CHAPTER 109: THE SCORE SETTLED

Seeing the door close again but finding no one there, Hans’ face turned pale with fear. He raised his pistol and started panicking, pointing the barrel in every direction. His breath was ragged, and sweat poured down his face.

"Who... come out! Don’t hide!" he shouted.

Dylan, seeing Hans’ fear, calmly walked toward him in his vanished state, holding his pistol. He glanced around, his eyes locking onto a safe in the wall behind Hans’ desk, concealed behind a painting. Then Dylan walked behind the increasingly frantic Hans and pointed his pistol at Hans’ head.

"Blam,"

Without delay, Dylan shot Hans in the head, then positioned Hans’ body back in his chair. After that, he turned around, lifted the painting, and placed it on the floor. Behind it, a safe was indeed embedded in the wall. Using his Pick Lock skill, Dylan opened the safe. He saw wads of cash, several files containing lists of overseas clients and the night businesses where he illegally channeled the teenagers he had captured.

There was also a financial report among the files, a jewelry box, a smartphone, a wristwatch, car keys, and a laptop. Dylan took the jewelry box and opened it. Among several gold necklaces, gold bracelets, gold coins, and diamonds, there was a blood-red gemstone that hadn’t been set into jewelry yet, or was still in its raw state. Dylan took the gemstone and examined it, holding it up.

"Hmm... he had a Red Blood too, apparently," Dylan muttered to himself, finishing his examination.

[That’s right, sir. With the leader’s death, CROWS no longer has anyone else who can host it.]

"True. It’s about time we settled the score with that old man named Vincent," Dylan replied.

[We will plan the next step, sir.]

"Good. How are things outside? Come on, KATS," Dylan replied.

[Yes, sir.]

Dylan closed the safe, then immediately ran out of the room and perched on the edge of the railing to look down. His four clone wives, who were shooting the enemies with their carbine rifles, had moved downstairs and were pressing the retreating enemies. Lena was seen closing the warehouse door and guarding it so no one could get out. Although all four of them were being shot at, they were fine because they were protected by a barrier.

"They’re okay. Let’s check on Aaron and Paul," Dylan said, walking toward the descending stairs.

[Yes, sir.]

Dylan ran downstairs, crossing the wall to avoid gunfire, then ran toward the temporary building behind his four clones. He went inside and saw the teenage girls huddled in the corner and helping the girl who had fainted. He also saw his motorcycle parked inside the room.

"It’s safe here, Dylan," Paul said in Dylan’s head.

"Good, please keep guarding here," Dylan replied.

Just as Dylan was about to leave, the door suddenly opened. A scary-looking man wearing a shirt and carrying a hunting rifle entered. "Kyaa," the teenage girls shrieked in surprise and screamed when they saw the man enter. The man immediately closed the door and leaned against it. Then he looked out the window and aimed his gun at Ellie, who happened to be near the temporary building. Without waiting, Dylan slipped behind the man and, "krek," with high speed, twisted his neck from behind, then grabbed his weapon.

Seeing the man suddenly fall and die, the teenagers were instantly terrified. Some even fainted from too much fear. Dylan, seeing this, bowed his head in apology even though he was still invisible. Then he left the room and ran to the one next door. He entered and saw Aaron helping to shoot the enemies using a sniper rifle from behind the window.

"Aaron," Dylan called.

"Is the leader dead, Big Brother?" Aaron asked.

"Done," Dylan answered.

"There are only a few enemies left. Please help them. I’m safe here," Aaron replied.

"Alright, please hold down the fort," Dylan replied.

Dylan looked over at the teenage boys huddled in the corner of the room, then he left again to help his four clones finish off the remaining enemies who were still visible and still resisting. He glanced at his objective screen.

****************************************************

Objective:

Human Trafficking Victims: (20 / 20) completed

Enemies: (07 / 35)

Leader: (1 / 1) completed

Time limit: 00 : 12 : 57

****************************************************

Seeing that only seven enemies remained, Dylan used his Search Area skill. He saw seven dots hiding behind cargo, trucks inside the warehouse, and equipment like forklifts and other things. Without delay, he immediately went to each enemy in their hiding spot and killed them. After that, the gunfire stopped. Dylan turned to see that his clones of Ellie, Maya, Lena, and Amy were no longer shooting.

"It’s over, Big Brother. No more enemies," Clara said to Dylan.

