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Back in the neighborhood where Shin and the others were currently living, the people of the Springfield Family and Cilvana Family were tightly guarding the two villas of the girls and boys. These guards were dedicated to their jobs as their bosses put a lot of importance on it, especially with the current time when the young ones were being targeted by different groups.
Inside one of the villas nearby, a pair of people were currently observing the situation without arousing any attention. Both of them were mercenaries hired by the head of the Shaw Family of the Sun-Moon Continent, one of the leading figures of the country and the main rival of the Cilvana Family.
In that place, the competition between the Cilvana and Shaw Families was currently at its most critical stage, making the two sides clash multiple times. But since the Cilvana Family had more resources and the much larger behemoth in the firearms industry, the Shaw Family was currently on a backfoot.
If not for the support from the local tyrants and a couple of government officials, then the Shaw Family would have most likely been swallowed up by the Cilvana Family ages ago.
Pushed into a corner, the Shaw Family could only come up with despicable means. They started targeting the family members of the Cilvanas and planned to take them as hostages. Their primary target would obviously the young master and young miss of the Cilavana Family. As long as they captured either one of those two, then they would be the guaranteed victor of this business war.
Unfortunately, the head of the Cilvana Family was too insightful and was able to read their intentions before the Shaw Family could even take action. He sent his children overseas for their safety.
He was originally planning to send both of them to their mother since they would be much safer on that side than continuing to stay on the Sun-Moon Continent. Even though the head of the Cilvana Family and the mother of the two children were already divorced, they still maintain their connection with each other for the sake of their children.
If for Cloe's insistence on coming to the Soaring Continent and their close relationship with the Springfield Family, her father would never let her go to that place. Moreover, she got accepted into the special program of the Magical Ace Academy, so her safety was guaranteed as long as the semester had started.
That school had a long history, after all, so it would not be strange for them to have a couple of old monsters staying there.
Left without a choice, the Shaw Family could only hope that the mercenaries that they hired would be able to do their jobs right before the situation got out of hand.
Mad Dog took over the job after the previous groups failed to do their jobs. This was supposedly their final chance since they heard that the military forces of the Soaring Kingdom were increasing their defenses due to the recent events that happened these last few days.
Mad Dog was planning to take advantage of the current chaos that the underworld organizations were causing. This was their only chance since the Dragon King was being distracted by the high-profile criminals.
He turned to the other person inside the room and asked. "How is the situation on the other side, Ghost Chopper? Did they complete their job?"
Ghost Chopper, the leader of the Oni Mercenary Group. He was tasked to work with Mad Dog in their current operation. He naturally did not want to work under someone, but since it was what their contractor wanted, he had no choice but to follow the orders.
Moreover, Mad Dog was currently stronger than him, albeit slightly. He would not be willing to fight for authority given their current circumstances. Especially when they could not afford to be in their weakened state while they were inside enemy territory.
Ghost Chopper frowned deeply when he heard those words since he had just gotten the report from his subordinates.
He turned to Mad Dog and sighed. "They failed. Even Flame died during the operation. It seems like we have underestimated those kids a little too much."
Mad Dog also furrowed his brows deeply as he did not expect this outcome. "This is why I said that we do not accept that extra job! What are those fools of the Shaw Family are thinking? We should have finished our jobs earlier if not for them suddenly giving us an extra order!"
Ghost Chopper did not say anything but he completely agreed with Mad Dog. What's more, he was the one who lost his subordinates, especially someone like Flame who had a rare wield of a superpower.
"I heard it is the young master of the Shaw Family who insisted to kill that kid from the Springfield Family. It seems like there is a serious grudge between those two for that young master to persuade his father to give us the additional job," he said after a brief silence.
"I knew that that stubborn kid will give us problems sooner or later," said Mad Dog while gritting his teeth.
Ghost Chopper was silent for a moment before asking. "So, what is the plan? Should we make our move now?"
Mad Dog did not reply immediately as he looked through the window while sticking to the wall and hiding himself in the darkness of the room. He observed the movements of the soldiers and agents guarding the two villas in the distance.
After analyzing their movements for a couple of minutes, Mad Dog suddenly asked. "How about the Dragon King? Is he still in there or has he left already?"
Ghost Chopper read through the messages that he received first before replying. "My contacts said that the Butcher and Coffin Maker are sighted on the outskirts of the city. The Dragon King must be rushing over there now to confirm the information."
"What about the Junior Dragoness and Wanderer? Are they not rushing back over?" asked Mad Dog again.
Aside from a top expert such as Nathan, these two mercenaries were also concerned about Shiella and David. After all, those two were also on the same level of strength as them, if not stronger, so they also had made sure to avoid clashing against them at all costs.
"The gathering that the Flying Dragon Corporation have prepared is a big event since they are to receive some delegates from other countries. They will not be able to leave easily even if they want to since it will make those delegates lose some face. And you should know how important for those people how they look in front of the others," answered Ghost Chopper calmly.
"Moreover, there are also some surprises prepared for them, so we don't have to worry about them," he added after a slight hesitation.
He paused for a moment before continuing. "Our only concern is those young misses from the Stuart Family and Goldstein Family. One is an influential Mentalist Family while the other is a famed gunsmithing family that also has a lot of connection."
"Having the Springfield and Cilvana on our tail is already a headache, adding those two families to the equations would only guarantee our doom. It will not be worth it if we touch those two, so we better focus on our target," he added, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.
"You don't have to remind me. I know my limits unlike your people," responded Mad Dog in a cold tone.
Those words did not sit well with Ghost Chopper but did not say anything since he could not refute them. He also knew his people and was aware of their 'habits' during the operation. He just turned a blind eye since he could not blame them given their line of work.
"We better get moving now since this is the perfect chance that we can ask for. Based on our intel, those three girls are very talented but not that strong compared to the other genius. At least, their real combat talents have not manifested yet," said Ghost Chopper after reading through the sets of information sent to him by their informant.
"I am very curious about that informant of yours. Think that they have such accurate information and up-to-date updates. I am sure that they are someone who has a pretty high ranking," said Mad Dog, trying to prove something.
Since the time he arrived in this country, he never saw Ghost Chopper have contact with anybody aside from getting in touch with someone through a private channel. Moreover, the information that he was receiving was always been accurate.
For someone to have such access to sensitive information, the position of that person should be very high. That authority level shouldn't be possible for an average individual.
His instinct as a mercenary was telling that he had to get his hands on such information. He wanted to know who this mysterious informant was. But at the same time, he could not bring himself to dig too deeply as he knew that it would only be asking for trouble.
He just asked Ghost Chopper in the passing, disguising his true intention with a joke. He also knew that as a fellow mercenary, having such contact would always give them a better edge than the rest. Ghost Chopper would only be an idiot to share such a piece of information.
And sure enough, Ghost Chopper continued. "Rather than being curious about something that you should not have, you better focus on our current job."
Clicking his tongue, Mad Dog started checking out his equipment and got ready to move. The time was ripe, so they have to move in great haste to make sure that the harvest would be bountiful.
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This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