CHAPTER 278: KEEP IT TO YOURSELF.

As he tried to stop the coughing, Dante’s mind went straight to how he had a bionic lung now, and how troublesome it would be if liquids got into it. Then again, surely the people who designed such a wondrous piece of tech would have thought of a way to mitigate such a common problem.

"S-sorry about that." Finn jumped from his seat, panic all over his face. "I-I-I will get some water."

"I... I thought I told you..." Dante coughed. "Be careful... of what you... say..."

"Well..." averting his gaze, the boy smiled awkwardly. "You said some questions aren’t meant to be asked but... I didn’t really..."

The coughing began to settle, and once the boy brought in the water, Dante downed it in one go, feeling better almost immediately. Slamming the glass on the table, he pierced him with a glare.

"Maybe I wasn’t clear last time, so let me say it again," He said. "There is some shit you aren’t supposed to know, so if you notice it, or figure it out, keep it to yourself."

"O-okay! Got it!"

The boy was quick to respond, and Dante didn’t believe him one bit. It was inevitable, really. He was the one who pulled him into the heist, and since the brat was technically the only one who knew about him going into the hotel, it was only natural that he would connect the dots.

An awkward silence followed the short lecture. Dante went back to his coffee, unsure where to go from there. It took him a while, longer than it should have, but he finally found something to talk about.

"The Dagger took part in the battle on the ground, right? New City is part of their territory." He said. "Did you check how much they lost?"

Blinking at him as if he didn’t understand the question, Finn stared back at him for a moment before his eyes went wide.

"Right, right!" He brightened up right away, becoming an entirely different person. "I’ve looked into it the day after! Things got really crazy that night."

"Tell me about it." Dante felt the corners of his mouth rise. "So, anything we can use?"

"I’m...not sure. The Daggers didn’t participate in the battle." Finn said. "Not on the side you would expect them to."

"... They didn’t take the Stahlwölfe money?"

"I looked through the surveillance cams. They seemed too busy fighting one of the invading gangs."

"Protecting their territory, huh?" Something about what the boy said jumped out at Dante so he turned to him with a questioning look. "Did you say surveillance cams?"

"Yeah, it wasn’t that difficult to figure out after learning Ghost Mode."

"The hell do you mean it wasn’t that difficult?" Dante let out a sigh and hung his head. "We’re talking about advanced AI manipulation."

The boy’s talent was frightening. Dante thought he was already aware of that, but somehow he keeps getting reminders.

’Hey, Volcan, you don’t suppose he’s going to reach your level, right?’

[That is impossible.] The AI replied. [He is still a human and has to rely on external hardware to perform complicated computational tasks. I, on the other hand, have far more processing power.]

’So it’s possible after all.’

[No it is not.]

"So... are we going to do it now?"

Though it was a question Dante imagined him being eager to ask, Finn seemed a little hesitant. Taking a sip of the dark brew, Dante thought for a moment.

"You said they were fighting another gang. Which one was it?"

"Black Skull," Finn replied right away. "There is no doubt about it."

"Black Skull, huh... You can’t really miss those bastards..."

He searched his mind for details about the gang, and one just happened to stand out, causing his facial muscles to twitch. The more he thought about it, the more bothered he appeared. He noticed the boy giving him a strange look, as if crept out. That alerted him to the fact that he was grinning for no apparent reason, so after heaving a long sigh, he went back to his coffee and said right after.

"I think I figured out the first step to dealing with your gang problem."

"Wha- really!!?" Finn slammed his hands on the table jumped onto the chair.

"Don’t get too excited," Dante said. "We still have to do a lot of planning and build up."

"Alright! I’ll take any progress at this point." Finn grinned. "At least now I know it can be done."

It was still a little early in the morning and Dante didn’t exactly know how he should go about his day. Viktor hadn’t returned to him with the info he asked for. He wanted to use it as the springboard to start working on Jonah’s request, but from the looks of it, he would have to take a different angle.

"You know Mr. Johanson, right?" He asked.

"The police officer?"

"He asked me to take care of a few things for him. Wanna tag along?"

"Suuuure... I don’t have much to do anyway."

"Alright, let me get prepared."

~[ ]~

"So... they’re in there?"

"Yup."

Hollowgrid was made of mostly identical megacomplexes, but while their shape remained the same, each one took on an appearance of its own as a result of the residents leaving their mark. The first few floors in particular were unique for each building. Some had particular works of graffiti, others remodeled some parts, creating larger shopfronts.

The one Dante was currently looking at had one of its corners restructured entirely, with the first three floors isolated from the rest of the megacomplex and turned into a building of their own. The ground floor was fashioned into a bar, likely a front for whatever was happening on the other floors.

According to Volcan, the four idiots with the van had wandered around the district for a while, making several stops before returning to that building. As they hadn’t moved for hours now, Dante concluded that they were sleeping in one of the rooms.

’Please tell me this isn’t one of those illegal brothels.’

[Unfortunately, it does not seem like there are no security cameras inside.] Said Volcan.

’I see...’