"I didn't expect you, Revy, to be Misha's guardian! I thought finding her would be a huge hassle!"Amiya was in a rather good mood.
Although negotiations with Lungmen hadn't gone particularly smoothly, thanks to Revy, Ch'en no longer voiced opposition to Rhodes Island cooperating with Lungmen. At long last, the first cooperative agreement between the two sides was finalized.
In order to win Revy over, Wei Yenwu had offered extremely generous terms: as long as Misha was safely protected and brought to Rhodes Island, the first phase of the mission would be considered complete. Lungmen, in return, would fulfill its duties as a partner and accept Rhodes Island's large-scale trade requests involving precious metals and Originium.
Through this, Revy also learned the origins of the whole incident, why the Crisis Contract chose to rescue Misha, and the reason her identity became so vital after the Chernobog incident.
Misha's father held an extraordinarily special status, making her a prime target of Reunion. It was said that in her hands lay the secret of Chernobog's core city — and possessing that secret would turn Chernobog into an irreversible ticking time bomb between Lungmen and Ursus.
Connecting the dots — the close timing of the Glaucus incident and the Chernobog incident, and their encounter with the Reunion officer known as "Kingslayer" during the escape — made Revy feel a chill.
If he hadn't taken on this mission… or had delayed even a day or two… that girl's fate might have turned out drastically different.
To prevent Lungmen from "permanently detaining" or even outright "disposing of" Misha, Revy had only 24 hours to remove her from the slums and ensure she did not fall into Reunion's hands.
After that, the L.G.D. would begin indiscriminate arrests of all unregistered residents in the slums — including Misha.…To cut off all potential threats.
"Misha lives just ahead — I even swung by Lungmen to check on her before I returned last time."Revy felt a bit relieved. This mission seemed fairly straightforward.
"Wow, Revy, you really know your stuff. You even know the layout of the slums this well? That'll save us the time we'd spend waiting for the Penguin Logistics guys."
"Well, being a Catastrophe Messenger, memorizing maps and complex terrain in your head — that's just basic stuff. We— wait… someone's here."The two of them stopped in their tracks.
"Where'd they go? You! Chase them down! Look at those—oh~~ seems we've got a little surprise.""Aaah!"A child's scream rang out — clearly grabbed by the voice's owner.
The two exchanged a glance, nodded, then quickened their pace toward the sound.
"Let go of me! Let me go!""Tell me! Where did she run off to? Don't play dumb!""Big Sister Long! Big Sister Misha! Where are you?! Help me—!"
Revy's expression sharpened.Rounding a corner in the alley, the scene that appeared made Amiya's eyes burn with fury.
A scruffy-looking man — clearly just some Lungmen street thug — was holding a small boy up by one arm. A red slap mark was plainly visible on the child's face.
What had happened was obvious.
"…I suggest you leave. Now."Though angry, Amiya kept her emotions under control, speaking coldly.
"Huh?"The man turned, eyeing the two approaching. He frowned, then noticed Amiya's rabbit ears.
"Who are you? Outsiders? Better keep your noses out of this — or I'll call the L.G.D. on you!"
Over the past two days, he'd run into some nosy folks. Though the slum residents were wary, some still had a sense of justice.Unfortunately for them, all he had to do was threaten to report to Lungmen's Guard Department, and they would back off bitterly — the slums were Lungmen's gray zone, and ordinary folks couldn't afford to mess with the L.G.D.
But sadly for him, some people didn't care.
"Picking on little kids, huh? You've got guts — why not come pick on me instead?"Revy strolled forward, dragging a long, rectangular case by his side. Oddly, the case's handle wasn't centered — it was slightly offset, causing the lower end to tilt down when held.
"Back off! Don't come any closer! I'll report this to the L.G.D.!"
The thug had just reached for his phone when a sudden force smashed into his throat. Gasping in fear, he released the boy and was slammed against the wall by his collar.
"Wha—what are you doing?! I—"He didn't even last half a second before his face changed — a gun was now pressed against his head.
"No! Revy, don't kill him!"Amiya's frightened cry came from behind.
Revy smiled faintly — but neither his grip on the gun nor the man's collar loosened.
"I-I-I-I-I'm sorry!! I-I-I really am!!"The threat of death finally shattered the thug's mental defenses.
He had only come for the high black-market bounty — just another two-bit street punk.Forget fighting skills — his body, ruined by booze and vice, probably couldn't even beat a regular civilian. All he could do was throw around the L.G.D.'s name to bully slum dwellers.
But now? No way was he throwing his life away over some nebulous reward.
"Enough! Revy! There's no need to stoop to this guy's level!"Amiya's plea finally got through to Revy. He hesitated… then let go of the thug's collar.
"—Get lost.""I'm gone! I'm gone!!"
The man fled, stumbling over himself and leaving behind a trail of urine and a faint stench in the air.
Revy didn't pay it any mind. Instead, he walked over to where Amiya was helping the boy up.
"You said… you know Misha?"
——— Scene Break ———
Meanwhile, in another corner of the slums...
"Clean this up properly. If someone else doesn't find it, the L.G.D. will."
Four or five corpses lay piled in a corner, their bodies covered in messy wounds — clearly tortured before death.
Had the earlier thug been here, he would've recognized these as the ones who had split off with him earlier to search the slums.
Kingslayer gave the corpses a glance, then looked toward his elite subordinate.
"At most 24 hours before our infiltration is discovered — so find her within 24 hours, and bring her to me.""…Remember: don't kill her. That's a direct order from the Leader. She must be brought back alive."