "Professional Guild."

Apart from the three major gangs, most of the "professionals" in the Outer City operated in North City, and there were plenty of experts among them.

The people who had attacked the Cross Society's headquarters this time appeared to be a mercenary group from North City.

Hearing this, Chuck seemed to think of something and nodded. "Mm."

He then said calmly, "Those people used a Black Scythe to break through the vault door. It should be Hypnos's Night Black Scythe, the Sealed Item that could break through anything and appeared at an auction house in the Inner City several years ago."

Hearing this, several captains seemed to recall something. Their brows furrowed slightly, and then they looked enlightened.

Only that Sealed Item could break through the vault door in such a short time.

At this point, Chuck frowned and said solemnly, "A Sealed Item can't be put into a Storage Ring, so it's a large target. The people can leave, but we absolutely cannot let the thing leave South City! Notify the brothers below to seal off the districts immediately. Don't let anyone escape."

The captains answered one after another, "Yes, President!"

The support team from Green Street had originally not been qualified to hear the decisions of the gang's upper echelon. They had only happened to arrive early and be in front of the headquarters building.

After hearing President Chuck's order, they immediately took action and prepared to return to Green Street to set up their defenses.

The motorcycles started up and had just turned around when they were about to leave.

At that moment, Qiantiao seemed to think of something. She tossed the unconscious captive onto one of the open-top motorcycles and said, "Kai, take this guy to the interrogation office."

"Got it!"

Kai nodded and called over several people to tie the man up.

The gang's interrogation office was only three blocks away, so it was on the way.

After the people from Green Street left, the captains also departed one after another, each heading to his own patrol district.

President Chuck alone remained standing where he was. He gazed deeply at the distant districts shrouded in mist, seemingly lost in thought.

Before long, a middle-aged man with a cigarette holder between his lips walked over and reported, "President, we've finished the investigation. Of the seven people who entered the vault earlier, we killed four and captured one. But that 'thing' was lost as well. It should have been taken by the man holding the scythe. As for the last one, he may have..."

Chuck waved his hand before he could finish and said calmly, "I understand."

No one noticed the gloom that flashed through the eyes of this notorious mafia godfather when he heard that.

The convoy from Green Street was on its way back.

Unlike the tense atmosphere on the way there, the vehicles were now filled with cheer.

Captain Kai also announced some good news. "Brothers, Smoker Boss just said that everyone who participated in this mission will receive a bonus of fifty thousand lisos. Since our Green Street team arrived the fastest this time, we'll receive an additional fifty thousand!"

"Hahaha, Smoker Boss is mighty! The captain is mighty!"

The convoy instantly erupted in wild, ghostly laughter.

One hundred thousand lisos was a full five months of everyone's wages. For ordinary gang members, it was an enormous sum.

Although six gang members had died and more than ten had been injured in the earlier battle on the bridge, to these gang members who had long grown accustomed to death and bloodshed, it did not seem like a major matter.

Most people's lives in the Outer City were not worth one hundred thousand, including theirs.

As long as they survived, they could continue enjoying themselves.

Minor injuries could be dealt with by taking a Healing Potion. Even those who had lost limbs could use the one-hundred-thousand-liso bonus to install a Mechanical Prosthetic, then spend several months enjoying themselves in Green Street's pleasure dens and lavish drinking houses.

Listening to the cheers and shouts around him, Suren smiled as well.

On his first day after joining the gang, he had already encountered so many things. It had truly been unexpected.

Sure enough...

The high risks and heavy casualties of gang life were no exaggeration.

But the rewards were proportional.

Still, Suren felt that this kind of life was not bad.

It allowed him to experience a thrill he had not felt in a long time.

In his previous life, he had spent several years receiving psychiatric treatment at a juvenile detention center. Only after he learned to control his emotions perfectly was he released.

His "illness" seemed to have been cured, but he had rarely experienced that adrenaline-fueled stimulation since then.

Even the scariest movies and games could rarely stir powerful emotions in him. As time passed, that sense of boredom grew increasingly severe, and the joys of daily life became fewer and fewer.

Instead, this brutal Underground World suited Suren's tastes perfectly.

As he thought, his mind began to wander.

"An assault on the Cross Society's headquarters ended with the president and the officers calculating against them and wiping them out. The gang's upper echelon really has some capable methods."

Suren sighed inwardly, thinking of the several "big shots" he had seen earlier.

President "Arbitrator" Chuck, as well as the officers "Four-Armed Rakshasa" Qiantiao, "Smoker" Sambou Kaczynski, and "Night Angel" Goethe Amato.

Every one of them was a Second Tier or higher professional. Not only were they extraordinarily powerful, but they also seemed to be vivid, flesh-and-blood people with distinct personalities.

They could not be summed up by the single word "gangster."

But suddenly...

Not knowing what he had thought of, Suren's gaze fell on the captive from the raid, and his mind instinctively began playing a game of deduction.

Who could the enemy be?

Could it be the "Crow Gang," their old rival, or perhaps the "Steam Party"?

But judging from the situation, almost all the people involved in this operation were mercenaries from North City. It was unlikely that the two major gangs had made a move, or at least they probably had not participated directly to any great extent.

To spend such a fortune hiring mercenaries, they were probably... prominent figures from the Inner City.

Besides, why had they come to raid the headquarters' warehouse?

If it had merely been an ordinary robbery for wealth, it would not have been worth the effort.

With that much time, robbing the rich would have been far easier than robbing a gang.

The target of these mercenaries should have been a very important special item in the warehouse.

As he pieced together the limited clues, Suren quickly deduced some of the truth.

However, he had no interest in investigating it too deeply.

After all, this concerned the gang's upper echelon. He did not want to interfere, nor did he have the ability to do so.

"But then again, if these mercenaries knew that the Cross Society's upper echelon was powerful, why would they choose to throw eggs at a rock?"

Suren thought of something that intrigued him.

Judging from the calm expressions of those officers earlier, they probably had not needed much effort to eliminate the mercenaries.

So where had the enemy gotten their confidence?

"Oh, no. That person said earlier that the president and the others had only just returned. That means the enemy attacked while the gang's upper echelon was away from the city. But in reality, the president and the officers had already been lurking in the city, waiting to catch the turtles in the jar?"

Suren felt that the matter was becoming more and more complicated.

No one would be bored enough to use an empty-city ploy just to take a beating.

After all, the gang's headquarters being breached was like being slapped in the face. For the "Iron Cross Society," one of the three great gangs, it was hardly something glorious, even if the losses could be recovered.

So Suren reached a conclusion. "If the gang's upper echelon turned the enemy's plan against them, it must have been to achieve some kind of objective."

For example:

To establish their prestige?

Or to lure out an inside traitor?

An invasion on such a large scale almost certainly meant that someone inside the Cross Society had provided assistance.

Thinking this, Suren said in confusion, "Huh? That's not right."

Suddenly, he looked at the unconscious captive again. An inexplicable thought surfaced in his mind. "If there really is an inside traitor, then according to the usual script, shouldn't someone come to kill him and silence him now? The story feels incomplete otherwise."

The interrogation office was only three blocks away. If they did not kill the captive on the way and sent him in, it would be difficult to kill him later. By then, the identity of the inside traitor would certainly be exposed.

Perhaps it was true that when one sincerely sought something, one would surely receive a response.

The moment that thought arose in Suren's mind, the next second, a sniper rifle shot exploded like thunder.

When he looked again, the captive in the vehicle ahead had been shot in the head, which had burst apart.

"..."

Looking at the bloody scene before him, Suren's cheek twitched violently.

He immediately realized that he seemed to have guessed correctly.