Kanan drove her BMW into the Takashimadaira Danchi located in Itabashi City, and stopped in front of an apartment building. She got out of her car and looked at her phone to confirm that she was in the right place.
After taking the lift to the thirteenth floor, she walked out of it and went to Zi Yang's unit. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
"Zi Yang?" She called out, "Are you in? I hope I can talk to you today."
No response.
"I had no idea where you had been the whole day after your fight with Jeff, but I'm sure he reminded you about your traumatic past." She continued, "Furthermore, Ma'am had just fired you. I know how you're feeling right now. I'm just really worried for you."
Still, no response.
"I know you're probably in no mood to talk now." She said, "I understand. I just want you to know that no matter what, I'll always be there for you. Just call or message me anytime. I don't want you to suffer all of these alone. I'll never give up on you."
Again, silence. Hearing no answer, Kanan sat down on the floor. She had planned to stay outside his house for as long as she could in case Zi Yang opened up and decided to talk to her.
Six and a half hours later, she woke up with a jolt. She had taken a short nap earlier as she was a little tired, but it went a little bit longer than she had expected. She stretched her arms and looked in front of her. It was the same as before. The door was still closed. She sighed and decided that she'll continue waiting here tomorrow.
Just as she was about to get up, her stomach started rumbling. That was when she remembered that she had not had her dinner yet because she was here for a long time. She scratched her head as she laughed nervously at herself.
The next morning, in Grace's house, she sat down at the dining table and munched on some bread. Jordan came out of the kitchen with two cups of tea and passed one to her. He then sat down opposite her and took a slice of bread before eating it.
"How was the bread?" He asked her, "I bought this from the new confectionery that just opened last week. It's freshly baked out of the oven."
"This is good stuff." She replied, "It's pretty fragrant and soft, unlike the ones we bought yesterday. Those tasted so plain and unappetizing. This is miles better."
"Alright, I'll buy this from now on. I have to get up early though. The queue is so long that it goes all the way to the hardware store."
"That many people? I wouldn't be surprised considering this bread's quality and standard. It's really tasty."
"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you this yesterday, but I kinda forgot." Jordan directed his gaze at her, "How do you feel…about the news of Jeff's passing? He's the son of your savior after all. Are you not sad about it? Not that I want you to be, of course."
"I mean, yeah, it's a pity he's gone." She responded, "He was a nice guy, and he had a heart of gold like Mr Brocker. I didn't get to help him much either. However, he's not close to me like Mr Brocker. Me and him were more like…acquaintances, so I don't feel much for him. I do hope however that he can rest in peace."
"I see…" Just before Jordan could finish his sentence, Grace started grabbing her chest with her hands tightly and groaned in pain loudly. He quickly ran into the kitchen to grab a paracetamol tablet and a glass of water. He rushed to her and gave her the tablet. She swallowed it down her throat before gulping the water. She stopped feeling pain after a while.
"And you told me you didn't get to help him much." Jordan shook his head in disapproval, "You helped him save a girl from dying. That itself is a lot of help. It even caused you to have chest pains sporadically. You had just graduated from the academy, yet they asked you to do something so big and life threatening. They only care about themselves. What selfish people."
"It's okay, Jordan." Grace patted his shoulder, "I'm fine. I'm not gonna die. I just need to take a few painkillers and rest well, that's all. It's not that big of a deal."
"You're making it sound nice, aren't you?" He crossed his arms, "This has been happening for a few days already, ever since this house shook. They really…"
"Look, I'm fine, Jordan." She reassured him once again, "Let's stop talking about this. What's done is done. I chose to help them, so this is what I have to face. I will recover from this in a few days. Believe me, alright?" He sighed and nodded his head in response.
A few minutes later, he went out of the house to buy some ingredients so that he could cook chicken broth for her. He had found out on the internet that vegetable soup was very nutritious and healthy, and that might help her heal the pain in her body.
Truth was, he had a crush on her for a very long time. In fact, since she moved in with him, he had fallen in love with her. Her captivating beauty, her soothing voice, and her kind-hearted nature were the things that made him attracted to her. He would do anything to protect her.
