The artwork is not mine, Credits to the one who made it.
Y/n Pov
Siracusa
"Spy Camera working? Check. Tripwires in functional condition? Check again. Is my Hat not scratched? Check again." I noted. It's not easy to keep these devices in good working order. The most irritating aspect of regular maintenance is re-calibrating the tripwires. You may never know when will a tripwire not work as intended. I've had some faulty ones in the past, and some of them almost cost me my life, information, and a paycheck.
"Looks to me I got everything done and in order." I tell myself pleasantly, that a nice round of maintenance helps me get motivated to steal more precious information, how fun. "It's 5:14 in the morning, I must leave before 6 then, or else something terrible might happen."
I instantly cover my mouth, realizing what I just said.
"Ah... Jinxed myself." I face-planted myself, very much knowing something wrong is going to happen
"Well, now time to move out." I packed up all my things and left the room, but then came to a halt, trying to remember what I forgot to pack. Suddenly I remember, so I quickly dash back into my room.
"Oh my, I can't forget about you guys can I?" I quickly took all of them and left the room.
Timeskip
I peek up at the sky after a few hours of leaving the motel and discover that the sun has not yet risen, It's the perfect time for me to buy supplies without drawing any suspicion.
"Damn, Storage is almost full, I should acquire myself a new vehicle as well. It will certainly help me in saving time when traveling and in resolving my storage issue." I thought.
My one-of-a-kind portable storage device is about to run out of space. How did I acquire this? Well perks of my old job, thanks to a little engineer of my previous team. After a little monologuing I headed out towards a nearby city. Thinking about buying supplies.
Timeskip
City of Vite
"Quite the snug place actually, I guess this is one of the few perks of a place being run by mafia families." I whistled, checking the place out. I've been here before, but it's been a very long time.
I walked down the city streets of Vite, whistling. I can already feel the glares of people I walk past, to which I never paid any attention to it. They must have recognized me in some way or at least what am I, so much for an undercover. Not like I was planning to anyway.
In places like Siracusa, where a single piece of vital information leaked will ruin an entire string of connections, people like me are important. We are like weapons of destruction towards other rival families, only with less shooting and more spilling.
"Seeing this place evolve reminded me of some of the memories I have around here." I whispered.
I'm surprised that no one here tries to confront me, despite my reputation. Is it my clothes? My attire is similar to what I normally wear when I go info stealing. Although this iteration makes me look like a fashion star rather than a broker. I suppose this and wearing helmets, masks, or other face-covering clothing is pretty common nowadays.
"I wonder if she still remembers me." I thought, reminiscing of the memories I have of her.
Minutes passed and I ended up in the suburban area of the city. Maybe they have an electronic shop here, although I doubt it since the place looks like hell.
I walked through the suburbs when I came to a halt noticing the graffiti on the wall.
"The Infected are beings too. We are still people. We are not animals." I read, The last one is quite debatable though. Discrimination is a bastard. Give me more reasons to join Rhodes.
My examination came to a sudden end when I heard a gunshot. The sound, as far as I can tell, emerged from one of the surrounding alleyways.
"This should be interesting."
I went in search of the source of the noise, curious as to what all the commotion was about.
I walk fast, not enough to garner any suspicion from anyone who might be looking at me.
I can hear more gunshots being fired, with each getting louder. I'm getting nearer.
I was finally able to see what was going on. It appears to be a shootout. A couple of mafia men are attempting to shoot a group.
"You think you can escape us, you Bastards." A man yelled.
"Yeah, we will! In the name of your mother last night." A red-haired man yelled. Running towards an alleyway
"They're heading into an alleyway, chances are they will hit a dead end. They might need some assistance." I said. I looked around to see where I should position myself, and then I noticed a set of stairs leading to the fire exit.
"If I can get on the rooftop of the building, I'll be able to see them." I planned. Suddenly I heard another gunshot, followed by the clashing of swords.
