As soon as he took a deep breath, Arthur placed the lunch box on top of the coffe table in front of him and stood up. He walked to the door and opened it. When he looked at who it was, Arthur's expression turned slightly annoyed.
"What you want?" Arthur asked directly.
"A mission. And I advise you to be more careful when opening the door." Gabriel, Shadow, was speaking, and he was dressed casually. Behind him it was possible to see his Porsche 911.
"Mission?" Arthur asked quizzically. He'd already done one in the past month, even if it wasn't on purpose.
Gabriel didn't respond and just stared at him. Arthur seemed to have realized what he was implying and said:
"I won't let you in..." Arthur walked out the door and closed it. Even though he was wearing loose clothes, practically the modern pajamas, Arthur didn't mind at all. He pointed to the Porsche behind Gabriel.
"I won't let you in there either…" Gabriel replied coolly, his face expressionless throughout the entire conversation.
"I really wanted to walk!" Arthur started walking down the sidewalk without waiting for Gabriel.
"The mission is very simple. Police recently managed to find evidence of heavy drug trafficking throughout the city. The chief supervisor of police asked City Hall for help, which asked the Guild for help. Our group managed to get hold of the mission. Here the data." Arthur hadn't even noticed, but Gabriel was already at his side with a tablet in hand. On the tablet was open a document containing the description of the mission.
With a quick read, Arthur got the whole context. Some criminal factions in Recife are in an operation to import drugs into the city. At dawn the following day, at 02:00, a meeting would be held with the local chiefs and representatives of the factions. The police had been organizing for a few weeks, when they managed to capture an important drug dealer. This dealer would be used as a spy, an insider.
In order to prevent any mistakes and obtain great success in the operation, the City Hall decided to count on the help of the Guild. This contract was made silently and kept in the strictest confidence. So the mayor himself was responsible for the contact. The Hunter group has released 3 Level-C and 1 Level-B mercenaries.
"I don't care about Level C, but who's going to be Level B?" Arthur asked after thinking of a few things. By being one rank above, that person would naturally be the leader.
"Magikeen" Gabriel replied calmly. He understood what Arthur meant.
"Haha..." Arthur remembered his experiences with Magikeen and smiled inside. But outside he kept the same expression and said, "I'll be there! Weapons on their own?"
"Yes, but you can also request some from the Guild." Gabriel replied as he took the tablet from Arthur.
"I'm fine, but if I need it I'll ask. Thanks, I'll be there! Goodbye." Arthur turned and started walking back to his house. They were a few minutes' walk away, so he wanted to make Gabriel go back to get the car.
What he didn't realize was that Gabriel pulled his car key from his pocket and pressed a button lightly. The car in the distance started and began accelerating to where Gabriel was.
Arthur stopped walking, looked at Gabriel and slowly raised the middle finger at him.
***
"Who was it?" Thomas asked as he came back from the kitchen and saw that Arthur was walking through the door.
"Coworker. Are you going to keep watching or are you going upstairs?" Arthur took back his lunch box, which had cooled a little, and sat down on the sofa.
"I'm going up. I have a few things to do yet…" Thomas pointed up and started up the stairs.
Arthur looked at the figure of Thomas coming up the stairs and was a little impressed.
'If he's busy with something, it's definitely important!'
***
01:50
Arthur was already on top of a high roof looking at a shed in the distance. His clothes were completely dark and he wore a black cap and mask. On that dark night, his figure managed to camouflage himself perfectly.
He also had the Absorption Gloves in his hands and the pistol in his waistband, holstered. As he would have to use it constantly, and other people would also participate in the action, he left his useful things in plain sight.
Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur noticed an unusual movement. Paying more attention, he saw some black vehicles speed up and stop in different places near the shed. From these vehicles, suit-clad figures descended, accompanied by some bodyguards.
"The worst are the ones in the suit and tie..." A voice suddenly came from behind Arthur's back.
