Chapter 35: With His Eyes (6)

Although the image wasn’t very clear, Bres could recognize the person being carried was Oliver, the same man who had once sat at his table to eat.

“Who are the ones carrying him?”

The image zoomed in, then zoomed in again.

“Uh.”

“Ouch.”

Bres and Qiao Anni both let out strange sounds at the same time.

They were two guys with messy implants all over their faces—a look far too familiar to them.

“Who are they? Why are their facial cyberbodies so oddly shaped?”

“You could say… old acquaintances?”

Qiao Anni’s face was full of disgust.

“Hyenas…”

Bres murmured.

One of the most notorious gangs in the Lower City District—the Hyena Gang.

They made a living off organ and human trafficking, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they were the largest supplier in the Nightless City’s black market for this entire industry chain.

Lone drifters, unemployed workers, and lost children were all their targets.

Victims were either sold to some unknown factory or nightclub, or dismantled piece by piece in a shady clinic colluding with them, with the remains thrown into the sewers to feed the crocodiles.

And one of the Hyena Gang’s trademarks was that members would implant an excessive, extremely exaggerated amount of eye implants on their faces.

The auxiliary effects of the implants were secondary; they were mainly for intimidation and scare tactics.

At the same time, these guys were quite smart.

They almost never provoked members of other gangs, instead lurking in the gaps between these powers, waiting for opportunities to profit.

Without anyone noticing, they had formed a loose but sizable force.

“From what you’re saying, they’re a bunch of bullies who pick on the weak, right?”

Farry’s voice was full of indignation.

The Upper City District was also a major client of theirs…

‘Better not tell him that.’

Watching Farry’s righteous anger, Bres thought.

Turning his head, he saw Qiao Anni, whose face had gone pale.

Her lips were trembling slightly, clearly reminded of the bad memories from that night.

“Qiao Anni, are you okay?”

“Ah? No, I’m… I’m fine.”

Qiao Anni replied, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes, the fabric crumpled into a ball.

She didn’t look fine at all.

Bres tried to reach his hand toward Qiao Anni’s shoulder, but thought better of it and pulled his hand back.

“If you’re not feeling well, go back to the agency and rest. I’ve dealt with them before; I can handle it alone.”

“No,”

Qiao Anni shook her head firmly, as if coming to her senses.

“I can help. Besides, now that I live here, dealing with them is inevitable sooner or later.”

“Mm… Then be careful.”

“I will.”

Contrary to his usual manner, Farry wisely didn’t interrupt.

Smack, smack.

Bres clapped his hands twice, drawing the attention of the other two.

“Alright, let’s focus on the job first.”

“What do we do next?”

“The Hyena Gang’s hideouts are mostly scattered and irregular, but considering the need for stealth, they usually choose places like abandoned apartments, factories, or basements. For now, we have to keep following the surveillance system along the road to check for clues.”

Time was still passing.

With every minute that went by, Oliver’s life was at greater risk.

“Let’s speed things up. I’ll keep checking the surveillance footage. Qiao Anni, you go find out which shops in the area are open late at night and see if there are any leads.”

“Okay.”

“Is there anything I can help with?”

Farry asked nervously.

“Not for now. You stay here with me.”

“Alright…”

The robot’s head tilted, showing a disappointed expression.

It was evening.

“After all that running around, we really ended up near here…”

Bres sized up the cluster of abandoned apartments in front of him.

Beside him, Qiao Anni’s gaze was fixed on the Trash Mountain in the distance—the place where she had first awakened.

This was the edge of the Fifth District, the boundary of the city, a desert of reinforced concrete.

A few people huddled together in a corner, dozing off; a lookout holding an iron rod cast a scrutinizing gaze in their direction.

The dazzling lights and harsh noise were blocked by an invisible wall, as if this were already another world.

“Following the clues from the surveillance we could find, plus the information you got from the drifters and a few bar owners, Oliver should have been brought here.”

Bres looked at the abandoned building in front of him.

It had never truly been completed.

The construction company that claimed to “improve the environment and quality of life in the Lower City District” had fled with the money after receiving donations from all walks of life and the life savings of residents.

The empty, unrenovated buildings looked like tree stumps riddled with holes by termites.

“Where is Oliver?”

“I think we won’t have to look for him ourselves.”

Their gazes turned to one of the abandoned buildings.

A faint purple light was glowing from the middle floors, and even from a distance, they could vaguely see moving figures.

Inside the abandoned building, it was pitch black.

Bres and Qiao Anni could only grope along the walls as they advanced.

“Careful!”

came Farry’s lowered voice from the darkness.

Bres pulled back his right leg just in time, avoiding a rusty nail scattered on the floor.

“Whew… Thanks, Farry. How did you see it?”

“This robot has night vision.”

“That’s pretty advanced…”

“It also has a high-intensity flashlight. Want me to show you?”

“Better not in this situation.”

Tap, tap.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from downstairs, mixed with a few scolding sounds and a child’s crying.

“Quiet down! Stop crying!”

Bres and Qiao Anni exchanged glances and, in silent agreement, each chose a pillar to hide behind.

The footsteps grew closer.

Under the dim moonlight, the person’s true face was revealed.

Bres’s eyes widened.

A standard Hyena Gang member was roughly dragging a little girl who was softly sobbing up the stairs.

She was probably a lone child caught by the Hyena Gang.

Seemingly due to excessive shock and fatigue, the girl stumbled and finally fell to the floor with a thump.

“Damn brat, still pretending to be helpless—”

The Hyena Gang member raised his hand high, and the girl tightly shut her eyes, bracing for the coming storm.

“Ah… hack…”

Instead of the sound of a slap, there was a strange noise from the Hyena gangster’s throat, like the sound of a death rattle.

The girl curiously opened her eyes, wanting to see what had happened, but a pair of hands covered them.

A gentle female voice sounded beside her ear:

“It’s alright, child. Don’t look over there.”

“Who… are you?”

“I’ll keep that a secret for now. Now, turn around. Did you see a big iron cabinet downstairs?”

After a moment of hesitation, the girl nodded.

“Let’s play a game of hide-and-seek. You hide there, don’t let those face-glowing people find you. Someone will come to get you, okay?”

“Okay…”

The girl’s voice dropped.

The hands moved away from her eyes.

“Don’t look back. Now, go.”

The girl slowly walked down the stairs, but couldn’t help looking up one last time.

The moon was obscured by dark clouds.

Before leaving, all she saw was a flash of red before her eyes.