CHAPTER 330: YOU SHOULD BE.

"Not gonna lie, that was a great idea." Said the boy.

"I know, right?" Dante chuckled.

The plan had been to visit a fancy steak house, but when they realized they hadn’t stopped by the Bowl of Fortune for lunch, they decided to make some changes. Dante was still in the mood for some good beef, however, and after giving the matter some thought, he got an idea.

Ordering some high-quality beef, they took it to Nobara, asking her to cook it for them. The old cook wasn’t too happy about the request, but she still did them that favor, and they got to taste the best sukiyaki of their life, made mostly with beef and no tofu.

After filling their bellies, it was time to return home. Though they didn’t feel like doing anything, they still had work to do, and considering what they were trying to accomplish, it would be a long time before they could catch a break.

"So, now that you got that one Black Skull guy in trouble, do we just wait for the fire to start?"

Dante wasn’t paying attention to the boy, so he missed his question at first. The answer came to him as he poured himself a cup of coffee, bringing with it a deep frown.

"That would be the best case scenario," Dante said. "But I doubt it will be that easy."

It wasn’t too fantastical for an entire war to start because of the actions of a single low-ranking gangster, but he got the feeling that a single robbery would be enough. At most, it would result in a little scuffle, after which things would calm down a little.

"We might need to do it a few more times," Dante said. "But not like this."

Worst worst-case scenario would be that either of the two parties discovers that someone is messing around with them. According to Volcan, Daniel Desmond, the man whose face Dante borrowed, was playing a basketball game in a court on the other side of Red Hill. There were plenty of witnesses there so his alibi was solid, and with that being the case, it wouldn’t take long for Black Skull to notice that something was off.

Of course, even if they got to see the footage captured by the security cams, they are unlikely to accept any explanation other than the Daggers messing with them. That would fuel the fire between them, but it wouldn’t be the spark Dante was looking for.

"Next time, we will do things a little differently."

Placing his cup down on the kitchen table, Dante opened his storage and took out the duffel bag from earlier. Finn stared at him for a moment then let out a long sigh.

"Man, I’m getting a little jealous." He said. "Is it really impossible to learn this power?"

Taking his seat, Dante glanced at the by while sipping his coffee.

"I... don’t think so." He said. "I can’t really teach you, but maybe you can create some machine that can do the same thing."

"Just say it’s impossible then." Finn sighed again. "You’re teleportation things around at the very least. I can’t even begin to imagine how to do that."

"Well, you either figure it out or just give up."

Opening the duffel bag, Dante took out the Shards and counted them, making a rough estimate of how much they would earn. Fifty five plates, with each one priced at 250000 Gold would net them 13750000.

"I will keep forty, and you’ll get the remaining fifteen." Dante turned to the boy. "Deal?"

"Fifteen?" Finn frowned.

"What? You don’t like it?"

"Well, I didn’t think you would cut me that much. You’re the one who went and retrieved them."

3750000 Gold was by no means a small amount. Dante didn’t even dream about making that much when he was fourteen, but that’s only because he had nothing going for him, unlike the genius Gearhead and Diver sitting across the table. Dante wasn’t trying to rip him off, and as the boy said, Dante was taking all the risk by going in and retrieving the shard. Still, he couldn’t shake the slight discomfort, so he took two more plates and placed them on the stack meant for the boy.

"Alright, this makes it about 31%. That’s more than fair."

"You... didn’t have to," Finn replied, looking confused.

"You should be asking for more," Dante said.

"... you just want to argue?"

"That’s a big part of the goddamn fun. What’s the point of a robbery if we don’t argue how to divide the haul?"

"I’m... not too interested in money."

"You should be." Sighing, Dante went about storing his Shards. "You’re a Gearhead. You’ll need a lot of Gs to work on your gadgets."

"Right..." Said Finn. "I barely convinced Vik to get me some stuff last time."

"Yeah, you can’t really blame him for not trusting a kid with thirty million." Said Dante. "Don’t worry, though. Once we have a hideout, I will handle getting you whatever you need."

"A hideout, huh? You said something about it last night, too. Are you really making one?"

"I plan to."

After visiting Lev and Suzuka in their hideouts, Dante got a pretty good idea of how his should be. Still, he didn’t know where to start. He considered exploring the sewers, thinking he might find an area that could serve as a good starting point, but a part of him believed it wouldn’t be enough.

Putting aside the thought, Dante returned his attention to the bag, or more accurately, the papers and binders in it. A part of him didn’t want to do it, but he knew that he would have to look through them to find out what the dark-haired man did to earn nearly fourteen million Gold.

Only a few pages later and Dante was starting to form an idea. The man was an accountant handling some of the shops in that part of New City. His job was to launder some of the products the gang brought in, exchange them for credits he would then pass them on to the Daggers. From the looks of it, he had some of the police in his pockets, which is why he had never been caught before. Unfortunately for him, his successful business venture was just brought to its end.