Chapter 362: He Never Was.
Dante’s face scrunched up at the boy barfing the expensive dinner he just had. In a way, it didn’t really matter. Taste was the most important part of dining at high end restaurants, after all. It still felt like a waste to throw up only minutes after leaving, though.
Suzuka rummaged through the limo’s small refrigerator and took out small water bottle, handing it to Finn. After rinsing his mouth and drinking some, he relaxed back in his seat, looking just a little better. Though he allowed him a moment to catch his breath, Dante couldn’t let the matter cool down before bringing it up.
"I’m guessing that was Henry."
When he asked him about the people who might recognize him, Finn mentioned two names. The first was Jaguar, and the second was Henry. Since the first was the Dagger’s boss, Dante guessed that the second was some high ranking member of the gang, but that brought with it another question. Why would two of the gang’s top recognize a random boy?
The answer to that was simple—Finn wasn’t a random boy. He never was.
’Guess my evaluation was a little off the mark...’
Finn didn’t comment on Dante’s remark. He only cast his gaze down and pursed his trembling lips. Though his silence could be interpreted as confirmation, Dante couldn’t afford to have him do the same for the coming questions. He needed to learn the specifics so he could deduce how much they screwed up. There was that server Jaguar had killed, too. Right now, it was looking like the mission to bug the restaurant ended in disastrous failure.
"Dante," The partition separating the driver from the back opened and Boris turned to them with a grim look. "We got trouble."
When he turned around, Dante saw a car driving slowly a short distance from their position. He hadn’t been paying attention before, but since the big guy saw it fit to inform them, there was no doubt that they were being pursued.
The hairy giant must have suspected something and sent some people to follow after them. The problem was where his suspicion came from. Was it related to the Daggers discovering the Diver in their systems, or because the hairy giant still suspects that Finn is the kid he was looking for?
For some reason, Dante had a feeling it was both.
’Damn it...’ Dante clicked his tongue. ’Volcan, give me a visual on the road we’re taking.’
A screen opened the next second, showing a bird’s eye view of the road and the building flanking it. Dante spotted their limo first then looked for their pursuers. To his relief, there was only one car following behind them, which meant the Daggers had yet to link them to the Diving attempt Jaguar had discovered. Still, they had to get rid of them somehow.
Limousines weren’t exactly built for high speed car chases, so there was no hope of losing their pursuers while riding one. They would need to change the vehicle at some point, but the more practical solution would be to crush the stalker.
"Take us to a less busy street." Dante said, earning him a confused look from Boris. "One of the old highways should do."
"Don’t tell me you’re going to fight them."
"Just go."
Dante was more than a little annoyed, so he wasn’t about to let whoever was driving that car get away. Boris steered away from the main streets, taking back alleys until they reached the edge of the district. By then, there was no doubt that that they were being followed.
If their pursuers were a little smarter, they would have given up by now, seeing how it should appear like they were being led to a trap. It might be that they got new orders telling them to stay on the limo’s tail no matter what, but either way, this was going to be the end for them.
"Boris," Dante fixer the fat driver with a glare. "Put the car on autopilot and close your eyes."
"... what?"
"Just do it!" Dante turned to Finn. "You too." He turned to Kizuna next. "And especially you."
The green haired girl frowned at him then made a show of closing her eyes. Dante could tell she wasn’t gong to follow his orders, so he turned to Suzuka and mad a silent request. She nodded at him a moment later, so he turned turned to the others.
’Keep an eye on their OAMs’ He though aloud. ’Activate Ghost Mode and give me 8-3.’
For a moment there, he thought that there might b no harm if they saw him put on the armor. Boris is one thing, but Finn already knows about his Storage, as well as his spatial abilities. In the end, he decided that it wasn’t the right time for that.
He did consider getting out of the car to confront the stalkers, and he would have done so, if he wasn’t so pissed off. Right now, he wanted to get it over with quickly so he could return his focus to other problems.
Light flashed inside the limo, and a second later, a suit of black armor appeared in one of the back seats. Dante glanced at the at Suzuka, then at Nobara, who was sitting beside him. A 3D model of their surroundings appeared in front of him, and since they were on the move, it continued to grow by the second.
The details were vague since Spatial Awareness didn’t have the time to properly gather Data, but that was no problem right now.
’Hm?’
As he stared at the moving dots, trying to decide where he should put the entrance and exit for the portal, Dante noticed a small toggle in the top right corner.
’Don’t tell me...’
Curiosity overwhelmed him and he couldn’t help but give the toggle a mental map. The 3D model of the street vanished, and in it’s place appeared a very small yellow box with a tube filling its interior.
’... No way...’
An idea occurred to him just then, and the implications quickly filled his mind. Instead of asking his resident AI to confirm his theory, Dante chose to test it first.