Chapter 127
Chapter 127
The man had fair skin, slightly long dark hair, and big, round eyes. If not for his prominent Adam's apple, you'd easily mistake him for a girl.
Shannon was coughing violently, as if he needed to cough up every last bit of fluid in his chest before he could feel any relief.
On the day the Mordell family was wiped out, Shannon had slipped away when no one was watching, but he'd been badly injured in the process.
Luckily, a kind stranger took him in. Once he'd recovered a little, he set out to find Verity.
He asked around everywhere for news of Verity, but having never left the Mordell family or had any contact with outsiders, he was tricked by some people on the road and ended up on a ship.
He had soft, androgynous looks, and those people planned to ship him overseas and sell him. When he realized he'd been deceived, his only option was to jump overboard, and he nearly drowned — but luck was on his side, and someone pulled him out of the water.
"Beautiful miss, thank you for saving me." Shannon's voice carried the pure, unbroken softness of a boy who hadn't yet gone through puberty.
A bright, playful laugh rang out, and a woman stepped from the shadows — it was Judy, who had vanished without a trace after leaving Damien.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Damien had arrived at the outskirts of Crescent City with his people. He stood on a hillside, looking down at the city below.
The city gates were guarded by robots. Anyone entering had to be scanned and have their identity verified before they were allowed in.
The walls were covered in cameras, and you could just make out gun barrels and cannon muzzles along the top. Drones circled overhead, patrolling and keeping watch.
Getting in by blending with the crowd was simply out of the question.
"Crescent City sounds like such an old name — I never expected it to be packed with high-tech everything," Ironclaw muttered, shaking his head in amazement.
"If things were different, I'd love to swap some tech knowledge with them," he added.
"Why don't you go test your luck?" Damien glanced at him with a slight smile.
Ironclaw gave an awkward laugh. "That's definitely not happening. I'm kind of attached to being alive."
"Alright, stop picking up Ghosthand's bad habits. Go scout around — see if there's anything unusual about Crescent City, or any weak spots in their defenses."
The moment Damien finished speaking, Ironclaw straightened up and walked away.
"If Crescent City has all this high-tech security, why do they still use drugs to keep outsiders in line?" Mona was puzzled.
The way she saw it, with security that tight, anyone trying to cause trouble would be under surveillance and could be dealt with directly. Why would they need drugs to control outsiders on top of that?
"The most likely reason for the drugs is to discourage people from entering without a good reason. Fewer outsiders means less chance of drawing attention from other factions. It's actually a smart way to let Crescent City grow in peace," Damien said.
Take themselves, for example — if they didn't have a pressing reason to be here, wouldn't they think twice about walking into that city?
Over at Crescent City's city hall, Domingo Cooley was listening to a report from one of his subordinates. The people from Celestial Temple, unable to breach Crescent City, had temporarily pulled back.
"Those bastards — they just won't go away. How did they even set their sights on a small place like Crescent City?"
Domingo rarely left the city, but he kept close tabs on outside news, and he had nothing but contempt for everything Celestial Temple did.
Wiping out entire factions and families at the drop of a hat over a little profit, a piece of technology, or some object — how could he not despise that?
And now they had their eyes on Crescent City.
"Have people tighten security. Make absolutely sure none of Celestial Temple's people slip through inside the city. I have a feeling they're not here with good intentions." Domingo's expression was grave as he gave the order.
"Yes, sir. I'll see to it right away." His subordinate left with a serious look on his face.
As for the Celestial Temple operatives Domingo believed had retreated — they had only pulled back to the outer perimeter to keep watch.
So the moment Damien arrived at Crescent City, word reached White.
White immediately contacted Bavich: "Make good use of Damien. We can't break through ourselves, but we can let him lead the charge — he'll find a way into Crescent City, no doubt about it."
"Understood. This time, I won't act rashly." Bavich chose his words carefully.
"Good. And if the opportunity arises, you can even set Damien up as your scapegoat. Celestial Temple's reputation is already bad enough."
White's meaning was clear.
On the other end of the line, Bavich's expression darkened. He pressed his lips together and said nothing.
"I have reliable intel that Crescent City holds a medicinal herb auction every month. They post the details and timing on Crescent City's official website and require buyers to attend in person."
"Anyone entering the city has to take Crescent City's own specially formulated medicine. Once the auction is over and buyers have collected their items, Crescent City escorts them out and gives them the antidote. Think carefully about how to use this."
White passed along everything he knew to Bavich.
"As you command, God-King." Bavich hung up and let out a long, slow breath.
At the same time, Damien had also learned about the auction from Ghosthand.
"An auction? Are they auctioning off Wraith Grass?" Mona asked eagerly.
If it was Wraith Grass, they could simply send someone in, get it, and come back out — they'd be given the antidote anyway.
Damien seemed to read her thoughts. Still, he said, "We don't know if it is. We can't put all our hopes on the auction."
"Why not have someone look into it? If Wraith Grass really is there, getting it through official channels beats risking our lives," Mona said.
"No — that would tip our hand. Don't forget, Celestial Temple is still out there."
The thought of Celestial Temple made Damien's expression go cold.
"And if we go poking around too openly and Crescent City blacklists us, then we really will have no choice but to force our way in."
Mona thought back to the defensive setup she'd seen outside the city and pressed her lips together. How many lives and how much firepower would it take to break through something like that?
They checked into a hotel in a small town not far from Crescent City. That evening, Damien got on the phone with Ghosthand again.
"I looked into it, but I couldn't find anything on what herbs they're auctioning. The items change every month, and there's no way to get the list in advance." Ghosthand said, fingers still tapping at his keyboard.
"And they have a rule — anyone who participates can only attend one auction per year."
"That makes things a lot harder."
Getting Wraith Grass through the auction was going to be next to impossible. Damien would have to keep it as a backup option and look for other ways in.
But with none of his people able to get inside Crescent City, there wasn't much he could do.
What Damien didn't know was that months earlier, someone he knew well had already become a welcome guest inside Crescent City.
A few months back, Judy had stormed off from Damien in a fit of anger. She'd tried to build her own operation, only to be discovered and hunted down by Celestial Temple.
Too proud to ask Damien for help, she fled while badly wounded and eventually made it to Crescent City, where she was found and rescued by the city's mayor.
When Judy came to, she was already in a guest room at Lord's Manor.
That was when she learned she was inside Crescent City — and that the man who had saved her was Domingo, the city's mayor.