Quickly turning his face, Arthur saw a black man. He had a nice physique and was dressed the same way as Arthur, but you could see that he had more preparation. With a quick look, Arthur saw some knives and two pistols.
"True…" Arthur spoke as he looked directly into the black man's eyes. His voice was calm and indifferent.
"My name is Blaze. What about you?" The black man's voice came again. It was hoarse and husky.
"God of Fight." Arthur replied quickly.
"What a bullshit name!" The man walked over to stand beside Arthur.
"I thought the same thing when I heard your…" Arthur looked at Blaze with some interest.
"Hahaha! Cigarette?" Blaze pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket. He chuckled constantly as he did this, and his gaze on Arthur also had a glimmer of interest.
"No thanks." Arthur again began to look at the shed.
The silence again lingered as they waited. Only the occasional barking of stray dogs and the bright spots far from the city lights seemed to be present. Blaze's cigarette smoke also had a melancholy feel to the night.
"What's up, you fags? When will the party start?" Another voice, cleaner than Blaze's but carrying a mocking tone, came again from behind.
Blaze and Arthur just turned their faces slightly and saw who it was out of the corner of their eye. He was a thin guy, white and tall, with medium length blond hair and had some piercings in his face. He wore a black T-shirt, black cargo pants and sneakers. His face was also uncovered. Compared to Arthur and Blaze, he looked a lot less "professional".
Arthur had no reaction and was silent, but a smile spread across Blaze's face.
"Speak up, C*ckhead. Did you come to ruin another mission today?" Blaze said mockingly. He even had a special intonation when he gave the nickname.
"Are you wanting to die, you bastard?" The guy who just arrived immediately got furious and pulled a pistol from his back, probably tucked into his pants.
"With your aim? It's more likely that the bullet will ricochet and hit your leg, hahaha!" Blaze almost burst out laughing, even coughing a little because he was smoking.
"Shut up! Who's this sucker over there?" C*ckh…the guy reached over to Blaze's side and pointed directly at Arthur.
"Just another one with a shitty name like you. But at least he looks more professional than you. Are you thinking you're gangster, by any chance?" Blaze spoke in Arthur's place.
"What's the name?" Arthur asked indifferently.
"Please restrain yourself... his nickname is Shining Shine. Sounds like a whorehouse from the 90s, hahaha!" Blaze laughed again.
"Fuck you!" Shining Shi... C*ockhe... the new guy fumed and ignored them both.
Arthur held back a little to keep from laughing, but he had a smile behind his mask. He had already thought for some time that the name he(Arthur) put in was a bit exaggerated, and even somewhat childish. He thought he was superior to everyone and named himself that. But, after maturing with life and death struggles, he realized that this name, or title, should be deserved, and he's far from it.
He didn't know how to change and didn't bother for a while either, but now that the subject was brought up, he wanted to ask if he could do anything.
"Is there a way to change?" Arthur asked no one in particular. He kept looking at the Shed in the distance.
"Only if you go up in rank. But as the difference between Levels C and B is so big, almost everyone is marked by the nickname. The only salvation would be to do something so bad that you get a popular but unofficial nickname." Blaze explained carefully.
"Understand. Thank you." Arthur spoke and was silent again.
He and Blaze were silent for the rest of the time and just watching the situation in the shed. There were still about 5 minutes to the start of the operation and they were just waiting for the leader of the group.
In the meantime, Shine pulled out a mirror and stood admiring himself and fixing his hair. Arthur finally understood the name when he saw some gold teeth in Shine's dentures.
When it was exactly 2:00, the door behind them made an intentional noise, like a slam.
When the three turned to look, they saw a figure in a robe and hood covering the face. She was mysterious but didn't give any sense of danger.
The moment he saw her, Arthur turned and started walking towards her, looking directly where the eyes were in that darkness beneath the hood.
When he got close enough, but still in a safe area, he let out a smile and stared at her for just a second. At that moment, his green eyes sparkled for a moment before that glow faded. He turned to the other two and asked:
"Are you going to just stand there?"