"Y-You... You're a demon!"
"Why, thank you...?"
"Stop!"
A thunderous voice rang out from behind.
Charlotte abruptly turned her head to the source of the voice and found Calvin standing there with a solemn look on his face.
"Wha... What are you doing here?! They are going to kill you!"
"Then, am I supposed to just let you be killed by these bastards and let Cecilia live without her mother?"
Charlotte gnashed her teeth out of frustration.
"You must be the husband. How bold of you to come here by yourself." The gentleman let out a slight smile.
Calvin fearlessly stared at the man and asked, "Are you the leader of the Yellow River Gang?"
"Oh?" The gentleman looked to be astonished, "You even know our name. Interesting, you must be capable since you came here alone so confidently."
"What a joke... Your gang's basically all over the Northern Borough and you expect me not to know your gang?"
Calvin scoffed in derision.
The gentleman approached Calvin and stood in front of him.
The steel weapon in his hand looked familiar to Calvin, but he couldn't remember what it was for some reason. All that he knew was that there was something deep inside of him that was telling him that this weapon was dangerous and must never be underestimated.
The gentleman raised the steel weapon and pushed the still hot barrel of the weapon onto Calvin's chin, "We may be popular, but we sure as hell ain't stupid as to reveal our base to an average joe out there. Now, tell me. Just how did you know the location of our base?"
Calvin coldly stared at the gentleman but he didn't say anything.
Charlotte grew anxious, "Calvin! Run! Escape without me! You can still run! I know that you can do it!"
Calvin made a sidelong glance at Charlotte and he instantly became angry when he saw her bloodied face. He slightly shook his head and gestured to her that he was never escaping this place alone. It was them or these bastards.
"Are you saying that he can escape?" The gentleman lightly chuckled after staring at Calvin from top to bottom, "If a cripple like him can escape from our hands so easily after being surrounded by us, then we might as well drown ourselves in the Revoir River!"
"Hahaha! Damn straight!"
The gentleman roared in defiance and the other man boisterously laughed. Indeed, every member of the Yellow River Gang was ruthless individuals and if given the order, they believed that they were capable of doing anything. What's more, Calvin was nothing but a cripple and he was also alone without anyone beside him.
To be honest, the gentleman or the leader of the Yellow River Gang could've ended his life earlier but he was so amused by the fact that Calvin came here by himself and basically sent himself to be killed that he decided to humor Calvin for a moment.
For him, Calvin was an incomparably stupid man, but nevertheless, amusing.
"No! Calvin, please! Go! Run! You must live! You're the only one that can tell my daughter that I love her!"
Charlotte was now crying.
The gangsters around her smirked and one of them even whispered, "Oh, she has a daughter? I wonder how old is she?" A ruthless light flashed across his face and it didn't go unnoticed from Calvin's eyes. Calvin saw the gangster's face on his peripheral vision and he made a mental note.
Shaking his head, he replied to Charlotte, "I cannot escape. This guy's already made up his mind ten minutes ago."
His expression was so calm and his tone of voice was so languid that Charlotte couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Then, why did you even come here?!"
"Of course, I'm planning on saving you." Calvin almost immediately replied.
But his casual reply silenced everyone in the area before they all erupted into boisterous laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Holy shit, I like this lunatic!"
"Just what did he say? He said that he's going to save her, right under our noses? Hahaha!"
The gentleman smirked and moved to pat Calvin's shoulders, "All right, all right... You came to save her, right? Then, you are a man of my hour. Tell me just how exactly you are planning on saving her under our watch with just you alone? Come on, tell me. I really want to know."
The gentleman acted as if he was Calvin's best friend.
The steel weapon in his hand hang beside Calvin's crippled arm but in the very next moment. Calvin made his move.
He captured the gentleman's wrist, twisted it, and snatched the steel weapon from the gentleman's hand before pulling the trigger.
Bang!
A thunderous explosion rang out.
The bullet from the steel weapon pierced a hole through the gentleman's forehead and his face was now forever frozen in disbelief. He couldn't believe what just happened. One moment he was smirking, but the next moment his face became frozen in confusion and astonishment.
Everything happened so fast that by the time that other gangsters reacted and rushed Calvin with knives and wooden bats, he had unloaded everything from the magazine of the steel weapon onto the foreheads of the gangsters. Of course, he soon ran out of bullets, and soon he was overwhelmed by the sheer number of gangsters rushing up to him.
"How dare... How dare this bastard..."
"How dare this bastard kill the leader!"
"Kill him!"
The gangsters' eyes went bloodshot as they collectively let out a shout.
But before they could finish the injured Calvin, the doors of the warehouse opened and Ashlynn along with Bruce stormed in.
Their eyes glowing with distinctive lights as they unleashed their wrath over the gangsters.
The gangsters almost immediately scrambled for their lives. Bruce swept his gaze across the area and discovered that the place was littered with drug paraphernalia and instruments for the creation of illegal addictive drugs forbidden by the three Judiciaries belonging to the Church of the Three Orthodox Gods.
A hardened look appeared on Bruce's face.
He had decided to veto out the death sentence for each and every gangster in the warehouse.
"None shall leave..."
"Collapse!"
