Chapter 56
Two days later, I went down to the lower district and t up with Gabriel.
“Luka, I’ve gathered so n. They’re the type who’ll do anything as long as you pay them.”
Gabriel pointed toward the entrance of an alley. There, five n with cheap cybernetic implants embedded all over their bodies were inhaling vaporized liquid through inhalers. I wasn’t even curious about what that liquid might be.
“I told you to find reliable n, not junkies.”
When I rebuked him, Gabriel stared at incredulously.
“You want reliable people in this kind of place? Are you kidding ? Those guys are the most diligent ones I could find!”
Gabriel got angry. Thinking about it, I had nothing to say. How many truly sincere people could there possibly be in this kind of environnt?
I walked towards the hideout Gabriel had secured. The hideout was a small building deeper into the alleyway. It was also close to Gilda’s workshop.
This would serve as the office for Gabriel’s gang from now on.
“Ah, B-boss! You’re here?”
One of the junkies waved his hand at Gabriel. Seeing his dazed eyes already gave a headache.
The people Gabriel gathered were far worse than I had expected. They were the kind of people you couldn’t entrust important tasks to. One misstep, and they’d betray you.
“What about Ken Noma?”
“I arranged a room for him inside the hideout. As I told you last ti, pulling Ken out of the hospital cost a pretty penny. After securing the hideout and hiring these guys, I’m totally broke.”
He was asking for more money.
I pulled out a credit chip, entered an amount, and tossed it to Gabriel. Gabriel grinned as he snatched the chip from midair.
‘I wonder how much more spending Hemillas will tolerate from .’
It was probably still within acceptable limits. The Imperial Guard had a sizable budget.
“What should I introduce you as to the guys?”
“Tell them I’m a sponsor.”
In the lower districts, it wasn’t uncommon for nobles or wealthy individuals to back gangs in order to expand their influence. It wouldn’t seem strange. Besides, it was partly true.
Gabriel approached the n first and spoke to them. Soon after, a bald-headed man eyed eagerly.
“So, the young master here is the boss of our boss, huh? Hehe.”
Rubbing his hands together, the bald-headed man approached . It seed he wanted to get sothing from .
“I don’t care what you usually do, but stay sober when you’re working.”
“Oh, of course.”
I stared at the back of the bald man’s head. There was an open-and-shut drug injection port embedded in the back of his skull. It seed he occasionally opened it to inject drugs directly into his brain.
“You’ll be Baldy from now on. You there—Pig Nose, next to him is Dog Eyes, and Beard...”
Instead of using nas, I referred to each man by nicknas based on their characteristics. The n nodded as though they were accustod to this kind of treatnt.
Ken, whom I was protecting, was an important figure for tracking Kinuan’s movents. I ordered the n to guard Ken and the hideout in two shifts.
I inspected the inside of the hideout. The entire first floor was a single room, while the second floor had four rooms arranged along a central corridor. Although shabby, it wasn’t bad for use as a hideout.
Ken Noma’s quarters were in the innermost room on the second floor. I opened the creaky door to check on Ken’s condition. Ken was sitting on the bed, drooling. His cognitive ability was still severely impaired.
“Ken’s na should still be listed in the hospital’s records, right? Unless soone visits him, nobody will notice he’s gone. Except, of course, the guards and nurses we’ve bribed.”
Gabriel spoke while leaning his shoulder against the doorfra. I was slightly impressed by his clever handling of the situation—he was proving more competent than I’d expected.
“La Vie en Rose, was it? What’s going on with that gang?”
“They told to show up within two days, or they’d kill . Probably... they ant it.”
“No point in dragging it out. We leave now. On the way, tell everything you know about La Vie en Rose.”
Although still hard to believe, Martina—the boss of La Vie en Rose—had beco obsessed with Gabriel. Left alone, Gabriel would either end up dead or beco Martina’s subordinate.
Without Gabriel, things would beco complicated for . I was already swamped; the workload in the lower district would double or triple without him.
