CHAPTER 396: TERRIBLE STRATEGY.

Once the details of the next step in their plan have been ironed out, the meeting came to an end, and everyone went their way. To be exact, Rose left first, while Dante and Finn made their way back to Hollowgrid after. Dante was going through what he would be doing when Finn said something that made his skin crawl.

"Do you think it was her time of the month?"

Instead of answering, Dante gave him a good smack on the head. Apparently, the boy had caught on to Rose’s strange behavior, hence his odd question. Though Dante didn’t bother asking why that was the first explanation that came to his mind, it did shift his attention to the topic.

In the end, he decided not to let it bother him too much. If it was anything serious, then they were bound to hear about it sooner or later. For now, they had to take care of the next part of their plan.

~[ ]~

With the Daggers going on the offensive, Dante’s team no longer had to worry about coming up with a way for the gang to take the fall for them. Unfortunately, they couldn’t go with the same steps as last time for the same reason.

Being under attack had left Black Skull on high alert. Its members exercised caution, moved in groups, and kept their eyes open for any abnormalities in their surroundings. Of course, all of that meant they were constantly on edge, which made them far more dangerous than usual.

The sergeants, the ones being targeted by the Daggers, had it the worst. They were the link between the gang’s upper echelon and the foot soldiers, so hiding until the storm passed wasn’t an option.

Even with their lives under threat, they had to go out and guide the foot soldiers, ensure the gang’s interests are maintained, and project strength so their competitors don’t get any ideas. After all, the Daggers weren’t the only gang looking to take them down.

The tension surrounding the gang spread to their territory, and because of that, the entirety of Red Hill became like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment. Under such conditions, outsiders got a lot more scrutiny, which made it a lot more difficult to go in and nab one of the gang’s top officers.

This time, they couldn’t just drive a car and have their target climb into its truck. Kareem Warda was surrounded by his henchmen the entire time—a pack of twelve that rarely dispersed, with him always at the center. He was acting like some important character that requires a dozen bodyguards, but anyone looking could smell the fear wafting from them, so much so that even Volcan could tell.

[This is a terrible strategy.]

’You think?’

Dante munched on some fried rice while watching the screen projected in front of him. The feed it projected came from the surveillance cameras hanging in one of Pepper Street’s corners, capturing the road, boxing a certain diner and shops surrounding it. On the left side of his field of vision was a half-transparent 3D model of the area, created through type 8’s Spatial Awareness. Since he wasn’t wearing the armor and didn’t have the ability active, the yellow dots representing people were the same as a few hours ago.

It was 19:15, a perfect time for dinner. Not that time mattered for a merc with no strict deadline, and the same went for a bunch of gangsters whose only job is to loiter around and be intimidating.

After a long day of hanging around their usual corner, Kareem decided to drop by The Red Lobster, a diner that, contrary to what its name suggests, never served lobsters in the seven years it had been open. He and most of his crew were regulars of the place, and usually dropped by around the same time every day.

Dante watched them file through the mall, and just as he put another spoonful into his mouth, Volcan made his comment. Thankfully, Dante didn’t have to wait long for an explanation.

[According to the reports, the enemy disposed of all individuals, not just the target of the assassination. Moving in large groups only guarantees an increase in the number of victims if the enemy decides to target this Kareem person in particular.]

’Good point.’ Dante thought. ’But... you know, it would still feel safer with people around.’

A lot of people do things they wouldn’t do normally if they find themselves in a group, and that includes going out while knowing a rival gang is looking to kill them.

’Also, that large group is just a bait.’

[A bait?]

’Yup.’ Scooping the last bit of his dinner, he chewed it while switching the camera feed with his thoughts. ’They have several smaller groups guarding the intersections, and there are cars patrolling the area.’

In other words, the pack that the sergeant surrounded himself with was just a small part, with his security team being much larger.

’Not that it would help them much.’ Dante added. ’They are dealing with us, after all.’

Done with his food, he closed the plastic containers and placed them in the bag they came in before dropping it in his storage. Standing up, he stretched his body, gave the scree one more look, then dismissed it with a thought.

’Alright,’ He thought aloud. ’Let’s get to work.’

Light erupted from his chest, turning into countless threads that quickly enveloped his body, weaving a high-tech suit of armor in just a couple of seconds. To equip a specific armor, Dante had to inform his resident AI and have him bring it out. That was a thing of the past, however. Now that he has an A grade MLP, the number of commands he could give with his thoughts alone increased significantly. Now, just like when he wants to equip his gun, all he has to do is think of a specific armor and command it to appear.

Though it didn’t seem like much, eliminating the delay between having the thought, to forming it into words, then passing it on to Volcan, then the armor appearing, could make a huge difference in a life and death battle. The new commands allow Dante to change between armors more efficiently as well, further decreasing the chances of the enemy taking advantage of the openings created when he has to make the switch.

Checking the 3D model of the area once more, Dante then tapped the nearby toggle, switching the view to pocket dimension models.