Chapter 55: Bloody

Chapter 55: Bloody "And this was what you got?"

Viscount Hawkins, the head of Crane city asked Lucian who stood in front of him, while looking into the book he had just received from him.

That book was the result of Lucian’s investigation which led him to the nearby ghetto. They were still on the case of the series of explosions which occurred in the slums a few months back.

By now, most people had forgotten about it, but the Viscount was keen on finding out who was brazen enough to pull such shit in his turf. It was a massive slap on his face.

"Yes, my lord!" Lucian answered, his head still bowed.

"Hmm...at least it’s better than what that sloppy head gave me" the viscount muttered referring to the head of the city’s security corps, William, whom he had spoken to a few days back.

Dropping the book, on the table, he went silent for a while and closed his eyes in contemplation, before opening his eyes. He seemed to have made his mind up on the matter.

"What do you think we should do in this situation, Lucian?" He asked the detective.

"I have no say on that, my lord. That is your job!"

The moments those words left his mouth, Lucian felt something pressing down on him, making him struggle to remain standing and not on his knees.

He could feel the abnormal rise in temperature of the room, his shirt was already soaked with his sweat and he could perceive the smell of burning paper. It felt like he had suddenly been thrown in a furnace.

The viscount silently looked at the man who withstood a part of his pressure without falling to his knees.

’I see he as impressive as they said!’ He thought to himself.

Withdrawing his aura to lessen the burden on the young detective, he rephrased his question and asked again.

"What would you do, if you were on this situation?"

"Well, my lord. I believe things shouldn’t be overly complicated, were doing with a group of people who have mastered the art of hiding like rats" he said getting a hum of agreement from the viscount.

"We only have one thing we can do! Follow any trail or lead we find faster than they can hide, and when we do find them, we drag them out and crush them whole!"

He said to the city lord, his voice cold and emotionless throughout.

"Hmm, you’re right. You can stay down normally!" The Viscount ordered, paying more attention to the detective in front of him.

"No 5!" The Viscount called out.

"My lord!" A voice that seemed like it came from every direction the room was heard, along with the appearance of a figure with a full mask on with the number 5 inscribed on it at the back of the Viscount.

"The both of you would handle this case from now own. You are to follow the young detective’s order." Viscount Hawkins said to No 5 who stood at his back.

"Yes, my lord!" No. 5 responded, bowing in submission.

"Lucian!" The lord called him by his name.

"Yes, my lord!" Lucian responded.

"Go to the location, do your job and bring me the head of those bastards!" The city lord ordered in a dark tone.

"Rest assured!" Lucian replied him and the lord dismissed him.

Outside the building, Lucian looked back at the place with an expression that revealed not one of his emotions before pulling out his phone to make a call, the contents unknown, but he ended the call with a dark expression.

.......

Back in the City lord’s office....

"Are you sure about this my lord?" No 5 who had not yet taken his leave question the city lord.

"...You can take your leave too" The city lord ordered him, not giving an answer to his question.

No 5 remained silent upon seeing this before silently phasing out of the room like he was never there.

’Sure about this? Of course not! I’m dealing with such a promising kid, but even I can’t tell his intentions and that makes him a threat. But worst of all, who would have thought those bastards would still be in the city!’ The city lord thought before muttering out loud.

"Hiding where one would least expect, eh? Classic!"

.......

Prime Security Corps. The chief’s office.

The chief sat looking at Lucian with a conflicted expression.

"I didn’t mean to!" William tried to explain.

"It doesn’t matter, but this is my last warning to you; don’t ever try to monitor me again!" Lucian said to the chief.

"You might be the chef of the department in this city, but I was sent here from HQ, and the only reason I didn’t take that seat of yours is because of my lack of interest. Let’s be clear on where we stand!" Lucian added after seeing William’s dissatisfied face.

’I should round this up and make my way back to HQ!’ He thought making his way out of the office and the building.