‘Aleph from the arena can’t replace Gabriel.’
Aleph crossed my mind, but I quickly discarded the idea.
Aleph might follow my orders, but I didn’t want to get close enough for him to track my movents. Even the slightest misalignnt in interests would lead him to sell out.
* * *
Sothing Kinuan had said earlier ca to mind.
‘Even worms have their own roles to play.’
He’d said that upon seeing the gangsters who kidnapped Gilda. Thanks to those words, they’d managed to keep their lives.
In the lower district, there were nurous gangs, both large and small. Especially in the shadowy areas beyond the Empire’s administration and security, gangs held significant power.
If a gang had a specific na like La Vie en Rose, it ant the boss had changed several tis over, implying that it had its own history and traditions.
“La Vie en Rose is a gang created by prostitutes to protect themselves. It’s one of the two major powers in the red-light district.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes around, grinning.
Even though it was midday, the red-light district overflowed with sensory disturbances. Intrusive holographic advertisents lined the main streets, forcing themselves into view whether you liked it or not.
Most were videos filled with naked won and their moans, but occasionally, n appeared as well. I even saw ’alien prostitutes,’ rare in the Empire.
When I turned my head away from the dizzying ads, my eyes briefly caught sight of smaller promotions aid at deviant tastes.
‘Animals have been mankind’s companions since our days on Earth. Dogs, cats, horses—they’re all our friends. Everything you’ve ever imagined is here....’
I didn’t even want to imagine the rest. Thankfully, this ad had no visuals.
“Luka, wanna stop by for a bit?”
Gabriel pointed toward a store in an alleyway.
I frowned. The shop, nestled in a shadowy alley, gave off a strange odor. Subtle colored lights were changing in sequence inside. Beyond the semi-transparent windows, soft, swaying shadows beckoned passersby with tempting gestures. Not being able to see clearly made it even more provocative.
“Hey, if you don’t want to, just say it instead of frowning. I just thought we might strengthen our friendship since we’re already here.”
Gabriel shrugged after seeing my expression.
“Cut the nonsense. Keep explaining.”
“......The most important first rule of La Vie en Rose is this: mbers of the gang must never harm or use violence against the ‘dolls.’”
’Dolls’ was slang for prostitutes. This rule was probably the reason La Vie en Rose enjoyed support from the red-light district—it defined the gang’s identity. They’d absolutely uphold this one rule. I nodded, waiting for Gabriel to continue.
“If you break that first rule, they’ll make you suffer so horribly you’d wish you were dead. But cases like that almost never happen anyway. Most mbers of La Vie en Rose are kids born here or forr prostitutes. It ans the people here are practically family.”
“What about Boss Martina?”
“Martina Diva. By the way, the leader of La Vie en Rose inherits the title ’Diva’ from generation to generation. And she must always be a woman. That way, she can easily secure support from the prostitutes.”
A gang was finished the mont it lost the support of its base community.
“The fact that Martina likes you ans you’ve t her before.”
“We just saw each other a few tis because of work. I sotis worked part-ti as security at their establishnts. I guess...I look kind of manly, intimidating enough for that.”
Listening to him, I realized Gabriel didn’t actually know much about Martina.
Before we knew it, we’d arrived at the agreed location. In front of us stood a three-story building of an oriental style rarely seen in the Empire. An old-fashioned wooden signboard had the words ‘Blue Ocean Pavilion’ engraved on it.
“We’ve co to see Martina.”
Gabriel announced our arrival as he stood at the entrance of Blue Ocean Pavilion. A gangster guarding the place imdiately contacted soone inside.
“With an ugly mug like that, you must be Gabriel. Who’s next to you?”
Soon after, a woman who appeared to be an executive ca out of Blue Ocean Pavilion. Her left eye was covered with an eyepatch, giving her a distinctive appearance.
“He’s my friend. Got a problem? You guys nearly got killed twice. You’re not seriously expecting to co here alone, are you? We’ll be carrying weapons inside, too. If you don’t like it, we can settle things right here.”
