Chapter 287 - Slade.

"That was a close one…" Blake's heart was loudly thumping as they appeared back at the sewer.

"So much for not alerting him." Castiel said as he finally recovered from the adrenaline rush.

[He might have sensed that someone or something was watching him, but I don't think he will trace it back to an intruder.] The system stated.

"How??" The trio couldn't help but ask the system.

[Take a look at his face when he turned towards you guys.] The system replayed what went on in the storage room.

Right from the start of the conversation till the point they warped out of the room, the voice of the bald man had been tensed.

"If he is that sacred of the royal family, doesn't that mean the gang will change location?" Blake asked with a raised brow.

[You seem to underestimate the power of the royal family. There is literally nothing happening in the empire that they don't know of. So trying to run is futile if they are after you.] The system said.

"If they are that powerful then what is the use of the adventurer association or the ash corps?" Blake was confused.

[You should have heard the saying, familiarity breeds contempt. If the royal family were to solve all problems, the citizens of the empire would begin to take them for granted, and once they decided to stop they would receive a lot of criticisms that can lead to turmoil in the empire.]

[On the other hand, if they rarely interfered, whenever they did the citizens would continue to see them as Gods that always appear in their time of need. That is why some of the governing bodies magnify the effects of their appearance by creating problems which in this case is poverty and gangs, then becoming the solution to them.] The system explained.

"That is evil, these are human lives that we are talking about." Brian complained.

"To be honest, it isn't. You are looking at it from the perspective of the commoners and not the royal family." Blake said. "It is in the nature of humans to be ungrateful bastards, so why should I jeopardize the success of the empire that I have worked so hard for centuries."

"Exactly my thoughts. It is even nice of the royal family that they already provide most of the necessities for the people like the commoners who give them nothing in return." Castiel's words supported Blake's ideas.

"Yes but…" Brian wanted to refute their points, but he couldn't find any lie in their words "You guys are right." Brian admitted.

The conflict of ideas created a short moment of awkward silence, but soon Blake broke it. "We have enough information to report to complete the mission, so let's go make the report and call it a day."

They had started the mission in the morning hours, but it was almost evening when they were returned to the sewer. It wasn't that the mission was hectic, it was just that the first stage which was moving from the school to the crime scene and then the sewers to the factory took a lot of time.

Also, infiltrating the factory wasn't a thing of force, it required a lot of waiting for the right time.

They left the sewers and boarded a carriage that took them to the adventurer association located at the border of the center region and middle region.

"We would like to turn in information on the investigation mission of the warehouse robbery." Blake said Susan who had a lot of paperwork on her desk.

"Are you saying you solved the case?" Susan couldn't believe her eyes and had to ask again to confirm.

"Yes..." Blake answered.

'Isn't it yesterday that they accepted the mission? So, how were they able to beat the other parties that have been on the case for more than a week now?' Susan had to confirm the date they had registered for the open commission.

"Please follow me, so that I can connect you to an ash corps agent." Susa said to the trio.

They were taken to a private room where Susan open a communication link with an ash corps personnel.

"The Order of chaos adventurer party wants to turn in information on the investigation mission of the warehouse robbery." Susan said to the ash corps personnel who was dark skin woman.

'Wasn't it yesterday that they accepted the mission? So, how were they able to beat the other parties that have been on the case for more than a week now?' The personnel named Ashely had the exact reaction as Susan when she heard the news.

"Before you start your report you have to know that it isn't necessary to explain your method of investigation, all we need are the conclusions of the investigation. You got that?" After seeing the nod from Blake, she gestured for them to start.

"We won't waste any time. The hideout is located 2 layers underground, and the entrance is located at the storage room of the Albert textile factory." Blake went straight to the point, but it was very hard for Ashely to believe with so little detail.

"How did you find this out?" Ashely couldn't help but ask.

"We can't disclose our methods, because as you have seen it is fast and efficient." Blake answered.

"Sorry for that." Ashely was embarrassed because she had just forgotten the rules she just stated some moments ago. "So, can we know the gang we are dealing with?"

"To be honest, we don't know the name of the gang because we are relatively new to the city, but I think I have a clue on which gang it is." Blake said. "When we infiltrated the factory and went into the storage room, we saw a bald man with an eye patch on his left eye, coming out of the hidden entrance."

"A bald man with an eye patch… That is Slade, the leader of the Creed gang!" Ashely said with a hint of astonishment in her tone.