"Now now, Don't you people start killing each other without me." I snickered.
I rushed up the stairs as quickly as I could without making too much noise, not enough to switch their attention to me. As I approached the rooftop, I could still hear the battle raging on.
I heard another gunshot fire. "Gah!" A man said. "Broca! Noooo! You bastards!" The red-haired man shouted.
I dashed over to the side of the roof and saw three people fending off a swarm of mafia members.
"Five at the left, two at the right, and one back near the five." I mumbled, looking if there is anybody else positioned. "No support units, no snipers, This should be an easy massacre."
I pulled out my spy camera and positioned it near the back of the group on a nearby wall. I shoot a tracking dart at one of the mafia members.
"Ack! The hell someone just shot me." The man flinched, trying to spot the source of the shot, causing the rest to get confused. The distraction gave the trio time to reposition and defend themselves.
"Now then, It's showtime." I said
I placed three of my cyber cages on all mafia members' positions. One is on the left, one is on the right, and the last one is on the rear. I activated both at the same time, materializing an electric cage.
"What the?"
"Shit, I can't see!"
"Oh hell no they have back up." I heard one of them yell. The group tried to escape through the back cyber cage but were slowed down.
"Shit, we move so slow." A mafia member yelled
"Damn it, We can't escape." Another one grunted.
"Of course, you're not escaping from my cages."
I jumped over the roof and drop down at the front of the trio. I eyed down at them and saw a white-haired lupus, the Red-haired feline, and a Black-haired feline who got shot in the arm. They stared at me in shock, and I just nodded at them.
I quickly took out my pistol and shoot all the trapped mafia members through the cage.
All of the bullets hit their mark, seeing that their bodies drop to the ground.
I glanced at the group once more, seeing their cautious look at their savior. I tried to lighten the mood.
"Well know, that was quite the thrill wasn't it." I chuckled, deactivating my cages. I can feel pride when I saw the look on their faces. The shock they saw at the bodies.
"Show off..." I heard the red-haired feline whisper. I smirked at his statement.
"Who are you? What is your reason?" The white-haired Lupo said.
"Well, your savior of course." I said smugly. "I merely heard some fighting and saw your merry gang getting cornered by members of the local family who owns and operates this place. Plus, it was becoming a little dull around here, so I took advantage of the situation."
I saw the red-haired put down his weapon? Who'd have guessed a huge wrench and a wire cutter could be used as a weapon? It appears that nowadays, creativity can turn a person dangerous, despite the fact that a wrench isn't creative.
He approached me, took my hand, and shake it fast.
"Thank you, Thank you, Thank, you for saving us mysterious person!" The red-haired cried out, much to my confusion. I glanced at the rest of the group and saw both of them shaking their heads in disapproval. The red-haired feline finally stopped and give me a shy smile, feeling embarrassed. I shook my head as well.
"Ok ok, your welcome. Now go on and check your friend there. He got shot remember?" I remarked, prompting him to turn around and rush over to his friend?
He realized what I just said and quickly went toward the black feline.
"Oh no no no! Broca don't leave us
yet, we still need you, buddy!" He cried out, much to the annoyance of the rest of his group.
"Chiave, I'll live. You can get your hands off me..." Broca said, then Chiave hugged him much to the discomfort of The Black-haired feline.
The white-haired feline shrugged and went towards me.
"So, if Mr. leader has already introduced himself to you, we might as well do the same." He announces.
"My name is Aosta and to be honest, I'm practically the brains of the group.
this here our glorious leader is Chiave as you already know."Chiave smugly grinned as a result of this. Both Aosta and Broca sighed at their leader. "Moving on, this fella here is Broca, he is the muscles of the group." Broca gave no reaction at all in his introduction.
I knew it. They are the trouble makers of Siracusa. I have heard about this group quite well.
