"Jala! Black pine wine! Give me another dozen! "
In the noisy and dark Sunset Pub, Quide panted heavily as he leaned on the bar counter. One glass after another, he poured the wine into his mouth.
"Hey, big guy. If you don't have money to tip, you won't get any black pine wine!"
Jala, who was standing behind the bar counter, unhappily brought out two large glasses of black pine wine. She placed them on the bar counter without a trace of politeness. "For your father's sake, these are the last two glasses! I'll give you thirty seconds to finish drinking and then get out of here! Every hour you sit here, our pub, no, the entire underground street's profits will decrease by ten percent! "
Quide was already a little dizzy from drinking. However, even in the noisy pub, Jala's shrewd voice still traveled far. Quide could feel the gazes of the customers around him and the ridicule they might have in their hearts. His heart was filled with anger.
'Back then, I was the' Blood Axe 'Quide Roda who made the entire lower city tremble in fear. If it was not for that incident, why would a girl at the bar counter dare to bully me?
Even the bald Sven, who debuted two years later than me, dared to laugh at me in front of the beggar and laugh at my next words …
F * ck! '
"You blind girl!" Quide gritted his teeth and shook his heavy head. He stood up and grabbed Jala's hand. He dragged her in front of him across the bar counter and fiercely roared, "I told you! A dozen black pine wine! "
The whole pub quietened down.
The lower city district was a famous chaotic place in Eternal Star City, and the underground district was a famous chaotic place in the lower city district. It was especially so after Black Street Brotherhood took over the place ten years ago. Sunset Bar was the center of operations in this chaotic place. The people in Sunset Bar were basically people who belonged to Black Street Brotherhood or people who were looking for Black Street Brotherhood.
Hence, when Quide grabbed Jala's hand and roared, everyone in the bar looked like they were watching a good show. They did not make a sound or stop him.
Quide's head became dizzy, but he could still feel that the wrist he was holding was very smooth and soft. He could also feel the faint fragrance from Jala's body. Under the dim light of the candlestick in the bar, Jala's short brown hair looked clean and neat. Her smooth face and delicate outline were clearer than usual. Quide's imagination ran wild for a moment.
Jala seemed to be shocked by him as well. She stared in shock at the former top fighter, who was now a down-and-out drunkard.
When the noise of the customers disappeared, the dizzy Quide felt vaguely satisfied. He felt that his actions had received due attention.
But soon, when he shifted his gaze to Jala, he gradually sobered up.
Thus, the elation he felt just now gradually turned into fear and trembling.
Jala Charleton was one of the few people who knew her full name. 'This beautiful woman …' Quide recalled his father's words to him to 'stay away from her', as well as what he had seen and heard in Sunset Pub several times.
This shrewish and seductive 'bar girl' was currently staring at him with a playful gaze.
Quide's chin began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Jala, that, I am not …"
But before Quide could react …
* Clack! *
Jala's hand, which was grabbing his wrist, was forcefully grabbed by her.
In the next second, Quide's middle finger and index finger were bent in the opposite direction.
What followed was a piercing pain.
"Ahhh!"
Quide cried out in pain. His face was distorted.
But it was not over yet. Jala fiercely grabbed his outstretched hand and forcefully twisted it in the opposite direction of his elbow joint.
* Crack! *
"Ahhh! No! Jala! Sister Jala! I … I was wrong … I shouldn't have … Ahhh! "
The sound of Quide's elbow joint being dislocated was heard at the same time as Quide's scream.
Before Quide could finish begging for mercy, the agile woman used the force to flip over. Her slender left leg, which was wearing short leather pants, stepped onto the bar counter and ruthlessly smashed Quide's neck.
"Good job, little Jala! You did not embarrass the boss! "
"With this skill, you can apply to train as a Swordsman of Eradication!"
"She actually wore safety pants!"
"I swear I saw it! I bet she's wearing black! "
The surrounding customers instantly regained their liveliness. One by one, they cheered for Jala.
"Listen up, you gorilla!"
Jala glared fiercely at Quide, who was suffocating from the pressure. She stood with one foot behind the bar counter while her left leg was pressed against the counter. Her right hand was clasped around Quide's outstretched arm. Her graceful and slender figure was clearly visible.
She slowly took out a strangely shaped knife from the leather holster on her left boot. The blade and the handle were not in a straight line. From afar, it looked like a wolf's leg.
Then, without changing her expression, she stabbed Quide's palm vertically.
The tip of the knife was nailed into the bar counter.
The customers' cheers became even louder.
"Woo woo!" Quide was in so much pain that he squeezed out tears. However, the pressure on his neck made him squeal like a pig.
Jala slowly lowered her upper body and displayed her perfect flexibility. She approached Quide's tear-streaked face, whistled, and smiled.
