Anom looked at the people who had come to see him off and spoke, "I'm only going out for a while… Why are you treating it like I'm going on a long journey?"
Crystal and Luna were looking at him with their worried faces that still had a lingering redness left from their intense make-out session. Although they knew that he was not going to do anything dangerous, it worried them to think about him doing all this alone.
Loreana and Gamus were also worried about him going alone, but there was nothing they could do besides hoping for Anom's successful return.
"I'm off." He turned and walked towards the main gate of the estate. He kept walking till his figure disappeared from Loreana and the others' eyes.
"Why did we let him leave so openly?" Crystal asked. She looked around and whispered, "Isn't spying supposed to be done in secret?" She knew that Gamus and Loreana were not stupid, so there must be a reason behind this.
Gamus smiled. "Don't you remember him talking about someone leaving some clues for him?"
Crystal nodded as she remembered when Anom was trying to act mysterious, making her annoyed and curious.
"He was talking about Selvo. The Handler's kid left one of his people outside our estate… I saw him keeping an eye on Anom during the meeting," explained Gamus while smiling. He was really wondering how Anom would handle the situation from here on.
"Then isn't Anom in much more danger?! He wouldn't be able to handle the entire Handler family even if he was more powerful!" Crystal almost screamed as she got even more confused.
At Crystal's side, Luna was also getting worried as she heard Gamus.
But Gamus shook his head. "The Handler family won't make any moves that might end up ruing their almost perfect preparations. Besides, I don't think that Selvo would inform his family just to deal with Anom…" Gamus smiled at Crystal. "He's just a young man who wants to deal with his 'love rival' using his own power and influence."
Crystal blushed as she knew of her Grandfather's approval of Anom and her relationship.
"Then you mean…"
"That's right." Gamus nodded. "We wanted that spy to see Anom leave… It would've been impossible for that amateur spy to find Anom if not for Anom himself deciding to show his presence."
Crystal understood, as she, along with Luna… and Loreana, looked in the direction of the city.
'Be safe.'
......…
Anom was walking on the empty path as his senses kept him aware of his 'stalker'.
Although he had left the estate belonging to the Safaira family, the buildings around him still belonged to them. These buildings served as warehouses, residences for the servants etc., while this area also worked as a buffer zone, making it easier to detect anyone suspicious due to the lack of crowds.
Anom kept walking and would soon reach the busy streets, when his awareness detected the aura of the person following getting restless.
"Damn! I'm going to be late." Anom muttered in a voice audible enough for the person following him to hear, and started walking faster.
The spy got worried as he also started following Anom at full speed. It would be bad if he let Anom get away as this was the perfect place to take care of him.
His master had only told him to take care of Anom and had left everything else up for him to decide. Although he could still continue to follow Anom, it would be difficult to find a place as secluded as this.
The spy did his best to catch up with Anom, but the distance between them remained the same.
Soon, he saw Anom leaving this area and stepping on the busy street. The spy ran quickly but he only arrived when Anom had already turned at the corner.
He gasped for breath as he had given his all to follow Anom, ending up too tired to follow anyone anymore.
He looked around and saw many from among the crowd giving him curious looks, but he couldn't find the person he was looking for.
Giving a helpless sigh, the poor man turned and started walking along this busy street.
The streets were bustling as it was already lunch time. Many from within the crowd followed the smell they found to their liking and arrived at the restaurants that were at the source of these mouth-watering aromas.
This bustling atmosphere gave a lively vibe, capable of lifting the mood of even the broken hearted. But the failed spy, who was fearing the punishment he might receive, had no mood to enjoy this liveliness.
He passed through many similar streets as the crowd progressively decreased. Soon, not only was the size reduced, but even the composition of the crowd had changed. The people here looked more used to the rough way of life and gave a vibe similar to the 'gangsters' that Anom was familiar with.
The spy continued to walk for a while more as he finally arrived in front of a building that looked like a dilapidated warehouse.
The door was pulled open by the spy as he looked around before entering the building.
As soon as he entered, a shadow soundlessly arrived at the place where the spy was standing just a moment ago.
Anom chuckled as he was amused. 'A secret entrance? How interesting.' His senses detected the man moving forward. Anom waited for him to walk deeper. When he was sure of the distance between them, he opened the door and entered it quietly.
He walked forward while following the presence of the spy. He was sure that he had already walked through the full length of the warehouse, but the path was still going forward.
