On the top floor of the multistoried building, the strong wind tousled Garen’s hair and clothes. He stood at the edge of the floor, allowing the gigantic billboard to block more than half of his body while he lowered his head and looked downwards.
On the street below that stretched between two tall buildings, among the people on the pavement, a young man and woman walked out of a building and walked along the street together towards a few parked motorcycles.
Through the corner of his eye, Garen saw that the red-haired girl who was currently chatting with two males was actually Goldfish whom he had seen previously.
“Apparently the information I received from Anda was pretty accurate,” that guy named Anda was clearly an information trader as the information that he received from him for one hundred thousand points was extremely reliable.
Garen raised his watch and glanced at his own Quest Points.
“I only have three points left after going to the training room even though I had twenty points in the beginning… Looks like I’ll have to get some Quest Points soon or it’ll be troublesome during the examinations.”
He lowered his head and stared below at Goldfish who was saying goodbye to the two boys and walking with another girl back to her motorcycle. He turned around and rushed downstairs but Goldfish had already gotten on her motorcycle and left the building area once he had reached the bottom floor.
Garen had fully memorized the terrain of this area clearly a long time ago. He used the alleys and shortcuts to follow Goldfish closely. After modifying his body, he was almost able to match the speed of the motorcycle when he ran at full speed.
While following her closely from behind slowly, he saw Goldfish arriving in front of an ashen, pointed multistoried building a little while later. She stopped her motorcycle, switched off the engine and got down.
Garen glanced at the name of the owner of this large building that was marked on the side.
“Von Anise. The information states that this person is one of the instructors in the inner domain but this place looks very unassuming…”
After hesitating for a moment, Garen walked out of the alley and took large strides towards the doorway of the building that Goldfish entered.
Goldfish was pushing the revolving glass door that led to the lower floor of the building when she saw a figure behind her that was reflected by the glass suddenly.
“It’s that person from that day!” she was shocked. “He actually followed me all the way here! How did he find me!” she had begged her seniors to help her find information about the man but they had yet to give it to her even until now. She had never expected that the other person would be slightly faster than herself.
Fortunately, she could still use that item for a third time.
Goldfish reached into her pants pocket and grasped the item inside her pocket tightly while steadying her mind.
She turned around and faced her opponent head-on while getting out of the way so that other people could come and go.
“Should we step aside and chat?” the voice of the other man drifted over. Goldfish furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him. He had short black hair, dark blue eyes, and pale skin. He looked vicious even though the corners of his mouth were curled when he smiled which made it seem as if he was sneering cruelly. His body was muscular and he gave off an oppressive atmosphere faintly when he stood there.
“Do you always move so quickly?” Goldfish teased.
“It was just luck,” Garen smiled.
“What do you want to talk about?” Goldfish observed her opponent’s actions and stance carefully. After suffering terrible injuries the last time, she knew that this man was strong. However, should she really be fighting right in front of the building where her tutor was staying?
While looking at this man cautiously, Goldfish made a mental note to be extremely careful.
The other person smiled.
“I still remember the first time I was in the hospital. You came into my room at night, ambushed me, and almost mauled me. I’m here to repay you.”
Goldfish recalled everything immediately. He was the strange young man whom she had encountered that night, the same person she had met suddenly while carrying out her mission. Her memory of him was still so vibrant even though a long period of time had passed since then.
“What are you planning to do?” fear began to fill her mind. She looked on as the other man continued to smile calmly as if he had no intention of taking action against her at all. However, she could not understand why she felt terrified while standing on the opposite side of him.
“The compensation for that night and the injuries that Fila inflicted on me previously will be part of your debt to pay. How many Quest Points do you have now?” asked Garen calmly.
“I have two hundred and sixty-three points and I’ll transfer all of them to you! Don’t come back and bother me!” Goldfish took a step back and tried to increase the distance between herself and the other person. Fila had just happened to pass by coincidentally when she saved Goldfish and her seniors that one time. However, it was impossible for her to have such good luck every single time.
