Chapter 45: Getting On The Nerves Of A Gang
Klaus whistled as he wandered the streets near the night market located in the south of the Golden City with his hands in his pockets.
’As expected, he is similar to Liliana. They will only trust me after making use of whatever little plans they have.’
A bicycle swished past him, and he yelled, "Slow down, dumbass. Are you trying to kill people?!"
The cyclist turned his head back and glared at him before taking a sharp turn to the left.
"People nowadays have no concern for others’ safety," he sighed deeply and returned to his thoughts.
Anyway, what was I thinking about? Ah... yes.
Over the past two days, he had met Liliana, Trenton, and Clyde, using the information the system had on them and about the troubles they were experiencing.
Originally, Liliana was never able to catch the creep trying to push her mental state to the end. That person would achieve that by driving her insane enough to take her own life.
Liliana, who had once been an abused child belonging to a family that had enough to survive but too little to live, had risen to her current position through sheer grit.
Her poor upbringing and the prejudice from the colleges had naturally made her distrustful of others, making it nearly impossible for her to tell anyone about the letters.
The only few people close to her were her junior Seshan, her mother Sydney, and her childhood friend Flinn.
As for Clyde, he had been part of the ruthless field of real estate, so he had naturally become less trusting over time.
He was also unable to find the employees leaking information to their competitors. Even if he did, it wouldn’t mean anything because the whole project would fall to ruins on the first day of the apocalypse.
But that’s not what Klaus wanted. He needed Project Dremis not to fail, and for that, it required some very serious changes, including the terrain.
As his thoughts continued, a bicycle went past him at a speed deadly enough to scare anyone.
However, Klaus showed no reaction. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and looked around at the closed stores and the streets, which barely had any people.
If the streets were nearly empty, why did he encounter two cyclists in such a dangerous way? It was simple, really. The two of them weren’t usual people; rather, they were members of a gang.
Most specifically, the Milten gang, which had control over this part of the night market.
The night market was big, so a single gang couldn’t control the whole of it, and because of that, it was controlled by a total of three gangs, all of which were under the Bruma Syndicate.
His main target was the Bruma Syndicate, as it was the key to recruiting the fourth individual: Victor Frank, one of the best lawyers alive.
Unlike the previous three, Victor needed to be dealt with differently because he believed in actions more than promises or words.
As for what he was trying to do, he was getting on the nerves of Milten gang’s members.
’I wouldn’t have needed to do this if you knew where their base is,’ he complained inwardly.
[Host, just because I come from the future does not mean I am aware of everyone and everything in the past. Rather, you should have found out more about them if you were planning to raid their base for resources.]
Klaus furrowed his brows. ’Why would I waste my time doing that?’
[Stop whining then.]
"I am not whining," he muttered.
[Sure.]
"You get on my nerves, you know that?" He blurted out.
[It is not uncommon for idiots to find intelligent beings or objects annoying.]
A vein throbbed at Klaus’s forehead.
As he was about to continue the banter, a sharp glint passed through his eyes, and he turned his head to the left.
’It was closed when I last checked it,’ he mumbled upon seeing the open shutter of the store on the left. A cycle was parked at its entrance.
"It was getting boring," he muttered as he walked toward the store and saw a man standing inside.
"Do you have no fear?" That man asked impassively as he stepped closer to Klaus.
Klaus examined him and shrugged. "I don’t know, that scar does look funny to me."
"What?" The man muttered, his voice heavy.
He pulled out a knife from his pocket and said while pointing it at Klaus, "Bitch. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
’That’s all? This isn’t fun; he doesn’t even have a gun.’
Klaus sighed in disappointment and said, "Take me to your base."
"You really are stupid," he spat as he rushed forward with the knife
’Exceed speed.’
The man reached him and thrust the knife, but Klaus was no longer there; instead, he had already moved to his right.
"What?" The man mumbled in confusion and added while rubbing his eyes, "Did that guy vanish?"
"Nope, I am right here," Klaus whispered in his ear.
’!!!’ The guy turned in panic and swung the knife at Klaus.
On the other hand, Klaus smiled and commanded inwardly, ’Exceed strength.’
The next instant, Klaus swung his left fist; the sleeves of his shirt and jacket tore apart as raw power coursed through the arm.
The air exploded as Klaus deliberately drove his fist past the man’s head and into the wall behind him.
The wall shook, and a wide crack appeared across it.
The man who was about to stab it fell to his butt; the knife fell out of his hand. He stared at his eyes as wide as saucers and his face pale in fear and utter disbelief.
"M-Mom!" Water came out from both the top and below, heating his face and legs.
Klaus shook off the dirt from his right hand and mumbled under his breath, "I put more strength than I was intending to. I need to work more on controlling my strength, eh?"
He lowered his head to the shocked man on the floor and asked, "Well, do you want to talk now?"