Zaturn was surprised with Caesar's speed. It was strangely fast despite his body's muscle department lacking in size. It looked like he was getting power that was not from his body.
However fast he was, Zaturn did not care. He could take one or two hits from Caesar's frail body without any problem. He only had to produce one sonic attack to throw Caesar through the concrete wall.
This might kill Caesar, which was a bit disappointing for Zaturn since he wanted to interrogate him, but this is what happens when someone disrespects him.
He confidently opened his mouth, ready to release a tremendous amount of power through sound, but he suddenly felt a strong and sharp pain in his throat. He looked down and saw Caesar's fist striking his throat.
Zaturn choked. His larynx was compressed due to the force, suppressing the sonic blast that was coming from his lungs. He didn't think this would happen. He didn't even think he had this kind of weakness.
Caesar smiled as he saw Zaturn choke on his own power. The disbelief on his face was something to behold.
How was this possible, you might ask? Back when he was level 2, his stats were only like this:
[Vitality: 5]
[Strength: 3]
[Dexterity: 4]
[Intelligence: 9,999]
To fight someone like Zaturn with a strength of 30, his stats were definitely not enough to even cut a single arm air. With Zaturn's dexterity of 30, he would have been able to see Caesar's attacks and dodge it.
But thankfully, he had just levelled up. This was one of the rewards he got for leveling up.
[All stats +10]
[Vitality: 15]
[Strength: 13]
[Dexterity: 14]
[Intelligence: 9,999]
But even with this boost, Zaturn's stats were still twice more than Caesar's new stats. Although Caesar had the initiative and caught Zaturn by surprise, he would still need at least half of Zaturn's dexterity to land a hit.
But thankfully, that was not all that he had been given. This was also one of his rewards.
[Value on body, +1 all stats per 100,000 Parou]
Remember when Caesar sold the remaining 350 grams of Joy? He had gotten 350,000 coins worth of money. But, he couldn't get all of that in cash.
No, Caesar accepted a bargain where they could pay using items with an equivalent worth of Joy. He decided this because it was easier to wear something like a watch worth 50,000 Parou rather than have P50,000 cash on hand.
So, he had currently 300,000 worth of valued items in his body and 50,000 Parou in cash hidden somewhere. With that 300,000 he got a +3 on all of his stats.
So with this bonus, this was Caesar's new stats.
[Caesar's status]
[Title: Crook]
[Lvl. 3]
[Exp to next level: 5,000,000 Parou]
[Vitality: 15+3]
[Strength: 13+3]
[Dexterity: 14+3]
[Intelligence: 9,999]
With this, Caesar's dexterity was finally more than half of Zaturn's dexterity. Coupled with the element of surprise, he was able to land a precise hit in Zaturn's adam's apple.
"Kuhhh….cough…cough" Zaturn tumbled down coughing, with saliva spewing all over.
Zaturn was currently out of action. He was way too busy processing what happened to him, while failing to compose himself.
However, this would only last for a few seconds. But everyone, Rola, Mitre, and Ybarra were all shocked like Zaturn and couldn't process what happened.
How could a scrawny man like Caesar be able to catch Zaturn off-guard? Even the fastest person here with at least 20 dexterity, wouldn't be confident in doing that.
They all looked at Caesar as if he was some alien. He all looked back at them with a confused look. "Are you all just going to stand there, or are you going to help me knock him out?"
Rola was the first to react. This was her chance. A chance that was only a dream for years on end. And now, it was finally right here in her grasp. She just had to reach for it.
"Ybarra, beat him up." Rola said.
Ybarra didn't have to wait anymore. With his strength numbering in the 30s, his punch was enough to easily damage Zaturn's body.
Boom, Duugg, Splat….
Ybarra let out all of his anger and fear into his punches, pummeling Zaturn's face into smithereens. Zaturn's handsome face, which many of his customers paid to see, was now like a smashed tomato.
Now was the chance, Ybarra thought. Now was the chance to kill Zaturn.
Everyone thought that. They would be finally free from his torment while letting out all of their frustrations on the perpetrator.
However, would this be enough, Rola thought. If they killed Zaturn now, then would they finally be free? The Capo gang would definitely find the killer, and with a little bit of investigation, they would know the truth.
Once that happened, they would be chased into hiding. But the Capo gang were without morals, and they would definitely use questionable means to find them. There was only one conclusion, Rola thought.
They would threaten the orphanage. That was one of the worst case scenarios she could think of. She was in a dilemma.
Kill Zaturn now and go into hiding, or let him go and only they would suffer, not the orphanage.
Caesar saw the serious look in Rola. He knew what she was thinking and the problem she was now faced with.
If he was in Rola's shoes, the answer would be simple. He would kill Zaturn.
But he was not Rola. He had a different goal than hers, and he would do anything he could to be the winner in any and every scenario.
He didn't want Zaturn to be killed, at least not now. If Zaturn was killed now, then it would be harder to infiltrate into the Capo gang and destroy them.
Rola and her group would also go into hiding, away from sight from everyone. Caesar didn't want that. From observing them, he came to realize that they were useful, very useful in his operation to conquer everything with his Joy.
With his plans, if Zaturn was not killed right now, then not only would he have complete control of the Capo gang, but also Rola and her group.
"I think you should let him go," Caesar said.
Rola looked up to him. In her eyes, Caesar was a mysterious person with a mysterious objective. The moment he knocked down their fiercest enemy in one hit, she became wary of him.
But even if he did not say anything, her mind was already decided from the start. The orphanage was too precious for her to take the risk.
Despite her angry mind wanting to protest, her logical sense decided to let him go.
"Stop."
Ybarra looked up at Rola, confused as to why she wanted him to stop. This was their chance! They wouldn't get this chance ever again.
"But Rola, he will come for us. He won't stop until we're dead."
"At least it will stop with us."
Ybarra wanted to protest, but they remembered the very reason why they started this in the first place. If the orphanage suffered a catastrophe because of them, then everything would have been in vain.
Mitre stomped up towards Caesar and grabbed his collar. With his strength, he lifted up Caesar with angry trembling hands. But his eyes were not full of spite, but hurt.
He wanted to blame Caesar for putting them into this position, but he can't. He knew that they would have been in danger even if he hadn't acted. He at least gave them an opportunity to kill Zaturn.
"That's enough, Mitre. We should go." Rola started to pack up. It would be better to leave as fast as they could so they have a head start.
Mitre let him go and turned around. He didn't look back and started to help others in packing their most essential items.
Ybarra gathered all of his saliva and spat it on Zaturn's face before he turned away. But he couldn't help himself and got a last kick in the chest.
Rola walked up to Caesar. "Come with us."
Caesar was a bit surprised by this sudden recruitment. He thought that she would be a little bit angry, but it seemed that she was more soft-hearted than he thought. That was not good in this business.
"No need. I do not fit with your group," Caesar replied.
Rola didn't pester him anymore and just turned around to leave. Everyone was done packing, with just some food and some money enough to survive for a little while.
They didn't know where they would go, but they needed to go as fast and as far as possible.
"Come back to the orphanage," Caesar said as he saw them out. "They won't be that confident in killing you so near the church. I guarantee that."
Rola thought for a second, then nodded in thanks. After that, they left the room with Zaturn knocked out, lying in a pool of his own blood. His face may not heal the same as before, but he was still alive.
Rola made the wrong decision. They should have killed Zaturn now and got out of this town. It was her weakness of wanting to protect the orphanage that led to this.
But for Caesar, this was the best-case scenario. He was not anyone's ally. No. Everyone around him is just a pawn to throw away and keep.