"Yeah, the job is done," Dylan replied.

Dylan snapped his fingers, and the four clones vanished. The hologram screen that had been displaying his objectives moved forward to Dylan’s face.

****************************************************

Objective:

Human Trafficking Victims: (20 / 20) completed.

Enemies: (00 / 35) completed.

Leader: (1 / 1) completed.

Time limit: completed.

Quest Completed.

****************************************************

[Reward $1,000,000,- received.]

[Reward 4500 skill XP points received.]

"Dling," a notification popped up on Dylan’s smartphone. It was from his banking app, stating that a sum of money had been deposited into his account. Dylan was a little surprised to see the total amount of money in his account.

"Wow... this means I’m rich now, right?" he asked.

[That’s right, sir. Now you don’t have to worry about money anymore.]

Dylan pinched his cheek, and when he felt pain, he checked his account again. The amount was still the same.

"I just noticed my total money... Thank you, KATS," Dylan replied.

[You’re welcome, sir. Glad to be of assistance.]

Dylan ran back up to the office and retrieved all the files. Then he called the police and placed a Shadow Cat card on the files on Hans’ desk. After that, Dylan left the office and jumped down. He immediately led Aaron and Paul out of the temporary structure inside the warehouse in a vanished state, but he didn’t forget to leave Shadow Cat cards in the hands of the rescued teenage boys and girls, causing them confusion when many cards suddenly floated down from above.

They immediately walked toward the warehouse exit and sped off home. After driving for a short distance, Dylan and Aaron, who was riding pillion, heard police sirens in the distance. Aaron immediately asked Dylan to stop the motorcycle. Of course, Dylan stopped at the side of the road.

"Are we just leaving them, Big Brother?" Aaron asked, looking back at the company building and warehouse.

"If I may suggest, we should wait here to make sure the police and ambulances arrive first. Once the kids are safe, then we can leave," Paul added in Dylan’s and Aaron’s heads.

"Alright, we’ll wait here for a bit," Dylan replied.

Dylan turned his motorcycle around so he could see the office building and the warehouse next to it from in front of him. Soon after, several police cars, SWAT vehicles, and ambulances arrived, surrounding the office and warehouse in front of them. The SWAT members stormed the warehouse and entered the building. A few moments later, the SWAT members began evacuating the teenagers inside, who were immediately met by medical personnel. Dylan turned to look at Aaron behind him.

"That’s it. We need to go," Dylan said.

"Okay, I feel calm now," Aaron replied.

"Good, let’s go home," Paul suggested.

Without further delay, Dylan turned his motorcycle around and sped away from the office building and warehouse toward his home. It was already dark. Dylan could feel his smartphone vibrate in his pants pocket. He stopped briefly at the side of the road, immediately took his smartphone out of his pocket, and read a few incoming messages. After that, he smiled.

"Aaron, let’s grab groceries first. We have special requests from the pregnant ladies," Dylan said.

"Okay, let’s head to the supermarket," Aaron replied.

"I want snacks, too, for Fiona and Iris as well," Clara added in Dylan’s and Aaron’s heads.

"Okay, we’ll get those too," Dylan replied.

"Wait a minute, didn’t we just buy snacks yesterday?" Aaron asked.

"Dling," a message suddenly popped up on Aaron’s smartphone. He immediately checked it. Clara had sent him a picture: Fiona and Iris with puffed-out cheeks, playing on a tablet, surrounded by empty snack wrappers.

"Ah... okay," Aaron replied.

"You understand now, right? I haven’t gotten anything yet, so please buy some," Clara replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Aaron replied.

"Okay, let’s go again. To the supermarket," Dylan replied.

Without further delay, they immediately set off with the goal of buying the requested groceries and snacks at the supermarket. Dylan smiled behind his helmet; all his financial burdens had suddenly vanished, and he felt light. Unconsciously, he sped up the motorcycle.

"Slow down, Big Brother," Aaron said.

"Ah... sorry. I’m just so happy. How beautiful this night is, so many stars in the sky," Dylan said, smiling widely.

"You’re weird... really weird," Aaron replied, looking at Dylan from behind, though he was also smiling behind his full-face helmet.

**************************************

KATS’ secret quest :

- Family of thirteen (9 / 13)

- Ghost servant (5 / 5) completed.

- Red Blood’s pieces (4 / 5)

**************************************