Then, his face turned fierce and ferocious, and he spoke in a rhythmic (but chilling) and flirtatious voice, which was full of charm,
"Quide Roda …"
"I don't care whose son you are. I don't care if you are the leader of child beggars or a hired thug who collects black accounts …"
"But you motherf * cker, listen to me …"
"From now until the end of the world …"
"If you dare to appear in my bar again …"
"I will, put, you, down, there, then, son …"
"One piece at a time …"
"Chop into mincemeat …"
"Mix it into the wine …"
"One mouthful at a time …"
"Pour it down your throat …"
"Do you understand? Trash! “
While Quide cried, he covered his pierced right hand and escaped from Sunset Pub under the laughter of the customers and Jala's disdainful gaze. Only then did Jala clap her hands and wipe off the blood on the Wolf Limb Blade with a look of disgust. It was as if it was not blood, but the mucus of a devil from hell.
Jala turned her head in annoyance and saw that the customers were still staring at the bar counter. Among them, there was no lack of gazes filled with ulterior motives and desires.
"What are you looking at?! Whoever dares to look again will have to pay twice the price of the wine! "
Jala threw down those harsh words and shifted the customers' attention from her back to the wine. Then, she fiercely threw down the rag and walked into the kitchen.
"Is this enough? I did as you said and deliberately told him about 'that thing'. "
Jala grabbed a bottle of white wine. A multi-purpose knife suddenly appeared in her left hand and she deftly opened the cork.
"Of course, of course, Miss Jala." In the kitchen, Quide's assistant and the actual manager of the child beggars' business, Naer Rick gently lifted the black top hat on his head and smiled as he nodded. "I hope that he will restrain himself from now on. From his unrestrained drinking to his unrestrained beating of child beggars, the Brotherhood cannot always clean up after him."
"What you want to say is that you cannot always clean up after him, right?" Jala quickly gulped down a mouthful of wine. Rick suddenly felt that this crude action was more appropriate on Jala's body. It was fresh and attractive.
"That is not wrong, because the Brotherhood's interests are my interests." Rick smiled and subconsciously touched the back of his neck.
"Are you sure that this will work? Why do I feel that a person like him will find more trouble when he goes back? For example, to vent his anger on your child beggars? "
'You really know him well,' Rick thought.
"Actually, I do not know whether it will work or not because I do not know him, but …" Rick shook his head helplessly. This was his signature action to show his innocence and sincerity. "Recently, he has become worse. Three days ago, for a ridiculous reason, he beat up a seedling that I thought highly of. If it were not for that child's intelligence, another seedling would have died in Quide's hands."
'I did not know that you were so generous and righteous.' Jala rolled her eyes in her heart.
As he said this, Rick's gaze suddenly became firm.
"That is why I decided that this cannot go on. He must be warned. Otherwise, he will sooner or later ruin the business that I have worked so hard to manage. "
"Alright, you do not have to explain to me so many reasons like 'I was forced to kill my superior'."
Jala yawned and waved her hand to let Rick leave.
"I did not say that I wanted to kill him —"
"Speaking of which, hurry up and pay the remuneration we agreed on. I only accept cash," Jala interrupted Rick. She lazily finished the white wine and stuck out her tongue to lick the last drop of wine into her mouth. This action made Rick's heart skip a beat. "Also, you still have to pay for the wine he owes today."
Jala slightly narrowed her eyes as she watched Rick leave after he took off his hat and saluted her.
'Don't think that I do not know that you switched Quide's wine today.
Others might not be able to recognize it, but I, Jala from the Sunset Pub, know it very clearly. Quide only drank strong Chaka wine.
Unlike the wine that makes people drunk, Chaka wine is usually given to the prisoners on the Western Front who are shackled and ready to charge. The drunk person's movements will not be hindered, but their minds will not be clear.
'So, Naer Rick, are you sure that you have too much money to spend and that you really do not want to kill him?'
—
When Quide returned to the big stone door in front of the Abandoned House full of humiliation, pain, and drunkenness, he did not live in the Black Street Headquarters. Quide felt that anyone who knew the inside story would stare at his lower body when they saw him. At that moment, two thugs happened to pass by the wall in a hurry. Their chatter could be heard from afar.
"Have you heard? The child beggars are spreading a rumor that Boss Quide is no longer a man — "
"What do you mean? Can he become a woman? "
"Idiot, it means that Quide has been castrated! I heard that a few years ago, when he was collecting debts at Carima Street, he encountered something strange in a haunted house. It was the house where the Earl of Norfolk and his family were hanged. Everyone said that a female ghost in a red dress cut off his lower body. It was clean. "
For a moment, Quide felt all the blood in his body rush to his head.
The next moment, he lost control and roared angrily. He pounced from behind the wall and grabbed one of the thugs' neck tightly.
