Chapter 7: Nint Row?

Aiden's POV

After Noah went to bed, I spent the rest of the night planning as I waited for midnight. Despite simply thinking, I didn't feel tired or stressed, in fact, I was mostly excited at the absurdity of what happened earlier.

We literally summoned henchmen!

It changes everything, as the early stages of our gang needed a lot of things but the most important of all we need trustworthy members! Neither Equipment nor the rest could beat that. Therefore, I chose to use this week's sign-in option on recruitment as we presently had two revenue resource on hand that hasn't been used and equipment should be fine for now.

Beep!

Incoming Call...

Casey...

"Hello?" Casey's voice came up the moment I picked up, sounding rather exhausted.

"Ah, If it isn't Princess Casey, it's an honor to get your call"

"Oh please, this princess is super stressed!"

"Aha that's a pity, here I thought you were having a royal spa treatment or something "

"I wish!, I saw what you sent to me, thanks but it was 300 more credits than what I lent you, I don't need it...hope you are doing ok?"

"Yeah I'm okay, just keep it, that's my thank you for the assist bonus, so don't sweat it alright? "

"Hmm, Alright I'll see you later, my break is over..." She spoke with a little exhaustion before the call disconnected.

_______

I took a deep breath before thinking about the black market issue, according to Dr.Rivers, the Black market wasn't actually a fixed location but a series of landmarks scattered across Spark City.

After getting a recommendation, you go to the address at Nint Row port, and knowing that the Port belonged to a Gang alliance called 'The United Front" also opened my mind to new thoughts as I made plans. Four major gangs and families in the City worked together to create a network which is what was referred to as the Black Market!

All you have to do in the port is to somehow get a map and access to the network...

'I'm pretty sure that there would be a kind of test before you can proceed with anything...' I soon began to wonder how protected the place could be.

At the very least, they had to be high-level chromed or Inorganics there, and a mediocre response should not be expected by their standards, considering that place might very well hold important information that could be used by those 'Can heads'.

"Sheesh looks like I'm not going to be able to get a good night's sleep with this.......'"

I organize as much information as possible in my head through my cyberdeck.

I recall the geography and surroundings of Nint Row Harbor, the weather for tonight, and as much as I can about my immediate abilities.

After hours of planning, I ended up falling asleep for two hours before waking up and leaving for the port, I had some considerations that made me choose to go there tonight. I didn't see the need to waste another full day doing almost nothing, so I left a note for Noah, just like I always did before heading out.

I soon found T-bone and Fat Tony sharing a cigarette by the elevator, "T-bone, you're coming with me and Tony, I would prefer you stay inside the house while I am away".

Hearing my words, they adjusted themselves before Tony replied with a "Sure thing..." before heading into the house.

I watched his back silently while waiting for the elevator, before manipulating the system interface and choosing to use my new sign-in opportunity while praying to get a higher grade Gangster or a character with a rare 'Gangster' class that would be helpful in a frontal confrontation.

[Ding! You have successfully recruited a D-grade Enforcer...]

'Well that isn't too bad either, although it's a basic class according to the system'

_____

3:21 am,

"What's the big deal, they've been doing so well, why were they suddenly wiped out?"

Above on a violently rocking deck two unidentified individuals were chugging up some beer while talking with disgruntled expressions.

"I know right? The thought of it sends shivers down my spine!."

Apparently, a small gang that majored in arms dealing as their main source of income was wiped out by an unknown group yesterday because of a bionic equipment or at least that's what the rumors say.

"Wow the fog is so thick today, I can't see a thing."

"The Cap would handle it...don't worry too much".

Unable to enjoy the scenery, the two grumbled in frustration as the fog settled over the dark early morning waters, and they leaned into the rocking boat.

These things had nothing to do with me for now, as I already knew the weather would be foggy around this time.

The boat's speed slowly slowed down as a bell chimed severally in the distance ahead, it's strange rhythm echoed across to the boat as the latter blew the horn in a different way, Lights became visible through the thick fog as well.

