His head hurt.

That was the first thought that entered his mind when he finally regained consciousness, a dull throbbing in his head that he had never felt before thumped and thumped like a heartbeat deep in his skull where he got hit. He tried to move his hand to touch it, only for it to refuse his order on account of an external barrier. He opened his eyes and saw a filmy cloth layer obscured all vision to nothing but an opaque view and when he tried to scream it was muffled by a gag.

"Awake, are ya?" a gruff voice sounded from nearby in the vehicle. He turned to the source and sat up, at least his arms weren't bound behind him. He decided to just glare in the direction of the voice, for whatever good that would do. If he could see, he would be greeted with a roughed up cat-faced man who had several scars where his fur wasn't growing back, almost like a feral. The cat man was dressed in a gray suit and a classic bowler hat. For the most part, their ride went in silence with the Siracusan mafioso looking up from tedious chores such as grooming his claws to see his victim just complacently sitting there.

"You good there? Normally I'd expect someone like you to be livelier."

"Rrr, Fvrt ghu jzu phync," came the response from Evan. The mafia goon sighed, released one of his claws, and brought it to the cloth binding the gag. It scratched his cheek a little, but his mouth was now free.

"Well, what do you think?" he repeated. "I wake up bound, blindfolded, and gagged in a vehicle with some mafia sounding dude who I can't see. I'm betting dollars to donuts you're armed with something that can at least maim me, and I'm not willing to roll for the odds that it's lethal."

"Really, you put that much thought into your situation?"

"More or less, and I doubt any threats I do make are going to get through whatever thick skull daddy's beatings gave you."

"Why you little smartass motherf-"

"Niko, drop it! He's just trying to get under your fur. Put the damn gag back on."

Niko retracted his claws and lowered his hand and smiled. He didn't get to revel in his power trip any more as Evan just casually opened his mouth and waited. The feline shoved the gag in and tied it around tighter, tight enough to leave a mark by the time it next came off at least. Neither bothered acknowledging the other's presence until the vehicle came to a stop and a door opened.

"We're here."

"Ok, so…we don't know anything…" Closure breathed as she paced around her seat at the briefing room they had set up. Out of all the attendees, she was the most anxious. Everyone else was seated or leaning against a wall.

"Well, we know it was likely an organized crime syndicate," Ace responded in an effort to try and calm her down.

"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?!"

The pacing increased and the elite operator openly sighed before looking to the three who lost their asset. Ch'en and Swire, in a rare event of synergy between the two, were already pouring over maps and files of the city's underground with their only arguing being over candidate areas as they tried to work out the problem from their angle of expertise. He felt like he and the former gangster were the only people with a level head in the group as they waited for new arrivals they had specially called in.

As if on cue, the door opened and the second most chaotic group in Lungmen walked in with the gaudily dressed Lung being the first in to enter and tip his hat.

"Lee's Detective Agency, at your service," he cooed in a voice that seemed to carry the wisdom of the world with it. Sure, the voice and appearance immediately seemed to flag Lee as some form of swindler one could find the world over, but the man and his agency were an official partner of Rhodes Island nonetheless. If the top executives could trust the shady Lung, Ace could too. Following him were some equally interesting characters as well.

The first of these characters, a large white and orange perro, gave Ace a cheery greeting which he returned with a hand wave and a smile. Ace knew Hung on account of them training together a few times. All in all, the perro was a kind soul and a great cook, that's all Ace really needed to know.

Then there was a tiger feline in full fur whose clothing truly screamed of her passion and expertise in kung fu. Ace had read Waai Fu's file before, and while he had no reason to doubt her trustworthiness, her past remained a strange mystery as far as he knew with all the inconsistencies in her story. Currently, she is studying at a university while working part-time for Lee's Detective Agency. That much was true.

Finally, there was the most dubious of the characters, a very colorful feline with his fur a mix of orange, black, and white in a lab coat and a crazed smile on his lips. Aak, as he was called, was himself the son of a doctor wrongfully driven underground. As such, Aak's views on medicine and life in general were of a very twisted sort, but his raw talent for creating drugs was undeniable. A true prodigy in the world of pharmaceuticals, and a weird obsession with durian.

Almost immediately after coming in, Lee poured over the map and soon began removing pins.

