Pov 3 person
" From whom we got this information? "
Asked Hei , putting the money on the bar in order to pay for what he drank. Seeing this the bartender only nodded his head as confirmation that Hei had paid . As to whether the payment amount was an improvement . The bartender trusts that Hei will not cheat him, even less so with something as trivial as a few Lien . Even if Hei hadn't paid , the bartender wouldn't have spoken up . Not because he is afraid of Hei as the head of the crime family . Rather because he and Hei are old friends .
Back to Hei's question about the informant . It was to verify their source , and thus the authenticity of the informations . In the case of trusted informants , you can trust them to a certain extent about the authenticity of the information they give . After all , the words of a random person are not as valid as the words of a person who has already given you information for some time . Especially when this information has always been true .
" It is from Lotus "
Said Junior , making Hei sigh . This bunch . Even though his business was not mainly focused on selling information , it still annoyed him a little that some random group had taken it over . Of course their information was , fast , accurate and most importantly cheaper . Well at least cheaper than anyone else on the market . And as for the speed of their work . Information was often immediately given to him .
However, there is no wonder . They were homeless , they were everywhere and had their own channels to pass on the news . They often knew about things earlier than anyone else . They also know about things that even Hei did not know about until he bought the information about it from them . Being honest with himself , Hei knew that he had been paranoid about information leaks for some time , and all because of them .
A group of people that he himself did not pay attention to , had now become his hidden paranoia . The Vale has never had a group so good at gathering information . Although the idea of using the homeless in this task was common , its execution often failed . In the end , as they say " as long as there is demand , there will be an idea " .
However , it was difficult to group the homeless without their trust . A collaboration created on fear would not work either for obvious reasons . Besides , not every homeless person is honest . While many homeless are victims of the system or their lives , just as many are where they are because of their stupid ideas and addictions .
Hei in his youth already had this problem once . He paid one homeless man for information only to have him run away . Needless to say that finding one homeless person , whose name was probably foul , in Vale is impossible . Even more so with all the dirt and neglect , which makes it impossible to determine their characteristics , appearance and often even gender .
However, the situation is changing with the emergence of the Lotus , the head of the Homeless group . He is the person to whom there is constant contact through the scroll . It is through him that all the information he sells passes. If he once deceived Hei , there would be a person whose appearance he knew and he could look for him . And even if he tried to escape , there was another person who could certainly find him . Someone to refer to as their connector in the criminal world , their " boss " .
Returning to Lotus and the way he masterminds a group made up of homeless people . Lotus himself is homeless and he has the knowledge and skills to control and communicate with this bunch of desperate , addicted , diversified and often out of control people . Under his care , these people who previously seemed insignificant , are now useful and recognizable . Since this group began to grow , Hei could openly see that the homeless , despite doing what they had always done , seemes to be becoming more discreet , methodical and organized .
On cold nights or in the rain there are fewer of them on the streets . According to Hei's people the homeless people under Lotus , gather in warehouses as their " area bases " . Despite these changes , due to their low profile or clever hiding places , you often don't know where they are or if they are listening . They are ideally suited to gather information and this has made them become accepted quite quickly . Well besides that they also had a little help from a " third party " . Their " boss " .
Well there were a few disputes between them and smaller gangs , which discovered that some group was selling information , making them lose profits . But now that the homeless have come together as one team , it's scary to think of doing something to them .The homeless grup is at least fifty times the size of the Xiong family . Although it is impossible to determine their numbers without counting each of them .
In the event of a fight , for every one member of the Xiong family there would be fifty , fearless , dirty , alcoholics and drug addicts . You often don't know if when you attack one isolated homeless person from the Lotus grup , fifty won't jump out of some hole to help ther fellow .
Now if it was about a smaller gang , which let's say has less then a hundred members ? What can they do ? Even with firearms , the homeless are like ants in an anthill . Often you don't even have a clue who belongs to the Lotus people , which makes the only way to fight back is to surprise them in their warehouses or kill any of the million homeless people in the Vale .
