Chapter 89 - The Mole

<---Chapter 88 - Same Old Routine|Table of Contents|Chapter 90 - Radicals--->

A week later...

In the wee hours of the morning, the office of the shopping arcade was quiet, the myraid of office tables left unkept, dozens of paper documents stacked high with pens scattered about. In the midst of all this bureaucracy, a lone man dug through the drawers, searching through Keith's desk intently.

"Come on, come on..." The man grunted as he flipped through hundreds of documents frantically, trying to find something. Words and numbers washed over him while his eyes flickered to and fro, reading as quickly as he could before he finally spotted something irregular. "What the fuck?!" He rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was reading.

Suddenly, he heard a clinking sound, a metal key rattling in the locked door of the office. "Fucking shit, who's coming in to work this early? Are they crazy?" Still, complaining was not going to help him. The man hurriedly arranged everything back in order the way it was, before scrambling for a hiding spot.

Soon, the door opened to reveal a groggy Keith, who had just barely woken up, though he heard a dull thud coming from the rows of tables. "Hello? Who's there? Is that you, Lucetta? You know we don't pay for overtime."

Nothing responded, the office as quiet as ever, Keith squinting in suspicion as he began to carefully walk through the office, scanning every table.

Behind an office cabinet, the man cowered in fear, clutching his mouth and nose tightly to prevent his breathing from being heard. He heard the footsteps come closer and closer, until Keith's boots were clearly visible from the corner of his eyes. He steeled himself, preparing to come out swinging until the arctech radio on Keith's table blurted out static, distracting Keith.

Keith hurried over, picking up the radio. "Yes? Yes, of course. Understood. I'll have all the cobras and vipers gathered within the hour for the capture of Gunther. I'll ensure the union council is in position."

Capture of Gunther?! Fuck, the gig is up! The man's heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm, not moving a single inch while Keith continued chatting on the radio, leaving the office. The man who was stealing secrets from Keith's office knew very well what would happen if Gunther were to be caught - he would be next in line without a doubt.

The moment the main doors of the office slammed shut behind Keith, the man leapt into action, grabbing as many documents as possible of the Seven Snakes and stuffing them into his pants, shirt and wherever else he could hide them. He quickly ran over to the door, opening it just an inch and peeking, noticing that the hallway outside the office was empty, Keith nowhere to be seen.

Not giving up the opportunity to leave, he walked out of the office, scampering back towards his own office, quickly packing all of his things. He fumbled with a lockbox, opening it to reveal an arctech radio of his own, quickly calling the other pair. "Gunther, Gunther!"

[What? What's wrong?]

"The Seven Snakes are out to capture you, and most likely I've been made as well!"

[What do you mean? How are they going to capture me?]

"They have infiltrated the union council itself! I suspect some of the members have turned against us."

[I can't leave yet, the weapons meant for our brothers and the revolution is not ready]

"If you don't leave now, there will be no revolution, idiot! We need to leave, now!"

"Guang Hwa?" A voice suddenly interrupted the conversation, Keith knocking on the door of the man's office.

Guang Hwa panicked, stuffing the radio back into the lockbox and slamming it shut, before hiding all of his packed belongings. "Keith? Please, come in."

Keith entered, seeing nothing different about the office, save for Guang Hwa sweating with a pained smile on his face. "Why are you sitting in the dark?"

"Uh... well... I heard it helps improve my vision. You know, to see better at night."

"What, you trying to be a night owl now? Nevermind that, I need you in the meeting room in an hour."

"Of course, of course, I'll be there." Guang Hwa gave a thumbs up, before acting like he was reading a document intently, Keith closing the door. The moment the door closed, Guang Hwa resumed his packing, stuffing a handgun, the radio and all of the stolen documents into a small briefcase, before arranging his outfit properly.

He waltzed out of the office with confidence, walking with purpose while the clerks and other adminstrative staff nodded and bowed to him, not caring about where he was going. As soon he was clear of the shopping arcade however, he suddenly ran right into the towering Damian just around a corner, nearly smacking into his chest directly.

"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there. Where are you going anyway? There's a meeting in an hour."

"I heard there's a issue at the new apartments being built near the complex. I'm going to have a quick look and I'll be back for the meeting."

"Alright, I'll have Niko arrange an escort for you. We can't risk any of our higher-ups getting lynched by the union now."

"No, no don't bother. The site is really close, just over there. And I'm a Seven Snakes too, I can handle myself."

Damian glanced at the lanky Guang Hwa, examining his scrawny body. "Right..."

"Anyway, if I don't leave now, I'll be late - no time to arrange the escort. See you later, big guy." Guang Hwa smacked Damian's biceps that felt like steel, before quickly walking off.

Once he was clear of the shopping arcade, his direction changed immediately. Fallback point is towards the Magda... He followed the escape plan concoted between him and Gunther, moving quickly through the street, melding into the thousands of workers who were now leaving or entering the factory in droves.

