บท 77: Chapter 77
When Owen came home from work, no one greeted him. "Mary? Ophelia?" He went from the living room to the hall. He knocked on Isabella's door. "Isabella?"
Nothing. No one responded. Rather, no one was here in the house.
"Weird." He thought about it for a second. "Ah, I bet this is Mary's doing."
Knowing her, probably a reckless shopping spree. He handed her half a grand from the cage fighting prize pool and there was no way in hell she wasn't spending that, regardless of whether she was broke. She had an addiction to feed.
Owen was just about to set his keys down when his phone rang, jolting him out of his thoughts. Glancing at the screen, he saw Masafumi's name flashing.
"What's up?" Owen answered.
"Owen, you need to get out here right now!" Masafumi's voice was panicked, words cutting from excess wind. In the background, he could hear the heavy motorcycle engine.
"What's going on?" Owen asked calmly.
"Just come outside. I'll be there in a minute."
The call ended abruptly.
"Okay…" He slipped his phone into his pocket.
'The hell was that?'
Owen went out the door and ran down the stairs. Stepping outside the condo, he saw Masafumi skidding to a stop on his bike, panting heavily.
"He's here!" Masafumi gasped, trying to catch his breath.
"Who?" Owen demanded, his eyes narrowing.
"The detective! The detective!" Masafumi's eyes were wide with fear. "That detective!"
That detective? Oh shit. Oh fuck!
"Oh, you have got to be shitting me. He's here? In the Bay?" Owen said, feeling a pit form in his stomach.
Masafumi nodded frantically. "Yeah, you said to ask when to come again, right? Well, when I went, I saw him and a bunch of police at the warehouse. Apparently, he was asking for the winners."
"Us? Why? Don't tell me…"
"No, he's not looking for you. It didn't seem like the police were on it for a specific person or case. It was a simple search and seize."
Owen swore under his breath. "So luck—or should I say skill."
"Definitely skill." Masafumi put a hand to his forehead. "We were so damn lucky that we wore masks, " Masafumi muttered. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Owen frowned. "I think so."
"Your friend Dangun," Masadumi said. "Call him. Only he can cover our tracks."
Owen sighed, running a hand through his hair. "
"Come on," Masafumi insisted. "We don't have a choice. We need help."
"Fine. Let's do it."
To Masafumi's confusion, Owen headed back inside and rather than open the condo entrance door with the key, he stood still, then stared directly at the camera. "Dangun, come out, come out. I'm here. Owen Hart, Arthur, Ace of the Divine Word."
Masafumi joined him, puzzled. Ten minutes later, Owen's phone buzzed. He picked it up, and an unknown number was calling. He answered it. "There you are."
"How did you know I was looking for you?" A digitized voice spoke to him, providing complete anonymity.
Owen replied to Dangun, "Charlemagne mentioned it."
There was a pause on the other end. "What do you need, Owen?"
Keep calm, keep cool. Dangun was a very unreasonable man. Once he did something, he fully committed to it. In his case, from Charlemagne's explanation, he was here to hunt him down.
Which was strange in its own right. If Dangun had access to the cameras nearby, then he should have seen Charlemagne leave the building with injuries.
Hm.
"We need your help. Can you cover our tracks?"
"I already have."
Owen was taken aback. "You have?"
"Whose side do you think I'm on?"
"...depends on your mood, doesn't it?"
"You told me we were friends," Dangun suddenly said. "Whatever you've done, whether its detrimental to our work or not, I can respect it. The only reason I tracked you down was because of the detective. I'm on your side, Owen."
Blink, blink. Seriously?
"The moment that video of you attacking those WuTubers released, the detective made a demand to transfer here—and he failed. I got my group to limit his role to a teacher in the local precinct. But since he was near you, I figured you needed a heads-up. Took a while but I found you."
"So the detective figured it was me, huh? Must have been my movements. I tried too hard there," Owen murmured.
"Yes. To convince the others of our group to come here, I told them I was hunting for you. It was the only way to get them to cooperate and go to the Bay," Dangun said. "It is the Big Boss' territory and we weren't welcomed there. Convincing them otherwise was impossible."
"...are you serious?"
"Dead serious. Do you really think I could have mobilized all of them here?"
"You sent all of them?"
"On wild goose chases. I only supplied Charlemagne with the more accurate areas since he's the most sane. He didn't tell me he met you though."
"Probably because he thought you were out for me."
"So we both misunderstood each other. I see."
"Can't blame either of you." Out of all of his old friends, Charlemagne's eccentric personality never felt overbearing. Annoying, yes. Obnoxious, sometimes. But his willingness to see beauty often made him nice to others.
But Dangun? He was the personification of being detailed. He was incredibly goal-oriented and that often made him detailing plans hard. It was either his way or the highway.
Owen let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Thank you, Dangun. I owe you one."
"Just stay safe, Owen. The detective is persistent. I can keep him off your trail digitally speaking, but you need to be careful in every other facet," Dangun warned. "If you get caught again, they'll know we're still active."
"Why didn't you just send for Charlemagne? No offence but the others can be..."
"It was raining that day. The day those Wutubers," Dangun said. "Which made tracking you impossible. And the detective is the detective. He's a one-man team in terms of investigating. There was no way I could have located you otherwise."
"Understood. Can the cameras in my area be on a loop?"
"Take this phone nearby any CCTV. You still have the program, right?"
"Yup."
"Then you know what to do. Spend a couple hours and find the necessary cameras."
"Thank you. Thank you a lot. We'll be in touch," Owen said before hanging up.
He turned to Masafumi, who had been anxiously waiting. "Dangun's got our backs. For now, we should lay low and avoid drawing any more attention. No tournaments, no nothing."
"Shit, but your money, man."
"It's alright." Owen appreciated his concern. Genuinely. "You can always make money."
"I do have to ask: how did he know your number?"
"He's a wizard, so...I have no clue."
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง