Bab 122: 120: A Company of Fools: Shapers Market V
"Where is he!" Nate yelled as Bone-lasher jumped from one apartment to the next as we raced towards the last place Bo was seen moving towards. Nate and I were riding on the liger shark's back with Nate seated in front of me.
"Keep your voice down!" I hissed. "It's still the middle of the day. The last thing we want is some red gecko seeing us jumping up here and put the whole area on high alert. That could get Bo killed."
Nate grumbled but stayed silent. I was having second and third thoughts about bringing him along but there wasn't anything I could do now. Frankly the best case scenario was we catch up to Bo before the red dragons found him snooping around their territory. I refused to think about worse case scenario.
[I see him!] Bone-lasher informed me then shared his senses with me. I felt a pulse of energy leave my body and the area around us was highlighted. My vision zoomed in on the familiar outline of a young boy with a small evo in his hands. He was holding the evo up to a lock on a door while the small thing picked the lock. My vision zoomed out a bit and I saw that the door was a side door to a warehouse and the warehouse was surrounded by red dragon goons.
[Faster! We have to stop him before the red dragons find him!] I ordered.
[Yes Boss!] Bone-lasher replied. He moved even faster now, making full use of the feline agility afforded to home by his lion and tiger DNA.
"Your evo is moving faster….does he see him?" Nate asked.
"Yeah. He's at that factory you told me about. He's having Gadget pick a lock to get inside. Thankfully nobody has noticed him yet." I replied.
"He won't stay that lucky for long." Nate said.
We were about a mile away and the warehouse was coming into view. Despite still being in the silver city the area looked like a squalid dump. There were barely any houses that looked habitable and even with Bone-lasher's electromagnetic vision I couldn't see many people living in the area. It was like the red dragons had squeezed the life out of the area.
[Lots of prey ahead. Sense lots of splicers.] Bone-lasher informed me then shared his view of the warehouse.
The grounds that surrounded the warehouse were teaming with red dragons, but all of them were normies if their clothing were any indicator. Regardless of their status or not there were at least fifty of them patrolling the grounds. An impressive number for any gang. On the inside, there were more than triple that number, though most of them seemed to not be red dragons and instead were huddled in tightly enclosed spaces. At least twenty splicers, judging by their clothes, were inside the building. They seemed to have free reign of the entire building but congregated around the second floor. The rest of the red dragons, which were about eighty were patrolling the rest of the warehouse.
'Loki's guile! Why the hell are there so many of them?' I thought then looked to Nate.
"You wouldn't happen to know why there are so many red dragons inside that warehouse or why Bo decided to there?" I asked.
"We had a customer a few months ago come in, he wanted to join the red dragons and was flapping his mouth talking about how the key to the red dragon's power and wealth was in the warehouse. Knowing Bo…he probably wants to steal that and leverage it against them to make them leave us alone." Nate theorized.
"That would only make all of you a target," I said.
"You're expecting a master plan from him! He's ten!" Nate exclaimed.
[Almost there!] Bone-lasher informed me.
[Jump down into that alley over there. We'll have to sneak in or risk putting everyone here on high alert.] I said.
[Yes boss!] Bone-lasher replied as he landed on top of a small deli roof then jumped into the alley beside it and crept silently into position. Thanks to there being next to no one around it were very easy to sneak across the street with no one noticing two men on the back of an eight foot tall evo.
Once we reached the alley Bone-lasher shared his senses again and showed me where Bo and Gadget were. They'd made their way inside the warehouse and squeezed themselves into the ventilation system. Bo was sitting tight in a large duct while Gadget was rooting around the vents checking everything out.
"Bo's in the vents with Gadget, looks like he's having Gadget scout the area while he hangs back." I relayed this to Nate.
"He at least listens to some of the time…his mother told taught him about using Gadget as a scout since he was so small." Nate said. He jumped off Bone-lasher's back and looked up at the warehouse across the street.
Despite it being the middle of the day the sky above the warehouse looked dark and ominous. From our spot in the alley, we had a good view of everything. A chain link fence with barbed wire around the top surrounded the grounds of the warehouse. The front gate was further up the street and had two guards stationed there wielding large swords unsheathed and resting on their shoulders. On the inside of the fence, the perimeter was being patrolled by teams of three that walked the fence line.
"How are we going to get inside?" Nate asked.
"I don't know. Bo's on the small side so it was easier for him to go around unnoticed. Not an option for us…" I said.
"I saw you casting spells using your blood. Do you have a spell that can turn us invisible?" Nate asked.
