Chapter 68: A Strange Group
Sunday night.
The Iron Suburbs, dark as always, are usually the first part of the city to witness the sunrise, but they are also the first to witness the fall of night.
The descent of darkness emerges like a massive, universal beast ready to swallow the world whole.
But the descent of the night’s solitude brings with it the darkness of the abyss. The secrets the night hides come to light.
Amid the darkness of the Iron Suburbs, three people moved swiftly, leaping from building to building on this night of scant natural light.
At some point, the three of them stopped on the roof of a house.
They both leaped into the house’s courtyard and, without a second thought, burst inside as if they were going to kidnap or kill someone...
But they came out empty-handed.
"Tsk. This is a problem. Those stupid mana antennas are ruining our lives." complained one of them, who was holding a dagger in his right hand.
"Big Brother Ank, they sent us here to find two things: the treasure stolen from the Obsidian Wastelands and the bastard who stole it, but they didn’t even send us a radar. Isn’t this a suicide mission?" complained the one behind the first.
"Little Brother Cz, stop complaining. Look at Little Brother Brent—he keeps doing his job without a word." Said the one named Ank.
Cz stared at him. He wanted to shout, "Brent is mute!"
But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t want to hurt his other older brother’s feelings.
"Although you’re partly right. Still, we’ve found a suspect."
"That person..." Cz frowned. "Should we go rip the treasure out of his guts, in case he swallowed it?"
Ank turned to look at him. "Younger Brother Cz, if he isn’t the one with the treasure, he is the treasure. Don’t you get it? We can’t kill him. He’s a talented guy."
Cz’s blue eyes sparkled. "You plan to kidnap him and take him as an offering? What a great idea! I hadn’t thought of that!"
Ank nodded. "But we’ll have to talk to our contact. It’ll be hard to reach him without his help."
"That guy again? He’s arrogant to the core..."
"Well, he’s our only option." Ank shook his head in frustration and started walking. "Let’s forget about looking for traces of the treasure. Those mana antennas are constantly interfering with our search. Let’s go to the Central City to meet up with that guy."
Cz and Brent seemed to sigh behind him, but they followed him.
--
"I didn’t think you’d be so punctual, Darius." Lucius looked at the door of the building under construction and watched Darius walk through it right on time.
Darius flew into a rage the moment he saw him. "You’ve ruined my good mood."
"Heheh, what a joy. It seems that..."
"I don’t want to hear your sarcastic nonsense!" Darius roared before Lucius could finish speaking. "I have everything you asked for."
"I can see that. I can also see that you came with people following you." Lucius sneered.
Darius trembled. ’W-what? There’s no way he knows!’ he roared inwardly, moving closer to him and trying not to lose his composure because of his words.
However, Lucius suddenly appeared right in front of him.
"Hehe, Darius, Darius. You still haven’t figured out who I am." Lucius’s hand touched Darius’s chest and pulled out everything he had stored there. "Haven’t you heard the rumors that I’m good with drugs? Tell your new friends to watch their backs... sooner or later, I’ll come after them."
"Have a good night... Dear. Little. Brother." Lucius smiled.
Darius’s body suddenly felt heavy. Then he noticed a strange powder that had been there since he arrived.
He hadn’t noticed it because dust is normal in a building under construction. But... wasn’t there something different about it?
Darius fell to the ground, his eyes rolling back shortly afterward. And Lucius walked out of the building as if nothing had happened.
15 minutes later, there was a commotion when three people came running in from different directions.
"Shit, it’s the contact!" Ank roared, leaping from the ceiling beams toward where Darius lay.
Seeing that he was alive, he breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Cz. "What the hell was that?" he asked.
Cz then looked at Brent... Brent made a few hand gestures that Cz understood perfectly.
"Drugs, big brother. Some powerful drugs that messed with our minds and distracted us from our goal." He translated.
"Drugs? Who was the bastard who slipped drugs into the dust at a construction site? That’s playing dirty!" Ank exclaimed.
"It was Lucius." Suddenly, Darius’s mouth fell open with rage he could barely contain. Despite that, he couldn’t even raise his voice...
He was furious, but he also felt afraid.
"How long was I unconscious?" he asked.
"I don’t know. Fifteen minutes?" Ank replied hesitantly, but then shook his head. "Wait, wait—are you saying that guy is an alchemist or something?"
-Of course not!
That’s what Darius wanted to protest, but now he hesitated.
Who the hell was Lucius?
’I feel like I don’t know him...’ He felt a shiver run through him again, but managed to pull himself together quickly.
"He must have gotten help from someone. It wouldn’t surprise me—he’s been in the spotlight lately." Darius struggled to his feet.
His muscles still felt numb.
’What a powerful drug...’
"So he’s got backing..." Ank said.
Darius sneered coldly. "Are you scared?"
Then Ank turned to look at him.
"Scared? Us, scared? Hahahaha!" He suddenly burst out laughing toward the sky as if he’d heard the stupidest joke in the world.
"No, no, my dear contact, I don’t think you’ve quite understood who we are." Ank, Cz, and Brent seemed to form a strange triangle.
Then the smile on Ank’s face became less fleeting and more certain.
"We are the night that hides the sunlight and its grandeur behind a smokescreen. We are the darkness that descends upon the world and dims its brilliance."
"We are the ones no one can control."
"Not even the System can do it..."
"We are Fake Rankers."
--
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