"Who?! Who said that?! Which bastard?! "
"Which bastard?!"
"I'm going to kill him!"
The other thug panicked and retreated a few steps.
Quide fiercely pressed the person in his hand to the ground. His grip became tighter and tighter, but his pierced right hand was unable to withstand the force.
After all, he was a famous leader of the thugs in the Brotherhood. He was also a top-notch expert in the Ordinary Rank. Even though his physical strength had declined and his skills had deteriorated due to many years of decadence, as long as he did not fight against the female cat burglar from the Charleton Family, he would still be able to defeat an ordinary thug. Especially now, Quide felt that all the anger in his body had turned into an inexhaustible force.
"Boss Quide … It was just a rumor. We don't believe it … Ah!" Quide was like a wild beast as he suddenly raised his head.
The thug who was trying to defend himself was so frightened that he took a step back.
However, he immediately saw that his other companion's face was pale. He was exhaling more than he was inhaling.
The thug who kept retreating looked at Quide's ferocious gaze. His face was full of fear. "Ah, yes, it was the child beggars who spread the rumor. Boss, it was really not our fault. You … you can ask the child beggars and you will know!"
"Kacha!" It was the sound of a neck bone breaking.
The thug who was choked by Quide had already stopped breathing.
Quide slowly stood up from the ground. His eyes were filled with a ferocious glint as if he was about to devour someone. The aftereffects of tonight's alcohol were too strong. It caused him to gradually lose his last bit of rationality.
The remaining thug's body was trembling. Seeing that the situation was not good, he cried out while rolling and crawling away.
Quide wanted to chase after them, but he was too drunk. His footsteps were unstable and he could not run.
He fiercely took two breaths and looked at the corpse under his feet. He felt that his anger had not been vented. He kicked it a few more times before shaking his head and walking towards the twenty or so abandoned houses.
Quide did not think about why the thugs who were patrolling tonight (this was necessary to keep an eye on the child beggars) did not appear. He only had a strong desire in his mind to find the people who laughed at him.
Then, he would torture them to death one by one.
Quide, who had just killed someone, felt as if a long lost shackle had been opened in his mind. He had returned to the days when he had to make a living on the edge of a knife.
'These damn thieves.' He thought fiercely. 'Since they dared to spread rumors, I will make them pay the price.
'Damn thieves.'
The thug who had escaped trembled as he crawled out of the abandoned house's big stone door. He bumped into Rick under the tree outside the door.
"Mister Rick!" When the thug saw Rick, it was as if he had seen his savior. "Boss Quide … Quide has gone crazy! Didn't you say that we would definitely be able to escape? In the end, before we could even finish talking, Quide … "The thug was so scared that he was out of breath. He could not even speak clearly.
"Pearson did not manage to escape? He … he was killed by Quide? "Rick seemed to be shocked.
After getting confirmation from the thug, Rick shook his head dejectedly. "It is my fault. I thought that Quide would be ashamed and hide when he heard the news. There is no other way. Go and close the big stone door and lock Quide in the Abandoned Houses District. Then, prepare the carriage. We will leave immediately."
"Okay. Mister Rick, where are we going?" The thug, who was still in a state of shock, heard that they were leaving and nodded. He did not even think about what to do with the child beggars who were also inside.
"Go to the headquarters and look for Boss Morris."
Rick's face suddenly became serious as he watched the thug rush to the side of the big stone door. He stretched out his hand to close the double door and inserted the stone lock.
This time, Quide would definitely look for all the child beggars. Among them, there would definitely be someone that the 'ghost' wanted.
He had brought forward his work and rest schedule for the day. It was not too late yet. Quide had half of the night to take care of the child beggars.
Whether it was torture or killing, it was the ghost's and the assassin's concern. Since he was interested in the child beggars, what would he do when the child beggars encountered a disaster?
First of all, he would definitely not have the time to look for him.
If he came to look for a child beggar, then Quide would be killed by him. This way, the Black Street Brotherhood would take over this place tomorrow and he would not have any trouble.
If he came to kill a child beggar, then he would probably watch Quide kill all the child beggars. This was very likely. One should never underestimate the filth of a noble's family. Then, his own trouble would be solved.
In short, the problem of the big shot's family and the coldness on the back of his neck would all be solved tonight.
Otherwise, one day, the ghost that couldn't find its target would come looking for him. Rick didn't think that the lackeys of the big families would have a good temper. He also didn't think that after meeting the ghost, he would be able to see the next day's sun in one piece.
It was not that Rick did not think of pretending to be sick for a month or simply asking for a transfer to another place. He wanted to run as far away from the scary ghost as possible until it found what it wanted.
However, Rick, who had been fine the day before, suddenly fell sick or left. Wouldn't that be the same as telling the ghost that he knew of its existence and then betting his life on the ghost's kindness of not involving the innocent?