"These," Lee stated as he held the groups of pins he removed between his fingers. "Are impossible candidates. Sure, if you're looking at crime syndicates in general, these are all fine candidates, but there's one problem: These gangs are under the thumb of The Rat King, and he would never tolerate any of Wei's partners or guests coming to harm. Next…"

Lee removed four more pins outside the neighborhood despite having substantial underground connections according to the subterranean maps, "...are these. These gangs are neutral and respect the Rat King's boundaries, most of their time and energy is spent on conflicts with each other, none of them wants a war with Old Lin, so they're off the table. This finally leaves us with direct opposers to the Rat King or actively hostile gangs around his territory. So, Miss Inspector Hoshiguma, did you retrieve what I asked?"

Hoshiguma silently handed Lee a folder and he pushed up his spectacles before flipping through the file and reading the reports. After a while, he nodded to himself and picked up some of the pins left on the table. He then placed a few around the site of the crime and looked at his handiwork.

"The pins I placed down represent sites of conflict, now it's time to narrow it down further. Most of these gangs, well, they're Siracusan branches or exiles, people with enough power or no knowledge of how to deal with Old Lin. Perhaps the most important part is that all of these groups have one consistent thorn in their side. Not enough to do them in, but certainly enough to be the cause of the vast majority of gang wars in Lungmen. And I imagine they'll be waddling into this room any moment."

Lee turned his head to the door which prompted the others to do the same, which was shortly answered by the door opening to reveal Texas with a pocky in her mouth and standing several heads lower, Emperor.

"Goddammit Lee, enough with the riddles and cryptic bullshit. I know you got a job to do, but don't start doing all this when you ask me to deliver a suspect. Oi, Bicycle, bring em in!"

"My name's Bison…" the boy corrected as he pulled a squirming duffle bag into the room.

"Whatever, put 'im on the table."

"Please do-" Closure started too late as Bison hefted the bodybag onto the table with a thud. An audible grunt of pain was heard from the bag and it started squirming again. Emperor was plopped onto the table by Texas and he waddled up over to the bag's opening. In some mind bending way he actually managed to undo the tight and complicated knot with his flippy flappers. Even though everyone had a clear sight of the spectacle, none of them could tell exactly how he did it. Either way, the bag opened and he waddled with its end and slid it off to reveal a mafioso dressed in classic Siracusan gray with a gag over his mouth and all four of his appendages bound. As soon as he was free, he started to panic and looked around at the people around the room.

The man himself was an olive-skinned feline with a comical stitch scar on the length of his right face. He also looked rather beat up with various bruises on his face and a bloody lip and several small fresh open wounds on his face. His clothes were a mess too, but somehow his hat was still firmly on his head as though his identity depended on it.

Emperor waddled back and bent down, by leaning forward, to look the Siracusan man in the eye and took off his gag.

"L-Look, I'm sor-"

Slap

Emperor's flipper whipped across his face and smacked the mafioso so hard it left a visible red mark that wasn't going away anytime soon.

"We'll be asking the questions. So, what are you trying to pull, kidnapping Evan?"

"W-What?"

Another comical, but much lighter slap sounded and Emperor was pulled aside by Texas. She gave a silent apology and kept the penguin from using corporal punishment. He protested some, but that was tuned-out by Ch'en as she poked the mafioso who turned towards her and stiffened when he saw who she was.

"Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Madame Ch'en?!"

"Oh, so you know who I am. That will make this a lot easier. We have reason to believe that your syndicate is responsible for kidnapping a guest of Chief Wei's and an asset to one of Lungmen's allies, do you have anything to explain?"

The mafioso took a big long gulp and started thrashing around a little as he said, "I really don't know what you're talking about. Please, you've gotta believe me I don't know nothing about this 'Evan' or whatever it is you think I've done."

"Relax, once we've got our information and this whole mess is sorted out, you're free to go. Promise," Hoshiguma tried to ease the captive who was shaking like a newborn beast. "So, would you like to answer a few questions for us?"

The man gulped and nodded. Hoshiguma nodded with a pleased smile on her face. She looked at the map and pointed around the area circled. "This, is where the crime took place. The suspects proceeded to run into a building and down the stairs where they entered the Lungmen tunnel network where they made their escape by a black van."

"Oh, and the license plate on the van was JFK101, suspect closing doors was a fully furred brown and black feline with several characteristic scars on his face, beefy build too," Swire added which added an eyebrow raise from Ch'en. "What? I was paying attention."

"Well…shit, that sounds like Niko alright. Dunno who was driving, but yeah, that sounds like you were definitely dealin' with Niko. Big mean fella of a feline. I have no idea where they're taking him, but I know who, so I can take a guess."