"Yeah, a few but the one that would be effective here I can't cast on myself. Plus casting spells like that take up more mana. My mana pool might be huge but I don't want to exhaust all of it trying to get in there and not have any when we need to get out." I said.
Nate sighed then turned and walked over to a nearby dumpster. He climbed inside and started rooting around. Bone-lasher and I walked over to see what he was doing when Nate popped out of the dumpster.
In one hand he had a bottle of paint thinner and a rag and in the other, he had a ratty black jacket. He looked at me with a satisfied smile.
"Here hold these." He said as he passed me his items and then ducked back into the dumpster I made a face but held onto his items while he rooted through the trash again. When he popped back up he had a second bottle and a black smelly tee shirt. He hopped out of the dumpster and set down his items.
"Okay, I have an idea but it's very stupid." Nate said. He started ripping the rags and stuffing them into the bottle of paint thinner.
"Nate I know we haven't known each other very long but one thing you should know about me is that I am the king of stupid ideas." I said.
"Well, the way I see it if we want to get inside we need to lure some of those dragons away…." Nate started.
"You want to turn those bottles of paint thinner into Molotov cocktails and throw them at the red geckos at the gate to piss them off and make them chase you." I surmised. Nate's face fell but he nodded.
"That could work…" I muttered and scratched my chin. Nate slipped on the black jacket and then covered his face in the smelly tee shirt, only his eyes were visible. "I can have Bone-lasher follow you, that way you have some backup if they manage to catch you."
"No, what if you need to your evo?" Nate refused.
"I have three, and the other two can fly." I said. Nate narrowed his eyes at me and crossed his arms.
"Then why didn't we take one of the flying ones to get here?" Nate asked.
"Because both of them are massive and you'd see them a mile away. But that won't matter if we're retreating." I replied.
"I guess…" Nate grumbled. He held his two Molotov cocktails in his hands, I channeled burn attribute mana into my left pointer finger then shot a tiny fireball at each rag and lit them on fire.
"Bone-lasher will be close behind you. The moment you ate in danger scream now guys. And he'll jump in to save you. It'll make it look like you lured them into an ambush and be less likely to follow you." I instructed.
"Got it. Just get my son out safe!" Nate replied.
"Of course."
Nate walked out of the alley and made his way down towards the front gate. Bone-lasher climbed onto the roof of the deli and followed him from above, making sure he was far back enough that the men red dragons in the warehouse yard couldn't see him.
Sharing Bone-lasher's vision I watched as Nate approached the gate and threw one of the cocktails at one of the red dragons standing guard. The bottle exploded on impact and sent flame shooting everywhere. Some splashed onto one of the guard's shirts and ignited the thing. His fellow guard quickly rushed over and tried to douse his flaming shirt.
While they did that Nate lobbed his second cocktail over the gate and at some crates that were near the warehouse. His aim was spot on and he hit the crates. After a few seconds, the crates exploded with bright purple flames that shot half a mile into the air. Those purple flames rained down onto the courtyard of the warehouse roof.
'That…wasn't part of the plan…' I thought as I looked up at the flames spreading from the roof.
[Pretty fire.] Bone-lasher commented.
"FUCK THE RED DRAGONS! WHOOO!" Nate hollered at the top of his lungs.
All the red dragons that had been patrolling the warehouse perimeter ran over to the front gate. They seemed torn between putting the fire out and attacking Nate. He made that choice for them when he turned around and smacked his butt then turned back and flipped all of them off.
"Kiss my fat white ass red geckos!" He yelled and started running down the street. Without a thought, any red dragon that saw him ran after him. He had about thirty men and women chasing him down the street. I hid behind the dumpster when he passed the alley.
[Keep hiking safe Bone!] I ordered as the mob that was chasing Nate passed.
[Of course Boss!] Bone-lasher replied. He was already on the move watching Nate from the rooftops.
I set my sights on the warehouse, which was now quickly catching on fire. The flames that had landed on the roof were spreading as well as the massive blaze that originated from the crates. The red dragons that had stayed behind were scrambling to try and put them out and were too busy to pay attention to me.
I channeled volt attribute mana throughout my body and ran around to the side of the warehouse, where the vast majority of the red dragons had come from. I jumped over the fence and dashed between the boxes and cages that were chattered around the courtyard and quickly made my way to a loading door that had been left unattended. Thanks to Bone-lasher I knew there wasn't anyone nearby and I knew the position of Bo. He hadn't moved.
