by L. M. Kerr
'If even this inner layer is so crowded with Chosen, the outer areas of their territory must be in utter chaos.' Micheal shook his head silently. There was nothing he could do about it now.
After making his way through the Main Cluster, Micheal finally found a spot he was forced to stop.
He had managed to avoid communicating with all of the roaming patrols thus far. However, beyond his current skyscraper and the next one, every single skyscraper had several units on them. This was the entrance to the true interior of the Godfather Organization.
The crowds of new Chosen had all but vanished, leaving this place deserted. They must've been warned to stay away, creating a small no-mans-land in the final approach to the true interior part of the Godfather Organization's territory.
Micheal examined the guards for a few moments, staring at them in the distance.
He could see a good dozen suited soldiers holding long guns and various weapons. None of them looked extremely threatening, but the moment he broke past them, an alarm would be sounded that would draw every warrior within earshot in seconds. This deep into their territory, such an occurrence would mean thousands of opponents.
'I could walk up directly and give up my identity.' It wasn't as if he was an enemy of the Godfather Organization, not in his 'Micheal' identity.
However… things felt rather fishy as of right now. Until he could confirm that everything was safe, Micheal had no intentions of putting himself at any serious risk.
With that thought in mind, Micheal walked over to the side of his current skyscraper and dived off it.
His body hurtled towards the ground, the abrupt jump sending him tumbling. He could just barely make out several clumps of Morenkai shambling down below, ignoring his great leap entirely.
In mid-fall, two small, blue Life Orbs appeared and soared around, landing precisely beneath his feet. His drastic dive transformed into a smooth, rolling turn, one that carried his momentum forward as he stabilized at about a dozen floors up from the ground.
Below him, the Morenkai didn't take notice of his presence. The black skinned creatures continued to move about in their ominous and seemingly random shambling.
The wind whipped at his face as he flew across several skyscrapers, leaning in and hiding as much as possible. He made as little noticeable movement as possible, keeping his body relatively still as he flew.
And, as he had found before, he encountered no troubles in his flight.
Lacking an immediate, imminent threat, or a reason to constantly be patrolling the ground below, the guards of the Godfather Organization would only look down over the side on occasion.
The only way he would be spotted was by luck.
In no time at all, Micheal flew past 18 different skyscrapers. He followed a mental map he had formed, crossing through several areas.
Finally, he arrived at his destination.
It wasn't the main Headquarters of the Godfather Organization, nor was it the location where any of the Executives lived.
Instead, it was a nondescript and rather normal looking skyscraper that housed the Godfather Organization's Intelligence Operations Sector. This particular building was home to a lot of their outgoing agents and informants that kept an eye on the entire Cluster.
Micheal had found this location through the information stores of the Angels Arcadia that he had raided, able to call it to mind with ease thanks to his Ceaseless Mind Ability.
His flight came to an abrupt end as he landed on the side of this skyscraper, sneaking around till he found a room that looked empty from the outside. His heart pounded in his chest as he focused, calming himself down.
If so much as a single person yelled that an intruder was here, he would have multiple powerful A Rankers bearing down on him in just seconds. He needed to be extremely careful.
With absolute precision, Micheal pulled out his Ashari Blade and placed it up against the window in front of him. Inside, he could see a typical bedroom, nothing out of the ordinary.
A stream of red energy washed over his blade as he called upon the Advanced Tier Sword Energy. The volatile power vibrated as he set the sword up against the window.
Then, in one smooth motion, Micheal performed a near perfect, circular cut, slicing a 1-meter wide hole in the window.
His hand shot out and snagged the glass as he stored his sword, preventing it from falling and smashing into the ground. He then clambered through the window and slid it back into place behind him. He didn't glue it shut, leaving it as it was for now in case he needed to make a quick escape.
He quickly scanned the bedroom, finding it empty. He snuck through it and put his ear to the door, listening carefully. After hearing nothing, he smiled and waltzed out, practically oozing confidence.
A well-lit hallway spread out around him, empty of anyone. This must be one of the unoccupied floors, likely why he had found an empty room on it. Not every single room in a skyscraper would be used, especially lower floors. This particular floor was the 10th.
He tugged slightly on his suit, making sure everything was in place as he began to stroll down the hallway. Sometimes the best disguises merely required a bit of confidence.
He didn't encounter anyone as he moved through the hall. However, when he got to the stairwell and opened the door to it, he overheard a few women talking as they moved up a couple of floors above him.
"How is the new Sub-executive?! He's too cute to die!" One female voice echoed softly as the speaker moved up a flight of stairs.
"I know! He waved at me just the other day, he is such a dream!" Another equally feminine voice replied, answering her question.
Micheal's interest faded as he heard the subject matter.
The Sub-Executives were ranked similarly to Branch Leaders in the Godfather Organization's power structure. A new one being injured was very unlikely to be the reason Head Cameron had refused to release the Golden Morenkai hunting method, or the Dragon Building Liquid data.
