Episode 169
No matter how powerful the Nostra family was across the continent, they were nothing more than a petty crime syndicate in the eyes of the Draker family.
The only reason the Drakers hadn’t crushed them was simply because it was too much of a hassle.
Skin, drenched in cold sweat, spoke to Zeke.
“Why would someone of your stature get involved in this mess? If there’s anything you need, just say the word. I’ll do my utmost to serve you.”
Resistance was futile once he realized he was dealing with a Draker.
Zeke ignored Skin and turned his gaze to the curly-haired young man standing beside him.
“Is he a bloodline ability user from the family?”
Skin answered on the young man’s behalf.
“He’s just a guard for my nephew. He has some bloodline abilities, but they’re limited… We were going to discard him, but decided to keep him around.”
Zeke nodded. With a swift motion, he threw daggers, instantly taking down the Cyclops and Minotaur still fighting, and then turned his attention back to Skin.
“Alright, Skin, I’ve got a question for you.”
“Ask away.”
“Tell me everything you know about Vincenzo Rossi, the one managing Dario Totlino’s funds.”
Skin’s face turned pale at Zeke’s words.
He shook his head and backed away.
“Sir, I’m just a low-level supplier. I don’t know anything about the higher-ups.”
“I know you’re a low-level grunt. But you’re related to Vincenzo Rossi through your mother’s side, aren’t you? He’s the one who cleaned up your messes outside your territory. Am I wrong?”
Skin’s face hardened at Zeke’s words.
Very few people knew about his connection to Vincenzo Rossi, and those who did were mostly family.
As Zeke approached the silent Skin, Bisco prepared to use his bloodline ability, cutting his palm to release blood.
“Thinking of using your bloodline ability? It probably won’t work on me.”
Ignoring Zeke’s warning, Bisco flung his blood.
Swoosh!
At that moment…
Buzz!
[Skill ‘Curse Reflection’ reflects the curse of ‘Illusion.’]
The bloodline ability backfired, hitting Bisco instead.
Zeke was surprised to see the curse reflection activate.
“Seems like the illusion effect made the bloodline ability register as a curse.”
“Ugh!”
Though not completely affected by his own ability, Bisco staggered, bewildered, as he looked at Zeke.
In an instant, a dagger appeared in Zeke’s hand and flew towards Bisco.
Thud!
The dagger embedded itself in Bisco’s shoulder, causing him to collapse with a groan.
Zeke slowly approached Skin.
Skin tried to crawl away, desperate to escape.
“No, don’t come any closer! Stay away!”
He grabbed a repeating crossbow from a fallen comrade and fired at Zeke.
Thwack! Thwack!
Zeke caught all the arrows with his hands, a display of skill that left Skin utterly defeated.
Zeke approached Skin with a dagger in hand and spoke.
“Whether you die slowly or quickly, you’re going to die. If you save me some time, I’ll promise you a painless death.”
Despite his notorious reputation, Skin broke down in tears at the prospect of death.
His cries soon turned into screams.
The first thing Bisco saw when he opened his eyes was Frank’s face.
“Sir, he’s awake.”
Bisco, regaining his senses at Frank’s voice, shot up.
He looked around, then flinched as he saw Zeke sitting in a chair, trembling with fear.
Zeke spoke to Frank.
“Leave us.”
Without a word, Frank exited the office.
Bisco watched Zeke with a mix of wariness and fear.
Then Zeke spoke to him.
“I want to hear about the bloodline ability users of the Nostra family.”
Bisco’s eyes wavered at those words.
Seeing this, Zeke set down his teacup and spoke.
“Can’t speak because you don’t have a tongue?”
As Bisco was about to nod, he felt something strange.
“What?”
He could feel a tongue in his mouth, one that had been missing for years.
“How…?”
For the first time in a decade, Bisco spoke properly.
Zeke picked up his teacup again and said,
“Consider it an advance payment for the information you’re going to give me.”
Bisco looked at Zeke, bewildered.
He had heard many rumors about the Drakers, but he never imagined they could restore a severed tongue.
He slid off the sofa and knelt before Zeke.
“Please, spare me.”
Bisco had a strong survival instinct.
Even when he was kidnapped by the Nostra family and subjected to harsh training, he survived.
Even when he was on the verge of being discarded due to his underdeveloped bloodline ability, he found a way to make himself useful and survived.
Even without a tongue, he was content just to be alive.
Bisco prostrated himself, begging Zeke for his life.
Zeke looked at Bisco and spoke.
“Doesn’t seem like you have much loyalty to the Nostra family.”
Bisco lifted his head and replied.
“All I have for them is hatred.”
Zeke, observing him closely, grinned.
“I like the look in your eyes.”
Zeke gestured for Bisco to sit.
Bisco eagerly recounted everything he knew about the Nostra family’s bloodline ability users.
After listening, Zeke asked with a serious expression.
“You mean they injected drugs?”
Bisco nodded.
“Yes. They injected us with drugs biweekly, and there were pills too. Sometimes the drugs enhanced our abilities, but if you were unlucky… you’d go mad or have seizures and die.”
Hearing about the abduction and experimentation on children under ten, Zeke’s face hardened.
Bisco continued.
“I was injected too, but my bloodline ability didn’t strengthen. Instead, its nature changed.”
“How so?”
“My original ability was to cause explosions with blood. It was unique and seemed useful, so I was treated well in the lab at first. But after the drug, it changed to induce hallucinations.”
“Once your ability changed, they decided to discard you.”