The inside of the warehouse was surprisingly full. There were crates and shipping containers stacked three high and nearly reached the second floor and the ceiling. The second floor of the warehouse consisted of a boxed-in office that took up more than half of the warehouse with a balcony that overlooked the entrance. The red dragons inside the warehouse were rushing around trying to put out the flames that had started to catch on the crates inside. None of the ones on the ground floor were splicers so they were scrambling to try and find water or a fire extinguisher.
A man dressed in a black suit with a bright red tie walked out onto the balcony and looked down at the chaos. He curled his upper lip and started casting an offensive spell sigil. A ball of ice formed in his hand and he fired it at a burning crate extinguishing it but also destroying the crate.
"Gods you normies are useless! Put out those fires already! If our merchandise gets damaged because of this I'm killing the lot of you! And whoever started this fire I want their balls nailed to the door!" He snapped then turned on his heel and marched back into the second-floor office space.
'Merchandise?' I thought then quickly shook my head. 'Bo, I'm here to get Bo so his dad can strangle him.'
Moving silently I made my way around the warehouse, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the places that had flames as I made my way to the dictionary that Bo was hiding in. I nearly got caught a few times but thankfully the fire took precedence over a mysterious figure they may or may not have seen.
Thankfully the entrance to the duct was in the back of the warehouse where the fire hadn't spread yet. As I neared I could see Bo covering his mouth through the grate and trying not to make a noise.
"Bo it's me, Chase." I said softly as I knelt by the grate.
"Chase! What are you doing here?" Bo exclaimed then opened the grate and poked his head out to look at me.
"Getting your stupid ass!" I barked then smacked him on the head. He winced and rubbed his head. "What the hell possessed you to come here?!"
"I was trying to steal what makes the red dragons money and force them to stop shaking down mom and dad for money." Bo replied. I gave him a droll stare and then slapped him on the back of the head again.
"Idiot! All they would have done was track you down and kill you as well as your mom and dad. And that's off you didn't get caught while trying to get out." I groaned. Bo slammed a fist into the ground and glared up at me.
"Well I had to do something! They were beating up dad, he's a normie and can't protect himself. As the splicer of the house its my job to protect the family." Bo said.
"Wrong!" I hissed as I slapped him a third time. "That's your dad's job. He might not be a splicer like you or your mom but he's done a damn good job up to this point. He's out there right now risking his life so I could have a chance to get on here and find you."
"Dad's doing what?"
"He created a distraction and currently has about thirty of those red geckos chasing after him."
"Why did you let him do that!" Bo exclaimed then crawled out of the vent. "He can't take on that many by himself, he couldn't even take on one!"
"Because he's your dad and he's a lot stronger than most people think….also I have one of my evos following him to step in if something goes wrong." I replied then grabbed Bo by the wrist. "Now come on we need to get out of here before the red geckos notices us."
"But I didn't get their source of wealth!" Bo protested and tried to pull free from my grasp.
"Bo we don't have time for you to start having a temper tantrum!" I hissed. Bo suddenly stilled and looked off in the direction of the second-floor offices. He frowned and cooked his head to the side. Seeing this I stopped tugging on his arm and looked in the same direction he did.
"Gadget is up in those offices now…he seems a bunch of splicers sitting in front of a table playing cards…wait there care about a bunch of women on the other side of the room in cages…dozens of them…" Bo said.
I felt my breath catch in my throat as Bo described what he saw through the gadget's eyes. It also suddenly became crystal clear what the source of the red dragon's wealth and power was. The reason why the area inside and around their territory looked like a ghost town.
"Hey! Who the fuck are you!" A voice yelled. Bo and I both turned around and saw a red dragon carrying a bucket of water staring at us. I picked up Bo and tucked him under my arm and started channeling volt attribute mana again.
"Time to go!" I exclaimed and ran towards a large stack of crates that hadn't caught on fire yet.
"INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS!" The red dragon goon yelled.
"Fuck!" I screamed. As I jumped onto the stack of crates and ran along the top and headed toward the exit. The red dragons that were putting out fires all turned and saw me mid-jump carrying Bo under my arm. "Why can't shit ever be easy!"
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Hutexa_The_Djinn
Hutexa_The_Djinn Splicer Fact: a common tactic at war to fool evos that use thermal vision to see is to light many fires in a large area to trick evos into thinking there are a lot of targets. Sadly this plan works 90% of the time and some of the less intellectual evos will even dive into the flames thinking they are a enemy.
[HUTEXA_THE_DJINN HERE! So sorry for the late post. had to work two 16-hour shifts at work and didn't have much time for editing.]
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone