After walking for a while in the night, Varinana's initial excitement at the windfall gradually subsided.
At the same time, his vigilance increased.
He was carrying a large sum of money, and the East End was far from safe—in fact, in the East End, the disappearance of a few people was commonplace, often going unnoticed. He
had only covered a fifth of the way back when Varinana had a bad feeling, but he couldn't tell if it was just a hallucination caused by pressure.
He continued walking, but began looking around suspiciously, even turning back suddenly, trying to spot something.
However, he found nothing.
Clearly, Kirk and his gang, seasoned street hustlers, were far more skilled at tracking and counter-tracking than Varinana.
Seeing that Varinana was suspicious, Kirk decided to make the arrest before anything went wrong, to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.
He gestured to his scattered brothers, receiving a clear nod in response.
Then, the brothers dispersed, understanding without needing to discuss their roles in this unusual operation—a tacit understanding honed through years of coordinated work.
Some quickened their pace, rushing ahead to set up traps; others closed the distance to the target; still others climbed nearby high-rises to guide their companions to the target's location.
In less than five minutes, they had woven a tight net, ready to close in once the target entered.
It was at this moment that the brother who had been keeping a close watch on the target sent a signal—
the target had vanished.
Kirk could hardly believe it; both the brothers nearby and the one on the high ground had lost track of him simultaneously.
They were the gang's most seasoned and sharpest-eyed members!
"He must still be hiding nearby,"
Kirk said to his brothers who had regrouped .
"With Black Owl guarding the high-rise, he couldn't have gone far without a sound. Let's search!"
"Start from the area where he disappeared."
The brothers obeyed, each taking charge of a small area. Kirk went to the spot where Varina had disappeared, carefully observing the surroundings, trying to analyze his whereabouts.
This was an alleyway connecting two streets, not very long. Except for the wider ends with side doors to houses, the interior was mostly made up of uneven building facades.
"Where can I hide here?" Kirk was a little confused.
Varina was hiding not far behind Kirk, crouching in the shadows of a corner.
Actually, he hadn't noticed anyone following him; he was just driven by a bad feeling to come up with a test—
a ploy to alert the enemy.
If someone was following him and suddenly realized he was gone, they would almost certainly give themselves away; if not, then staying in this corner a little longer wouldn't do any harm other than going home later.
As long as he hid, he could maintain the upper hand no matter what happened.
Sure enough, less than ten minutes after he hid, five or six people suddenly appeared, searching the area. Varina refused to believe they weren't targeting him.
Now things were really messed up. The "grass" had been struck, and the "snake" was startled. But how to clean up this mess?
What if they stayed here all night?
Thinking of this, Varina couldn't help but curse himself for not thinking things through. He'd chosen such a terrible spot, and now he was trapped.
In this situation, even if the group left, he didn't dare to go out.
What if they pretended to leave but were actually lying in wait at the alley entrances?
And so, in this unspoken stalemate, time slipped away.
Half an hour later, all the brothers returned to report to Kirk. They had searched far and wide but found nothing.
Kirk had to admit he'd messed things up again.
Including the initial reaction time, the target had been missing for an hour. If he hadn't been hiding nearby, he might have already run halfway across the East District.
"Let's go back and report the situation, let the boss figure something out,"
Kirk decided, and led his men away.
Varina didn't move. He waited until late at night, until he himself felt utterly exhausted, before forcing himself to crouch out in the shadows.
He crouched and crawled in the shadows until he was out of the block, then resumed walking upright.
Thus, despite the hardships and setbacks, Varina finally arrived home safely.
...
Kirk led his brothers back to the docks, arriving just in time for the tail end of a gang fight.
The two sides had once again reached a balance, currently recovering the wounded lying in the streets and the few unfortunate souls who had perished.
Generally, gang fights, though brutal, are not fatal, because few people target a fallen opponent.
Of course, injuries are another matter.
In the end, the Dead Eel Gang won.
