69novels Chapter 699: Welcome Back.
Chapter 699: Welcome Back.
"Where the hell did you get that name?" Scratching his crow nest of a hair, John walked over to the bar and sat down, placing a bag on the counter.
"I’m guessing you have an update for me, seeing how you bothered to show up."
Dante gestured with his glass and Lissa came soon after, bringing a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses.
"Believe me when I say I never wanted to come here again." John heaved a sigh. "My boss got it in his head that we get along pretty well, so he just dropped this on me."
"Sucks for you."
"It sure does."
Downing a shot of the clear liquid, John slammed the glass on the counter and went to pour himself another one.
"Seems like you’re having trouble of your own." He said. "Did you expect your boss to pick a fight with Gaia?"
"Not really." Dante replied. "I don’t get a heads up."
Messing with the megacorp was a spur of the moment thing, so it wasn’t exactly a lie to say he didn’t know beforehand.
"Do you need help with it?" John said. "Nothing guaranteed, but I can ask around..."
"Nah, it’s fine. I like to farm those idiots for parts." Dante sipped from his drink.
"Well, suit yourself."
As his guest downed another shot, Dante thought that it was about time they stop the meaningless chat.
"So, what brings you here today, John Catalyst."
"That’s not my name."
"Well, you didn’t really introduce yourself." Dante replied. "And I don’t even know the name of your organization."
"Our name?"
"I mean, there is no way you don’t have one."
"What about you?" John asked. "What’s the name of your organization."
"Inferno." Dante replied.
"I’m not talking about your little gang."
"Huh... I guess you have a point..."
Though he was pretending that Inferno was a subsidiary of much larger, more powerful organization, Dante hadn’t bothered to expand on that beyond Ghost’s sparse appearances.
"So you don’t even know the name of your parent organization?" John mocked. "Guess you are way down the ladder than you thought."
"Yeah, seems like it."
In truth, there was no organization, and he was the real boss.
"All of that aside, how about you just answer my question?"
"Your question? Ah, right." John went to pour himself another shot. "Well, our side is interested in offering you a seat at the table."
"Never thought it would take you this long to decide." Taking the bottle, Dante added some of the clear liquid into his drink.
"This is a very delicate matter. If it were before, we wouldn’t have hesitated to bring you in, but now..."
"You have the Gear to worry about."
"Did they reach out to you?" John asked.
"They did." Dante replied. "Wanted me to join their cult."
"And you refused."
"Obviously."
"I see."
John nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer.
"As you said, we have the Gear to worry about. Bringing you in would put a wedge in the alliance we already have, so you have to give us a good reason to back you up."
"Didn’t you have more than enough reasons when you approached us?" Dante asked.
"True." John replied. "To be a little more frank, you have to make it worth vouching for you. You get me?"
"Yeah, I see where this is going."
Dante had expected them to come to him with a trail or something like that. And the purpose was bound to be quite obvious. John grabbed the he brought along and set it on the counter, smiling as he opened it up.
"I’m sure you have been interested in this for some time." He said.
"Why am I not surprised?" Dante asked. "Do you plan on having me do the same as Black Skull?"
"You catch up quick. See, we had a deal with Black Skull. We would give them the drug so they could boost their ranks, and they would give us the ones who manage to stay alive after taking it. Well, a few of those, at least."
"So you want soldiers."
"Something like that." John said. "From what we heard, you have no trouble gathering people. Get us ten Level 5s and we will give you a seat at the table. That’s what my boss said, which is probably what his boss told him. You know how things go."
"Ten Level 5s, and ones who won’t die after the first doze?" Dante pressed his mouth into a line. "With both the Threat Level and type of power on random? You think that’s possible with the... what? Two hundred pills?"
"Just make sure to document the kind of powers they manifest. You might be able to pass if you can get a few interesting ones, even if they’re below Level 5."
"This is going to be a pain..." Picking up one of the gray boxes, Dante snapped it open and looked at the pill inside. "Do we have a time limit?"
"No, but it would be for the best if you get it over with by the end of the month."
"The end of the month, huh?"
Dante wasn’t really short on lab rats, so he wasn’t too worried about meeting the challenge. That said, the whole thing felt like he was running some errand for whoever was dealing the cards, and that didn’t sit well with him.
"Leave your contacts." He said. "I will see what I can get."
"Ah, one more thing." John said. "Whoever you choose, make sure they’re willing to follow orders, okay?"
"Obviously."
~[ ]~
Another day arrived, and Dante settled back into his old routine. Waking up in his apartment, he went over his preparations then sent his android clone on a long ride while he did the rounds. After checking on his pocket dimensions and picking Lev’s cargo, he went around delivering stuff all over the world before returning to Neo-Vatra and switching places with his clone once more.
"Oh, I see you’re already up." He said. "How are you feeling today, Bella?"
His raven haired subordinate was sitting on the side of the medical bed, having changed into a tracksuit instead of the hospital robe she wore before.
"M-much better!" She replied. "The itch is mostly gone."
"I see. Then, should we get going?"
"Yes!"
After discussing the matter with Larry, it was decided that Bella would undergo her rehab in the gym above the Red Oni Club. A car awaited them outside, and a short drive later they arrived at their destination.
"Welcome back, leader!"
"Guys..."
Waiting for them at the door were the members of Bella’s team, and a few others. They even prepared some party poppers and bottles of champagne, opening them just as she entered. Though it was a very appreciated gesture, Bella’s surprise went far beyond what Dante had expected. Her face went entirely red, and she quickly tried to straighten herself, letting go of the arm he lent her. Though she seemed to walk just fine when leaning against him, she seemed to lose her balance, almost causing her to fall. Thankfully, Dante was quick to react, catching her just in time.
"Ooooooooooooh!"
Ignoring the others’ reaction, Dante helped her stand then took her by the hand.
"You should be a little more careful, until you get back to normal."
"Y-yes."
"Let’s leave the party for later." Turning to the others, Dante wore a definitely not so disturbing smile. "How about you go take care of your work for now?"
The Red Demons went pale, and a second later, they all scrambled away. Just then, a certain blond idiot stepped forward.
"Hey, Bells. Feeling better already?"
The smug grin on Oliver’s face seemed to cause a drastic change, leading the temperature in the surroundings to drop significantly.
"I thought I told you not to call me that..."
"You did? I don’t really remember..."
Though it appeared a if she would strangle him the moment she got her hands on him, the blond idiot still walked over to Bella’s side, taking her arm and slinging it over his shoulder.
"Let me handle things from here, Boss. You’re going to see Carlos now, right?"
"Yeah..." Letting go of his Raven haired subordinate, Dante stepped aside and watched them walk away for a moment, then something occurred to him. "Don’t think you can skip your training because of this!"
That seemed to stab right through his blond subordinate, making his intentions clear.
"Now then..."
It was a little past nine in the morning, so it wouldn’t be long before they arrived. Carlos brought a list of new members who applied to join Inferno. Of course, his Lieutenant had already filtered out the undesirables, leaving only those he deemed worthy.
"We’ve been getting applicants from outside Hollowgrid as well." Carlos said. "It’s becoming a little difficult to do background checks on some of them."
"You can go to Viktor for that. I will give you the budget."
Inferno was growing, and as time passes, a certain problem was starting to show itself. Since they didn’t engage in most illegal activities, they didn’t have much of anything to do. They didn’t have to fear for their territory as well, since most of the surrounding gangs were on good terms with them. Thinking about it made Dante go back to the question of what he needed the gang for, and as he searched for its answer, he tried to come up with a way to make use of the members he had already gathered.