Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: A Church Without Missionaries (1)
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Inside the restaurant, a low murmur seeped in through the open window.
A bustling chatter, as if crowds of people had gathered somewhere in the distance.
It was a rare lively atmosphere around these usually quiet back alleys.
One of the customers sitting inside glanced out the window and spoke up.
"Is that noise coming from the church? Sounds pretty close."
The shop's female owner, Mei, set down the ordered food on the table with a disinterested expression.
"Yeah. They've been bustling around for days, preparing some kind of holy communion or whatever."
The man tore open a pair of wooden chopsticks and asked her back.
"Really? Have you ever been to that church yourself?"
"Too busy trying to make ends meet."
She wiped a nearby table with a rag, answering without even looking at him.
Her response was indifferent, but the man still seemed intrigued.
"Still, there's been some interesting rumors going around the street lately. Some weird cult set up by oddballs, handing out free food and necessities to people. They even heal the sick, they say?"
"Ha, yeah right."
Mei snorted.
"Desperate folks with nowhere else to turn get hooked on a scrap of bread. As if there's such a thing as free in this world."
As could be seen, she was a small business owner with her own shop, however modest. She could at least put food on the table with her own efforts, so she wasn't easily swayed by some religion that popped up out of nowhere, doling out charity like they owned the place.
She squinted and glanced out the window for a moment before blurting out.
"And what's with all this god talk in this day and age anyway."
The so-called religions that still lingered in this era were nothing but cults, and their true motives were all too well-known.
So those with even a scrap to lose didn't easily open their hearts to a new religious group.
Especially self-made business owners like Mei, running their own shops, had zero interest in tales of gods. No matter how much charity they flaunted, it didn't hook people who'd built a modest foundation here.
The customer nodded in agreement.
"True enough. Eventually, it'll all boil down to 'cough up the cash.'"
"Well, at least those guys don't cause unnecessary trouble. There's a shop across the street with their church symbol, and they just quietly do business. Since they don't hassle anyone, I don't really mind them."
Mei said that most folks doing business around here were just watching the new church like it was an ox or a chicken.
The talk of the religious group ended there. Their conversation quickly shifted to another topic.
"By the way, for some reason, the gang lowlifes didn't come collect protection money this month."
"Really? Those scum never miss a collection day, no matter what."
"No idea. If they don't come, it's good for me. Thanks to that, I could pay my son's hospital bills without falling behind."
"Man, lucky you. The gang took three thousand credits just for last month's protection at my place on 10th Street. I begged them, saying I had rent to pay, but they stripped me clean anyway. Bastards. The harder I work, the more I lose because of them."
The man let out a heavy sigh. His words were laced with deep resignation and anger.
Like this, the thugs in every district were the biggest headache and public enemy for small business owners. They collected hefty 'protection' fees every month without fail, but when trouble actually hit, they offered no real protection.
But in a place where even the police didn't do their jobs properly, a lone shopkeeper couldn't confront a violent gang head-on. So the back-alley residents just took the abuse month after month, resigning themselves with no choice but to despise and hate them inwardly.
Mei, annoyed by the noise seeping in from outside, closed the open window a bit more and muttered softly.
"Whatever the case, I hope those scum stay away as long as possible."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The club interior was thick with hazy cigarette smoke.
Under the dim lighting, a man buried deep in the sofa chain-smoked, puffing away before exhaling a long drag.
"Phew~"
The rough-looking man's face softened for a moment in languid relaxation.
Then, a subordinate approached with cautious footsteps and whispered in his ear.
"Boss, I have something to report..."
The man stubbed out the cigarette he'd been smoking in the ashtray and irritably snapped.
"What is it, at this hour."
His eye twitched at the info the subordinate brought.
"What? The Ricardo Family vanished?"
"Yes. They say everyone in that district disappeared like a lie a few days ago. Offices are empty, no contact."
He slightly straightened up on the sofa.
"What's the cause? They were heavily investing in 12th Street right up to recently—why clear out all of a sudden?"
"We... don't have that intel yet."
"Then who took over that district now? Black Mamba crew? Or Nightfang?"
The subordinate made a meaningful face and lowered his voice further.
"Thing is, according to the weird rumors... all the established gangs vanished completely. Only some strange cult called the 'Radiance Church' is left standing alone."
"Cult?"
The man scoffed in disbelief.
"What kind of bullshit is that? How's a cult gonna take a whole district."