Gabriel threatened aggressively. It was genuinely intimidating—he probably was truly angry, too.
“......Understood.”
The eyepatch-wearing woman replied curtly and led us inside.
The first floor of Blue Ocean Pavilion was a club with a stage. It seed like business hours hadn’t started yet; only cleaners moved around while mbers of La Vie en Rose glared at us.
On the second floor, VIP rooms and other obvious-purpose rooms lined the corridor covered in red carpets. At the end of the hallway was a staircase leading to the third floor.
“Gabriel.”
On the stairs leading up to the third floor, the eyepatch-woman suddenly stopped.
“What now? You wanna fight here?”
Gabriel created an aggressive atmosphere by cracking his knuckles loudly. The tallic sounds echoed threateningly.
“I’m warning you—this ti, don’t refuse Diva. Only then will you survive.”
“Hey, Eyepatch Lady, I’m—”
Before Gabriel could finish, the woman walked up to the third-floor entrance and opened the door. As the door swung open, an intensely powerful fragrance, difficult to describe, wafted out. A pungent, stimulating scent mixed with a sweet fragrance filled the air. It was balanced delicately enough to make one’s mouth water, though so might’ve found it repulsive.
The eyepatch-woman stepped inside. Gabriel and I followed her through the doorway.
‘......So, this is what’s happening.’
The mont I entered, I understood the situation. The excessively strong fragrance contained substances designed to disrupt sensory perception. Several paralyzing drugs had probably been evaporated alongside it. Their effects were mild enough to dull one’s senses subtly, making them difficult to detect.
But how did I realize this?
Because even a soldier of my caliber noticed the gangster hiding by the door too late!
Click!
The muzzle of a pistol touched my temple. A gangster was aiming at . I had no ti to fully grasp the situation around .
The combat reflexes ingrained by training moved my body without any conscious thought.
Right now, I was no different from a wind-up automaton. Like releasing a tightly stretched rubber band, my body swiftly moved to neutralize the threat.
Creak!
The gangster pulled the trigger. I tilted my head sideways.
Bang–ang!
The gunshot passed by my ear, nearly tearing it. Without blinking, I stared at the gangster who had shot at . La Vie en Rose had many female gangsters. The one in front of was also a woman. But I didn’t hesitate to hit won, either.
Whoosh!
I grabbed the gangster’s gun-hand and jerked it forward. She lost her balance and stumbled toward .
Crack!
My fist struck upward, smashing into her chin. The impact traveled from her chin straight through the crown of her head.
Spl–at!
The gangster’s head literally exploded. Her jaw crumpled inward following the path of my fist, and the upper half of her skull popped open like the lid of a can, leaving a grueso red gap. Her mashed brain shot upward and splattered across the ceiling.
La Vie en Rose had clearly planned to kill outright. They must have decided I was an obstacle. They probably intended to remove and then negotiate with Gabriel.
But I had no intention of dying here. If they wanted to kill , I would simply return the favor. My body was already executing the next movent.
Whish!
I snatched the gun from the dead gangster. Finally, I had a brief mont to assess my surroundings clearly.
Gabriel and I stood at the entrance of the room. Beside , the dead gangster was collapsing to the floor, and the eyepatch-woman who guided us stood about five steps ahead.
Behind the eyepatch-woman, seven gangsters had drawn their guns.
“Nobody move. Even twitch a finger, and I’ll blow your heads off.”
I issued my warning. One gangster ignored my words and began aiming at .
Bang!
My shot was faster. True to my word, I blew apart that gangster’s head. There were already two corpses now.
Combat tension between us surged, ready to erupt. A massacre would soon follow.
“......Enough. Who instructed you to be rude to our guests?”
A voice erged as a door opened from an inner chamber. It was an exceptionally beautiful voice—I couldn’t tell if it was naturally lovely or surgically modified.
This voice probably belonged to Martina Diva.
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