He waited for a few seconds as the two women moved out of earshot, waiting for the coast to be clear. When he couldn't hear anyone else, he moved into it.
Like the hallways, the stairwell was well lit. Micheal swiftly began to ascend it, rising up several flights before he felt comfortable.
There were bound to be hundreds and hundreds of members of the Godfather Organization moving through here, especially in the higher parts. His disguise was near perfect and as long as he avoided drawing any attention, he highly doubted anyone would call him out.
As he passed by several levels, he could see various groups of people moving in a few hallways, while others appeared empty. He didn't focus on that, however, his goal centered upward.
'There should be some general information storage section in the upper part of the building. I'll look there first.' If he wanted to understand what was going on, he'd need a full picture of the status of the Godfather Organization as of the current moment.
He might be aware of some of their future big movements, but when it came to the day-to-day status or handling of their affairs, his knowledge was sorely lacking.
As he climbed the stairs, he passed by a few men and women that were going down. None of them took notice of Micheal, one and all continuing on their way. He kept his ears opened as they walked past, snooping in for any interesting intel.
"I think it was skyscraper AW88 that got hit the worst by the Pack of Abnormals that raided us there. Tylmen thinks they might be controlled by a Monster Class behind the scenes and-" One man had been in a deep discussion with another, passing by Micheal swiftly.
"Oh? I think it's possible to create a tornado, we just need a mix of the right Ability users, it's not an easy task-" Another duo had the same habit, ignoring his presence completely. The information he gained from both wasn't anything super relevant, but still interesting.
"I heard that Sub-Executive Shin is still recovering in the Medical Bay! If we want a chance to meet him, we have to go soon!" Two girls in dresses
were exclaiming to each other as they jogged past Micheal, talking quickly.
"What?! Let's go right away!" The girl shot past him, headed for the roof.
Upon hearing that third conversation, Micheal froze, his eyes widening.
'Why is everyone talking about this new, injured Sub-Executive…' A foreboding feeling appeared in Micheal's heart as he continued his thought,
'And why is his name Shin…'
Micheal stepped into a random hallway, one that had no one visibly moving through it. He could hear a few people talking, but no one came out to greet him or ask what he was doing.
He quickly pulled out a smartphone, a fierce frown appearing on his face as he pulled open the app to connect to the Godfather Organization's closed-network forums.
'There's no way it's going to be Shin, right? He specifically told me he was going to agree to lie low and be low profile, right?' Micheal's frown widened further as he tapped onto the forum flicking through several threads.
Finally, he found one thread in particular that caught his attention.
'The newest Sub-Executive, Shin the Gun Wizard, has finally become known to the public!' When he heard the name of the new member, his heart settled down slightly.
Shin wasn't a super uncommon name, after all. Shin had always been a physical warrior, using huge swords to get up close and personal when it came to taking down enemies. Someone called the 'Gun Wizard' couldn't be farther from this.
'Hmm… just to be safe, let's see where he's listed from. I can see this is an intro piece. As long as it isn't the Alexan-' Micheal's thought cut off as he looked at something.
'Originated from: The Alexandrite Cluster.' He gazed at this line, stupefied.
His eyes then slowly traced down to a message right below this.
'Special message from Shin:
'Greetings everyone! I am the legendary Shin, Gunslinger of the Ages. My father was an AK 47 and my mother a Gauss Cannon. I shall support the Godfather Organization with all of my heart, as a born and true warrior that will conquer all our enemies! Thank you for having my humble self join you.
'Sincerely,
'The Almighty Gun Warrior,
'Shin.'
Micheal covered his face with his hands.
.
Chapter 49
'Why did he join the Godfather Organization?! And how is he already a Sub-Executive?!' The thought flashed into Micheal's mind as he tried to reconcile himself with Shin's exploits, a slight sense of loss filling him.
Micheal had the full advantage of future knowledge to boost his powers. Shin knew a little thanks to the information Micheal had tossed at him before they were Chosen, but he wasn't in nearly as optimal a spot as Micheal.
Even more than that…
'I told you to remain low-key, Shin! How is this low-key?!' He wanted to strangle his best friend for a split second. It felt like he had done the exact opposite of what Micheal wanted.
'And he uses a gun now?' Many questions filled him as he tried to understand what all had happened. Shin's future seemed to have drastically changed, and Micheal was unsure if that was a good or a bad thing yet.
After all of these thoughts ran through Micheal's mind, he abruptly spurred into action.
Shin was injured, and heavily injured by the sounds of it. There was no mention of Sophia, but it was possible they hadn't met up yet. He would figure it all out after he made contact with Shin first.
Micheal moved back into the stairwell and began to quickly travel back down the stairs. Despite the feelings of panic that struck him at the thought of his long-time ally of a decade being badly injured, he maintained a steady pace, keeping up with his disguise.
Even if he could fake looking like a member of the Godfather Organization, there were bound to be some security checks when moving between areas here. This area was highly patrolled, due to the sensitive nature of the various nearby buildings.
