Chapter 115: Chapter 84: Tie Clip_3
The gunfire frequency behind him decreased.
Flashes of light flickered behind him repeatedly.
The wall lamps illuminated the outer passage, separating the battlefield from the marketplace.
John walked to the edge, his waist lit up, and he swiftly raised the Vodka revolver, like lifting an invisible curtain, then pulled the trigger.
The robbers were wiped out before the patrol arrived.
John had no time or interest in looting.
He turned up his jacket collar, retreated into the darkness, leaving the mercenaries and bystanders behind.
Calmly, he left the scene, climbed the steps, returned to the surface, now merely a hundred meters from the bodies.
The soundwave of Silver Rider 577 swept through the streets.
Eden City’s nights lacked neither noise nor engine roar, but a high-end sports car storming through the black market roads still drew attention.
John was willing to take this debt upon himself, hoping that the engine sound of the Silver Rider would be etched into the memory of street thugs, avoiding more idiots from coming to die again.
He couldn’t waste any more time.
The phone was dialed.
[Contact: Oulos Grenada (Voice Call)]
[Get straight to the point.]
"The tie clip alarmed the Internet Surveillance, I want to meet him face to face, the bloody kind, can you find him?"
[You just want to kill him?]
Oulos’s tone turned from indifferent to playful.
"I want the information the tie clip found; what do you want?"
John knew exactly who he was dealing with.
He straightforwardly let Oulos quote a price, so he could do some things in exchange.
[I want to take over the tie clip’s business, most of it can be thrown out for others to divide, I just want the business within the company.]
"Do you have any specific ideas?"
[I’ve been in Eden City for a while, waiting for the right time to take over. Since you brought it up, let’s do it today. You’ll get what you want, and as a bargaining chip, you’ll have to do some difficult... not very pleasant work for me, deal?]
"Fine, the sooner the better."
John readily agreed.
Oulos hung up and sent him a coordinate in the city center.
[Go to City Core Square. (Not achieved)]
Silver Rider 577 parked by the roadside.
When John opened the car door, he caught a glimpse of something and backed up, started a scan, overlooking the underground passage entrance.
In the shadows, a living person was watching.
The East District underground mall had its own forces, and would also arrange armed patrol soldiers to "clean up" regularly.
John suddenly realized:
Those little henchmen dared to rob here, they must have given hush money to the patrol personnel, or perhaps... they were little minions raised by this group, similar to the tier structure of the Owl Town gang, adopting a profit-sharing model.
A cigarette flickered in the shadows.
A soldier in a bulletproof vest who was strong and sturdy, holding a gun, glanced at John from afar, and silently retreated back to the commercial area.
[Eden City - City Core Square]
Silver Rider 577 maintained a low profile under the speed monitors.
Neon lights and holographic projections intertwined, the colorful night scene sliding over the front windshield.
This was the most luxurious commercial hub in Eden City.
Top companies, including Plato, had independent office spaces here.
The taxes matched its security level.
Looking down the streets, there were only smart taxis and business rides, with subways and intercity trains reaching workstations, company dogs taking stimulants like drinking water, yet still as lifeless as ever.
The facilities were complete, the services enormously expensive, even the products in the vending machines were priced higher.
John entered Central Garden Road.
Oulos lit a cigarette, standing under the largest projection sculpture, her short hair illuminated by the colorful neon lights, gently exhaling smoke, wearing a sexy and beautiful evening gown.
She exuded a faint scent of alcohol.
"Next time you invite a lady to sit in the passenger seat, clean up the clutter, it’s basic decency."
Oulos raised a bag with a biohazard symbol, glanced sideways.
"What’s this, contraband?"
"My kidney, an Internet Surveillance sniper shot through my gut, almost killed me."
"No wonder you look terrible."
"Don’t pretend, what news in Eden City could be hidden from a middleman?"
John, wearing a new jacket, didn’t rush to drive, unbuttoned his clothes in the seat, tossed his blood-stained and smelly inner T-shirt out the window, and put on a new shirt.
Oulos calmly looked at his abdomen.
The edges of the synthetic leather hadn’t been color-matched to the skin, particularly obvious, an expert could instantly tell it was a surgical scar.
Being messed up like this indicated the surgery was hurried, a life-threatening kind.
"I indeed heard the rumors, but don’t blame me for not informing you, the ones Internet Surveillance targets, when the news comes out, they’re usually either caught or dead. I’m surprised you managed to escape from that state cop, I didn’t expect that."
"Eden gave me a hand."
"Connections are part of strength, I know that too well."
"My relationship with the Harbor Company is completely broken, the state cop said they’d let me off temporarily, but I figure I’ll still be dealing with Internet Surveillance."
"Sounds a bit isolated, aren’t you afraid I’ll think you’ve lost your usefulness?"
Oulos propped her chin, observing John’s expression with interest — though he looked downtrodden, his gaze grew sharper and more resilient.
"Can I fool you?"
"Honest men are interesting too."
Oulos tossed her cigarette butt out the window. "Don’t worry, I’m not some short-sighted third-rate good, you have potential worth collaborating on."