CHAPTER 284: CLEAN UP.

"Crap! Oh crap!"

Finn entered panic mode instantly, whipping his head around as if searching for something. Dante, on the other hand, let out an annoyed sigh and switched screens.

"Cam down."

It took him off guard as well, and the wave of confusion that followed magnified the tension weighing on him a thousandfold.

The monster throwing a severed arm at the bots was shocking enough, but what surprised Dante more was that the bot he targeted was the one he had been watching from. Though he wanted to believe it was just a coincidence, Dante couldn’t shake the suspicion that there was more to it.

Still, how was that monster able to detect the Scorpio-bots when they were moving high up?

’Was it the sound?’

The bots’ needle-like feet did make a faint ticking sound whenever they moved, but it was barely audible. It would have been too difficult to notice among the constant banging. Twelve bots had made it to the basement floor, but when Dante checked the footage again, he only found nine.

’... you got to be kidding me...’

The monster walked with slow steps then knelt at a certain spot, reaching down to grab something. Dante could tell what it was even without zooming in on the monster’s large hands, which it clenched a moment later. It then stood up and craned its neck, searching the ceiling with eyes glowing red.

"Shit..." Dante clicked his tongue. "The bastard has bionic optics."

The realization came with the question of whether he had more, and just thinking about it convinced Dante that it might be the case. With enhanced sight and hearing, it wouldn’t be too odd for him to notice the small bots.

[Dante, I have just finished cloning the entirety of the terminal.] Volcan said. [We can now look through its contents at any point.]

’Just in time.’ Dante thought. ’Mind handling the Scorpio-bots for us?’

[Understood.]

Dante was already on the move before his resident AI gave the reply. Picking up the ice box, he walked over to his companion and pulled him up to his feet.

"We’re getting out of here."

"Wha-"

"We got what we want. There is no point in staying." Dante said. "Don’t worry about your toys. We can retrieve them later."

Going by what he was seeing on the projected screen, which he pushed to the upper left corner of his field of sight, it didn’t appear like blood soaked monster had any intention of coming out to look for them. That thing was the leader of a criminal organization, after all. Even if it appeared like an enraged beast, it would go around dealing with trivial matters. That sort of thing is better left to the small fry.

’This might be a problem...’

~[ ]~

A not-so-gentle shove snapped Gill awake. Confused, he searched his surroundings only to freeze at the sight of a hulking figure towering over him. He only saw the bloodied fists at first, but then he raised his gaze and met the two white circles looking down at him.

For a moment there, he almost had a heart attack, but then he noticed the color and felt a hint of relief. Red meant anger, white meant calm. That was the first thing he learned after joining the Red Rage gang.

"B-boss! D-d-did you need something?"

It was only after he asked the question that he noticed where he was, making him recall what happened the previous night. After failing to raid the police station and free their comrades, he and the rest of his crew were beaten unconscious by the boss. It was a true miracle that he was still alive, but looking at the blood staining the boss’s fists, he realized that he might not be in the clear just yet.

"You said a power Diver targeted you, correct?" The giant spoke in a low voice, causing the air surrounding him to rumble.

"Y-y-yes! A really powerful Diver!" Gill hurried to reply. "He infiltrated our NIMs at the same time! He could have exploded our heads at any moment!"

Gill tried to keep the explanation as simple as possible, fearing that his giant of a boss wouldn’t understand. He didn’t want to get punched unconscious again, or to end up in the same state as whoever had his blood on the giant’s fists.

After a moment of silence, the giant moved his arms. Gill shrank to half his size, cowering on the floor, but the pain he was expecting didn’t come. He heard a faint click, however, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a strangely shaped piece of metal at his feet, taking a few seconds to realize it was a broken device of some kind.

"Find him." The giant said in his deep voice. "Don’t disappoint me this time."

"Roger!"

Jumping to his feet, Gill quickly picked up the broken device then went about waking the others. Their giant of a boss turned around and walked away, but stopped after taking a few steps. Without turning around, he gave them one more order.

"Clean up."

Gill was prepared to do as he was told without questioning, but then he caught sight of the fighting ring, forcing him to remember more of what happened the previous day. After their failure to free their comrades, he and the others went and captured members of a rival gang, hoping that bringing them in would alleviate the wrath they were bound to face.

In the end, he and his crew still got a beating, and the enemies they brought in had been crushed beyond recognition, guaranteeing that a future conflict with the gang they belonged to.

As he stood there staring at the blood-stained ring, Gill found himself questioning his life decisions once again. He had been lucky enough to survive that vicious war a year ago, but instead of trying to live a quiet life, he decided to join the first lunatic that came carrying big dreams about controlling the district.

"I’m a fucking moron..."

Unfortunately for him, Gill was trapped. There was no way out for him, and with how bad his luck had been, he doubted that things would resolve themselves in a way that was favorable to him. It happened once before, but there is no way it will happen again.