He could get away with flying near the lower regions, but traveling up atop the roof was far too likely to see him spotted.
In a short amount of time, Micheal found himself back at the window he had cut open, tracing his steps backwards using his perfect memory.
He slipped out of it and then reset it, gluing the window tightly shut with some of the glue he'd purchased for his small-time information raid back in the territory of the Angels Arcadia.
After everything looked almost exactly as it had when he arrived, he set off, using his Life Orbs to quickly traverse the area.
As he flew, he began to review the mental map he had of the Godfather Organization's inner territory.
'No… no… no… ah!' After a few seconds, he found what he was searching for.
The 'Medical Bay' of the Godfather Organization's territory.
According to what he'd read, the Medical Bay of the Godfather Organization took up one very wide, but average height, skyscraper, and then 4, mostly normal neighboring skyscrapers.
The four neighboring skyscrapers held the regular or low-level members of the Godfather Organization that might need advanced and specialized treatment. There were millions of members of the Godfather Organization, spread out over a very vast area. The vast majority of people that were injured would be treated in their local Branches. These surrounding buildings were only for special cases.
The last, central building was for 'important' personages. People that might be at risk of an attack or needed extra security. This was almost certainly where Shin was located.
He jumped from building to building, rapidly traveling till he made it nearly two dozen skyscrapers over. By this point, the morning light had changed to noon.
As he came to a pause on the side of one particular skyscraper, Micheal studied the sight before him.
Four ordinary skyscrapers, two of them grey, two of them dark blue, and one very wide skyscraper that looked to be around 3 times the length of a regular one. All four skyscrapers were nearly identical in height.
'Hmm…' Micheal studied the scene before him for a few seconds.
He lowered his height, down from the 12th floor of his current skyscraper all the way to the 8th.
The Medical Bay skyscrapers were bound to be patrolled and very occupied. Due to the Godfather Organization's sheer size, there would never be a shortage of injured people. While these facilities were only for the extremely injured or important, there would still likely be thousands of people being treated.
This meant that lower floors would be in use, and there would be guards posted to kill any stray Morenkai that made the unfortunate mistake of climbing up.
'How am I supposed to find him, though?' Micheal frowned as he considered this.
He knew Shin was here but… he had no idea what room he was in.
He thought about this for a few more moments before he smiled slightly. He then reached down and tapped on his Spatial Ring, quickly bringing out a smartphone.
He opened up the Godfather Organization's open forum and quickly made a post on it. He hid his body as he went to work, staying concealed under a ledge to prevent any prying eyes from spotting him.
He then settled in to wait.
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Some amount of time later in one particular room in the Medical Bay…
A pristine, white bed lay at the back of a luxurious private room. Fine pieces of art coated the walls and the two large windows that looked out on the outside world were currently closed off with grey curtains.
The room had a pleasant, vanilla scent to it. Light filtered in through the curtains, giving the room a calm, peaceful appearance.
Lying on the bed in that room was a blond-haired man, resting back in a set of patient gowns, as if he was at a hospital. The man's right arm appeared normal, but his left arm had an odd, white sock-like attachment, connected to the shoulder where a full arm used to exist.
Shin yawned as he stretched on his medical bed, fully waking up. He then reached over and poked at the small sock. His mouth twitched slightl
y as he felt a weird, touching sensation spread through him. He immediately let go.
"Man. That bastard really took my arm." He shook his head ruefully as the painful memory of having his arm sliced off reappeared. Number 6's surprise attack had truly come as a surprise to him. It was only thanks to Sophia that he was alive at all, so he wasn't complaining.
Well, actually, he was. He never claimed to be a reasonable person.
"I'll get you back for that one." He said the words with a cavalier attitude, but his eyes flashed with deadly promise when he spoke them. His usual cheer returned right after, as if losing an entire arm didn't bother him.
'Status.' The thought appeared in Shin's mind as he called up his Status screen.
.
— - Status — -
Name: Shin Hopefell
Points: 48,031
Race: Human
Age: 18
- Stats -
Strength - 29
Endurance - 25
Recovery - 24
Soul - 16
Abilities - (3/7)
Warping Phaser
Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier - Middle)
Expand
.
His current stats were slightly above average for someone at the Middle of the Mortal Tier of Ki Cultivation. With his Warping Phaser Ability boosting his Soul stat, he managed to eke out an advantage there, but his other stats were roughly par for the course. He had yet to complete or even attempt the Dragon Building Liquid method that Sophia shared, opting to wait for Micheal's help.
In terms of official ranking, he was around the level of a tough C Ranker or maybe a weak B Ranker.
Of course, he never depended on physical combat to win his battles anymore, relying on his Expand Ability and its powerful synergy with a handgun. In terms of true strength, he could easily take down B Rankers and put up a very real challenge when it came to many A Rankers.
"If I had gone into that scene better prepared… but how could I know the friggin' Nightrunner Numbers would show up out of nowhere?!" He talked aloud to himself, rebelling against the unfairness of what had gone down.