He didn't say anything, only walked forward silently alongside River.
The two Tiger Claw members ahead noticed them approaching. One of them glanced arrogantly at Leo, then looked straight at River and mocked openly, "Hey there, Pighead. Is this your new buddy?"
"Back off, Aru. Your boyfriend's been rotting in prison for years—what, you want to go keep him company?"
"No, no. Your friend's about to witness firsthand what happens to pigheads like you who don't understand plain speech. Don't want to see me? That's just guilt talking."
Their reaction struck Leo as strange. He knew this was Japantown, and Japantown was Tiger Claw territory—but that didn't mean just any random street thug could talk down to an NCPD officer like this, especially not a detective.
While officers and detectives were part of different divisions—officers from the Patrol Division, detectives from Criminal Investigation—the fact remained: a detective outranked a patrol cop.
If it had been a Tiger Claw lieutenant acting tough, maybe it would've made some sense. But these two? Just punks. Was it arrogance, or just stupidity?
From the sound of it, it wasn't about money owed—River must've put one of their boyfriends behind bars, and now they were here for payback.
River had said he'd handle it, but seeing him being treated like this, Leo couldn't just stand by.
"If all that comes out of your mouths is trash, maybe you should shut them before they get you killed."
The moment the words left his lips, both gangsters turned from River to Leo, glaring viciously. "Who the fuck are you supposed to be? You think you get to talk—"
Before he could finish, Leo had vanished from sight.
The one who had just been mocking River blinked, and the next thing he knew, Leo had him by the throat, lifting him clean off the ground.
"Gk—ghk—"
His airway was crushed; he couldn't breathe. His face turned red in an instant.
And this was Leo going easy—if he hadn't held back, snapping someone's neck with one hand wouldn't have been hard at all.
"L-Let him go…"
The other Tiger Claw thug fumbled for his gun, but just as he pointed it at Leo, a streak of light struck his hand, shattering the weapon and slicing a line across his face before embedding itself deep into the nearby wall—only the hilt of the thrown knife still visible.
Terrified, he collapsed to the ground.
Leo didn't even spare him a glance, tightening his grip until the thug he held looked on the verge of passing out, then let go. The man dropped to the ground, gasping for air, clutching his throat.
The surrounding alley stank and was full of trash, but that didn't stop him from gulping in the filthy air like it was gold.
The other thug, still on the ground, shot Leo a look full of fear, and seeing Leo make no move to stop him, scrambled over to his buddy.
The one who had nearly suffocated finally regained some strength. Helped to his feet by the other, he still couldn't resist the usual gangster act.
"You—you just wait. This isn't over! Someone's coming for you! You're dead!"
Leo didn't even bother getting angry—he actually found it funny. "Which crew are you with?"
"None of your damn business."
"Not gonna say? That's fine."
He didn't do anything, only gave a cold laugh, and that alone nearly made the two piss themselves.
"W-What do you want? I'm warning you, don't try anything stupid! We're with the Okada-gumi, you hear me? Okada-gumi! Strongest crew in Tiger Claw! If you mess with us, you'll end up like that last guy who used to run Lizzie's Bar!"
Leo looked unimpressed.
Thugs were always like this. Act tough until they were scared—then they spilled everything.
So they were with Okada-gumi, huh? Strongest crew? That was just their ego talking. If it had been another group, the situation might have become complicated. But since it was Okada-gumi, things became much more straightforward.
"Okada-gumi? So that's how Okada Wakako's sons train their underlings?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the two punks stiffened.
"You… you know Lady Wakako?"
"Know her? I had a tea party with her just recently."
They were stunned. Their first instinct was disbelief. No way this random merc actually knew Wakako Okada. But the speed he'd just shown—they hadn't even seen him move—made it hard to doubt.
Someone that strong wasn't just some nobody. It was possible he really did know Wakako.
Just like that, Leo's status in their minds shot up to a terrifying level.
They panicked.
The more arrogant they had been before, the more terrified they were now.
The two dropped to their knees and begged.
"S-Sir, please! We didn't know who we were dealing with! Please forgive us! Spare us this once, we beg you!"