After he finished purchasing the ingredients, he returned home, only to find Venus sitting on the sofa in the living room. Grace came out of the kitchen and served her a cup of water.
"Thank you, young lady." Venus said.
"Who's this, Grace?" Jordan questioned.
"She told me she was looking for you." Grace replied, "Said she had something confidential to tell you."
"That's right, lady." Venus commented, "Don't mean to be rude, but do you mind giving us some privacy?"
"I'll be leaving the house soon, so it's fine." Grace then turned to Jordan, "I am going out with Chloe and Emily tonight, so you can settle your own dinner tonight."
"Be careful." He looked at her worriedly, "Anytime you have pain in your chest, just sit down somewhere, take the medicine, and drink some water before resting. Don't force yourself to go on if you feel unwell. If you need a ride home, I'm just one call away."
"Alright, have a good talk, you two." She smiled at him before going out of the house. Venus turned her head around and waited for Grace to be out of sight.
"May I know your name, miss?" Jordan asked, "And why are you looking for me?"
"My name is of no importance." She sipped her water, "Since I'm here, I would like to get straight to the point. I don't beat around the bush because that wastes time. I would like to…propose a proposition, if I may."
"Proposition?" He looked at her with confusion, "What kinda proposition? And why are you even suggesting it to me? Are you an insurance agent? If so, I'm not interested in buying any insurance."
"It's not about any insurance, dear." She responded, "You see, I work for…a gang, and we have a big event coming up, so I'm going around to recruit some people to help us in it. It just so happens that you have a roommate that has a, might I say, certain life-threatening condition from healing someone back to life, am I right?"
"How the hell do you know this?" Jordan stood up and stared at her in shock, "Who exactly are you?"
"Like I said, those are not important." She answered, "What's important is that you need to treat her condition, or it might get worse. You like her too, yes? I'm sure you don't want to see her suffering in pain every day like this, do you?"
"H-how did you know that?"
"Your actions earlier, and the things you bought." She pointed at the plastic bags he was carrying earlier, "Chicken broth. Very healthy, with lots of antioxidants. I used to drink that a lot when I was young, so I know what ingredients are in it."
"I-I see." He sat back down on his chair.
"Just imagine this. By helping me and my gang, we will reward you handsomely. With this, you could potentially heal her from her internal injuries. She will be free of this pain she had for the past few days. You'll be relieved too. You could even bring her to places around the world. Alone time for the two of you. Perhaps you could throw a big feast for her, and even confess your feelings to her under the beautiful moonlight. That sounds wonderful, doesn't it?"
"It does, but how can I trust you?" Jordan raised an eyebrow, "I don't even know your name, much less you as a person. How do I know you're telling the truth and not scamming me?"
"There's an opportunity presented to you right in front of your very own eyes." Venus said, "One that could make all the pain go away. One that could get you the girl of your dreams. One that could make your life as perfect as you want it to be. You should seize it while you can. Or are you going to reject my offer and regret it for the rest of your life while you continue to live the way you do now?"
He thought for a while before he crossed his arms, "What's the reward, if I may ask?" She held up a '1' and '2' with her fingers.
"A hundred and twenty thousand yen?" He questioned.
"Do I look like a cheapskate to you?"
"Hmm…twelve million?"
She shook her head, "A hundred and twenty million yen."
"A hundred and twenty million?!" He widened his eyes in surprise.
"I don't know what you're expecting when I said you could heal her condition, bring her around the world, and throw a big feast for her."
"I get it now." Jordan nodded his head satisfyingly, "Tell me, miss. What do I have to do?"
Once they had finished talking about the plan for the event, Venus took her leave. She then went into her car and called Regis.
"老板, 他中計了 (Boss, he fell into the trap)." Venus told him.
"做得好, 芬尼思 (Well done, Venus)."
