Thump.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump, thump!
“**D#mn it, who the f#ck is knocking on my f#cking door in the middle of the f#cking night?! Can’t people let me sleep?! Who the h#ll is it!?”
Brian, groggy and annoyed, climbed out of bed and grumbled his way to the door. He peered through the peephole and was instantly wide awake, feeling like he’d been doused with ice-cold water. He had lost all his sleepiness.
He hastily opened the door, and behind it stood Renji, holding the unconscious girl in his arms.
“Get in quick!”
“Eileen… What the f#ck happened to her!!?”
Brian anxiously stared at Eileen, who had lost consciousness. He shouted in a panic, but Renji immediately handed the girl over to him, letting him take her. He then explained that Eileen had only fallen asleep.
At first, Brian didn’t believe it. He recognized the Callewa uniform Eileen was still wearing, which was covered in battle scars and even had three glaring bullet holes in it.
But after a quick examination, he found that the girl didn’t have any injuries, her breathing was steady, and if he had to insist, she just seemed exhausted. That confirmed what Renji had said—Eileen had simply fallen asleep.
While relieved, Brian’s anxiety didn’t lessen.
“What the f#ck happened? Weren’t you supposed to pick up Nolan and leave the Blackhole Plains!?”
Renji didn’t answer immediately; he gestured toward Eileen, indicating that Brian should put the girl inside the room and take care of her first before they discussed matters further.
Brian moved to the empty guest room, removed Eileen’s coat, and tucked her into bed, covering her carefully. After softly closing the door, he left the room.
Renji began to explain, “After we split up from the bar, we went to the Dain Clinic, but we couldn’t find Aunt Nolan.”
“What!? That’s impossible! I sent people to check on Nolan just yesterday!” 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝑚
“Yeah, later I arrested the clinic director and interrogated him. That’s when we found out that they had taken advantage of today, when Eileen and Callewa’s people went into the Relic Cave together, thinking that Eileen wouldn’t come back. So, they sold Aunt Nolan.”
Brian stood frozen in place, overwhelmed by the information. It was too much to process.
“Eileen? Callewa? Relic Cave?”
“Yeah, Eileen accepted a high-paying exploration commission from the gang to raise funds for her mother’s surgery. But now, it looks like it was a scam. Callewa never intended for Eileen to come back alive.”
After listening to Renji’s words, Brian’s forehead veins bulged, and his blood rushed to his brain in anger.
“Idiot! Moron! This f#cking girl! Did her brain get kicked by a d#mn donkey!? How the h#ll can someone be so f#cking stupid to do such a f#cked up thing!?”
Renji seemed to understand that Eileen’s way of speaking had rubbed off on him.
After a tirade of curses, Brian quickly refocused and asked,
“What about Nolan? Where did they take Nolan? It couldn’t be!!”
“Yeah, Callewa” .
Renji nodded, confirming the worst-case scenario that Brian had imagined. It hit him like a bolt from the blue, and he felt his head spinning.
‘
Callewa. This was bad. Really bad. If it were any other faction, there might still be a chance to rescue Nolan. But if it was Callewa gang…’
Brian clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms.
In the next moment, the bearded man retrieved a submachine gun from under the couch and strapped five grenades to his waist, his eyes burning with determination as he prepared to rush out the door.
“Forget it, old man. It’s already too late,” Renji shook his head.
“Too late? I f#cking know! But even if I can’t save Nolan, I’ll make those b#stards pay for their d#mn sins! They’re gonna pay with their f#cking lives!!”
Brian, in his uncontrollable rage, then brought out a large canister of gasoline from the room, likely planning to use it as some sort of makeshift car bomb.
Renji, seeing this, raised an eyebrow.
“Listen, don’t get too worked up. Stay calm, and let me finish what I have to say.”
“Calm down? How the f#ck can you ask me to stay calm!! You don’t understand. You don’t f#cking understand! Nolan is the only woman I’ve ever loved in my entire life. I’d risk my life for her! I’ve already lost her once, and I don’t want to go through it again! Don’t f#cking talk to me about reason; I’ve lost all reason! I’m going to make those f#ckers pay for what they did to Nolan!!!”
“So, that’s why I said you’re already too late. Because the one you wanted to go ‘same journey’ with, the leader of Callewa, that guy, what was his name, Ajax!?, the gang leader of Blackhole Plains, has already been killed by Eileen.”
This statement from Renji finally brought Brian back from the brink of madness.