From the echoing and the acoustics , he concluded that he was likely in some abandoned industrial building. Go figure, right? He really couldn't determine anything other than that. Eventually, he was turned around and forcefully sat down in a chair. At first, nothing happened and he just listened to the background as the acoustics of even small things became amplified in the building. He didn't know how long it had been before things started to move forward again.

"What do you mean we were attacked?!" a voice sounded from somewhere in the building. Due to the reflection of the sound waves, he couldn't pinpoint the direction though. "Penguin Logistics?! Who tipped them off!? Jared's unaccounted for?! Shit!"

Footsteps sounded shortly after as they stormed somewhere in the room. It wasn't until he realized the echoes came after the sound that whoever was there was close.

"Alright, let's make this quick," a voice said before the footsteps stopped in front of him. The snapping of fingers sounded and his facial bindings were tugged before they suddenly came loose. His eyes themselves were greeted by the sight of a tall, sharply dressed feline with slick black hair that was clearly well cared for. His shrewd eyes met Evan's own, and he suddenly felt small, and as though this man was evaluating him. He grinned mischievously at his despair and pulled back some. "Well, this should be easy."

"M-Maybe there's a misunderstanding, you haven't told me what this is all about."

"Really?" the mobster said while pulling out a cigar from inside his jacket and a windproof lighter in his other hand. "So…you don't know anything about Penguin Logistics and what you were doing at Chief Wei's tower?"

Evan didn't answer and merely raised an eyebrow. He simply waited as the mobster lit his cigar, taking in a slow, deep puff. He held the smoke in for longer than Evan could ever stand and then released through his nostrils. He turned to Evan and gave a little smile then a curt nod before stepping forward. He didn't take his eyes off of Evan, and then pain shot through his foot as the mobster grinded his heel as hard as he could into Evan's own foot. When their gazes met again, the victim was clearly giving a nasty glare to his captor.

"Tough guy act, eh? I wonder, how much is keeping your mouth shut going to help you?"

"More like you suck at telling me what it is you want me to say. Penguin Logistics, as far as I know, was merely helping transport cargo."

"What? You screwin' with me here?"

"No, you just don't want to believe what I say."

"No, that can't be right…why would…dammit…" the mobster said as he paced around. He then looked to his victim who seemed oddly calm about his whole captive situation. Why was this guy so calm? Then it clicked, or so he thought, they were going to be attacked for his kidnapping. It was at that moment the phone rang and he answered.

"Boss, we've got a big problem."

A slam sounded followed by the falling of several objects from nearby shelves. A crack formed on the wall as well as a very irate dragoness slammed a mafioso goon against a wall.

"I-I'm serious, I don't know anything!" the mobster said as he pulled at the wrists in a vain attempt to pry himself free.

"Bullshit!" Ch'en spat to the mobster before leaning her face closer. "We've tracked the incident to this specific gang, and you're telling me you know nothing?!"

"Look, if this is about that turf war with the penguin, we'll pay for the damages, but I know nothing about this 'Evan' character or his relation to Niko."

Lungmen swears exited as the goon was unceremoniously dropped on the floor. Ch'en herself turned around and pulled out her sword to chop a table in half and kick one of said halves into the wall. She then pulled out her communicator and issued, "Nothing to report, gang members here have no knowledge, over."

"Nothing on this end either," Swire responded. "Are we sure we got the right gang?"

"Missy, we've run the numbers on the plates, unless the vehicle was stolen, that seems unlikely," Hoshiguma's voice barely sounded over the sounds of screaming and bangs. "Oi, quiet down! Also, why are you attaching fireworks to the suspect?!"

Hoshiguma's end cut off and Ch'en gave a frustrated sigh and waited for the third group to make their report. When nothing sounded she gave up and looked to the gangster who was still there, for some reason. He held up his hands in surrender and just froze in place, which would have been favorable if she weren't acting off duty. She gave a curt 'tsk' sound before walking out, leaving the suspect behind and walking to the randevous point she had set with her group.

At the point, sifting through papers was the gaudily dressed Lung she had agreed to go with. Lee himself had his ever smug swindler smile as he hummed an ancient Yanese song while he carefully mulled over the documents he had seized.

"Find anything?"

"Maybe," Lee responded without shifting his attention from the papers.

Ch'en felt a vein pop in her head and marched in front of Lee to try and grab his attention. He looked up briefly before turning his attention back to the papers.

"You know, most mobsters burn their documents, whoever was in charge wasn't here to burn his."

"And? What does that have to do with the situation at hand?"

