CHAPTER 67: WHITESTEEL

Ding! Ding!

The smooth and relaxing sound of his doorbell ringing cut through the empty apartment like a wake up call.

It was quite the contrast from the apartment’s previous silence.

Nick blinked, almost unwilling to give up the comfortable position he’d just found on the couch as he sat up.

His eyes flicked to the door, confused as hell.

’Who the hell?’

He stood up slowly, with his instincts immediately sharpening from the moment the doorbell rang out once again.

One time might have been a mistake, or just a curious knock, maybe from a neighbour or something.

But two rings? That had to mean that they were there for this apartment specifically.

Nick’s focus heightened, and his cautiousness raised to a high level.

After everything he’d been through in the Beast Domain, he’d learned that you didn’t survive long without learning to treat even the smallest disturbance as a potential threat.

Quietly padding over to the hallway leading away from the entrance, where the ringing was coming from, he pressed the intercom button and brought up the camera feed.

This was something he was still new to, as his previous apartment had no such security features like this, but Kai had done him very nicely with this apartment.

However, when he glanced at the one behind the ringing at his doorbell, his confusion only increased.

Two men.

He didn’t recognise either of them...

Looking to be in their mid thirties, probably older. They were of average height, average build, while one had a lazy slouch to them like he’d been standing there for hours, while the other looked more attentive and alert, with his arms crossed, and glancing around as if checking for any prying eyes.

Nothing stood out about them.

But that made it even more suspicious.

People who were difficult to recognise or were as unassuming as this usually appeared that way on purpose — usually for not so good intentions.

Nick didn’t like where this was heading. Not one bit.

He quietly summoned his Whiteclaw Snake King spear, and held it in his left hand with a tight, firm grip on it, and unlocked the front door, but keeping the safety lock firmly in place.

He opened it a crack, as far as it would go with the safety lock still engaged.

A sliver of his face was visible through the gap, and his gaze met the two men standing outside.

The more alert man smiled the moment he saw movement from the door.

"Ah, finally!" he said, relieved.

"You live here, yeah?" He asked.

Nick frowned, not seeing where he was going. "...Yeah?"

The man’s smile widened.

"Good. Been trying to catch someone home for a couple weeks now. Nobody answered the door the previous times we’ve tried, so — anyway. Just here to collect."

Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Collect? Collect what?"

"Yup." The man said casually, ignoring Nick’s confusion regarding the whole thing. "Two week’s worth. You’ve been behind since this is the first damn time someone’s answered the door."

Nick blinked once, then twice.

And then, he laughed.

A short, amused burst of laughter.

"Oh, I get it now." He said, leaning slightly against the door frame. "This is one of those scams, right? You knock on doors, find clueless new residents, then try to milk them for fees they were ’unaware’ they were behind on?"

He made a slow clapping motion as he unsummoned his spear. "Nice hustle. Really, I nearly almost bought it."

He began to shut the door closed—

Thunk.

The man’s foot blocked it before he could even close it an inch.

The smile on his face vanished like smoke in a tornado.

Nick’s expression mirrored his, with his eyes quickly narrowing.

His spear appeared back in his left hand like it had never left.

"What do you think you’re doing?" He questioned, with any amusement or whimsy long being lost in his tone.

The man leaned in slightly, not enough to breach the door fully, but enough that his face was closer to Nick now — close enough for Nick to smell the faint scent of tobacco and alcohol on his breath.

"You seriously don’t recognise us, huh?" the man asked, tilting his head with an insulting smile.

His ridicule to Nick was painfully obvious.

"That’s cute. Really cute."

Nick stared at him.

"Why the fuck should I know who you are!? Are you famous or something?"

He answered, unamused and unaffected by the man’s cold temperament.

The man gave a humourless grin.

"Guess that confirms it. You’re fresh, still green it seems. Probably think this is some nice, quiet housing complex, huh?"

Nick didn’t answer.

Inside, he was just getting more and more confused.

’Just where did you move us to, Kai!?’

The place was perfect until now, he had to give him that.

But even this was a first for Nick.

Even back in his previous, Federation owned housing, he never had someone like this guy come knocking on his door.

Now he moves into somewhere supposedly safer and more expensive, and it happens?

Just what was going on...

The man’s voice dropped a notch, quieter now, and more serious.

"Everyone who moves into this block owes protection to our Boss, Whitesteel. That includes you."

Nick’s expression didn’t change, but inside, he felt like a light had gone off, finally realising what was going on.

’These fuckers are just a bunch of lousy gangsters! Can’t believe I was wasting my time on them...’

"Never heard of him." He answered flatly.

The second man, the one who’d been slouching until now, finally spoke up, with his voice lazy and rough like sandpaper.

"Because you ain’t from around these parts Kid. That’s your problem."

While he didn’t appreciate these guys’ presence, Nick knew that he was right.

It was his problem now that they had shown up at his door and demanded protection money.

He could already see that this wasn’t going to be the last he’d hear from them.

"I can protect myself, thanks." He responded to them.

He kicked the first guy’s foot, forcefully dislodging it from the door and knocking him backwards into his partner, causing both of them to fall backwards.

Thunk!

The door slammed shut...

’Fuck’s sake, now I have this to deal with! I better get it sorted before Luna gets back from her training...’