The city is their territory . Even Hei does not know every street in Vale . Let alone alleys , sewers or abandoned building . Homeless people live in these places so they must know every hiding place and secret passage in the city .
As for the fight with them , Hei saw it with his own eyes when he went to the meeting some time ago . The young guy wanted to intimidate one homeless woman , only to have eight homeless men come out of the alley with flames of fury in their eyes .
Homeless people are not afraid of jail , when they fight they often don't do it with technique they just overwhelm you . The only thing that can make them stop during a fight is their own conscience or fear . Besides , they beat and hurt you with everything they have . If you survive the fight you will probably die of a blood infection.
Of course they didn't kill that young guy there . They simply stripped him naked and threw him in the garbage . Hei and Junior laughed about it all the way to that meeting . However, back to the topic of " territory". Although the homeless group is not considered a gang or family , but as an organization collecting and selling information which puts them as neutral .
Lotus people have their warehouses , but these are more stationary hiding places , which means that they themselves are in constant motion like a leaf in the wind . Hence there is no wonder that large families do not want to fight them , because it makes no sense .
They will overwhelm you . You won't be able to get anything done without them meddling and interfering . That's why everyone has decided that they will accept them as a some sort of organization . Of course, the interference of a " third party " helped in this decision.
Of course, some rules had to be arranged for them . They can collect information , but they can sell it only to big families . In return for them selling only to the big families , they have the permission to set up these warehouses of theirs in their territories which creates their so-called bases ( territory ).
Of course, they were also forced to keep secrets and not sell information about other large families to other families . In short they could not sell any information about Xiong to Da Rose family as well as they can't sell information about Da Rose to Xiong family . This policy covers all large families.
Although information about him or his family , cannot be sold . Hei has the paranoia that he is always being watched and overheard . Although no one should sell information about him , the fact that someone can watch him and collect information about him without his consent is annoying . In the end it is impossible to confirm which homeless person is gathering information and which one is just living ther life .
To make matters worse , in some places they are on every corner . It's also impossible to be sure that none of them is hidden in some alley, under a dumpster or Grimm knows where. This makes Hei feel that he cannot feel safe or discreet anywhere . Hei literally feels like the walls have eyes and ears. The city literally came to life . Now it listens and observes everything that happens .
And most importantly they are directly linked to Kurumi , the mysterious " third party " . She is the one who introduced them to the business , being their contact to the crime families . You could say that she should be their " boss " . Even though she does not manage them , Hei still has the confidence that if Kurumi needed something , Lotus would do it for her . You can look at her as a beneficiary , since she earns a share of what Lotus and his grup earn from the information .
It's like an investor in a company . In this case Kurumi has authority over Lotus which makes her the boss , even if she doesn't poke her nose into what goes on in that group . Her connection to them , is also another example of Kurumi's intelligence and usefulness . And is also another reason why Hei can't do anything with any of these groups . As for where Hei got this information from .... A short conversation with the creepy old woman from pawn shop .
After his sigh , Hei get up from the bar and putting on the jacket from his black suit . Correcting his red tie, Hei looked at Junior .
" Have you checked that place yet ? "
Hei asked Junior , who moved behind his father to the exit .
" The place has already been checked . Our people who I sent to observe the club confirmed that they saw the target enter and then leave the club several times . He is clearly hiding there ."
Replied Junior , watching his father get into the back of his black car , which stood parked in front of the bar .
" Since everything is settled , contact " them " through the secured call . You already know the details of how I want this to be handled . Private work..... I'm offering One Hundred Thousand Lien and future contract . If they have any questions let them call me through our private number , however I believe there will be no questions . "
Said Hei to his son , knowing that the son would understand what he should do next . Confirmation came in the form of a nod from Junior . Seeing this Hei closed the tinted window of the car . Then the driver , took Hei to the port from where he will be taken to the mistral for a meeting . All this was watched by Junior , who after losing sight of his father's car went into the bar , still filled with the guards left by his father , to make a call.