"Coincidentally enough, I heard about your gang quite a lot. You guys have a notorious reputation for angering the local mafia families here in Siracusa." I said
Chiave nodded, "Amen for that Mr?-"
"Cypher, Codename Cypher."
"Ooooh, mysterious and cool name, I like it." He then gave me two thumbs up. I chuckled at his antics
"I saw the news headlines now, 'Chiave's Harem' infuriates Local mafia, is getting hunted down." I snickered.
All three of them groaned, none more than Chiave himself.
"WHY THAT NAME!" He screamed. "The official name of my gang is Chiave's Gang! NOT, Chiave's Harem! I am not into dudes!" Chiave smacks both palms onto his forehead in frustration.
"Is that what you're concerned about?" Aosta groaned.
"At the very least, they didn't officially call you. 'The fleeing pussies'." I snickering, much to the dismay of Chiave and Aosta, while Broca remains silent.
"Who calls us that?" Broca asks, to my surprise.
"Of course, Half of the underworld by now." I replied, causing all three to sigh once again.
"Now then, back to business." I said gaining the attention of the gang. "I've got a small problem on my hands, and it's that I don't have access to any form of transportation. So I was wondering that since you have quite a reputation in Vite, you might as well know all of the best car dealerships in Vite. Think of it as repayment."
"If you're saying that you want the best vehicle you can find then... That is going to be quite a problem, cost-wise anyways." Aosta replied.
"LMD is not a problem, I saved up quite a lot."
Chiave suddenly smiled at me and patted me on the back with his hand on my shoulders.
"Ok Cypher, you got yourself a deal! I and thy gang will show you the best car stores in the whole region." Chiave fist-pumped the sky in excitement.
"Car Dealership Chiave."Aosta sighed, earning an embarrassed laugh from their leader.
"Now then, Cypher you picked the wrong city for this as most of the best ones are in Sette Colli city and Locomotiva. Both of those cities my gang can't enter." Aosta stated.
"Let me guess, In Locomotiva you managed to infuriate the Trin family, which are the leading family that controls the oil industry in Siracusa by "accidentally" destroying three of their Oil mills, costing them thirty million LMD's worth of damages. Then, in Sette Colli city, you manage to collapse not one, but three different originium crystal smuggling operations by inadvertently signaling the Siracusa police department, over which five different families managed to fight for the stocks. Both of these I applaud you for your actions." I replied, chuckling soon after.
I can see that they were all taken aback by my response; if they had any doubts about what I do, this should remove them. Although this was easy since it was all over the news.
I give them a shrug, "What? My job is to learn information and sell it. I am an info broker after all."
After a couple of dead silence, Aosta sighed and continue. "Well now, that was creepy." To which both Broca and Chiave nodded. "To cut a long story short, we can hook you up with one of the underground dealers we know about, who not many people are aware of. They're one of the best in terms of producing military-grade equipment."
After that, I saw Chiave's face brighten. "Oh hell yes, Aosta do you mean about the Blue Suns right?" Which Aosta nodded, to my amusement.
"I heard about the Blue Suns. They're one of the best. Used to be one of the top private military vehicle producers in Siracusa and even in Victoria and Lathanien."
"But what confuses me is that they disbanded three and a half years ago. Did they reassemble?."
Aosta shook his head "No they didn't. It's just most of the members decided to retire and become car mechanics. Chiave happened to have some relationships with some of the retired members."
I nodded. Quite Interesting, their skills are unmatched by most. I think I'll be a regular consumer of theirs if their products live up to their reputation. I hope I am not proven wrong.
Chiave patted my shoulder, "Cypher my guy, we can take you to them. We know where they reside after all." He smiled. "It will take a while for us to get there, but we should be thereby? Uhh..."
"Before dinner time, estimated 6:00 p.m." Broca cut in.
"Oh yeah, What Broca said."
I nodded, "Looks like a plan has been made, Well now, I will follow your lead to where this place is." The three agreed.
