As soon as the roadblockers confird the identities of the Hare's House crew, they imdiately put away their weapons and bead with joy.
"You're finally here! Co on, Caesar's waiting for you."
Just then, one of the Sons of Calydon spotted Billy lying on top of the vehicle.
"Wait—are you... Brother Billy? It's really you!"
Billy climbed down from the roof, dazed as he looked around.
They had finally arrived in Calydon Town, and his sensory modules were nearly fried from the bumpy ride.
Then he looked at the teenager beside him.
"You're... Little Carl?"
Carl's face lit up with excitent. "Brother Billy! You rember —that's aweso! So how did you end up with the folks from Hare's House?"
Billy's eyes flickered. "Uh... I'm here to help too."
He quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, Big Sis Caesar is still waiting. Let's get going."
Without another word, Billy smoothly leapt off the car roof.
The rest of the group stayed inside the vehicle as they followed Carl, a mber of the Sons of Calydon, deeper into the town.
The further they went, the more surprised Nicole and the others looked.
Aside from Billy, it was everyone's first ti seeing an actual settlent in the Outer Ring.
They'd only seen places like this in movies before.
But compared to the fictional depictions, Calydon Town looked even more rundown—almost entirely in ruins at first glance.
Only a handful of buildings still stood, and even those had clearly been patched up later.
Suddenly, Nekomata pointed ahead.
"Look! Are those kids with sticks? Are they training in martial arts?"
Carl nodded as he walked alongside them.
"Ever since that incident, Calydon has been constantly attacked by other gangs. To defend the town, kids have been training in martial arts from a young age at the training grounds. But Big Sis Caesar doesn't agree with that—she says kids shouldn't be on the training field. They should go to school like city kids. If they want to learn martial arts, they should do it in school. But... not everyone understands her view."
As they walked, Carl explained the story of the Sons of Calydon.
Thanks to Billy, his guard was down around the Hare's House team.
Soon, the group saw a large abandoned field ahead.
It had old horizontal bars, sand pits, tracks, wooden posts, punching bags... most of it leftover from the old era.
"This is the training ground of the Sons of Calydon," Carl said.
It was called a martial arts field, but it was really just an outdated workout space.
Without Carl's explanation, Nicole wouldn't have believed it. This place looked ten tis more broken down than the orphanage she grew up in.
After passing the field, Carl pointed toward a crumbling area ahead.
"That spot—Caesar plans to turn it into Calydon's very first school."
Nicole followed his gesture and stared at the ruined buildings.
She honestly couldn't imagine how anyone could turn those collapsed attics into a school.
Those structures had to be over a hundred years old.
Even if you patched them up with old materials, who knew when they'd cave in again? Nicole certainly wouldn't dare live in sothing like that.
Billy, however, didn't seem fazed.
"Actually, the previous boss had already started planning to build a school. If it weren't for that incident, Calydon would've beco the biggest gang in the Outer Ring by now…"
They continued walking down the crumbling streets of Calydon.
All along the way, they saw the scars of the town's past.
Thinking back to the shining skyscrapers of New Eridu, the contrast was overwhelming. It was hard to believe these places were only a hundred kiloters apart.
Billy let out a sigh.
"If it hadn't been for that incident, the whole town might've been rebuilt by now…"
Hearing him bring up that incident again, Nekomata couldn't contain her curiosity.
"Billy, what incident are you even talking about?"
Billy instantly deflected.
"That incident... is just that incident."
Nekomata sighed. "..."
Since he didn't want to talk, she dropped it.
Soon after, under Carl's guidance, the group reached the center of Calydon Town.
Inside a rundown building, they finally t Caesar, leader of the Sons of Calydon.
As soon as they walked in, Caesar greeted them with a booming laugh.
"Sam Li, Billy—and... the rest of you, you finally made it!"
It had already been a week since their last eting.
She couldn't quite rember the nas of Nicole, Anby, or Nekomata.
Scanning the group, her eyes landed on Soldier 11.
"She with you guys too? From Hare's House?"
Soldier 11 stood in full gear, eyes sharp—clearly no ordinary person.
Nicole grinned.
"Yep, you can call her Soldier 11. She's our newly hired intern."
Caesar nodded approvingly.
"Got it. Not bad, not bad."
After the greetings, she got straight to the point.
"After I got back last ti, I reached out to several gangs and finally tracked down that bastard Perlman. The reason I called you over... is to catch him."
Just thinking about the two million Dennies bounty made Caesar break into laughter.
She needed that money to fulfill the last leader's dying wish—building a school in Calydon.
Nicole spoke calmly.
"So? Where is Perlman hiding? Don't tell it's far."
Caesar's grin faded into a serious look.
"Not far—just a few dozen kiloters away. He's with the Lion's Tooth Gang now. Even beca their strategist."
At the ntion of that na, her voice grew cold.
"The Lion's Tooth Gang... they were involved in what happened back then."
Again, the sa incident ca up.
Nekomata furrowed her brow.
"Since we got here, everyone's ntioned 'that incident' like five tis. What exactly happened?"
Nicole, Anby, Sam Li, and the others all turned to Caesar, curious.
Seeing their expressions, Caesar drew a deep breath.
"Alright, no point hiding it anymore."
She spoke slowly.
"That incident... refers to the attack on Calydon over two years ago. A dozen gangs ambushed the town. Most of our elite fighters died in that battle. Many buildings that had just been rebuilt were reduced to rubble again…"
Back then, the Calydon Gang was a major force in the Outer Ring—respected, powerful, and never oppressive. They were beloved by the people.
But then, out of nowhere, over ten gangs struck at once.
Most were caught off guard and didn't even have ti to react.
What haunted Caesar the most was...
Even now, she still didn't know why those gangs had attacked—or who was really behind it all.
...
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