He moved carefully, acting as part of the crowd and blending in, following the tide of people that were heading to work. However, not many were heading towards the enforcers' district, instead having jobs at the various Seven Snakes establishment. As such, the crowd around Guang Hwa began to dwindle as he turned street after street. Almost there, almost there...

Suddenly, as he turned the corner, his eyes widened as he frantically backpedalled into cover, noticing Niko stationed with three squads of Seven Snakes. "Make sure no union worker gets past this. Once the operation start, people are going to start running, and I want every single suspicious person caught!"

Damn it! Guang Hwa tried to peek around the corner, looking for a way around. However, the Seven Snakes were long experienced with locking down the district, each and every backlane now cut off by the guards who formed a tight net.

His mind raced as he slowed down, hurriedly acting like a local resident, moving with the flow of people back towards the center of the district. Finding a nook in a nearby damaged shop, he quickly entered and hid among the half broken shelves, tuning the radio once more to a different number. "Red Lions? Red Lions?"

[And to whom am I speaking to?]

"It's Guang Hwa. I need your help to get out of the district. The Seven Snakes, they are onto me!"

The person on the other line remained silent, Guang Hwa's heart palpitating as he watched a Seven Snakes patrol move past him as he ducked.

[And why is the CEO of the Golden Snakes running?]

"Cut the bullshit, Wrent. I have information, critical information on how the Seven Snakes operate, locations of all their secret hideouts and labs. If you want it, you need to help me!"

[Hmm.... fine. Meet at Southcross Road, make sure you aren't followed. Find the sign of the red jug and wait there.]

"What do you mean, wait there?!" Guang Hwa whispered angrily, but the radio had already went silent.

"Hey, who's in that shop?"

Shit! Guang Hwa kept quiet as a mouse, holding his breath as a Seven Snakes patrol team peered into the damaged storefront.

"Come on, Ollie, stop messing around. You just want an excuse to try on a woman's dress, right?" Another patrol member nudged Ollie in the ribs.

"Stop messing around, you two. Today is fucking important, you hear me?"

"When are you going to stop acting like our dad, Alex?"

"It's Cobra Alex to you!"

While the patrol team was bickering, Guang Hwa quickly moved through the debris, clambering over a half collapsed doorway and slinking through the gaps, before reaching a back entrance. He closed his eyes tight as he ditched his formal outfit, changing them for one of rags stained with grease and snot, clearly discarded by another homeless man. Clutching the briefcase tightly, he snuck his way around the streets, making it towards the Red Lions meeting point, continuously glancing behind him to make sure he was not followed.

Soon, he made it to the destination, a old rusty building with a half-broken sign of a jug, dashed with blood. No one seemed to have occupied it in what seemed like ages. He quickly entered into its depths, finding a staircase that led downwards to a cellar. To his surprise, the cellar was surprisingly well-stocked, filled to the brim with supplies and maps that seemed to be the result of observations gathering intelligence on the Seven Snakes.

Guang Hwa ran his finger across some of the maps, noting a few variations of an attack plan on the Seven Snakes, a three prong strike launched from the various Red Lion districts. A grin came to his face, knowing that his salvation was close at hand. That's what you fucking get for enslaving me, bitch.

Thankfully, he was confident that he was far out of range of the slave engraving being able to affect him. All he needed to do was to find a black market engraver who could break the connection, though it would be hard to find someone trustworthy. Many escaped slaves instead found themselves transferred to another master, entering the slave market anew or auctioned off again.

Guang Hwa continued to examine the cellar, noticing a locked door at the far end, arctech engravings inscribed all along its surface. Just as he averted his gaze, the engravings glowed, opening to reveal Wrent and five of his Red Lion followers.

"Thank the goddess - Seven Snakes are going to bust the union apart, they want to capture Gunther!" Guang Hwa explained, but Wrent yawned, clearly not interested in what he had to say, instead holding out his hand expectantly.

Guang Hwa gritted his teeth, taking out a single secret document and tossing it over to Wrent, who caught it nimbly. He flipped through the document, a small grin spreading across his face. "Interesting. So the way the Seven Snakes are footing the bill is because of the new drug. Workers buy the drug with their wages, and the money circulates right back into the Seven Snakes treasury. But I don't suppose this is the only information you have?"

"You only get the rest when you get me the fuck out of here." Guang Hwa eyed the entrance from which Wrent and his men came through, noticing it was a tunnel of sorts that clearly led out of the district.

Wrent thought for a brief moment, before motioning to his men. "Check the street, make sure no one is following us."

"What the fuck are you waiting for? Let's get out!" Guang Hwa urged, only for Wrent to draw his blade.