"Alright, Broca can you still walk? You want me to carry you?" Chiave asks, feeling sympathetic.
"Chiave, Broca only got shot in the arm, he can walk by himself..." Aosta deadpanned.
"No need." Broca replied as he gets up.
We were about to leave with the group when I saw Broca realize they had forgotten something.
"What are we going to do about the bodies?"
"Of course we let them rot. From the streets they were made, the streets shall they rot." Chiave Scoffed, surprising me and his gang.
"Oof." Aosta shuddered.
"Let's just get to the van." Broca groaned.
"Before we go, I need to resupply. Plus I'm hungry." I said, causing the group to sweatdrop.
Timeskip
"Maybe this was a bad idea to let Chiave drive us there." I shuddered.
"Aww, Cypher you couldn't handle the heat?" Chiave taunted, much to the dismay of his team.
"Heat you say?" Aosta stared at Chiave. "Chiave, You managed to lead us to multiple deathtraps, Thanks to you Broca got shot in the arm again, Cypher lost a dozen of his gadgets just to let us escape, and let bandits fill our van with bullets holes which will make us more suspicious when we encounter the mafia again." He scolded, which made the leader bow his head down in shame.
"Hey, the boys can fix our van for us. At least we are in one piece, am I right?" Chiave stated.
Aosta and I shook our heads in disappointment while Broca stayed relatively the same. Guess the man does not care if he gets shot as long as he is still alive.
The last time I was on my former team, we would be wary of our route anytime we went on a mission. Hell, I wonder how the hell these guys managed to survive. I'm glad though that I have met them, But I'm thrilled I met them; performing the same routine over and over can get a little tedious. It wouldn't hurt to make a change of pace around here.
While Chiave is driving us to our destination in the van. I reflect on the events of the past, wondering what happened to the rest of the team. After what transpired in that incident, I hope they are still living somewhere.
"Hey, Cypher."
I left my train of thought as I heard someone calling my name. I looked at the person no other than Chiave. What does he want?
"So, you know... Just to pass the time, you got any good stories to tell us. Like you know, about your work? Any cool missions?"
I was a bit taken back. Not many people would ask such a question. Normally, they would either threaten me with spilling information or ask me directly about my background.
"Well now, that is a personal question Chiave. We hardly even met." I said.
"Aww don't feel bad, we trust you. Right guys?"
I saw Broca and Aosta looking at him, puzzled. Broca then simply shrugged, while Aosta shook his head.
"If the leader trusts him, then I will." Broca replied
"I guess I can Trust him if you guys trust him. All he did was save us and ask us to take him to buy a car." Aosta replied.
"See, If we trust you then you can trust us." Chiave smiled.
I look dismayed, not that they can see my face anyways. "That is not how it works, but very well. I will tell you some of my missions but under two conditions."
"Sure." Chiave nodded.
"For starters, I'm not going to give any stories that are classified or worth selling to potential clients. Second, what I stated should not be shared with others, am I clear on that?" I stated.
"Crystal." Chiave and Aosta replied, while Broca just nodded.
Flashback
Leithanien
I observed the bandits' fear of me as I stared at them.
"Shit he is here, we're going to die!"
"Focus you son of a bitch!" The leader of the bandits yelled, "The fact that he is only one and we are many. We can use our numbers to our advantage."
I hummed "Then someone is going to die tonight?"
I immediately activate the cyber cages I'd set up earlier, blinding them to my existence. I dashed to cover as they were about to shoot through the cage.
Then I took out my phantom and began to pick off the Bandits. One was killed with a headshot, while the others were primarily killed by body shots. They were easy prey for me because they couldn't see me, slowed from my cage, and had little to no experience with firearms.
I suddenly heard my tripwire was triggered by someone.
"So, there are bandits from the top floor." I whispered.
So I quickly dashed towards my tripwires position and shoot the stunned bandit.
