The laughter faded from Kade’s face, replaced by a cold, serious expression. His red mana flared around him like a storm cloud.
“Seems all that crap you’ve been drinking finally drove you insane. Well, it doesn’t matter. Even if your brain’s damaged, I’m sure I’ll get a nice price for the rest of your body.”
With a sharp gesture, he called out to the two bulky men flanking him.
“Show him what happens when someone thinks they can defy me. Beat the crap out of him.”
Elric’s eyes widened in horror, his body tensing as he prepared for the incoming beating. Quinton, however, remained unfazed, his expression calm and calculating.
“The hard way, it seems…”
“How unfortunate,” Quinton said, a wild grin suddenly appearing on his face.
Before the thugs could charge, Quinton quickly activated his talent. His eyes shone brightly as the gears turned.
“Gear Shift!”
BOOM!
The space around Quinton created a massive shockwave that shot forward, sending Kade and his men flying out the window like ragdolls, shattering all the glass on that floor of the building, killing the lights, and pushing aside most of the tables around him.
Quinton stood at the edge of the building, a wild grin plastered across his face as he watched Kade and his thugs hurtling through the shattered windows, their screams piercing the air as they fell.
“Ahhhhh!”
Kade’s voice rang out with fear. “You crazy bastard! You won’t get away with this!”
As they plummeted, a sudden blue aura enveloped their bodies, halting their fall mid-air. Kade looked around, relief washing over him as he realized they weren’t descending any further. His goons shared his sentiment, their expressions changing from fear to shock.
“What’s going on?” one of them shouted, struggling against the invisible force holding them in place.
Quinton’s laughter echoed down from the building’s edge, his gaze fixed on the trio suspended in mid-air.
“Kade screams like a little child?! So much for being a big boss in the underworld!”
Elric, still stunned by the turn of events, crawled up to the edge to witness Kade and his men being suspended, and muttered, “How are you doing that?”
Kade’s face twisted in anger, his fists clenching as he glared up at Quinton. “If you go through with this, things could get real bad for you, Quinton!”
Quinton’s tone turned cold as he leaned over the edge, his blue gear-like irises narrowing. “Or what? Your other workers will come seeking revenge for their boss?”
He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Please don’t make me laugh.” His eyes widened as he spoke further, his tone becoming even colder.
“I’d be doing the world a favor if I got rid of filth like you. Your right-hand man Felix would simply assume the chain of command with a smile on his face.”
“Why look for his boss when he can be the boss?”
Kade’s expression paled, the bravado slipping from his voice as he realized the gravity of the situation. “Y-you think you can just get rid of me? I have connections, they’ll come looking for me-”
“Connections?”
Quinton interrupted, his smirk widening. “You think I care about your little web of friends with benefits? Those guys would just think you decided to blacklist them and go on living their lives.”
“The world doesn’t revolve around you, Kade. You should know how people cut from the same cloth as you reason by now. I can’t believe you’re even using that as a bargaining chip.”
Kade gritted his teeth, he wanted to open his mouth to speak again, but then Quinton spoke up, silencing him.
“And you can forget about CCTV footage. I destroyed all of them before I met up with you, so there is no proof I did any of this, and you already did us both a favor by getting rid of the witnesses. So the Union won’t have anything to hold me with either.”
“This could really be where it ends for you. Since there’s no clear cause of death and I and my boys are registered as Blank citizens, what happens here tonight would simply be called…”
“A suicide.”
“So for your information…”
“I will get away with this.” Quinton then grinned, tilting his head to the left, sending chills down Kade’s spine.
Quinton continued, “So now, you either give me what I want, or we’ll see how many pieces you’ll break into once you hit the ground.”
Kade finally grew calm, his fiery bravado fading as he realized the seriousness of the situation. With a sigh, he looked up at Quinton.
“What do you want?”
Quinton smiled, satisfied with Kade’s change in tone. “Now you’re speaking my language. See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Leaning casually over the edge, Quinton’s voice dropped to a calm, almost friendly tone. “I want the blueprints for the CR-72 Android model. You obtained them on the 15th of last month, through a hacker named Valkyr. The data transfer was completed by midnight, if I recall correctly.”
Kade’s face blanched, his shock clear. “How… how do you know all that?”
“The how isn’t necessary. The fact is, you have it, and I want it.”
“I can’t hand that over! You don’t understand! Someone will kill me if I give you that.” Quinton’s expression turned cold again. “Dying then, or dying now-pick one.”
The color drained from Kade’s face entirely, panic creeping back in as he stammered, “T-that data… it was stolen for HyperTech Industries. Their stock prices have been tanking ever since Synergy Corp released their new model, so they wanted access to the blueprints to create something just as good-or better.”
Quinton sighed, his patience wearing thin. “I’m not interested in the backstory. Get to the point.”
Kade swallowed hard, his voice shaking. “If I hand over the data to you, both of us will become targets for these companies. You don’t understand how powerful HyperTech and Synergy are. We won’t be able to live in this Megacity, Quinton! They’ll hunt us down. Please, choose something else… anything else!”
Quinton’s grin widened, his tone chilling. “Too bad. I still want it.”
Kade’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he shook his head. “You’ve gone completely insane!”
Quinton let out a low chuckle. “One has to be a little insane to be sane in today’s world.”
He took a step closer, looking down at Kade with an air of superiority. “Besides, I’ll be making a ton of modifications. By the time I’m done, it’ll be like an original idea.” Kade, still suspended in the air by Quinton’s power, scoffed. “What’s the point? You don’t own a company. You don’t have the resources or the manpower to build an android, let alone get it off the ground. You’re just being stubborn.”
Quinton’s eyes flashed dangerously as he leaned forward. “Did I ever say I was going to be the one building the android?”
Kade was caught off guard, his surprise evident for a brief moment before he smirked. “Ahh, I see now. You should’ve told me earlier that you wanted money.” His expression softened as if he’d solved a puzzle. “Here I thought you were starting to act like one of those rich bastards, wanting an obedient harem of dolls.”
Quinton laughed darkly. “You think too small, Kade. I’m not like them. But the data you’re sitting on… now that has potential. So, what’ll it be?”