There must be another, safe, unsuspecting scapegoat, to expose the ghost's designs.
'Boss Quide, I will have to trouble you again!' Rick thought indifferently.
It was a pity that this group of child beggars, Thales and Karak. After this, there was a chance that he would be punished because he did not keep an eye on them. However, compared to his own life and future …
At this moment, the thug who was lucky enough to escape rushed over with the carriage from afar.
Rick nodded at him and gave him an encouraging and comforting smile. He then walked to the side of the carriage.
Then, he took out the mini extendable crossbow from his bosom and shot the arrow that was soaked in the poisonous Blue Vine Grass accurately into the surprised thug's wide open mouth.
On the night that Rick made the decision that would never be known to the world, but still deeply affected the fate of the kingdom, the child beggars in the sixth house were led by Thales to sit beside the fire that they had painstakingly started because they had to rest early. They counted the day's harvest.
"That woman in black gave us eight coppers. I heard that her youngest son had just passed away because of typhoid. No wonder she was so generous."
"Milara, with her ears drooping, gave us all the coppers she had left over from the grocery shopping — oh, only two."
Sinti had a smile on his face as he counted the coppers one by one and piled them on his left. Thales nodded, grabbed a sharp stone, and drew the word "Zheng" on the ground.
"That skinny man with Highland boots refused to pay, so Ryan and I taught him a lesson."
Kellet took out a card and looked at the words on it in distress. "But he only had this card in his bosom, and I don't know what it is for."
"That is the pass to the National Institute of Science, Jadestar Grand Library. That is in the upper city, five blocks away from us." Thales looked at the card and said, "That skinny man must be a scholar from a foreign academy. I don't know if he is a philosopher or a scientist. But, looking at him, he might be a literary scholar."
"Wow! Thales, you actually know the words on it! "Coria and Ned looked at Thales with admiration.
"How is that possible!" Thales shrugged and looked at the vague hope in the eyes of the two children. "No one has ever taught us how to read and count. I only knew about it when I saw the book emblem on the back of the card."
However, Thales thought that he was already teaching himself how to read, such as the words on the signboards of "Sunset Bar", "Grove Pharmacy", and "National Institute of Science". And his past memories gave him an inexplicable respect and admiration for knowledge, so he would not let go of any opportunity to learn and accumulate knowledge.
Thales raised his dust-covered hands and looked at the calluses that had appeared prematurely due to working hard all day long. He rubbed his half-full stomach and sighed. 'It's really a form of happiness to be able to sit in front of the study table freely and absorb the wisdom of the predecessors.
Thales could no longer remember the scene of his transmigration. To be precise, the memories of his transmigration were retrieved bit by bit as Thales gradually grew up and his brain gradually took shape.
His memories from the age of two to three were scattered and sparse, just like a real two-year-old. He only remembered a patch of sticky red (he did not know why the color could be described as sticky), a black stone house filled with the cries of a baby, and a skinny woman. He only found out later that she was the "Black-Hearted Widow" Beth, a female leader in charge of raising the new children in the Brotherhood.
Thales was sent to the Abandoned House when he was three years old. It was also at that time that the memories of his previous life gradually became clear to him. The scenes that flashed through his mind the most were scenes of him sitting in front of a desk, his gaze moving back and forth between the books and the computer, or sitting in a classroom, discussing something with a dozen young people in different attire, or a middle-aged or old professor.
But those were all illusions.
Over the past four years, Thales struggled to maintain the survival of the child beggars in the sixth house in a life filled with beatings, bullying, darkness, crime, and death.
Compared to the postgraduate student in his previous life whose brain was more developed than his body, the four years of being a child beggar had given Thales many new skills, such as acting skills to gain sympathy, pickpocketing without anyone noticing, cleverly and quietly eavesdropping, and framing his competitors through cooperation on the streets.
During this period, Thales also made many preparations that exceeded the scope of a child beggar, such as building good relationships with people of different social classes (in Lower City, "different social classes" probably meant "different social classes of the lower class"), secretly finding out the secrets of the Brotherhood, arranging several secret locations, secretly storing some inventory (Quide was not wrong about this), and so on.
Thales was not prepared to accept the fate given to him by this world. He would not be a child beggar who knew his place, nor would he become a thug or a thief for the Brotherhood. He was also not interested in creating a "gang storm" in Eternal Star City.
He wanted to escape.
Then, he would live his own life and be a free person.
At least, he would be freer than he was now.
As long as he took one step at a time and followed the plan he had made … Thales looked at the corner of the house. There was an inconspicuous stone slab there.
'I can —'
"No! Kacha! "
At this moment, a scream of fear and panic suddenly came from the seventeenth house next door.
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