Leo said calmly, "Fine. You can go. But don't let this happen again."
"Yes! Yes! Thank you, sir! Thank you!"
The two stumbled away, tripping over each other as they fled.
"I didn't know you actually knew Okada Wakako."
"I'm a merc. We get our gigs from fixers. If you don't know the fixers, how do you get the work?" Leo waved it off. "But enough about me. What about you? Do you have issues with just Tiger Claw, or every gang in the city?"
"I work for NCPD. What do you think?" River paused, then added, "To be honest, for a moment there, I thought you were going to kill them."
Leo smiled. "Killing them would've been easy. But that would've brought Tiger Claw down on us. I'm not afraid of that—but you might be. Even if they can't get to you, they'd go after your family. Luckily mine can fight back so no worries there."
"If all goes well, though, they'll steer clear next time. Won't dare mess with you again."
That concern for his family was the real reason River hadn't drawn his weapon. He wasn't scared of two punks—he'd gunned down Horvath, who was fitted out with prime gear, but he was afraid of the aftermath if Tiger Claw decided to retaliate against his loved ones.
A sad irony—in a world where mice should fear cats, it was the cats now worrying about being pursued.
"Thanks, Leo," River said sincerely.
Leo gave a faint smile. "Don't mention it. Come on—we're heading to the Red Queen's Race."
….............
.....
.
Night had deepened. Only the dim yellow lights of the streetlamps on Bernita Street remained.
Out here on the city's edge, there were no neon signs, no holographic ads, and no glittering high-rise windows. Just the quiet, heavy dark.
River pulled the car over near a bridge. Parking wasn't allowed here—no lines, no lights—but this late at night, no one was going to issue a ticket.
Though visibility was poor, one could just barely make out the silhouette of a warehouse across the bridge.
Leo pointed. "If your informant wasn't lying, the Red Queen's Race should be inside that warehouse."
"I can see that."
Leo wasn't using a Kiroshi Optic, but the tactical visor on his face offered enhanced vision for distant targets. He could clearly make out the bulky guard seated inside the checkpoint booth.
Leo withdrew his gaze and looked to River. "They hired Animals to guard the place. You didn't piss them off recently, did you?"
River shook his head quickly. "No, not recently. But they don't exactly like NCPD. Without a warrant, we can't just walk in. We'll have to sneak inside."
"Follow me."
The two crossed the bridge but didn't head for the warehouse's main entrance. Instead, they veered off to the side.
After moving some ten meters away from the door—out of the security camera's field of view—Leo signaled River to stop. He activated the scanning mode on his visor.
A wave of red light invisible to the naked eye radiated from Leo outward.
Half a minute later, he smiled. "Found it. The club is in there."
River blinked. "How did you know?"
"Trade secret. Don't ask—just follow."
Leo led River to scale the outer wall from another angle. Behind it were stacked crates, equipment, and cargo trucks—all of which served perfectly as cover.
Using the scanning overlay, Leo and River navigated forward bit by bit, moving from one piece of cover to the next.
The inside of the warehouse was packed with cargo as well.
Just as River was about to break cover, Leo grabbed his arm. "Careful. Someone's inside."
They crouched and waited in silence for over a minute.
"Now. Go."
Leo tapped River on the shoulder and moved forward. They crept from one cover point to the next.
They had entered the warehouse interior.
Up above, an Animal stood watch, and the security cameras along the walls created a cross-fire field of vision. From here on, sneaking around wouldn't be easy.
"What now?" River asked, tension obvious in his voice.
Of course he was nervous—this was deep inside Animal turf. If they were caught, he doubted anyone would give them a chance to explain before they were ripped to pieces.
Sure, he had dropped Horvath with three shots, but there were far too many Animals here. If things turned violent, he wouldn't last long.
Leo, as always, was calm. He even gave River a pointed look and gestured toward a direction. "You see that shipping container?"
River followed his gaze. "Yeah. What about it?"
"Your precious Red Queen's Race? The entrance is under that. That container is the door."
River looked again. From the outside, it didn't look anything like a club's entrance.
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