Soon he came across a set of stairs that went below the ground. He walked down the stairs and arrived at what looked like a tunnel.
It was dark all around him while he was using the presence of the spy to move through the tunnel.
After what felt like a few minutes, a slight brightness entered his eyes from the end of the tunnel.
The light dimmed for a second as the spy exited the tunnel.
Anom stopped as he detected another presence near the spy he was following. He walked forward slowly but he relaxed when he felt the strength of the new person.
The spy Anom was following was only at the Foundational Realm, while the man outside the tunnel was at the Reinforcement Realm, the same as him.
He felt the spy continuing on his path while the other person remained in his place.
'Looks like he's guarding this secret entrance' Anom concluded. 'After all, it would be bad if someone entered their hideout using their own tunnel.' He chuckled inwardly as he also continued walking towards the exit.
A dimly lit room was before his eyes while a middle-aged man was sitting on a wooden chair and reading a book. The source of the dim light inside the room was a piece of luminous gem that was placed on a table near him.
Although he looked like he was immersed in reading, Anom knew that half of his senses were focused on the tunnel. He might be doing this job for a long time as he looked quite used to this mundane task.
But it wasn't a problem for Anom and this dim light made it even easier. He hid his presence and flashed towards the other side of the room, which looked like a big vestibule.
Anom arrived in front of another flight of stairs that was going back towards the surface.
He walked forward and climbed the stairs that brought him to the surface. He looked around and found that the stairs had led him inside of a building while he was standing at the end of a corridor.
He focused but couldn't detect the spy from before anymore. Only after using the power of his soul was Anom able to detect the remnants of the spy's presence.
All around him was silence as the floor looked uninhabited. He followed the disturbance of energy made by the spy who passed through this dusty corridor before him.
It wasn't long before the spy was back in the range of Anom's senses. He looked relaxed now as this place belonged to his gang. Walking leisurely, he arrived before a double door and was about to push it open…
But before the man could do so, he found a hand wrapped around his neck pulling him backwards. He tried to struggle but the grip on his neck only tightened as he began fearing for his life. He hadn't ever thought that the place he would die in would be the base of his own gang.
"Stop struggling… Or, do you really want me to kill you?" Just as the spy was losing his senses to despair, a calm and cold voice entered his ears. It allowed him to see the possibility of survival and he stopped his futile struggle.
"Good." The voice said as the poor spy was dragged towards one of the rooms connected to the corridor.
Anom closed the door behind him and made the spy kneel. He was still standing behind the spy as he lowered his head towards the latter's ears and said, "You will answer everything that I'm about to ask, and if I hear you hesitating for even a second, well…" He gripped the spy's neck tighter as nothing else was needed to be said.
"Now nod if you understood what I said." He ordered in a heavy and cold sounding voice.
The spy was already thanking his stars for being able to keep his life… And when it came to choosing between his saving his life and spilling everything about his group, the choice wasn't that hard to make.
He nodded hurriedly, indicating his full support. Anom released his grip and had already expected this. After all, it wasn't like he was some devout follower of the occult or something, he looked like a gangster who might work as a hired goon. Saving his life was the most important thing for him.
"Why were you following the person who came out of the Safaira family?" asked Anom.
"I-It was my young master who ordered me to do so." The answer came quickly as the spy was trying to guess the identity of his assailant. But it never crossed his mind that it could be the 'weak' fellow who he was ordered to follow.
"Who is he?" Even though he knew already, Anom still asked.
"Se-Selvo Handler!" The spy spat out as the grip on his neck was alternating between tightening and loosening.
"Next question! Why have you come to this place?" Anom asked. He had pulled the man before he could open the door, as he had detected the presence of several people behind those doors. He wasn't sure if he would be able to pass through such a large group unnoticed, so it would be better to find out more about the situation before going out.
"I failed the mission given by young master Selvo, so I was going to report to the Gang leader. I-I was hoping that he would save me from punishment as he's the one who made the deal with the Handler family."
"Hmm? Alright. Then, what's on the other side of that door?"
"It's our base. That was one of the hidden doors I was about to use to enter the base when you…" the spy answered as his sentence ended in a bitter tone.
'So the people out there were like him? …A gang?!' Suddenly Anom remembered something as he asked.
"What is the name of your gang?"
"The Giro Group," answered the spy.
'It was really them!' He thought. Though it wasn't that surprising.