After getting out, he walked around with no specific aim, walking into random stores, buying a few goods that he had no use for before taking a roundabout route to a deserted alley at the edges of the mid zone, close to the slums before coming to a pause.

"How long are you going to follow me?" He asked out loud.

"Till after the mission by my lord!" A voice said, appearing to be No 5 whom the viscount had said to assist him earlier.

"You don’t need to do that, it’s uncomfortable" Lucian said with an impatient tone.

He had been hit with things that constantly tried to tick him off today, so he was on the edge.

"How do you plan on—"

"Meet me here tonight, 10:30. We’ll move from then, got it?" He interrupted No 5.

"...Fine!" No 5 replied after a short pause, before disappearing.

"Sigh...." Lucian sighed after feeling the presence that had been following him since he left the city lords manor.

He took out a cigarette and lit it with his finger before taking a deep puff and sighing like a heavy burden had been taken off his shoulders.

"Ahh! I can get to work now!" He muttered making his way into the deeper parts of the slum.

......

Back on planet Kirshof, not too far from the camp

Jake, Ruby and Jordan– the blonde-haired recruit were currently in the middle of an ending fight with a few Kraalox the first type of beats they had encountered during their last test.

SLASH!

Jake’s great sword split the monster in front of him into two before he hurriedly dodged to the side as Ruby’s weapon flew past where his head was to pierce another beast that had crept to his back.

With that, they had eliminated the small group of beasts and finally completed the contents of the mission they had taken up in the mission hall.

"Let’s extract what we need and get back to base"

Jordan said, walking up to one of the monsters on the floor, before pulling out a knife to carve its insides.

After a few seconds of rummaging through the beast’s insides, he removed his blood soaked hands and threw an organ that looked like a small heart and threw it to Ruby who placed it in a small sack beside her which contained similar content.

They also cut of the tail of the creature, careful not to damage the stinger part before storing them in another sack beside Jake.

Once they finished collecting their materials, they stood up and made their way back to the camp.

......

BAM!

At the mission hall, they dropped their harvest on the counter to cash in their gains.

"Fifteenth beast sources and fourteen tails. Four of these tails have been damaged which I’d going to cost you cp.... Your total gains amount to 90 CP"

The recruit and the counter said before stretching out a card to the leader of the team.

Jake collected the card and swiped it on his watch, crediting him the said amount of points, before returning it.

Walking away with the rest of the team, Jordan was the first to speak up.

"What was that? Four damaged goods!" He said, turning to Jake.

"Don’t look at me like you don’t know how it is and try to pin the blame on me!" Jake said with little attention towards Jordan’s expression.

They had killed around 70 Kraalox, but most of them were of a lower grade than what they needed and even after separating the goods, most of them were damaged.

It was hard to fight and kill them while being careful to avoid specific parts of their body, especially the tail which they used to attack with the stinger at the tip.

Having just four bad ones from the ones they collected was good enough.

"What matters is that we got 15 beast sources" Ruby came in, ending their exchange of words.

At her words, Jordan had no choice but to back down.

They were lucky this time around, beast sources weren’t something they could find in any beast, they were rather difficult to find but not to an extreme level.

Out of the 40 level 4 type of Kraalox that were needed for the mission, they had managed to find 15 beast sources! A big win for them.

This was the third time they had gone out for a mission and none of their harvests were this huge.

"Whatever, just share the CP so we can leave, I need a shower!" Jordan said, looking at his blood stained body and weapon.

Jake felt the same, so he quickly shared the points equally among them before they split and went back to their dorms.

.....

Back in Crane city....

"You’re here!" No 5 said the moment Lucian arrived at the alley where they had separated earlier.

"Let’s go!" Lucian said, turning back the moment he heard No 5’s voice.

"Yes... my master desires the rolling of heads!" No 5 said, excitement could be getting faintly in his tone.

"Oh! Heads are going to roll tonight!" Lucian muttered in a frigid tone, before pulling up a mask on his face.

With that, they moved and blended into the chaos of the slums.

Things were about to get bloody!