Opening the door, Adam stepped through into the streets of Red Thread. The street was nestled in so obscure corner of the city.
It had so pedestrians moving by, but for the most part, it was eerily quiet.
'It's rarely this quiet. What's going on?' Adam lowered the cap further over his eyes and walked down the cobblestone road, trying not to attract any attention.
It only took him two minutes of walking before he heard so loud banging noises.
Adam looked around the streets-they were empty, and there weren't any pedestrians around either.
At that mont, from one of the buildings, a wounded man crashed out of the door and fell onto the sidewalk, gasping for air with a bleeding wound on the shoulder.
Then, another man stepped out of the building with a gun in hand, aid it at the wounded man, and then pulled the trigger.
Bang.
A bullet pierced through the wounded man's forehead, ending his life.
The man with the gun raised his gaze and saw another person around-the person looked sowhat younger than most people in Red Thread and had a baseball cap pulled over his
eyes.
Without further ado, he lifted his gun and placed his finger on the trigger.
Adam's eyes shook, and he quickly rolled to the side alleyway.
Bang.
The bullet flew and landed on the brick wall beside him with a piercing sound.
'What in the world?' Adam's eyes shook. 'Did I accidentally waltz onto an ongoing gang war?'
The man removed the clip from his gun, let it drop to the ground, and then pulled out a fresh one from his pocket.
He cocked his gun and slowly headed in the alleyway's direction.
As he neared the corner, he quickly jumped out with his gun ready and fired multiple shots at the dark alleyway.
The bullets landed on nothing but air.
"Huh?" The man looked at the empty alleyway. "Where did he go?"
There were more paths at the end of the alleyway, which the baseball cap-wearing young man must've taken.
"He ran way..." The man shook his head. "Tch, tch."
At that mont, a loud bang resounded from one of the roofs and pierced through his temple, also ending his life.
On the roof, a dark-eyed man was standing with a gun in his hand, a smirk on his face.
"Fool got distracted."
Already far away, Adam navigated through the alleyways and soon exited into a street, which he recognized as one of the main streets of Red Thread.
Strangely enough, it was also quite empty and quiet.
However, at that mont, he heard a voice.
"You there, foolish one."
"Huh?" Adam turned around and saw a man leaning on a bar wall with a cigarette on his lips and an alcohol bottle in hand.
"You newcor?" The man asked. "Otherwise, you would be a very stupid one, just wandering into an active scene of a deathmatch."
"Deathmatch..." Adam whispered to himself. 'I see. That's why this place is so deserted.' "I just arrived."
"Mm, I see." The man pointed behind the war. "You can watch from here. But don't get in the way."
Adam nodded briefly and entered the bar-there were many people inside, all watching the deathmatch unfold on a large screen.
They were screaming, cheering, and drinking while enjoying the show.
The deathmatch was an event that was arranged once a month.
Everyone could register for it and try to win it-it was basically a battle royale, only one would survive, but the winner gets rewarded with a small fortune that would be enough for them to live a leisure life and never have to work again.
It was quite a popular event in the underground world, broadcast across all criminal networks.
The prize money attracted so of the deadliest and most cunning fighters from around the world.
The man went to the corner table, where a group of his friends were laughing and drinking. He then whispered sothing to them, and they all turned their heads to Adam.
Adam acted like he wasn't aware of those gazes, but he was very much so.
'Ti to go...'
He touched his cap, turned around, and made his way to the exit.
As soon as he left, the people at the corner table stood up and headed in the sa direction.
Outside, Adam stepped onto the sidewalk and, with a rapid pace, started heading in the opposite direction of the deathmatch.
With his keen hearing, he was able to hear the doors of the bar swing open after his departure.
However, he didn't turn his head around and just kept walking forward.
Through the streets and alleys, he made his way to the outskirts of the underground town.
It was getting darker and colder as he walked further away from the center.
The lights on the ceiling didn't reach the far corners of the town, so it was quite dark and cold there.
Strangely enough, there were still people who lived there.
In a far corner of the underground city, there was a dim store with dirty windows, but the door
was open with a shoe placed against the door fra so it wouldn't close.
An open sign hung outside, swaying slightly in the breeze.
Adam stepped through the door imdiately after.
As soon as he did, the n following him stopped in the nearest alley. They eyed the store
curiously.
"He entered that place."
"It's owned by the Saruza Family. We can't do anything crazy here, or they'll put our heads on
a pike." "Let's wait until he cos out, then we'll be able to do whatever we want."
Inside the store, Adam slowly removed his baseball cap and looked around the store with a
glint in his eyes.
The store looked different from its future counter-part-it was sowhat dimly lit with dusty shelves and a musty sll in the air.
Completely different from the bright, popular store it would eventually beco.
A rusty chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a dim light over the store. It was almost like the light bulb was on its last legs, barely emitting any light.
"Ah, a visitor..." A gray-haired man ca from the back of the store, wiping his hands on his apron. "We're selling a variety of items that might pique your interest."
Adam approached the counter and saw so vintage caras displayed in a glass case. There were also so antique watches and pieces of jewelry scattered on the shelves.
It was almost like this store was a jewelry store.
"Jewelry?" Adam asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That's right." The gray-haired man chuckled. "My na's Kang Saruza, the owner of this
establishnt."
"I see." Adam slid his finger across the glass display case. "There's sothing I would like to
purchase from this establishnt."
"Oh, please tell ." Kang said with a warm, elderly smile.
"Z Package." Adam said and the atmosphere of the store changed suddenly.
Kang still smiled, but his vibe was completely different.
"Z Package? What's that?"
"You're Kang Saruza, the owner of House Enforcent, aren't you?" Adam asked.
"I am not sure where you heard that, but you're mistaken." Kang said and pointed to the door.
"I am sorry, but it looks like you entered the wrong store. May I suggest a house decorating store down the street?"
"My na's Adam Palestar." Adam placed his ID on the counter. "And I do need your help."
Kang's smile vanished.
"Can you afford it?"
"I can afford the down paynt." Adam said. "The rest I'll have to pay in installnts."
"I see." Kang nodded and removed his apron before placing it on the nearby chair. "Follow
then."
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