“Yes. Even after stopping the injections, the altered ability didn’t revert. After various experiments, they decided to discard me, but I was lucky to survive.”
Zeke recalled what Boris had mentioned.
He had heard about the Nostra family recruiting bloodline users to enhance their abilities, but the extent of their experiments was unknown.
‘This reeks of the Empire’s handiwork.’
The Empire was known for creating war weapons through secret human experiments, using stimulants, synthetic poisons, and the Red Flower Disease.
The Nostra family’s experiments on bloodline users could be part of a plan to create war weapons.
Bisco cautiously spoke to the pensive Zeke.
“I have something to say.”
“Go on.”
Bisco prostrated himself again, his voice desperate.
“Please take me in. I’ll even be a slave. Just let me serve you.”
Bisco, like a discarded fighting dog unsure of its fate, pleaded with Zeke.
Zeke looked at Bisco and slowly spoke.
“How can I trust you?”
Bisco lifted his head and said,
“I’ll do anything you ask. You can take my tongue back, or even my eyes. Just let me serve you.”
Zeke gestured for Bisco to come closer and placed a hand on his head.
“Stay still.”
Zeke intended to test his Dragon’s Sense on Bisco.
He had used it to glimpse the memories of objects before, but never on a person.
Buzz!
As the Dragon’s Sense activated, Bisco’s memories flowed into Zeke’s mind.
Whoosh!
Bisco’s memories and emotions flashed by rapidly.
‘Survival instinct, fear of loss, endless hatred…’
His heart was filled with negative emotions.
Yet, despite that, Bisco was ready to do anything to survive.
After delving into Bisco’s past and emotions with the Dragon’s Sense, Zeke nodded.
“Alright. I’ll take you in.”
At Zeke’s words, Bisco repeatedly bowed, his forehead hitting the floor.
“Thank you. I will be loyal, Boss!”
Zeke planned to leave Bisco in Boris’s care.
‘With proper training, he could become a valuable informant.’
The first requirement for an informant was a strong survival instinct.
The will to live was crucial for maintaining composure in extreme situations. While this could also lead to betrayal, Zeke wasn’t someone who would crumble from a few betrayals.
In that regard, Bisco already met the criteria.
Zeke paid Frank for his services and left Argos with Bisco.
The mid-level organization that had been a fixture in Argos vanished without a trace, and Skin and his men were reported to have died in a dungeon encounter with monsters.
There was no trace of Zeke’s involvement.
Zeke brought Bisco to Helly.
Boris, who had already settled in, greeted Zeke.
In the safe house prepared by the Syndicate, Boris and the Rose Knights were waiting.
Zeke handed Bisco over to Boris and said,
“He seems useful, so I picked him up. Train him well.”
Quick to catch on, Bisco immediately prostrated himself before Boris.
“Give me any task!”
Boris, overwhelmed by the unexpected responsibility of dealing with Bisco, closed his eyes and trembled with frustration.
“I should’ve just let the boss kill me back then.”
“Boris, you need to look at the world a bit more positively.”
With a sigh, Boris gave Zeke a brief rundown of the situation with Helly.
“It’s cleaner than I expected. At least on the surface, it’s hard to find any ties to criminal organizations. It seems like most of the operations here are focused on money laundering and financial management.”
Zeke nodded at Boris’s report.
The Siemens family was the one managing Helly. As one of the most powerful factions among the Draker’s allies, Siemens, along with the Graham family, held significant sway over the central continent’s financial sector.
Thanks to this, Helly was home to the headquarters of many renowned companies and trading houses. The taxes they paid were enormous, ensuring Siemens’s wealth, which they used to generate even more capital.
Zeke frowned as he reviewed the documents Boris had brought.
“So, you’re saying there are a lot of companies with suspicious financial activities, even if it’s not overt?”
Boris nodded.
“Yes. They set up dozens of shell companies to launder criminal funds, moving money around so much that it’s impossible to trace. It’s a method commonly used by the Nostra family.”
The Nostra family, with its long history, was well-versed in handling money.
Zeke scanned the list of shell companies Boris had compiled and pointed to one.
“This one.”
Boris was surprised at Zeke’s quick selection and examined the company he indicated.
“We hadn’t considered this one particularly significant…”
Zeke closed the file and said, “There’s an accountant managing Dario’s funds here. A guy named Vincenzo Rossi.”
Boris was taken aback.
“If we can catch him, tracing the money flow back would be easy.”
Zeke nodded. “Cutting off the funds will surely provoke a reaction from Dario’s side.”
Pascal, the leader of the Rose Knights, who had been listening to Zeke and Boris, hefted his mace with a determined look.
“So, do we storm in now?”
Boris shook his head. “Captain Pascal, I’ve told you repeatedly. This is their den, and we need to be cautious. Please, restrain yourself.”
“Che.”
Pascal and the other Rose Knights lowered their maces, looking disappointed. The members of the Rose Knights all had rough faces and bodies marked with scars. Though they were essentially holy knights, their behavior was more akin to gangsters, having lived in the underworld.
Boris pressed his throbbing temples with his thumb and spoke to Zeke.
“Boss, would you believe me if I said life was easier when we were public enemies of the continent?”
“Just accept it as your karma, Boris. It’ll bring you peace.”
“If only you wouldn’t say such things.”
Zeke placated the grumbling Boris and began devising a plan to draw out Vincenzo Rossi with him. Unexpectedly, an easy opportunity presented itself.
“A Blackstone Mine investment seminar?”