Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Colosseum (4)
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The seniors quickly grasped the situation.
Ricardo stared down at the back of his hand and spat curses in some unintelligible language. I couldn't understand it, but it was definitely swearing.
Asil, peering at the back of his own hand beside him, widened his eyes.
Barbie stared at the back of her hand in a panic.
“Huh?”
She frantically wiped away the blood with her hand, as if she couldn't believe it was still bleeding.
“Huh? Why isn't it healing? Huh?”
“Fucking hell….”
Ricardo rolled his eyes upward.
He looked up at the sky, swallowing his anger, then clenched and unclenched the hand where blood had welled up.
“My strength's all gone…. We got taken down without a fight….”
“You're back to a normal body, but otherwise you're okay, right?”
“You didn't get hit with a drug bullet or anything—why are you so drained?”
Barbie stared at Ricardo, her face drained of color.
No one answered my questions. Asil's expression had hardened too.
Shocked by the unexpected situation, a heavy atmosphere settled over the now even more deserted spot.
It was Barbie who broke the mood thick with shock and anger.
“There's no way the mafia would have something as potent as Green Dream!”
Apparently, some Green Dream worked well and some didn't.
The male seniors frowned but didn't respond. I lightly furrowed my brow as I watched the seniors wrapped in minor shock. Naturally, Marie—who had personally handed out hotdogs to us just moments ago—was nowhere to be seen.
But that didn't matter anymore. Honestly, I didn't care about Marie's whereabouts right now. I didn't know who she was or why she'd done this, but we needed to focus on countermeasures, not that.
Should I report it?
The moment the thought crossed my mind, Asil pulled out his phone.
“I'll report to headquarters.”
But things didn't go smoothly.
The seniors couldn't adapt to their changed grip strength. Even pulling out the phone and using it took time.
I watched Asil tap the screen too gently and slipped my hand into my pocket.
“Senior, I'll make the call.”
“You're fine?”
Barbie turned to me, her eyes widening into circles.
“Why are you fine?”
Bang!
The moment I pulled out my phone and turned my head to reply, the phone in my hand shattered from a gunshot.
The phone exploded into fragments and scattered across the ground.
“What the—?”
“Mommy!”
The bullet that had smashed the phone flew into the ground.
Barbie, who had nearly been pierced through the instep, screamed and stumbled back.
“What the hell was that!”
The answer came quickly.
Mafia members—obviously—emerged from behind the food truck, guns trained on us as they approached. They surrounded us in a circle, each gripping a pistol or knife that glinted under the lights.
Ha….
This was a total mess.
Those without weapons held phones, filming the situation.
Ricardo let out a deep sigh and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Having a nice evening?”
The mafia pressed gun barrels to our temples.
The cold chill of the muzzle pressed against my temple. I stayed still, narrowing my eyes slightly.
The seniors stood motionless too, just rolling their eyes around.
Ricardo radiated irritation from every pore. Asil scanned the situation with cold, furious eyes. Barbie was a bit stiff but held her chin high, looking down at the mafia.
The criminals smirked triumphantly at them.
My rolling eyes landed on the phones in their hands.
We'd been had.
No immediate way out of this presented itself. Green Dream didn't seem to work on me, but with gun barrels pressed to the heads of the now-ordinary seniors…. I couldn't make any rash moves. And it wasn't just one—three of them were hostages.
On top of that, the video.
They were exploiting the fact that Black Badger couldn't touch civilians.
Whose plan was this?
Who had schemed so meticulously to corner us like this?
The moment I sharpened my senses to figure it out, a voice rang out.
“Great to see you all after so long.”
It dripped with satisfaction.
The seniors' and my gazes turned toward the voice. A man sauntered out leisurely from the building where the match was taking place.
He looked like some kind of action leader.
Curly hair down to his shoulders, hands in his pockets, lazy steps.
He walked through his underlings aiming at Ricardo and Asil's heads.
He flashed a bigger smile at the seniors glaring coldly at him.
“Sordi, Fisker, Winter too. No changes since last time. Not one bit. All three of you.”
“Mick.”
Asil murmured in a voice suppressing his rage.
“What the hell is this?”
Mick's smile brightened.
The brightly grinning man.
Mick threw his arms up in a V-for-victory pose, beaming.
“The plot to put you in the arena is succeeding!”
Things just kept getting worse.
The seniors' faces crumpled at his words. Mine did too. It wasn't hard to understand. We'd been watching the match just minutes ago.
Ricardo let out a long sigh.
“What an idiotic thing to do….”
“Why's it idiotic? The crowd's gonna go wild!”
Mick seemed thrilled.
“The arena's gonna heat up like never before! Black Badgers who always crack down on matches with the cops—standing in the arena! As civilians no less! What a stimulating setup! We're gonna make a killing!”
“Come to think of it, where are the cops?”
Barbie suddenly spoke up amid Mick stomping excitedly.
She scanned the desolate wasteland where no signs of life stirred, eyes wide.
“Where'd all the police go?”
In on it?
Or had they fallen victim to this plan like us?
Asil and Barbie rolled their eyes frantically, searching for police.
The mafia burst into mocking laughter at the seniors.
Jeering laughs echoed across the eerie wasteland.
Beside Ricardo, who stood stock-still staring at the sky, Asil and Barbie stiffened in fury.
Mick, watching them, threw up his arms again.
In a mocking tone, he declared,
“The cops withdrew on orders from above!”
The flashy piercings in Mick's ears jingled noisily.
“A young officer came to relay the order!”
I saw Asil's body tense.
His blue eyes widened, the emotion in them shifting from surprise to suspicion and rage. An oddly excessive reaction.
He reacted to 'young police officer.'
Why did that word rattle him so much?
Of course, now wasn't the time to dig into it.
Especially since the woman pressing her gun to my temple shattered the silence sharply.
“Mick. Green Dream didn't take properly on this one.”
Mick froze mid-grin.
I met his slowly turning gaze head-on.
Twisted values and cruelty swirled in both his eyes.
Mick stared at me with a smile frozen on his face and said,
“Why?”
“How should I know? Anyway, Green Dream didn't work right on him.”
The woman replied, then drew a knife with her free hand.
A short jackknife. She flicked it open expertly and slashed my forearm.
“See.”
Red blood trickled along the path of the blade.
Everyone's gazes flew to and stuck on my forearm. The seniors rolled their eyes to check it too. The red blood slowed to a trickle, the wound gradually knitting closed.
The healing was slower than a Badger's but far faster than a normal person's.
Mick wiped the smile from his face.
“Indeed.”
The man lowered his arms, which he'd held up in the air.
“Why's that? Not enough Green Dream?”
“No. That Green Dream—they said as long as it pierces the skin, it works like a drug bullet.”
The woman sheathed her knife and retorted.
“It's not a dosage issue. That idiot must've skimped on his injection.”
“Fuck. Got any more?”
Mick muttered without taking his eyes off my arm.
“Did she leave any behind?”
Who was 'she'?
Marie? I narrowed my eyes, recalling the girl I'd shoved to the back of my mind. The high schooler with bizarre tastes. The one who'd stuck us with Green Dream.
I'd thought she was in on it with them, but apparently not.
The woman answered irritably.
“Nope.”
“Ugh! Fuck! So what do we do with this?”
Mick vulgarly cursed to himself.
I watched him rake his black hair wildly with his hand, then shrug his shoulders in frustration.
“Pump him full of regular drugs?”
Still no opening.
The mafia showed no sign of lowering the guns pressed to the seniors' temples. They weren't planning to kill us right away, so we'd have to come up with a plan while being dragged to the arena.
I tuned out Mick bickering with the mafia and racked my brain.
They'd throw the now-civilian seniors into the arena against Creatures. We'd probably take that elevator up to where the illegal implant users were held. Maybe a chance to counterattack in the process. When the situation kept shifting and their guard slipped a bit.
Aim for that moment….
“Fine! Bring lots of drugs!”
“Can't we just kill that bastard?”
Mick finally decided and ordered his men when a mafia holding a camera spoke up.
Gazes turned.
I saw the hollow-eyed man pointing at Ricardo.
“Holiday got nabbed because of that fucker.”
Ricardo raised one eyebrow.
The senior soon flashed a long, contemptuous smirk at the man pointing at him, staring him down.
A chill ran down my spine.
Senior. Don't make that provoking face in a kill-or-be-killed situation.
The hollow-eyed man actually bristled.
“He's gonna die anyway—let's kill him ourselves now!”
“Hmm.”
Mick stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“Should we?”
Asil and Barbie whipped their heads around.
Fear flickered in their eyes fixed on Mick. Meanwhile, the pointing man and nearby mafia gleamed with cruel glee.
Ricardo blinked calmly amid it all.
But before Mick could give the order—before Barbie and Asil could open their mouths to shout—I spoke first.
I said calmly,
“No.”
People turned to look at me.
“If you kill Ricardo, I'll kill you all too.”
The air froze.
Silence fell. A heavy silence born of shock.
Everyone stared at me dumbfounded, frozen in place. Eyes wide all around. The man pointing at Ricardo, Mick, Asil, Barbie.
Even Ricardo Sordi himself.
I ignored the surprise in Ricardo's green eyes.
“I'll kill everyone here and bury you with your phones. So don't pull the trigger.”
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
Mick shot back.
Twisted confidence peeked from his hands-in-pockets stance.
“You think you can kill all these people and keep your sanity?”
They'd handed me my sword to kill a friend.
As if something like that would shake me. Trash who did worse and lived fine. I didn't voice the thought bubbling up.
Instead, I let out a short laugh. Ignoring the woman now gripping my nape with hands tinged in faint fear.
Ignoring the seniors staring at me with startled rabbit eyes.
I withdrew the short laugh and turned my gaze back to Mick standing before me.
I smiled faintly at Mick.
“You think killing an enemy breaks your mind?”
Fear entered Mick's eyes for the first time.
I felt the mafia around us stiffen in terror too.
If there'd been just one hostage, this would've been perfect timing. Lamentable that three hostages kept me pinned.
Hiding my small sigh, I drove in the final nail.
“Mick. Don't pull the trigger. It'll only bring mutual destruction.”
A mafia nodded, raising his palm in agreement.
In the end, the seniors were thrown into the holding area with the illegal implant users just like this. Powerless but unharmed.
Handcuffs on their wrists and ankles.
Tossed behind iron bars with mocking jeers to wait their turn. At least that was something. The best outcome I could wrench from that situation.
The moment I confirmed the mafia had left, I let go of the mental strain I'd been holding.
Staying conscious after that harsh drug was torture. Nauseous. Dizzy, too noisy….
Sleepy….
Darkness swiftly overtook my mind.