Bruce slammed his knuckle dusters downwards and the ground where the gangsters were standing almost immediately caved in and collapsed. After their screams, silence ensued and the chaos was suppressed. Ashlynn turned to look at Bruce with a bitter smile and said, "You didn't even give me a chance to warm up..."
"Ah..."
Bruce shot up from his feet and turned to look at Ashlynn, "Uh... Sorry, I didn't expect them to be this weak."
"Oh yeah, I forgot that this is your first time fighting against these gangsters. Yep, they really are weak."
"Then, why are the Judiciaries so wary of them? Why not just send a punitive group to crush these bastards into smithereens?"
"It's not that easy..." Ashlynn shook her head, "The waters of Ashmelion is incredibly murky, dear Bruce. Even the Judiciaries wouldn't dare to tread so casually. These people are weak for they are cannon fodders, but the roots of this giant tree known as the Quads are something that we cannot afford to underestimate."
"Really?" Bruce found it hard to believe that.
"What else would be the reason why the Judiciaries and the Church are so wary of them?"
Bruce didn't know what to say.
Ashlynn shook her head and decided to place the matter in the back burner of her mind. She turned to look at Calvin and the woman whom he was assisting and said to Bruce, "Can you shut these holes on the floor? You can't expect me to just jump over these holes, right?"
"Uh... Yeah." Bruce nodded his head.
With a will, the floor seemed to have gained sentience as it repaired itself.
The bodies of the gangsters were nowhere to be found, that of course, included the body of the leader of these gangsters.
"Are you okay there, young man? Is that your wife?" Ashlynn approached Calvin along with Bruce.
"You guys... How did you know that I was here?" Calvin asked in shock. He then hurriedly hid the steel weapon that he was holding in his hand behind his back.
"You know that it's already too late to hide that thing, right? We saw what you did. You looked really cool."
Ashlynn coyly commented.
Calvin let out a few dry coughs and he didn't know what to say.
He glanced at Bruce and stared at him for a moment. No words were exchanged but it was obvious from the look on Calvin's eyes that he greatly appreciated their assistance.
"Take your wife away, we will have to seal this place up since this is a scene of the crime." Ashlynn seriously said.
Calvin nodded without saying anything.
"Ah, leave that steel weapon with you." She added.
"Oh..." Calvin paused and then dropped the steel weapon onto the ground.
Bruce stared at the weapon with interest and then picked it up, "Now that I think about it, Calvin. Why would your wife become the target of these gangsters? Is it because of money?"
Ashlynn almost keeled over from what she heard. Wasn't the reason why she ordered Calvin to send his wife away was for them to discuss all of these privately? Yet, what was this Bruce asking this question in the presence of a third-party?
Damn it, he was really a newbie.
Knowing that it was already too late to take back his words, Ashlynn turned around and faced Calvin with interest.
"Calvin, you should know too well how dangerous the Northern Borough. Why did you go back there? Didn't you tell me a few days ago that there's a robbery incident that happened in your house in the Nothern Borough and that is the reason why you had to rent an inn in the Southern Borough?"
"But what is this? Is there really a need for you to return to the Nothern Borough and court trouble? If not for us secretly tailing you, then you would've died at this place!" Ashlynn exclaimed.
"What?"
"You were tailing me?"
Calvin asked in apparent shock.
Ashlynn, having realized her Freudian slip immediately covered her mouth. But seeing the look on Calvin's face, she eventually nodded her head and said while turning her gaze to the side, "We are fellow co-workers at the coffee shop, I was just concerned about, no! We were concerned about your well-being. Yes, that's right..."
"We were concerned about you after you told us about that alleged robbery."
Calvin didn't know what to say.
He felt a sour sensation rising up to his chest.
But at the same time, he felt guilty.
To be honest, the only reason why Calvin was confident about coming here alone was that he knew that Bruce and Ashlynn were following him. In other words, Calvin used the two as his insurance. If not for the fact that they were tailing him, Calvin wouldn't dare to come here alone.
He would've enlisted the help of mercenaries and plot a safe route for them to approach the warehouse by pretending as seafarers and seamen. After all, the warehouse was just a few hundred meters away from the Revoir River. What's more, this was Ashmelion they were talking about.
A few dockers and seafarers roaming the streets weren't uncommon.
Charlotte who was silent all this while finally spoke up, "I'm sorry..."
All eyes turned to look at her as she stepped forward and said, "It's my fault..."
"I shouldn't have returned to the Northern Borough..."
"I knew that it was too dangerous, but after hearing about the impending road-widening project and demolition. I had no choice but to return. I was afraid that the heirloom that my late husband left for me would be buried under the rubble of the demolition and become lost."
"Ex-husband?"
"Heirloom?"
Ashlynn and Bruce uttered at the same time.
Ashlynn made a sidelong glance at Calvin.
She didn't expect that Calvin was someone who fancied widowed women.
But Bruce's mind was on an entirely different matter.
"What heirloom are you talking about, madame?" His interest was piqued.
Charlotte reached inside her dress and took something out of her pocket.
"I was talking about this medallion. This is a memento that my late husband left for me. I can't afford to lose this."
She opened her palm and the moment the medallion was revealed in the face of Ashlynn and Bruce.
The two exclaimed in utter disbelief and shock.
"T-That medallion..."
"W-W-W-Why do you have that?!"