Chapter 361: Split His Skull.
The hairy giant grunted at his subordinate then shifted his gaze back to Finn. The tension surrounding them underwent a subtle change. A few seconds later, it seemed to vanish entirely as the giant drew his hand back and let out a hearty laugh.
"Sorry, kid. Didn’t mean to scare you." He said. "A buddy of mine had a kid who looks just like you. He ran away from home a couple of years ago, you see. Been worried sick about him all this time."
"Maybe you need to get your eyes checked, old man," Dante said. "Does my kid brother look like some street rat to you?"
"Right..." glancing down at him, the giant then looked back at Finn. "This one doesn’t have the ports. Guess no one split his skull yet."
"The fuck?"
The giant turned his gaze to Dante next, and the smile disappeared from his face. Snorting, he walked away without saying anything. His lackeys quickly followed, and some of them rushed ahead to the restaurant. Just when he thought the storm had passed, Dante heard Volcan’s distressed voice.
[Dante, I suggest that you hurry and leave the premises.] He said. [My Diving attempt has been discovered.]
~[ ]~
On the fifth floor of La Soleil, in the third VVIP room, Jaguar leaned back in his chair with a glass of whisky in hand, looking completely relaxed, unlike the other three in the room.
One of them had a shiny head, dark skin, and seemed to be the tallest in the group and the thinnest by far. The second one was ghastly pale and had a head of messy green hair and was trying to balance a knife on the tip of his finger. If it weren’t for the alloy plates of his bionic hand, he probably would have cut himself by now. The third one seemed the most stylish between the three, having put quite the effort into his auburn hair and suit. Every now and then, he would adjust his glasses and then look at the watch on his wrist.
"He’s late." He, Finka, said with a click of his tongue.
"He’s always late." The green one, Kindjal, added, sounding bored.
"We should start calling him an hour before the meeting ." The bald one, Kortic, scoffed.
The three looked at each other then turned to their boss. Jaguar seemed unbothered, slowly sipping from his glass. They were supposedly gathering to discuss an important matter, hence why he asked them to turn off their NIMs despite the room being completely isolated.
"Maybe we should start without him?" Kindjal suggested.
"If he isn’t here before the food arrives." Said Jaguar. "We will start without him."
As if to say he had no interest in waiting, the door opened just then, and the servers entered, pushing carts into the room. The food had been late enough for the Daggers to wonder if there had been some problem, but then it arrived just when they thought it would take some more time.
Going by the terrified looks on the server, it was clear that they had an accident of some kind. It was true that the delay annoyed those three, but it wasn’t like they were going to punish a bunch of hard working waiters for being a few minutes late. That’s what they thought, at least.
"You there. Wait here." Jaguar said, pointing at one of the servers. "The rest of you, get the hell out of here."
The servers looked at their unlucky coworker with pity, then scurried away. Once the doors closed, he turned to face the man who ordered him to stay and found a finger pointed at his face.
"Ayaaah..." Kindjal grimaced.
"Huh?" Finka’s eyes widened. "Wai-"
CLICK!
A snap echoed through the room and Jaguar’s right hand split open, plates retracting to reveal a charcoal barrel. The server, a young man barely in his mid-twenties, went pale with horror, his soul leaving his body a moment too early.
BLAM!
The blast was that of a cannon. Blood splattered on the walls and ceiling, and at the center of it all was a hole the size of one’s fist. The server’s headless corpse remained standing for a couple of seconds, but then it lost balance and collapsed, spilling more of the crimson liquid on the floor.
Stunned and silent, the three Daggers turned to look at their boss. Finka was the first to come back to his senses, and he was the first to gather the courage to question the actions of their leader.
"What the hell, Jaguar! Why the hell did you kill him!"
"Someone was trying to Dive into my NIM." Jaguar replied, his voice strangely even.
"He was-" Swallowing his words, Kortic raised an eyebrow. "The server."
"No, not him." Jaguar replied, "he was being used to access this room."
"Then why-"
"Lock the building." He silenced them with one glare before they could question his impulsive decisions. "Search the area. The fucker should still be close."
~[ ]~
By the time the gangsters began executing Jaguar’s orders, Dante and the others were on the road, already putting some distance between them and the restaurant.
The mood inside the limo was tense, to say the least. They had evaded two disasters in quick succession, but from the looks of it, they had more on the way.
"Finn, are you okay?"
Kizuna gently rubbed the boy’s back, looking concerned. Finn didn’t reply, remaining hunched with his head hanging Low. Staring at him for a few seconds, Dante suddenly realized something and opened his Storage, quickly looking through his stuff before taking one of the items out.
It was a plastic bag filled with sandwiches he got from some convenience store. He wasn’t about to eat any, of course, so he dropped all of them to the floor and held out the bag for the boy. A moment later, Finn suddenly straightened, his eyes wide open and his cheeks bulging. He snatched the bag and quickly pressed it to his face.
"BLUUURGHHHH"