"It means, whoever was in charge either wasn't here or didn't plan to be attacked. If the head's office wasn't cleaned before a possible raid. This could mean anything from lack of discipline to an exceptional circumstance, but I think it means whoever this mysterious Mr. C is wasn't here to bury his evidence."

As if on cue, Ch'en radio began buzzing as someone entered the line and she pulled it up to listen.

"So, don't get mad, but I hacked into the Lungmen CCTV footage and found something," Closure's voice sounded from the other line. I managed to use an AI program to track down the vehicle."

Ch'en's face visibly lit up and she turned around and walked away from Lee who just shrugged and turned back to his papers, keeping his ears open to the conversation.

"The vehicle is parked at an abandoned factory that matches up with the tunnels' pathways. License plate and vehicle description match either way, we have a location."

"Good, send me the coordinates and I'll have the teams regroup there."

"Well, here's the thing. The infrastructure aboveground is under construction. We would have to take a route that sends us through where Penguin Logistics is, and I would guarantee that the fireworks that just went off have alerted them."

Ch'en felt a vein threaten to pop in her head and gave a heavy sigh to try and forcefully compose herself. She clicked the communicator button and said, "It'll have to do. All units converge onto the coordinates Closure sends you. Hoshiguma, make sure Penguin Logistics doesn't cause any more problems."

"I'll try…" Hoshiguma nervously affirmed before her end went silent.

Currently, Evan was being goaded by Niko as they looked for a way out. While he knew he had a feeling why they were retreating, he didn't really want to tempt his captors into having a reason to harm him. But he could make it as annoying for them as possible.

"So…how's kidnapping me going out for ya now?"

"Quiet, we'll figure this out. Just shut up and don't try anything funny or I'll have Niko scratch you."

"I'd do it even if you didn't order me, Boss."

"So, who's attacking?"

"Do you really want to test us, kid?" the boss asked as they rushed through towards the underground.

Evan just shrugged and decided to go against his better judgment anyways.

"Well, not like you have much to lose. With scarface here I'm not exactly in a position to make a run or fight back. Besides, maybe we can work out an agreement?"

"Yeah, what do you have to negotiate?" Niko snarled.

"Well, if you release me, you can run away and get away for today, or keep me and have the entirety of Rhodes Island, the LGD, and Penguin Logistics continue to go after you. I mean, I don't want to toot my own horn, but I don't think the Superintendent and Senior Lieutenant are keen on letting me rot in your clutches."

"Do you want me to gag you?!" the boss growled lowly after stopping and turning around to put his face inches from Evan's.

"I'm just saying, it makes no strategic sense to keep me at this point, unless you're actively looking for trouble to continue. I am also technically a guest of Chief Wei's, so if you really want to fuck up your chances, harming me is a good way to do so."

Fury flashed into the feline's eyes. Not because he found this man annoying, but because he was right. Keeping him was a strategic failure waiting to happen, every second they spent not releasing him, the LGD and Penguin Logistics raided their hideouts and weakened their position in the city. If he was really a guest of Lungmen's leader, then harming him would only worsen his chances of being charged in the courts.

"What, cat got your tongue…oh, wait," Evan said with his stupid smartass grin, only for a wad of cloth to be shoved in his mouth and he simply shrugged. It clearly didn't bring satisfaction, but it did shut him up.

They continued, and then they opened a door to the under-city tunnels where the boss began walking around to the passenger seat with a driver already waiting. Niko moved to place him in the back, at least until a sound of something hitting the feline with an audible thunk sounded.

"What the…Niko?!" the boss asked before leaving with his crossbow armed.

"Lock of Shattered Time!" a voice shouted from next to Evan and he looked to see the inexplicable sight of a horned angel with black wings and a halo holding a staff up. With the incantation, the boss froze in place and a square set of rings appeared and slammed one by one into the boss until time resumed and he was slammed onto the floor, a thud sounding in sync with the pattern the rings had hit him. He seemed dazed and confused, but the fallen angel walked over anyway and gave a cocky smile, her black sarkaz-like tail waving. That was until she gave a good hit to his head, knocking him out cold. Said angel then knocked on the glass to the quivering driver and stated, "You have one chance to gather your comrades up and leave, or I do the same thing to you and leave you for the LGD to find."

It didn't take long for him to load his comrades in the back and speed off, clearly scared shitless. That's when the black angel gave a cheerful wave and a 'see ya' before turning to Evan.