They captured half a block, establishing a new stalemate.
When Kirk met with Boss Kent, he found him in a good mood, so he seized the opportunity to report:
first, he praised Boss Kent for his foresight, confirming that a newcomer had indeed entered and exited the VIP passage; then, he shifted
the blame for losing track of him, attributing it to the other party's prior preparation, having left a hidden escape route in that alley. Kent had just humiliated Eugene, and the humiliation from that morning had largely dissipated. After listening to Kirk's report, he simply smiled noncommittally and dismissed him.
...
The next day, a sleep-deprived Varina woke to the seven o'clock chime of the clock tower, struggled to get out of bed, and rushed to work.
This was the first time he had eaten breakfast outside since starting work.
When he arrived at the studio, Susan was spreading gossip about the Dead Eel Gang to John—
her aunt, like Mr. Luca, had been questioned by members of the Dead Eel Gang and thus learned that the gang had been burgled the night before.
This meant that Susan knew as well.
And if Susan knew, then everyone in their studio would know.
Of course, because Varina arrived later than usual, he was the last person to openly know the news.
While the gangs had a bad reputation among ordinary people in the East District, they still wielded considerable authority, and hearing that someone dared to steal from them filled them with both surprise and admiration.
Throughout the morning, whenever they had a spare moment, they would discuss the mysterious thief, completely unaware that the real culprit was right beside them.
Varina was even more embarrassed.
On one hand, he had to join in the gossip, expressing his admiration for the thief;
On the other hand, listening to those increasingly outrageous fantasies and boasts, he felt extremely embarrassed, wishing he could dig a hole in the ground and disappear.
Fortunately, this torment only lasted for a morning.
In the afternoon, even more explosive news reached this small studio—the Dead Eel Gang and the Gray Rat Gang had reignited their conflict, having fought in the streets the previous night.
Varina never imagined that his small action would actually trigger a gang war!At seven o'clock in the evening, Varina returned home early, feeling relaxed.
This should have been a perfectly normal thing, but his life had changed dramatically in the past week, and this level of tranquility was a first for him.
Having slept poorly the night before, he didn't plan to study today.
He intended to review his experiences of the past few days, fill in any gaps in his knowledge, think about his plans for the future, and then go to bed early.
Varina first organized the spoils of his adventures:
a revolver with a holster and 30 brass bullets;
a double-edged iron dagger;
a bearer bank check for 150 pounds;
and about 100 pounds in cash.
He took a small amount of change and put it in his pocket, then put everything into a cloth bag, rolled it up, and stuffed it under the bed—not that he didn't want to hide it more securely, but his living quarters were simply too small, with nowhere else to conceal his belongings.
After securing his items more firmly, Varina sat down in a chair and reflected on his experiences of the past few days.
Hmm, generally speaking, everything was fine.
The most dangerous moment was being followed last night, but he'd shaken them off. If nothing goes wrong in the next few days, he could be sure he was safe.
Next, he needed to plan.
Tomorrow after work, he'd go to the Brave Ones' Bar to see if the "Eye of Wisdom's" party was going on.
Ideally, it would be open, and it would be even better if he could buy the "Assassin's" potion recipe.
Assuming he got the recipe, he could check the potion ingredients at the Blood Boiling Bar's flea market, provided he got enough gold pounds first.
As for further plans, there was no need to consider them.
After all, life isn't as predictable as plans; it always surprises you.
The next day, Varina, having caught up on sleep, went to work at the factory at his usual time.
Today's workload was predictably heavy—because it was Susan's day off.
For the entire day, even during lunch, he and John were preoccupied with accounts, barely exchanging a few words.
When the six o'clock clock struck midnight, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
John stretched lazily and said,
"Just hang in there tomorrow, and I can have two days off!"
He mimicked Varina's strategy, combining his swapped day off with Varina's with his own day off, creating a two-day "long" vacation.