"Oh don't think I'm stupid, Guang Hwa. I've heard all about your 'deals' with the black market. Everyone knows you're the one who sold the degraded engravings. For all I know, this could be another trap by that accursed Kyle."

"You fucking idiot, I'm not with them, I'm a slave!"

Wrent ignored the pleas of Guang Hwa, instead waiting for his men to confirm the absence of an ambush. One of his men climbed up the staircase, peeking his head out to see the street level empty, devoid of residents. "Sir, no one is around."

"Not a single soul?"

"Yes, sir, I don't even see any worker-GUH!" The Red Lion's head was gripped tightly, before his entire body was flung out into the open, Damian charging right into the cellar with a tower shield in his right arm. With a roar, he slammed into the next Red Lion, bashing the man into the wall violently before using the long edge of the shield to knock the Red Lion out.

"Damn it!" Wrent gritted his teeth, drawing his engraved sword, the remaining three Red Lions wielding rifles and firing right at Damian. "Flank his shield!"

They fan out across the cellar as Damian took cover behind the shield, Guang Hwa cowering on the floor and scrambling past to the entrance in the hopes of safety. However, before Guang Hwa could make it, Wrent gripped his collar and flung him to the corner. "You're not going anywhere you fucking cunt!"

"Better pay attention!" Damian grinned as he rushed the nearest Red Lion, using the shield to crush him head-on. However, the other two Red Lions quickly captialized on the opportunity, shooting at Damian's exposed back.

Instead of the pellets biting into the flesh, they pinged off his body like his skin was made of metal, the Red Lions flabbergasted while Damian now switch targets, surprisingly agile for his large body. With a rapid successions of hits, the remaining two Red Lions were knocked out as well, concussed from the heavy blows rained down upon them.

Suddenly, alarm bells rang in Damian's head as he hurriedly brought his shield to bear, a red gushing energy wave slicing right at him and sending him sprawling backwards, breaking apart tables and chairs.

"Damian, little boy. Look how you've grown up. But you're not the only fucker improving!" Wrent roared as he unleashed another two waves of energy, his engraved sword slashing violently and pushing Damian back. His tower shield suffered brunt after brunt as Damian dug his feet into the cellar's floor, bracing himself against the broken wooden furniture.

"Oh I'm grown up enough now. I used to see you as a wall - but now I know you're just as weak as anyone else!" Damian grabbed a dropped Red Lion rifle, firing at Wrent only for the pellets to be deflected by point defense arcia bolts lancing outwards.

"Don't think your armor is unique!" Wrent lunged at Damian, slashing downwards at close range, the tower shield creaking under the impact as Damian's feet drove deeper into the ground. Damian quickly rolled out of the way, using the shield to deflect each of the incoming strikes.

Without a word, Damian fired all the pellets in the rifle, squeezing the trigger hard and trying to overwhelm the point defense. Sure enough, the breastplate of Wrent's armour began to falter, the pellets about to burst through the plates only for a glittering energy shield to appear out of nowhere.

"Surprised? Courtesy of the Ilysian Punks' stash!" Wrent yelled as he went on the offensive again, his confidence buoyed by the protective Galactic Era personal shield while delivering a brutal combo. The blade of the sword found an opening, cutting deep into Damian's arm and exposing the bone, blood leaking outwards. "Better tell your boss to come save you, else there won't be much left!"

"You don't understand - we knew all along we were going to fight you." Damian gritted his teeth as his arms reveberated from blocking another blow.

"And they chose you? HAH!" Wrent lifted the sword high.

"Because I'm enough." Damian spoke quietly while he rapidly rolled out of the way, Wrent losing his balance as the downward slashed missed entirely, hitting thin air. Before Wrent could recover his posture, the edge of the tower shield slammed from his right toward his legs, the personal shield flickering wildly from the physical impact.

Wrent hurriedly swung the sword to the right, deflecting the tower shield on Damian's left arm upwards, exposing his body. "You're dead!" Wrent reversed his wrist as he aimed right at Damian's neck, slashing downwards. Instead of seeing a shocked Damian, Wrent could only watch as the right fist of Damian shot towards his face, breaking through the personal shield and landing squarely on his jaw. The force of the impact instantly cracked three of Wrent's teeth, before sending him tumbling into a dust cloud of broken furniture, a nearby cupboard collapsing onto Wrent.

"RAGH! It's not ovah!" Wrent roared with blood spurting out of his broken jaw, using the sword to slash his way out of the debris, forcing Damian to block the ensuing energy slash. Wrent hurriedly checked his shield, noticing the relic's gauge was depleted. He glanced around the cellar, noticing that Guang Hwa was already missing, having clearly escaped before him. "GRRR!"