He stared at the young man with wide eyes, unable to believe his ears, and asked in disbelief,
“You, what did you just say? Ajax, the underground King of Blackhole Plains, the supreme leader of Callewa… dead?”
“Yes, and his doctor, along with the entire Tainted Miasma Factory that was experimenting on kidnapped people, all taken out by Eileen.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
Now it was Brian’s turn to doubt if Renji had lost his sanity.
Even Brian, who had been so out of his mind with the thought of seeking revenge on Callewa, realistically only considered it feasible to “exchange” himself for a mid-level leader at best. As for Ajax? Brian wouldn’t even dare to dream of that.
“If you don’t believe me and still want to go check, that’s fine, but I suggest you stay at home. First, because I think Eileen needs someone to be with her in her current condition, and second…”
Renji glanced at the wall clock.
“Well, considering the time, the area should be under lockdown by the Knight Order now, right? You won’t even be able to get in.”
Brian opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a word. Logic told him that this was impossible, that Renji was joking. However, his deep-seated intuition told him that the young man in front of him was not joking.
But Brian quickly realized that if what the young man said was true, then…
“What about Nolan? You didn’t find Nolan? Or is she… Is she already…”
“Aunt Nolan is still alive, but the trouble begins now because she managed to survive the experiments. So, Callewa sent her to the church.”
“The church?”
“Yeah, Callewa actually has a church secretly supporting them, acting as puppets for the priest, who researches the Emperor relics they dig up from the relics.”
Renji’s casual words sent shockwaves through Brian’s heart. Each sentence he spoke could potentially shake the entire Blackhole Plains to its core. At this moment, Brian deeply felt the tragedy of being a small player.
‘What had we done wrong? All we wanted was to live peacefully, but even so, we were still affected and devoured by the whirlpool of the upper echelons. And I had no way…’
If Brian had revenge on his mind when it came to Callewa, the situation changed dramatically when it involved the church.
‘No! There must be hope! There must be!’
Brian looked at Renji with pleading eyes, but as soon as he remembered that Renji had just described the church as “trouble,” his hope began to wane.
‘Is there really no way?’
“Uncle, you might have misunderstood me. When I said ‘trouble,’ it’s because I have an acquaintance in the church.”
“An acquaintance?”
“Yes, a very close acquaintance. It’s because of her that I’m a bit hesitant and unsure about how to deal with the church. Sigh…”
Renji seemed to be explaining to Brian, but it was more like he was muttering to himself in frustration.
“Anyway, let’s take it one step at a time.”
“Time is running out too. The Knight Order should have their investigation results by now. Uncle, can you lend me a phone? I need to make a call.”
‘Delaying time? Investigation results? A phone call?’
Brian couldn’t quite grasp Renji’s train of thought, feeling utterly confused. However, that didn’t stop him from rushing to the room and handing his phone over to Renji.
“Thanks.”
Renji said, “Now, it’s time for the next step… Ah! Found it! Thankfully, I didn’t lose it.”
He reached into his pocket, and to Brian’s confused gaze, he pulled out a silver-white… business card?
It was a Knight Order business card! It was from that incident earlier in the afternoon at the “Sea Sand” Miasma incident. At that time, Renji had tried to get the business card from the Knight Order team leader right in front of everyone, but Brian remembered that the leader had refused. However, Renji had persistently turned to another young knight nearby and successfully obtained the business card.
‘So, what was he planning to do with it now?’
“Let’s leave it at that for now, Uncle. I have to go. Take care of Eileen, and if she wakes up halfway, make sure she doesn’t wander around or come looking for me. Tell her to stay put and continue sleeping. And you, Uncle, be careful too. In any case, leave Aunt Nolan to me.”
With that, Renji started dialing the number on the business card while pushing open the door.
But as he reached the door, he suddenly remembered something and stopped. He pulled out another phone from his pocket, the one he had borrowed from Artur, the gangster from the factory.
“I almost forgot, Uncle. I’ve recorded everything you said to Aunt Nolan earlier. So, If Eileen did something stupid, you can scold her for it, but don’t be too harsh, and don’t lay a finger on her! Otherwise, when the tables turn, and I play that heartfelt speech of yours for her and her mother, I can’t say how Eileen will treat you.”
“That’s it, I’m off.”
Leaving behind a middle-aged, greasy-looking man with a contorted and ugly expression behind the door, Renji had already begun descending the stairs. At the same time, the phone he was dialing had someone pick up on the other end.
“Hello, is this Mr. Tamic?”
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