Realizing that we were close to our destination, I signaled my guys and looked around.

The other men around made their way to the stern.

Their next stop is the Nint Row Port, which is operated under the control of the United Front.

I figured as a novice, It would be much easier to move quietly and stealthily here than to make a scene.

"Listen, Cain will be with me as my bodyguard while T-bone will provide visual support from a distance."

"Understood."

The dockside slowly took shape out of the seawater, and I straightened my back.

"Get ready."

At my words, T-bone and the newly summoned Cain gathered at the stern.

With a rumbling sound, the ship stopped and with another tremor, the dock slowly began to open as the ship finally touched down.

The fog is still thick even as we arrived at the dock...

Soon the overhead dock light came on with a bang and A man of about two and a half meters approached our group in a navy blue suit, he gave an illusion of a huge wall approaching. His huge head held eight eyes arranged in a manner reminiscent of a spider, the black marbles flickered slightly as he twitched his nose with a smirk.

"Gents, Ladies and the rest, My name is Yeager, the one you call Titan. I'd like to welcome you all but I would love to receive your recommendations in order to point you in the appropriate directions, while we do that, my peoples will be performing the routine checks... Welcome to the Docks, My fine friends." Titan spoke in a condescending manner like he didn't care about anyone present, but that wasn't surprising as the group were basically small timers who were just getting in contact with the city's underbelly.

There was a lot of grumbling but not many people resisted or anything, Titan remained standing with a smile as his men went to work. They performed pat-downs before collecting the Bronze cards.

They performed with great familiarity and shortly they were done.

"Alright, lets see..." Titan gestured for us to follow before moving as he spoke, "I advise not to show any weapons in the open or it would be taken as an act of aggression to the 'United Front', you are to conduct your business quickly and leave before dawn or you would be charged 10,000 star credits for an overstay, there will be no fighting at the docks or so help me, I'll personally f*ck you up.

______

A while later I was standing outside of a glass walled reception with a lot of doubt.

"Boss, Looks like we are done" T-Bone's words snapped me back to reality. Upon arrival, I stated my business and was asked to pay 5000 star credits before I was simply given a chip and city map.

I looked at the time reflected on my cyberdeck and it was already 4:38 am, "Let's head back, I need to catch some more sleep"

_________

By the time I got back it was already 6 am, Noah was already up in the sitting room with a kneeling Fat Tony. He seemed extremely peeved based on the glare he was giving me as soon as I opened the door.

“I...I'm back” I spoke cautiously with my arm in the air in surrender, Noah was now in mama bear mode and no excuse would get through to him now considering I genuinely did something dangerous this time.

The silence was loud in the room and Tony looked like he didn't know what to do with himself, good thing I left the others outside.

Unable to bear it anymore, I finally say, “I'm sorry”.

Noah inhaled lightly before letting out a breath he seemed to have been holding, “Never again, I can't help but imagine something happening to you while I was sleeping... Just don't do anything so dangerous without me being in the know, we are a team dude”

“...”

After a few more seconds, Noah added, “Rivers called, he's got our guy...”

The moment I heard his words, a rage that I had been hiding in my heart was once again ignited, the man that murdered our mother has been found! What I was never able to do before was now completed in less than a week.

“Who, is , he...” I spoke slowly through gritted teeth.

Noah's face was unreadable as he let out his next words, “Virone Gold aka Guttermouth, he's currently active in our district, West way, leads a small crew in charge of the Brown Orchid under under ‘The Disciples’, I just forwarded the details to you”

“When did the disciples move into our district?”

“Apparently, they are expanding and are slowly turning ‘West way’ into a mess...”

I opened the file forward to my deck while in contemplation, “This Virone guy's in charge? Doesn't matter, we are taking him out, it's just a matter of who to pin this on... We need to work in a way that nothing traces back to us”.