"Well, that was close. Didn't think I'd make it in time. Bison told me about your situation, name's Mostima. For now, let's just say I'm a messenger for Penguin Logistics."

"Well your timing couldn't be more impeccable, or dramatic."

"I aim to please~" Mostima said with a sing-song voice before looking expectantly to the door which had also been locked. After that, a few rattles were heard from the knob before whoever was behind it chose to blast through the thing with an explosive for some reason and a red-haired liberi came marching in.

"Mostima, what have I told you about wandering off?! This makes…you know what, I don't know how many times this makes it I've had to track down your sorry ass. Next time you go on a surprise expedition, NOTIFY ME!"

"And the grumpy one here is…oh man, what was your code name this time?"

"Eat shit and die! Anyways, I assume this is the one Bison told you about?" The liberi walked over and gave him a once over before continuing. "Good, you're unharmed, let's go. Let's get this over with."

"Damn, not even going to introduce yourself. Just going to grab a random man by the arm off to god-knows-where without explanation? Never took you for a bold one."

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up!" the liberi screamed at her partner before turning to Evan who was clearly very confused and didn't respond to her pulling him. At that, she gave a sharp 'tsk' and pulled harder, nearly making him fall flat on his face. "We're, going, now, get moving or I will drag you. BOTH of you!"

"Yes, Flameheart."

"If you call me by my monthly code name again, I will blast you. You will call me Fiammetta."

"Alright Fia," Mostima said while holding back laughter. This earned a muffled scream from Fiametta before she dragged Evan up the stairs and out where the remainder of the mobsters who had been guarding the building were being arrested and processed by Ch'en and Swire who were barking orders. As soon as they saw him, both immediately dropped their duties and ran over. Fiammetta let go, leaving Evan to be tackled to the ground by Swire who used a bit too much force to hug him.

"You're ok! Thank goodness."

"And you still need to learn some professionalism," Ch'en said while pulling at Swire's collar. The tigress swiped it away and gave the dragoness a raspberry, all while straddling Evan who looked over to his saviors. One looked with cruel indifference, and the other with satisfied amusement.

"Please, Beatrice, just get off of me. You hurt me more than the mafia did."

"Oh, sorry," Swire said before getting off of him.

"Now then, would you like to explain how you got wrapped up with not only a Nuncio, but also her Notarial Hall Overseer?"

"Wait, Nuncio and Notarial Hall?"

"Ah, you don't have anything to worry about, Madame Ch'en, we were just in the neighborhood," Mostima gave with an eerie smile Evan couldn't quite piece together. When Ch'en crossed her arms and eyed the two harder. With a small smack to the back of the head by Fiammetta, Mostima stopped talking and the red liberi stepped forward.

"Our mission here has nothing to do with the events that just transpired. Mostima, on the other hand…" Fiammetta started before giving her partner a harsh glare. "Thought her responsibilities in Penguin Logistics took priority and ran off. We'll be leaving, if you'll excuse us."

"Hold it, I still need an incident report, and you have yet to explain your mission. As per Lungmen's agreement with Laterano, any executive functions of Notarial Hall must be communicated with the LGD or appropriate branch of the Lungmen government. Considering your partner's record, we may have a lot to cover."

"Irrumabo…" Fiammetta muttered under her breath before turning. "We're simply investigating something."

"And what, pray tell, might that be?"

Fiammetta clicked her tongue, only for Mostima to step forward and point her staff at Evan with a seemingly sinister smile, this led to Ch'en ripping out her standard blade and Fiammetta cocking her gun to protect her Nuncio if need be.

"Hey, what's with all the doom and gloom people, I'm just pointing to ground zero of the anomaly we've been looking for."

Ch'en sharpens her gaze and Fiammetta falters, looking to Mostima in shock which prompts the LGD superintendent to make a move, aiming to knock the gun out of Fiammetta's hands.

That was until she came to a sudden halt.

Ch'en stopped moving, as though she were frozen in place, unable to move her eyes, as though the being before them was nothing more than a life size model posed mid-action. Evan noticed now that Mostima's staff was pointed at the officer, with a darkly amusing smile on her face.

"Mostima, what are you doing?! Are you aware of how many laws you've just broken?!" Fiammetta screamed at her partner, only for Mostima to look at her and motion Fiammetta away from Ch'en path. Understanding, the irate liberi nodded and moved, which was when Mostima released her grip, which let Ch'en move to strike thin air.

