“Hey, Arthur! Can you help here!” Emmy called for Arthur as she was collecting all the screws to bring them to the other side.
“Ok, hold on a second,” Arthur replied as he picked up the large wood planks and approached her. His strength made carrying extremely heavy objects an easy task for him. He could easily carry things 5 or 6 times his weight with ease.
It had been exactly 10 hours since the group started working on the building and the pace was already astonishing. Finlay and Serko were ridiculously fast in their execution, coupled with help from Arthur and the others, and with some aid from the prisoners, the building started rising from the ground in record time.
Nobody was expecting this speed as they were ready to see this construction take days or even weeks in some cases. However, the teamwork was truly making the dream work.
Soon, the darkness of the night arrived again and the group finally stopped. The main reason was exhaustion as the prisoners and even Arthur and the others had used all their stamina and the cold weather made it even harder to work.
But, another reason was Arthur’s plan which was about to come into execution soon.
‘At this point, that CEO should’ve received that letter, and if he’s not a complete idiot, then he should send the money where we asked.
When Arthur wrote that letter, he kept in mind that the man he was dealing with was extremely dangerous. After all, no one can build such an empire if they aren’t cunning enough.
He expected all kinds of outcomes and he knew that he had to be ready for all of them.
“Hey, Isla.” As he was contemplating, he called for Isla who standing near him.
“Hm?”
“I think we should go alone and fetch the money.” He said. “Me and you.”
“…” Isla squinted her eyes for a second before she asked. “Are you worried?”
“Mm, I don’t know if that man will follow the request without setting a trap. If we go more than two, I’m afraid he might be able to catch us. Besides, I can’t risk leaving the kids alone here. We must keep at least three of us to guard in case of an emergency.”
Arthur would be lying if he said that he was not afraid of the worst-case scenario. After everything that happened, Arthur vowed to be more careful from that point on. Each decision he took had its ramifications and consequences, he was not only thinking for himself anymore, but he had a group of people who relied on him too.
“…”
Isla saw all those emotions pass through his eyes until she nodded her head. “I will tell everyone.” She said as she turned around and left.
“Thank you,” Arthur muttered as he looked up at the dark sky. ‘I wish everything goes well as planned.’
***
After notifying the group about the plan, the two left the headquarters and headed into the city. The location they sent in the letter was far away from their current base to avoid any possible risks. However, they also made sure that it was the perfect spot to take the money and leave without any conflicts.
Arthur and Isla wanted to avoid a fight by any means possible, especially amongst the crowds so they decided that, to make that happen, the best place to drop the money was naturally, in the place with the biggest crowds.
Enjoy more content from empire
So, after much consideration, Arthur and Isla decided that the perfect spot was the Colosseum. It was a very crowded place and it was easy to lose chasers in the large crowds It was a lot easier to steal the money and vanish quickly.
Taking a carriage, the two-headed straight toward the Colosseum. The lights coming from the giant structure filled the entire world around it as the crowd noise rose higher and higher.
“We are back here, again…” Arthur muttered as they landed in front of the gates.
“Yes,” Isla replied as she looked ahead. “We will separate here and go inside from different gates. If anything happens, send me a message with your location.”
“…” Arthur nodded his head. They had already discussed the plan and knew what each one of them was supposed to do.
With that, Isla and Arthur moved away from each other, taking different routs to go inside the Colosseum. They decided to deliberately buy normal tickets instead of entering the VIP section. Their plan required that they have access to the normal stands.
Walking through the gates, Arthur found himself inside the Colosseum, with the large stands filling his vision left and right. Many people had already walked inside and sat down, filling the place.
The show didn’t start yet as he had at least 10 more minutes. So, with that in mind, Arthur looked around him and located the spot where the money was supposed to be put.
‘Seat 32-E section 4. That should be the spot.’ He muttered to himself as he walked down the stairs and approached the area where the seat was slowly. He bought a ticket right near the seat but not too close not to rouse suspicion. Then, he sat down and looked around him.
There were many people around him and the noise was all the stuff he could hear. Arthur naturally couldn’t pinpoint any suspicious people amongst the crowd but he still remained alert and ready for anything.
‘It seems they’re not here yet. We agreed that they would put the money there the moment the show started.
At the same time, Arthur saw Isla slowly moving toward her seat on the other side. The two made eye contact and nodded their heads to each other, indicating that things were clear so far.
‘Time to wait for the perfect opportunity now.’ He thought to himself as he stared down at the arena. ‘I wonder if Ginjo is going to fight tonight…’
Arthur remembered the monkey warrior he saw the last time he visited this place. He didn’t forget the revelation that the mysterious warrior gave him and he was still aware that there was something related to that fighter he had to unravel.
‘I will look into this more when I’m done with all these problems.’ He exhaled a small breath as he relaxed in his chair, pretending to wait for the show to start.
Time slowly passed and nothing suspicious happened. Minutes passed and slowly, the entire place was filled with people. All the seats, except two seats. The one where the money was supposed to be placed and the seat next to it, didn’t have anyone occupying them.
‘Good, so the message reached the CEO, this is a good start.’ Arthur blinked silently. He was a little worried the letter was ignored or thrown away but it seemed the CEO had taken his threats seriously.
Still, Arthur didn’t know if they were truly going to deliver the money as intended.
“AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!”
At that moment, the announcer spoke, taking everyone’s attention. The show was about to start.
Arthur quickly looked around him in a hurry, ready to see anyone moving. However, the situation seemed to remain the same. There was no movement at all so far. That made Arthur frown.
‘It’s almost time. Are they not going to do it?’ Arthur thought to himself. Although the money was extremely important, Arthur didn’t mind simply destroying the Red Pearl if they refused to abide. Seeing them crumble was as satisfying as receiving all that money.
But, at that moment, Arthur received a message from Isla.
Isla: “I’m seeing someone moving, be careful.”
Arthur immediately grew alert as he looked up. Immediately, he noticed the person Isla was talking about. He was a man clad in casual clothes and carrying two large bags in his hands as he walked through the stands, awkwardly excusing himself to pass.
‘Is that…’ Arthur was quite confused but he still waited to see what he was about to do. The man approached the seats and stopped in front of them. Then, he awkwardly looked around him before he slowly put the bags on the two seats.
After that, he stood there for a few seconds before turning around and leaving the place quickly. Arthur’s eyes trailed the man before they shifted to the two large bags.
‘…’ He frowned for a moment before he looked at Isla. The girl was still looking at the man moving away before she gave him the signal with her eyes.
So, Arthur stood up and casually walked down the stairs, looking around him for any eyes that might be trailing him.
‘Ok, I need to be quick and then leave.’ He thought to himself as he approached the seats. He had already imagined what he was going to do exactly and it was the most efficient way of doing it.
A slight trick nobody could ever imagine.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3