Corporate religions riding political power was ancient history from decades ago. Modern cults were just scam artist peddlers, nothing more or less, whether by scale or deeds.
So the man couldn't believe his subordinate's report.
'Probably the Ricardo guys and other trash tore each other apart in some gang war and wiped out mutually. Lucky nobodies like that slipped in during the gap.'
The man twisted his lips into a smirk.
"This is a total windfall, isn't it?"
His mind raced. Gang fights boiled down to how much protection money you could squeeze from a district, didn't they?
And now the owners of that vast 12th Street area were gone?
This was a golden chance to expand rapidly.
"Get the boys ready now!"
The man shot up from the sofa and shouted.
A greedy glint flickered in his crescent-shaped eyes.
"Let's go. Plant our flag before the other bastards sniff it out."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Mei's hands trembled violently as she hurriedly shut the restaurant window.
'Why, why are they doing this all of a sudden?!'
She locked the shutters too, panting as she flipped the front sign.
From 'Open' to 'Closed'.
With shaking hands, she turned off all the lights inside, plunging the place into darkness.
"......."
Holding her breath, she cautiously peered through the window crack.
The scene across the intersection looked straight out of hell.
Bang! Crash-!
Thugs who appeared out of nowhere filled the street with the noise of their rampage and victims' screams.
Shatter! Glass from a neighboring shop exploded, making Mei clap a hand over her mouth in shock.
"Gasp...!"
Thugs with their entire bodies grotesquely modded with cyberware dominated the street.
They smashed shop fixtures and beat anyone in sight.
"Old man! Hand it over!"
"Aaaagh!"
Under the faint streetlight, dark red blood splattered on the ground.
It was a horrific sight. Yet no one could stop them. Everyone here knew calling the cops was pointless. At best, they'd saunter over after everything was done.
It was commonplace in the back alleys. The powerless suffered all sorts of abuse and got trampled at whim. But they couldn't escape. The weak's life was the same everywhere. Despair and helplessness crushed Mei's heart coldly.
In the midst of it, Mei faintly recognized the viper tattoos on the thugs' arms.
Her heart sank.
'That mark... Viper gang. Why the hell are they here?'
She'd heard of the Viper gang's notoriety, based out of 10th Street. They extorted protection money mercilessly, and when there was nothing left, they'd fabricate debts and sell people off piece by piece. Human scum through and through.
Dealing with back-alley business, she'd naturally picked up such grim rumors, making her limbs shake uncontrollably.
At that moment, her son's anxious whimper came from the small room inside.
"Mom, what's going on?"
Mei felt her heart drop as she swallowed dryly.
"Shh! Get inside, quick...!"
Mei pushed her son into the small room with a hushed voice. Ignoring the fear in his round eyes, she shakily closed the door.
And as she shifted her gaze back to the window crack—
"Gasp...!"
Mei swallowed a short groan. She'd clearly locked eyes with one of the thugs across the way. Praying it was her imagination, she saw him nudge his buddies and gesture toward her shop.
They were heading this way.
'No...!'
Her heart pounded like it would burst. Those monsters could smash through the door like nothing. But no countermeasures came to mind.
Her head went blank, trembling in terror as she stared at the approaching shadows—
Bang!
A deafening roar shook the entire back alley.
The thugs en route to her shop jolted and whipped their heads around.
"W-What?!"
The boom came from the shop across the street, where some Vipers had broken in moments ago.
Peeking out again, Mei spotted the sign on its glass window.
'Radiance Church...?'
The shop run by those church folks she'd chatted about with a regular earlier that day.
Usually just quietly doing business, so she hadn't paid much mind.
But the shop door burst open, and thugs screamed as they were flung out.
"Aaaagh!"
"Guhk!!"
They hit the ground rolling, battered wrecks. Some crawled out pathetically, limbs apparently broken.
"R-Run...! It's a monster...!"
The outside thugs twisted their faces viciously and charged in screaming.
But they soon tumbled out just like the first batch.
Staggering to their feet, they bolted in panic. The ferocity they'd shown the merchants was gone; they fled like frightened rats.
Among them flickered the infamous Viper boss, Venom.
"......?"
Mei stared dumbfounded.
Then, one man stepped out from the shop.
A man neatly dressed in black clerical robes, hair impeccably groomed.
He glanced around once, then casually brushed off his clothes twice like dusting off dirt. Then, as if nothing happened, he picked up a shattered door piece and calmly fitted it back in place.
Mei couldn't close her gaping mouth at the unbelievable scene.
"What... the hell...?"