"Look, we're not here to kidnap him or anything, I'll give you the full story, free of charge too, if you promise to let this little incident blow over," Mostima told a bewildered Ch'en who was now primed and ready for combat. That was until a hand slinked over her shoulder and a new voice entered the conversation.

"Of course we'll be willing to hear you out, but please allow us to get things in order on our end. You know, standard procedure and all that, and we won't mention a word about the two of you looking for one of Chief Wei's honored guests," Swire said with a grin while forcing Ch'en down further, despite the dragoness' chagrin.

Another wide and rather unsettling grin came from Mostima before she turned and waved.

"See you at The World's End, I'll fill the boss and others in on the situation."

Fiammetta wordlessly moved, giving a moment to glance at Evan before the two simply walked off, as though nothing had happened. Once they were gone, Swire breathed a sigh of relief and released her superior.

"Thank goodness, that went over without any major incident…" Swire said before turning to Evan with a worried look. "Though, I wouldn't put us out of the storm yet, if Notarial hall has your number, I'm rather worried…but still, I want answers over conflict, something this bitch doesn't seem to understand."

"Excuse me?"

"Please, you were about to attack a Notarial Hall official, an elite one no less! Do you have any idea how much hot water that would've put us in?!"

"I was only going to knock out her weapon, which was aimed at me!"

"She was only going to fire if you attacked, which you did!"

"I-I…whatever, I was protecting the VIP, that's not a crime…" Ch'en pouted, clearly defeated at what Swire said, but for some reason seemed to have a slight tint to her cheeks. Before Beatrice could rub any more salt in, Hoshiguma and Ace walked over. While one seemed amused, the other looked to her two colleagues with what could only be seen as a look of disappointment.

"Alright Ch'en, the suspects have been rounded up and processed, though there's no sign of their leader. All members have been identified as members of the Cat Mafia."

"Are you serious?" Evan asked in his head and internally rolled his eyes at the name.

"Good, though we may have to release them after their organization pays a fine. Until then, place them under temporary arrest. We have enough to warrant that at least."

"Any other news? I don't believe we've initiated the sweep, yet Evan's here safe and sound. Who brought him out?"

"Penguin Logistics messenger Mostima and her Notarial Hall bodyguard."

A low whistle escaped the elite operator before commenting, "Not everyday we see those two in the same spot at the same time. Did they give any reason?"

"Aside from pointing to Evan and saying he was an anomaly they were looking for, not much. Mostima wants to meet at the bar we had drinks at the night before. Do you trust them?"

"If it's on Penguin Logistics territory, I have no worries. Besides, if Notarial hall is involved, it might be best to leave the negotiating to us."

"And why, pray tell, should we do that?" Ch'en nearly spat back.

"We have Notarial Hall officials ourselves on Rhodes Island. Our agreement would also prevent any of them from carrying out unwarranted activity as they're only there to execute the rights of our Laterano citizenry. Unlike their agreement in Lungmen, the one with Rhodes Island is far more specific and tighter knit, and the primary operator, Executor, is a stickler for written rules. If anything that violates our agreement comes through, he will notify us. Have I convinced you?"

Ch'en looked to Ace then finally took a sharp intake and squeezed, "...Fine, but we're going to be there, as a precaution. I'll also have LGD operatives watch the building. If anything happens there, it will become a diplomatic incident and Lungmen will take appropriate action."

"Easy now, Evan's a Rhodes Island employee, and under my guard. If anything, we should be the ones saying that. Come on, Evan, let's go back to the branch office."

The last thing he saw before following Ace back was a surprisingly subdued smile and wave from Beatrice and a sharp, yet somewhat concerned, look from Ch'en before he turned his head to follow his bodyguard.

Author's Note

I liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive, sorta.

So, a rundown of my life so far...part time job for half a leave from school...then a brief reintroduction I barely passed, and now I'm taking a light load with graduation on the horizon in about a year. So, cheers, after I graduate, I'm off to grad school, then I'll see what happens from there.

Anyways, Evan kind of gets out, but I never wanted this to be a big deal, less of an arch and more of an incident to precipitate future archs where our hero does stuff and gets involved. For now though, he gets to continue his happy existence at Rhodes Island until something big happens.

Alright, as for my game forecast, a healthy dose of Miyazaki hell while waiting for some multiplayers to release next month I can play with buds. Maybe if I finish my goals in Dark Souls 3 I'll end up playing Elden Ring finally and properly. Anyways, thank you all for your continued support on this wild project I started while bored one week.

Till we see the next chapter, and some weight finally settles in on the story, maybe...