CHAPTER 327: MOSTLY LOWER RANKS.

"I don’t usually mind it, but this is boring as hell."

Finn’s comment was perfectly understandable, and Dante was feeling the same. The start of their plan to take down the Daggers was far from exciting. What they needed the most right now was to gather information, and the only way to do so was by spying on their territory and the places they frequent.

At the moment, they were sitting on the roof of some tall building. Though they could’ve snuck into one of the rooms below, it limited their exit options and increased the chances of being caught. Once they had some blankets and hot drinks, the cold no longer bothered them, and their stay was no longer unbearable.

Finn was shocked to see Dante take things out of his Storage, but strangely enough, he asked if it was magic. Apparently, he had noticed when Nobara used her Sorcerous Arts to isolate the noodle shop, and the clanker girl explained it to him as magic.

Dante didn’t know how to explain it to him, so he just told him to add it to the list of things he shouldn’t ask too much about.

This time, they made use of all seventy-five Scorpio-bots Finn had in his possession. Since he was the superior Diver between them -because he had Volcan- Dante controlled fifty, while Finn and Jake took the remaining twenty-five.

Operating that many robots simultaneously was undoubtedly difficult, but it eased up once they got them into position. At least that’s what Dante thought at first.

The Scorpio-bots were more like anchors that guided their Diving attempts. When one arrives at its position, the next step would be to Dive into the surrounding ports, taking over anything with a camera or a microphone, including NIMs and OAMs. From there, they had to check the feeds one by one, waiting to catch something that might prove to be useful.

In truth, Jake and Volcan were handling most of the hard labor. They scanned everything, looking for the mention of certain keywords. Once something catches their attention, they run it by either Finn or Dante. That wasn’t to say those two were just sitting around and doing nothing. The things they had to look at kept piling, and whenever they thought they were done, more would arrive.

Finn had upgraded his Exo-core using the processor Dante got from Jonah. He had already known that it was valuable, since Volcan was the one who chose it, but it was only once he handed it to the boy that its true potential was made clear to him.

With an extra core, Jake was able to perform faster calculations and analysis. He was still much slower than Volcan, of course, so the competition between them was nonexistent.

"These are mostly lower ranks," Finn said. "They don’t have anything going for them."

"Yup. They’re mostly just muscle." Dante said. "From the looks of it, they get their instructions in person."

"Or maybe they call..."

"Nah, I doubt that."

Most NIMs can be used to take calls, but few rely on that function. Since the implant is under one’s skin, using it for calls makes it appear as if you’re talking to yourself, so most people prefer text. Of course, the call function was still used when in need, just not too often.

"This Robert guy..." Dante said. "He sounds promising."

"Really?"

"Yup. Runs a bakery, funnily enough. It’s on Round Street, close to Red Hill."

"A bakery..." Finn frowned. "And he works for a gang?"

"Not just work. He’s a team leader or something. Has about five people under him."

"Huh... guess he’s in deep." Pausing, the boy then added. "We would need to check on the Black Skull rats before we can decide, right?"

"Rose is taking care of that."

DING!

"Speaking of the devil..."

As a part of their agreement, Dante had to give the purple-haired woman his contacts. That meant she could text and call him whenever she wanted, and though she held back for the first few hours, the time seemed to have finally come.

[

Rose: Hey there, darling! (≧∇≦)ﾉ

I thought so much about what I should write

But I couldn’t come up with anything XD

I’m looking forward to our date! (^///^)

See ya! (≧∇≦)ﾉ

]

His eyes followed the lines as they appeared, and his face twitched each time.

’Is she a schoolgirl or something?’

Seconds passed after the last one popped up. Dante stared at the text box, feeling his blood gradually reaching the boiling point. He was about to hit the projected keyboard, but then another message appeared.

[

Rose: Here are the files you asked for ^_____^

I made sure to mark everyone who’s already dead.

You owe me a kiss for this (￣ 3￣)

]

Sighing, Dante typed a tired reply, then went through the files he had just received. To his surprise, there were hundreds of profiles to go through, each one more detailed than a police report. As it turned out, Rose had been meticulous about her job long before he asked for her help.

"Sheesh..." Dante grimaced. "And this is just the start."

There was no way to gather info on all members of a large gang, since their numbers reach the hundreds sometimes, so what the purple-haired woman sent was just a small part. Still, among the files were ones on the higher-ranked members, so he was able to learn quite a few things.

’Hmm...’ As he continued checking, Dante noticed a strange pattern. ’Maybe I should just go kill them...’

All of a sudden, Dante started to feel sick.

[Though there is enough data on individuals, we still lack information concerning their territory and bases of operation.] Volcan said. [I suggest gathering said info first.]

’Sure... we will do that...’

"Um... Dante, I think you need to see this..."

Finn drew Dante’s attention before sharing something with him through a short link. When he opened the screen, Dante saw what was clearly an office. Standing behind the desk in the back was a man in a black suit, and from the looks of it, he was examining a briefcase.