"Jack? Is he gone too? I have been waiting for Drag to get my money back, but he has never come back. This guy… Is he running with my money?"
The people started to notice once a lot of people went missing. One day might cause confusion, but two days definitely made them notice something was going on.
And the ones who had a more intense discussion were the people in their headquarters.
"A lot of our people disappear?"
Two guys stood up, furious. They were confused and panicked, thinking that they should handle this problem as quickly as possible.
"Shut up. We don't know what's going on either."
"Is it the government?"
"Has the government done something?"
A lot of them were gritting their teeth. Although they wanted to voice their frustration out, they simply didn't dare to do it because the boss had yet to say anything.
"We need to investigate the situation."
"That's right. If the government is doing something, we have the strength to fight them."
"Even the government doesn't really want to fight us."
They looked like they had reached an agreement with their simple minds. And this was when they heard the deep voice of their boss.
"!!!" All of them turned their heads to the man sitting on a wooden chair with two skulls on the armrest.
The man had a muscular body with a big skull tattoo on his right chest. He grabbed his bald head as though he were trying to kill someone. Even the two women who were resting their heads on his laps were scared. They instinctively backed off with a pale face.
The boss squinted his eyes, examining their expressions. He turned to the glasses guy on his right.
"What do you think, Ricky?" The boss asked.
"If I may…" Ricky fixed his glasses, building up the tension. "The government might take a part in this, boss. However, there must be something else that we don't know.
"If it's simply the government, we can easily find our men in their prison. If they are not there, it means our men have been killed or captured somewhere else… and by the third party."
The boss' expression darkened. "The possibility of them using this scheme to make us think that way?"
"Unlikely. They can, but they will lose credibility or glory if they manage to take us down. In addition, forcing us to move … I don't think the government is planning to force us to revolt.
"I'm assuming that there is another party who is working with the government. And they're planning to eliminate us bit by bit before destroying us completely."
The boss gripped the skull on his armrest and cracked it.
The people's hearts skipped a beat. They knew he was as furious as them.
"What is this? Are you talking about something?" A man with a yellow turban entered the room. His experience was laid back, but everyone couldn't help but become tense the moment he entered, as though they were more afraid of him than their boss.
"Alan. Be serious. We're talking about someone messing with our Crimson Skeleton."
"Heh?" Alan rubbed his eyes and became even more interested. "First of all, correct your statement. It's not our Crimson Skeleton. It's your Crimson Skeleton. I'm here simply because I've been sent here to take care of you guys. Don't forget that you're still following someone else's order. Don't forget that, Leon."
The boss, Leon, shattered the skull in anger. He glared at Alan for a moment before clicking his tongue after seeing Alan not backing down.
Alan bit his lips before asking, "What about our markets?"
"They're operating as usual right now. None of our commodities are stolen, so they must be aiming for our people. However, I've checked that the result is not as high due to the lack of people.
"Still, they don't seem to be blocking our black market. In fact, I don't think they are operating during the night, which is the time for our market to open."
Alan crossed his arms before smirking. "That must be the Holy Faction. They're definitely trying to destroy you guys."
"!!!" The people looked pale.
"The Holy Faction…" Ricky gulped down nervously. "If I'm not wrong, it's the faction that is led directly by the Pope.
"They're trying to eliminate all evils within the Holy Kingdom, especially the big ones."
"Are we their next target?"
"Are we going to die?"
The people panicked, forcing Leon to stand up and roar, "Shut up!"
Once they shut their mouths, Leon narrowed his eyes and said, "We need to find them first."
"What are you doing? Aren't you being too cautious? Even if they can make a move, it's not like they can send anyone strong. After all, our master will find out about it and do everything he can to stop it.
"At most, this will be like a harassment to chip down our strength." Alan chuckled, looking down on them.
Leon gritted his teeth and destroyed another skull. "I'm the boss here. We've been operating . Whether you like it or not, you're going to follow my command!"
Alan shrugged, not wanting to argue anymore. "Well, whatever. If they're quite strong, I do want to fight them and kill them in the cruelest way possible."
Leon clenched his fists and said in a grim tone. "We're going to investigate it first."
Ricky nodded. "I understand. I will assemble some people to investigate them."
"The way they're dealing with this is too secretive. There's a chance they have a summoner among them, so send a summoner from our side as well."
"Yes, sir. I will ask Qill to handle it, along with fifty people. Even if they can't fight the opponent, they should be able to return and inform us."
Leon nodded. "Do it. I want the report right away. Also, make sure that the soldiers are not making their move. Monitor the government and check how deep their involvement is."