Varina nodded, "Yeah, but Susan and I will be just as busy as we are today."
"Don't forget, when you had your days off a few days ago, Susan and I went through the same thing,"
John added. "And I promise you, those two days will be even busier than today."
"Thanks for your hard work. How about we go for dinner? I'll treat you to coffee," Varina smiled.
"Too bad, I have something to do at home today," John shook his head regretfully.
Varina rarely promised to treat anyone, and if he missed this opportunity, who knew when he'd get another chance?
"No problem, tomorrow is fine too."
With money in his pocket, Varina's promise was more generous than usual. If he wasn't worried about the stark contrast with his past behavior, he would have promised to treat everyone to dinner today.
"Okay, tomorrow!"
John slung his bag over his shoulder and asked, "Shall we go?"
"Of course."
The two went out together and parted ways at the factory gate.
Varina headed to his familiar café, ordered a beef stew with potatoes, two rye bread rolls, and a regular coffee.
The food he ordered today was even better than yesterday, and he waited with a bit of anticipation. Suddenly,
an unexpected turn of events occurred at this ordinary moment—
a man dressed as a worker pretended to pass by and
suddenly attacked Varina, smashing a hidden stone into the back of his head. It was a swift and powerful blow!
Varina was almost knocked to the ground.
He staggered to his feet, and before he could even question them, three other men in the small café also stood up.
"Dead Eel Gang is on a mission, unrelated people get out of the way!" one of them shouted, clearing the area.
For most people, gangsters are best avoided, so although the customers were somewhat reluctant to leave their uneaten food, their bodies betrayed them, and the café staff hid under the counter, praying they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.
"Kid, you've got a tough head. Most people would be knocked out by that."
A tall, thin man with dark blue, messy hair, like seaweed, stepped forward, grinning smugly.
"You think you're so smart after outsmarting that idiot Kirk?"
"I'll show you the truth: Kirk couldn't catch you because he's stupid, utterly stupid!"
The tall, thin man, having dominated the scene for the first time, naturally wanted to show off.
He spread his hands, explaining his method of finding you:
"You're educated, haven't you heard of Emperor Roselle's famous saying, 'Everything that goes around leaves a trace'? I only spent less than a day asking a few people, and I pieced together your portrait."
"Heh, that's pretty simple."
Varina, still struggling with dizziness, finally realized where he had gone wrong.
Seeing Varina clutching the back of his head and remaining silent, the tall, thin man couldn't help but say a few more words:
"You know what, I have to thank you."
"If it weren't for you, how could the boss have been disappointed in Kirk? Haha, as long as I bring you back, Kirk's position will be mine."
Just as the man was getting into his spiel, Varina suddenly attacked.
Thanks to the guy's talkativeness, he was able to recover from his dizziness before these people made a move.
He forcefully slammed the dining table next to him across the way, and used the momentum to rush towards the door.
The man guarding the door saw Varina rushing towards him and grinned as he threw a punch.
He knew from experience that this punch would definitely make the man, with his physique, vomit up his dinner from the night before.
To his surprise, Varina actually reacted!
Varina not only dodged the heavy punch to the side, but also, without stopping, darted to the man's side and, using the force of the punch, pushed him towards the tall, thin man and the others inside.
Varina burst out the door and started running, with gangsters chasing after him a few steps behind.
He needed to find a dark place quickly to shake them off. At the very least, he needed to hold out for as long as possible, until it was completely dark.
This way, he could use his own advantages to escape danger.
Varina had been commuting this route for over a year, so he was naturally much more familiar with it than the area around Green Road.
He changed directions a few times and soon turned into a dilapidated and chaotic old housing area.
The environment here was extremely complex; if an unfamiliar person wandered in, they would probably get lost for ages before finding their way out. Although Varina wasn't entirely familiar with it, he could recognize a few quick alleyways.
About half an hour later, Varina emerged alone from the other side of this old housing area.
He had successfully shaken off his pursuer.