Wrent unleashed his fury, throwing five rapid slashes and blasting Damian back, before diving into the exit of the cellar, closing the door behind him and channeling arcia energy into the engraving, sealing it. "GUWANG HWWA! You fucking rat!" Wrent limped as blood trickled down from his mouth, his gum bleeding profusely as he fumbled with a healing flask on his belt, quickly drinking it. The wounds began to close up, restoring his health, but the humiliation at Damian's hand still remained.

Fucking, how could I lose to that pathetic excuse of a kid! Even Ulon used to be weaker than me! Wrent boiled with rage as he sprinted down the tunnel, knowing Guang Hwa was right ahead. He took solace in the fact that Damian was the underboss of the Seven Snakes. Beating Kyle might be currently out of reach, but at least he still stood a chance against their second strongest.

As he reached the end of the tunnel, he finally spotted the visage of Guang Hwa, banging on the exit and obviously failing to open the door.

"Idiot, you can't open the door if you're not a Red Lion!" Wrent grunted, grabbing Guang Hwa from behind and slamming him against the wall, the blade of his sword biting into his neck. "Now give me one very fucking good reason why I do not LOB YOUR HEAD OFF RIGHT NOW!"

"I didn't know I was tracked, I swear! Look, have everything on me! You gotta believe me, I'm not with them!" Guang Hwa hurriedly pointed his briefcase. "I was the insider helping out Gunther take over the factory."

Wrent held the sword against Guang Hwa's neck as he bent down to open the briefcase, seeing an entire stack full of financial documents and logistic routes. Wrent thumbed through a few, realizing that Guang Hwa was telling the truth - some of the information corroborated with his own information gathering so far.

"See? It's not my fault!"

"Fuck you." Wrent kicked Guang Hwa in the shin, causing him to collapse while continuing to browse the documents. Wrent's eyes grew wider and wider as he read each document amdist the unnerving silence of the tunnel only interspersed with Guang Hwa's whimpering. "You fucking idiot, did you read any of this information?"

"What..?" Guang Hwa replied painfully. "I just got my hands on it right before I left!"

"Bitch, they were already onto you from two weeks ago! They were tracking you from the very beginning!"

"Fucking... Now's not the time to bicker about who's following me, only that I've made good my bargain, so now you have to save me!"

"Oh yea? Now that I have all your information, what good are you to me?"

"I gave you everything!"

"Yea, a boatload of pain and trouble. We both know how the underworld works." Wrent raised his sword, Guang Hwa scrambling to find a reason to stay alive.

"I...I can set you up with the rest of the union! Gunther and his men must have made it out now with the weapons and designs."

"Designs?"

"Yes, the design for the armour, so you can make it yourself too."

"Interesting... fine. It looks like you are still valuable. But cross me again and I'll make sure this sword rips your body in half." Wrent sighed, packing the documents back into the briefcase before approaching the exit door. He placed his hand on the surface of the door, channeling arcia and unlocking it. However, Wrent could already feel something was off, not opening the door just yet.

"What's wrong? Let's go already!"

"It's too quiet. My men would have asked for the passcode by now."

"Fuck! Give me a weapon!" Guang Hwa urged.

"Like fucking hell I will." Wrent wasn't about to risk the chance, so Guang Hwa looked around frantically, before picking up a loose rock, hoping and praying to the Goddess as well as any other divine beings beyond his understanding it would be enough to defend him.

Gripping the handle of his sword tightly, Wrent flung the door open, preparing to slash downwards only see the glint of a dazzling blade striking right towards, nearly nailing him right in the neck as Wrent instinctually parried with the hilt. The force of the lunge sent him toppling, Wrent recovering quickly before noticing a woman with blood splattered across her outfit and face. "Who the fuck are you?!"

Instead of hearing a response, Wrent only heard Guang Hwa's panicked footsteps sprinting down the tunnel back the entrance fleeing for his life, leaving Wrent to fend for himself.

The woman merely cocked her head sideways as she kicked aside the mutilated body of a Red Lion member, surprisingly still breathing and moaning. Wrent roared as he charged forward bravely, only for all of his strikes to be parried easily by the woman, each step pristine like a dance. The woman had a bored expression on her face, almost yawning while Wrent gave it his all, slashing and throwing energy wave after wave.

"Fuck!" Wrent shot forth an energy wave, the woman suddenly slashing her sword perpendicular to the wave, dissipating it right through the middle as the two halves of the wave smashed into the wall behind, a dust cloud erupting from the impact.

Before Wrent could launch another combo, he suddenly felt a burning sensation carved right through his fingers, his grip on his sword lost as it went sailing through the air, clattering onto the blood-stained ground. Wrent collapsed to his knees, fighting back the urge to scream from the loss of his fingers.

As the woman slowly approached him, a primordial fear began to seep into Wrent's heart as he involuntarily scrambled backwards, half of him suddenly wondering if Damian was not even the second strongest in the Seven Snakes.

<---Chapter 88 - Same Old Routine|Table of Contents|Chapter 90 - Radicals--->