In Jeff's basement, the girls were each doing something to prepare for their next attack on the crime syndicate. Maki was reloading all the guns, shotguns, and rifles with bullets. Eli was examining the notes that Jeff left on each red dot on the map. Umi was discussing with the latter about the areas they need to go to, using Jeff's notes to plan the fastest and most efficient routes.
Eli voiced out some of her queries to Umi about the paths, but the ocean-haired woman answered her doubts firmly with explanation. Upon hearing Umi's reasoning, the blonde woman agreed with it and decided to follow Umi's lead. When they went to check how Maki was doing, they saw her struggling to carry three boxes of shotgun shells. They ran over to help her by taking a box each.
"Why are you carrying three boxes of shells?" Eli questioned, "They're pretty heavy, and you might hurt your back by doing so."
"One box is pretty light, so I thought I could carry three." Maki replied, "Besides, there are so many guns we have to reload. It would be faster to just do lots of reloading at one go."
"I guess that is so…" Eli was interrupted by a ringing sound coming from the laptop. The trio looked at it and saw that a contact named 'Esther' was calling them. Eli went to the laptop and answered the call. There was silence for a few seconds before Esther cleared his throat.
"I didn't expect my call to be picked up quickly." He spoke, "May I know who I am speaking to? An intruder in Jeff's house?"
"You're Esther, right? I'm the one you saved at the party. Eli Ayase. My two other friends, Umi and Maki, are here too."
"Oh, I recognize your voice." He replied, "My…the woman that was about to get killed by Venus. I remember you. Anyway, you ladies must be the ones helping Jeff. He told me a thing or two about you girls. He praised you guys a lot."
"He's the one that planned most of this out." Umi voiced out, "He was really remarkable and smart."
"He was very nice to us too." Maki added, "He treated us like good friends. We're glad he allowed us to join him on this journey to take down the crime syndicate and seek justice for the victims. None of us would've had a peace of mind if it wasn't for him."
"Singing praises about him now, I see." Esther chuckled, "Still, thank you for helping me and Jeff in bringing this scum organization down. We wouldn't be able to do this much with just the two of us. With the three of you lending us a hand, we were able to disrupt Regis and his filthy syndicate from tearing this city apart."
"No big deal." Eli said, "We all have the same aim. We wanted to do this, and we'll continue doing so until the crime syndicate is dissolved."
"That's good to hear. Jeff would be proud of you guys if he hears that. This brings me to my next point. Two days ago, I got a call from someone who is willing to spill the beans about the dark secrets of the crime syndicate."
"And who might that be?" Maki asked.
"Anthony Garcia."
"Anthony?" Umi was surprised, "The person-in-charge for the illegal trafficking and sexual activites in nightclubs?"
"Yes, the one who works for Regis." Esther explained, "He called me the other day and said that he will tell me what he knows about the crime syndicate. He even told me he is prepared to face jail time after all of this dies down, but he just wants me to protect him from Regis and Venus first before he turns himself in."
"He must've heard that when Jimmy Natas got exposed and convicted for his involvement in the operations of the crime syndicate, not only did Regis disown him, but he even went missing a few days later." Eli commented, "No one, not even the police, could find him. It's probably the work of Regis. Anthony probably didn't want to end up in the same fate as Jimmy Natas."
"No surprise if he actually murdered that pervertic bastard in cold blood." Maki remarked.
"How can you trust him?" Umi questioned with concern, "Also, did you agree to protect him?"
"Slow down on the questions, darling." Esther said, "Firstly, I think what Eli said could be possible. A man who wants his life would say the truth to protect himself from any danger. Since he can give me valuable information, I would try my best to protect him. Hopefully, this leads us one step closer to destroying the crime syndicate."
"Let's pay him a visit as soon as possible." Eli declared, "We don't want Regis getting to him first. It'll be a bad sight by then."
"I'll arrange a date, and then we all can go to his nightclub to talk things out with him." Esther uttered, "I'll keep in touch with you."
"Got it." Eli responded before he ended the call.
"You heard him, girls." Eli turned to Umi and Maki, "Time to start preparing for our visit to the nightclub."