“So few points,” Garen twisted his neck.
“What do you mean ‘few points’?! We only managed to accumulate these Quest Points after doing many difficult quests over a long period of time!” Goldfish’s voice had become slightly higher. However, she tried her best to suppress it immediately. “How do you plan on letting me off then?! I still have more than a million Universal Units and I can transfer all of them to you too. I also have a few techniques on me that I can give you too!”
She knew that she would have no way to live if she did not solve this problem properly now. Her opponent was not someone that a Level Two individual like herself would be able to defeat.
Initially, Garen had come over to try and understand the situation better and planned to find an opportunity to kill his opponent later. However, he had never expected that this woman would be tactful enough to admit defeat immediately. This made it difficult for him to go on with his original plans.
Just as he was hesitating, Goldfish opened her mouth again.
“Tell me your requirements. I have some girls in my downlines that I can let you play with, including myself if that’s what you want. As long as you stop looking for me and giving me trouble. Anything is fine.”
“What are you…” Garen was slightly shocked.
“That’s right. Why do you think I have so many Quest Points?” Goldfish brushed her long hair away from her forehead. “I’m the one they call ‘Thorn’, so wouldn’t it be natural that I have so many beautiful roses around me?”
The supposed ‘Thorn’ was actually a female pimp who engaged in the flesh trade while the female students below her merely nicknamed her with this euphemism.
Garen understood at once when he heard everything.
“Thorn? No wonder you have so much savings and tricks despite your low level.”
“Since I’ve already admitted defeat, you can either kill me or dismember me now,” Goldfish stretched both of her arms open and raised her ample bosom intentionally.
“If it’s going to be like this, we have certainly solved our problems quickly,” Garen smiled. “Tell me the information about the person from the Administrative Bureau who made a move that day then…”
Tch!!
He charged forward suddenly and curled his finger upwards like a hook before stabbing it in front.
A popping noise could be heard before a wet, bloody eyeball was gouged out of Goldfish’s eye socket. While she screamed in pain, Garen used his palm to hit her lower abdomen swiftly.
Goldfish’s entire body was sent flying before she collided with the glass door behind her violently. The glass did not break from the collision but the impact caused her to bounce back right after she hit the door.
“This will write off our previous grudges,” smiled Garen while walking over. He stomped downwards and cracked Goldfish’s right thigh bone in one movement.
Ahh!!!
The latter let out a blood-curdling cry instantly.
None of the surrounding passersby came forward to stop them. When they witnessed the violence happening right in front of their eyes, most of the people who were entering and leaving the building walked around the pair instead and hastened their footsteps to leave the area quickly.
No one would be willing to intentionally start a fight with a Level Four pilot here in a low-level territory like this. Therefore, most of them just evaded him and left.
Goldfish wailed painfully and pressed one hand against her thigh while using her other hand to cover her eye. Every single trace of her beautiful disposition had disappeared, leaving nothing but miserable howls. Large puddles of sweat that had formed from the intense pain drenched her entire body and soaked through most of her clothes. Next, dark patches appeared where they were dirtied by the dust on the ground.
Garen shook his head faintly.
“Remember to pass me the information.”
“I… I will!” Goldfish ground her teeth and trembled when she spoke. The pain that was coursing through her body made it almost impossible for her to focus her attention.
“And about the Quest Points, transfer two hundred to me. Forget about the Universal Units,” said Garen casually.
After forcing Goldfish to transfer her Quest Points and give him the information about the person from the Administrative Bureau, Garen leisurely left the area.
“I’ll come and look for you again if I need to,” he waved at Goldfish with his back towards her and left in a relaxed and happy manner.
Goldfish’s soft curses echoed behind him from afar.
“Don’t think I didn’t hear that~” Garen’s single sentence was enough to scare Goldfish into shutting her mouth tightly.
