BXBX NOVEL Chapter 142 - Ruthless Stalker
Shortly after Albion cleaned up the corpses in the narrow alley, reducing them all to ashes with Ashura Flames, he noticed the little boy was nowhere to be seen.
The little boy had long taken the chance to escape while the thugs were preoccupied with Albion.
"This brat… Well, whatever." Albion muttered.
He was not expecting any words of gratitude or anything. Still, the little boy was sure quick to run when he had the chance.
"He was quite a tenacious brat, though. He was brave enough to secure a portion of the earnings for himself and did not cower due to the thug…" Albion mused, thinking the little kid was worth recruiting.
Suddenly, he recalled one of the Dark Emperor\'s titles; Orphan Snatcher.
It was no wonder that the Dark Emperor aimed at orphan children. They were easier to train and teach, allowing them to grow up to become well-disciplined subordinates.
Nevertheless, Albion did not linger on the topic.
"Well, enough about the orphans for now," Albion muttered before he began contemplating, "Since I found out about the Metti Gang\'s headquarters, I should pay them a visit…"
"It\'ll be a good chance to collect some interest, considering they own a casino. I\'ll play with them a bit until the gang is ready to deal with them on their own…" Albion thought.
"The Eyes of Ashura and Sleight of Hands skills are finally going to be used to their full potential. F*ck playing fair. I am going to milk these mother f*ckers."
Of course, he would not mind dealing with Metti Gang entirely while he was at it.
However, the gang needed opponents to grow.
He could not keep cleaning up every mess for them. It would defeat the purpose of having a gang in the first place if they only increase his workload instead of reducing it.
"Un, I\'m just heading there for a quick buck." Albion convinced himself.
Shortly after, he left the alley and headed for the eastside\'s Eastern Allure Casino.
…
Some hundred meters away from the alley, the little boy arrived at a slightly run-down orphanage, where children even younger than the 8-year-old boy were seen playing outside in the playground.
The building appeared damaged recently, most likely due to the outbreak of interdimensional creatures, but thankfully, the residents seemed to have weathered the storm.
"Brother Ren is back!" A five-year-old girl quickly noticed.
"Brother Ren, where have you been? Mother Stacy was looking everywhere for you this morning!" The little girl said after running over and giving the boy a big hug cheerily.
"Ugh..!"
The little boy immediately grimaced in pain.
"What\'s wrong, Brother Ren? Did you hurt yourself again?" The little girl asked with surprise before suddenly giggling shortly after, "You\'re so clumsy, Brother Ren!"
"Yeah, I wasn\'t looking where I was going…" The 8-year-old boy smiled wryly to hide his hidden bitterness.
Shortly after, a 9-year-old boy walked over and pulled the 5-year-old girl away from the boy before saying, "Little Susie, why don\'t you go play with the other brothers and sisters first?"
"Eeeh? But I want to play with Brother Ren!" Susie protested.
"You can play with your Brother Ren later. Brother Armin needs to speak with Brother Ren about something first," Armin tried placating the little girl.
Although unwilling, the little girl was not wholly unreasonable as she eventually gave a sulky nod, "Fine!"
Shortly after Little Susie left, Armin turned to Brother Ren, whose full name was Chang Shuren, and quietly inquired, "Did you get beaten up by the gangsters again, Ren?"
"Yeah, but this time I managed to bring back $50. This should last some time if used sparingly." Chang Shuren said before frowning, "Why are you letting Little Susie and the others play outside?"
"If the thugs sees them, they will get taken away as well. Have you already forgotten what happened to Sally and Guxin the other day?"
Once Chang Shuren brought up this topic, the atmosphere immediately became depressive. At the same time, the two spoke with a maturity that was well beyond other children of the same age.
"I know." Armin nodded with a heavy look before he said, "But they have already been seen by the gangsters last time. If the gangsters wanted to take them away, they would have already so."
"More importantly, you should do something about your injury. Big Sister Estelle came to visit us again. It won\'t be good if she notices it," Armin mentioned.
"Big Sister Estelle is back again?" Chang Shuren was surprised before he suggested, "Maybe we should ask for Big Sister Estelle\'s help?"
"We were fortunate to have Big Sister Estelle protect us from the monsters the other day, and Big Sister Estelle has also become much stronger because of that. She might be able to bring back Sally and Guxin."
"No, definitely not!" Armin immediately objected before stating, "Have you forgotten what Big Sister Estelle\'s nature is like? If she learns that Sally and Guxin were taken away by the gangsters, she might just jump straight into their den without a plan."
"Big Sister Estelle is strong, but she shouldn\'t be stronger than an entire gang. Not to mention, this gang seems to have the backing of a strong hunter family that moved into the city recently…"
"We are already fortunate enough that we have someone kind like Big Sister Estelle, who makes regular donations to the orphanage to support us. We shouldn\'t impose on her any more than we already have."
After Armin spoke, Chang Shuren frowned.
"Then what should we do? Are we just going to ignore Sally and Guxin\'s situation? Shit, maybe I should seek that ruthless stalker\'s help?" Chang Shuren muttered.
"What ruthless stalker?"
"I met this person earlier before I came. That person ended up killing two gangsters without batting an eye. I think the gangster who beated me up was also killed after I left. It was fortunate that I was smart enough to run away quickly."
"Why would you run away without a word, though?" Armin frowned in doubt. Before asking, "Wasn\'t that person practically your savior and benefactor?"
"I don\'t know about that one," Chang Shuren shrugged before saying, "Not everyone is nice like our Big Sister Estelle, and this is also because she grew up in this orphanage and shares a close relationship with Mother Stacy."
"That person probably had beef with the Metti Gang or a conflict in child trafficking business. In the case of the latter, wouldn\'t I have been screwed if I stayed?"
Shortly after, Chang Shuren added, "Especially since that ruthless person bought all my flowers before he followed me, a tender young little boy. He might have been a pervert or something."
If Albion knew what this 8-year-old was saying at this moment, he would have strangled the little brat to death.
"Eh? You don\'t know that for sure, Ren," Armin said.
"I don\'t, but it is better than risking it," Chang Shuren stated before changing the topic temporarily, "Anyway, where is Big Sister Estelle right now?"
"Big Sister Estelle should still be chatting with Mother Stacy inside of Mother Stacy\'s room," Armin answered before adding with a concerned look, "You know, with Mother Stacy\'s declining health, Mother Stacy has been bedridden and cannot move around much these days..."
"Ah, yeah... I hope Mother Stacy can make a full recovery soon.." Chang Shuren\'s brows knitted with similar concern.