"Goodness Gracious, do you think you are slic-" I was suddenly cut as a shot hit me near my left shoulder, lucky bastards. Thankfully, the coat I was wearing kept it from penetrating me, originium infused Kevlar© fabric is a beauty.
I immediately turned around and shot the remaining enemies, leaving the bandit leader alone. I shot his legs, just to make sure he would not escape. Then I deactivate the Cyber cage.
The bandit leader saw me and attempted to shoot me, but I was faster and shot his hand, causing him to drop his gun.
"Argh! Fuck... FUCK!" He grunted, gripping his left hand in pain.
I chuckled, going toward him slowly.
"Well, where did the numbers go now? You stated that numbers do have an edge; yet, you did not mention skill as a factor." I taunted.
"F-fuck you." He spat at me
I wiped the spit off my shoes, smirking, and kick his gun away from his reach.
"Now now now, you know I am a man with mercy if you tell me where is the girl. Then I will let you live. Simple as that." I stated.
The leader looks left to right, seeing that all of his men are dead. He sighs.
"I may die a death, but will never tell you where she i-" I cut him off by shooting him in the head.
"You could have saved me the trouble of killing another person." I muttered.
I took off my hat and throw it at the corpse of the leader.
"Where is she hiding." I said.
After a few seconds, my hat began analyzing the corpse and displayed to me all the living beings in a single area. Identifying the presence of a little adolescent above a floor. Jackpot.
I dashed up the stairs, leaving the bandits' remains behind, and discovered a locked room in the same spot as my target.
I shoot the lock, destroying it, and went inside the room. I saw the little girl all tied up, weeping in fear. Luckily she was in decent shape, nothing has happened to her.
"I managed to make it here on time." I muttered.
I went up towards the girl, but she flinches away.
"Please, don't do this. Stay away from me!" She shrieked.
I frowned "No little sheep, I'm here to save you."
She didn't trust me at first, but once she realized what I had done, she did. Her mood brightened, and she began to cry in joy. She's finally being rescued. I sighed in relief.
I grabbed my pocket knife from my coat and cut the ropes that bound her.
She rubbed her arms, hissing in pain. She looked at me and suddenly tackles me to the ground.
"Thank you, Thank you, mister." She rejoiced, crying silently and embracing me
I hugged her back, enjoying the feeling. If this is the reward for saving child hostages, then I should do this more often.
I took a glance around and noticed several things. But there was one item that irritated me the most; A camera on a tripod.
They were going to blackmail her family, using their own daughter non the less. I'm glad I killed that sick bastard.
"There there." I patted her on the back to calm her down. "I'll take you to your parents. They were the ones who sent me here."
I realized she was out cold. Guess due to the shear stress. I carried her and take her back.
Flashback End
"Woah..." Chiave muttered, looking a bit sad. Aosta looked depressed and Broca looked away in shame.
"She was a volcanologist, and according to her parents, she was investigating the local volcano for seismic activity when she was kidnapped by those scumbags. She was too young, way too young to experience that. I realized that... These are happening all around the world. I may be ruthless, but I have morals." I sighed.
"Shit... Man, I thought you are going to tell us a cool story. Glad you told us this, as this gives us all the more reason to join Rhodes Island." Aosta spoke. Broca hummed while Chiave nodded.
"Rhodes Island you say?" I said.
"Yeah, what about It Cypher?" Aosta questioned.
"Well, since I trust you guys... I am planning to join Rhodes island." This piqued the interest of both Chiave and Aosta.
"Ooh my, what a small world." Chiave grinned. "So, Cypher, it appears that you'll be sticking with us for a while longer."
I sighed, looking at Aosta who he does not mind, and so does Broca.
"Well now, if we are going to Rhodes, Then I'm going to need a bigger vehicle."
An: Chiave, Broca, and Aosta are underrated. It's time someone included them in a story.
Also, I apologize for updating the book so late. Typhoon is a bitch towards my wifi. Please criticize my work.