The luminous market was overflowing with people. Some were chatting, others were arguing over the prices of the products and even more were advertising their merchandise.
In this lively place Nicolas was walking around with a piece of paper in his hands. He wore his glove on the left palm as he was constantly rubbing his thumb and index finger.
On the paper, a tiny list was written by a pencil.
""Barium""
""Magnesium""
""Aluminium""
Unfortunately, I studied chemistry and ignored every other class. If I was attentive during biology classes I'd have short of figured out what happened to me.
When he grew up Nicolas wanted to follow the path of chemistry and uncover the secrets of the universe. To his dismay, before he could even become eighteen he lost almost everything.
At the very least I learned which things explode.
He had come to the market in order to buy materials he might need in the future. Ironically, the guards that restricted guns and weapons inside the underground city, allowed substances that could very well constitute a bomb or a deadly poison.
As he searched around for the things in his list, he spotted a sign that indicated that the chemicals were further away.
""Gadgets and Chemicals 200m. Straight""
Bingo.
*
"Hello, Jacob."
Jacob and Nicolas were sitting on a table in the 'hotel'. The smell was still terrible since they were pretty far from the market but Nicolas bore with it.
Opposite of him, Jacob was sipping his coffee while gazing through the window.
"Good morning, Nicolas."
He didn't even look at him when he replied. His mind was elsewhere. Outside, only a few people were passing by occasionally. Half a dozen men were playing cards on a large table.
Without even facing them, Nicolas knew they were gazing at him. His eyes suddenly became unfocused, as if he was looking at distant darkness filling the sky.
Why are they looking at me? Am I a landmark or something?
At the moment Nicolas wasn't looking in front of him. Instead, he focused all his attention on the men supposedly playing cards.
Even Jonathan's looking from time to time. Is he holding a grudge?... Anyways.
Then, he brought his attention back at Jacob.
"So? Who's the one that runs this rundown place?"
Nicolas' question caught Jacob slightly off guard. Jacob's eyes widened slightly before easing again, trying to hide his surprise but it was futile. Nicolas had already seen through his facade. Pressing again, after Jacob didn't answer, Nicolas asked firmly.
"Who's the one who built a whole fucking city beneath Athens, Jacob?"
"Hahaha!"
At that moment Jacob's cold laugh made Nicolas stop thinking.
"How can someone be so clueless? Not even the Chinese can construct a city in a month alone. Much less an underground city."
Nicolas watched speechless as Jacob took out something from his pocket. He unfolded a small map and slammed it on the table, then placed his fingers on two spots.
"This is Atlantis. My index finger is pointing at the safehouse and my middle finger at the market you went to. Do you understand now?"
This is unbelievable...
What Jacob showed him was a distance of five centimeters between his fingers, but the area marked was just a tiny piece of the city's plan.
"This place wasn't made by a single person with money. It is the blood, sweat and hard work of many people. Twenty-five square kilometers independent from any country or corporation."
Twenty-five square kilometers? Where the hell do you find such a broad area in the sewers?
Nicolas' expression turned surprised yet curious. He covered his face with his naked, right palm to hide it, though his emotions had already been revealed to Jacob.
"You must think this is all fake but it's true. Due to power conflicts this place was created with outside support. Roughly a trillion yen or something were spent to make it."
"Yen?... Which of the Asians was it? You know the Chinese had been meddling with the last prime minister, right?"
The Chinese were involved in many unreasonable actions of the previous government. One of which was the misinformation they provided the public and the false death cause of dozens of people and students.
"... Why? Do you have a problem with that? Business is still business and we can't be picky in our current situation."
Nicolas turned red. His blue veins started glowing, contrasting with his reddish face. His blue-gray eyes also shined. His glare was enough to kill someone but Jacob glared back at him without breaking eye contact.
Following that, Nicolas stood up and smashed his arm on the table, breaking it in the process. Jacob's cup fell to the ground, breaking, and the coffee spilled all over. Furiously, Nicolas shouted at Jacob, who hadn't moved an inch.
"You...got help from those murderers?!!! Those foreigner bastards?!!!"
His anger lashed out at Jacob. His apathetic blue eyes irritated Nicolas even more. But he hadn't taken a single thing into account when he smashed the table. Jacob was a gang leader and his gangsters were only a few steps away.
"Don't move a muscle."
Suddenly he felt the cold muzzle of a gun from behind his head. Jonathan's voice startled him but he didn't look back.
"Don't ya try any tricks, whitey."
Jacob crossed his left leg over his right one and supported his jaw with his fist, giving a sceptical glance at both Jonathan and Nicolas. Jonathan, after waiting for a couple of seconds, called out to his boss.
"Any orders...boss?"
Jonathan nearly forgot to address Jacob properly. The cold gun aimed at Nicolas was steadily held at his head, without trembling at all, as if it was something normal for Jonathan.
Breaking his long silence, Jacob stood up. He walked up to Nicolas and patted his shoulder softly, passing by him and grabbing the gun from Jonathan as he spoke.
"You're too naive... The underworld's the most truthful yet twisted battlefield on earth created by us, humans."
With that said, Jacob headed towards the stairs leading to the second floor. Before ascending the stairs he looked back at Nicolas and Jonathan who were having a staring contest. Nicolas' eyes burned with scorn while Jonathan's with displeasure. After taking a deep breath Jacob spoke to them again, his voice was low.
"Jonathan... you will show Nicolas around. He's gonna stay for a while."
"But boss-!"
Jonathan retorted immediately Jacob's words but he wasn't firm enough.
"You will show Nicolas around. That's an order."
Jonathan lowered his eyes as if he had resigned and obeyed the orders given to him. As for Nicolas, he was angry at Jacob but also at himself for failing to understand him.
Humans...