******************
Reagan’s mind felt somewhat disturbed when he exited the Administrative Bureau.
He had just received news that the ‘Thorn’ Goldfish had been ambushed outside the doorway of her own home. One of her eyes had been blinded while one of her legs had become lame. Her opponent was violent and cruel and there was no way to fit her with new artificial parts yet. It was rumored that he had used special measures to completely destroy the edges of the parts that could be used for artificial implants.
Goldfish had almost lost her own life as well. The scariest part was that her opponent’s moves were as precise as surgical operations as there had not been much bleeding. Instead, most of her bleeding was internal.
Goldfish was completely quiet when they saved her life. She remained silent and left the hospital immediately after paying the treatment fees.
Some people said that her attacker was a black haired, muscular man who was tall and looked vicious.
This made Reagan immediately think of the man that he had helped Goldfish get rid of recently. If Fila had not coincidentally inflicted him with critical injuries that time…
“There’s no way that it could be that man…” he shook his head and walked out of the Administrative Bureau. He greeted a few of his colleagues before walking towards the underground carpark.
“That man was badly injured by Senior Fila. He wouldn’t be able to heal his injuries so quickly regardless of the treatment methods that he used. Moreover, according to what Senior Fila said, if that person didn’t die in the fight, he would be crippled at least.” Reagan walked into the quiet and empty underground car park. He walked to the side of his car quickly before pulling the door open.
“Hi, how are you?”
Suddenly, he saw a black-haired man sitting in his own car. This man had dark blue eyes and was currently stretching his hand outwards and greeting him while exposing his pearly white teeth.
“You!” Reagan wondered if he had walked to the wrong car. He was just about to open his mouth and ask when he was suddenly overcome by a bout of dizziness.
He lowered his head in a daze and looked at his lower abdomen. A pale arm had appeared there suddenly and was now stabbing deeply into his stomach. Blood flowed down his pant leg continuously and dyed his shoes red. It dripped on the ground and formed a little puddle of bright red fresh blood there.
Instantly, he looked over at the other man’s hand that was being outstretched slowly. However, there was not a single drop of blood there.
“A favor for what happened during the last few days. Thank you so much for your care,” Garen’s smile was both alluring and vicious.
“You…!!” said Reagan in disbelief while covering the wound on his abdomen. However, the hole there was too big and he could actually see the ground behind him faintly through his stomach.
He knew that he would not be able to leave today.
“My big sister… will not forgive you!!” he staggered a few steps backward and sat on the ground. His face had already turned ghostly pale because of the dangerous blood loss he was suffering.
Vroom… The sound of a car engine could be heard before a Hover Car was positioned towards his body precisely. The car traveled at the quickest speed before crashing into him violently.
A popping noise could be heard when Reagan was smashed in between the car and the wall. He turned into a mess of bloody red bits of flesh before he stopped moving completely.
Garen sat in the driver’s seat and turned the engine off and got out of the car. He had turned off the automatic surveillance cameras in the car park long ago and was not worried that any traces of his identity as the killer would be recorded.
“This has been solved as well. The last one is Fila,” he took his gloves off and rubbed his slightly cold hands together before turning around and walking out of the car park exit.
Coincidentally, a slender man in white clothes was walking down the slope that led to the car park slowly. He held his car keys in his hands and watched Garen who was walking out. The tip of his nose twitched slightly as if he had smelled something unpleasant. Unconsciously, he glanced at Garen once again.
Garen turned to him and curled his mouth into a smile before walking out of the car park leisurely.
Mech Pilots with strong Willpowers were incredibly powerful when they were prepared. However, their reaction speeds and accomplishments could never surpass Secret Technique users when they were ambushed suddenly. Mech Pilots needed to adjust their Willpower to strengthen their bodies to use both attack and defense moves. Moreover, Willpower could not be used unconsciously and required nerve reactions before they could come into effect.