Few could notice that Elliot's target was not chosen randomly. The man he killed was also one of those who mocked Mk. Elliot was just looking for a pretext to kill him. You could say that the man was lucky because if he didn't die here, he would be hunted down at the end of this meeting and before he died, he would be tortured.
Everyone on the scene was shocked by this scene, the most shocked being Bruja and Mk. They had noticed in the past week that Elliot had changed a lot. His black eyes which seemed lifeless were always wandering everywhere as if in search of something that would harm him. His emotions seemed to have disappeared from his body and seeing him smile became a rare occurrence.
He became more bloodthirsty as well. Elliot had always been a violent person, but he controlled this side of himself very well. But now, Elliot would warn only once, and then he would kill whoever it was. This scared them, but it also gave a sense of security, as it showed that he would go to great lengths just to keep them safe.
When asked if Elliot was not afraid of being arrested for this. He simply said:
"I'm already being wanted for the murder of 5 men, what would one more or less body change besides the numbers?"
A man with a large belly and an oily face were the first to come to his senses. This was his office, and seeing the audacity this cripple had made him so angry that the fat on his cheeks trembled, and he was red in anger!
"How dare you, you fucking cripple! We called you here as a symbol of our goodwill, yet you dare to kill one of our subordinates?! Tell me one reason why I shouldn't cut your body into pieces and throw it into the sea right now!" The fat man said as he rose from his seat.
"I have some very good reasons, and one of them is that I have a gun. The second excellent reason is that red dot right in the middle of your forehead." Elliot said as his dead eyes focused on the fat man.
The other people seeing that red dot on the fat man's forehead started to get nervous and tried to get up and run away because it was obvious that in some distant building, a sniper was aiming at them at this very moment. Realizing the commotion that was starting, Elliot tapped his cane on the ground once, and everyone turned to look at him.
"The next one who gets up dies. As you may have noticed, I like to keep my word. And you, you pig, sit down before I shoot that fat belly of yours myself. Why the hell do you keep such a big belly? Use less money for food and more for keeping yourself healthy, it's horrible to look at you." Elliot said.
The fat man sat with his face red with shame and anger and was already planning how he would kill Elliot. A man with a strong, muscle-filled body looked at Elliot with mockery written in his eyes.
"So this is how you respond to our invitation willingly, cripple. That is very sad indeed. I was one of those who advocated that we should try to talk before hunting you down and torturing you. I guess I was wrong." The man said while shaking his head.
Elliot laughed heartily when he heard this. That's right, Elliot was "invited" to come to this meeting, and it wasn't because these people thought Elliot was on the same level as them, but rather because Elliot had something that was of interest to them. Since his reincarnation, Elliot had gathered a good group. They were all men and women who had served in the war of a few years ago, but now they could no longer go back to the way they were. After this, Elliot looted local gangs and got weapons from them.
Soon after this, Elliot attacked neighboring towns, robbing banks, mansions, and anything he thought worthwhile. Elliot rarely attacked in person, since due to his disability, he would slow everything down. In one of these raids, a few towns away, Elliot found an antique vase in the home of an old collector.
One of Elliot's subordinates ended up knocking over the vase, and they discovered that the vase was built around a bronze plate. On this bronze plate were inscribed coordinates and a map, the map of a long-lost city. This city prospered in ancient times and was said to be one of the most powerful and prosperous of its time. Time passed and that city fell, no one knows how.
But with this map, it would be possible to find it and snatch all the items that still remained in this city. Elliot didn't know how, but this information leaked out, and now all the major lords of the city knew about it. Elliot was out of patience and irritated because besides running from one place to another to get money for his big score, he discovered that his brother, although he had survived, had ended up being seriously injured.
Elliot had to give a good amount of money to his brother so that he could be transferred to a good hospital to receive the best possible treatment. Added to this, these old foxes kept calling him to talk about cooperation, when they offered nothing and wanted everything Elliot had.
Being at the end of his patience, Elliot forced himself to keep calm and not go crazy. He knew that these people found out about this because some of his henchmen were not loyal. Elliot felt dumb to notice that he trusted who he shouldn't trust, and he could only blame his own naivety for the way things turned out.
"Would you really trust this sniper with your life, kid? Remember, you are here alone, and we are greater in numbers, while you, you only have two people with you if you don't count the sniper." The muscular man said with a smile.
Elliot looked at the man for a moment. The man would never admit it out loud, but those dead eyes staring at him were certainly scary. After looking at the man for a while, Elliot laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" He laughed to the point where he bent over and his stomach hurt.
The man frowned at this blatant disrespect. Not being able to stand to hear Elliot's laughter any longer, the man finally asked:
"What's so funny, kid? Do you see any clowns here?"
"There are no costumed clowns, but certainly, all of you are clowns. My sniper is a veteran of the Black River Battle, you know?"
After wiping a lone tear that fell from his eye, Elliot picked up a pen from the table under the watchful eyes of everyone in the room, including Bruja and Mk. Seeing Elliot raise the pen above his head, Bruja thought:
'Ha... he's going to do that again. Doesn't he get tired of putting his life at risk?'
Soon, the sound of breaking glass was heard and one of the large windows in the office was shattered. The bullet fired hit the cap of the pen Elliot was holding and stopped only when it hit a wall.
Everyone in the room was silent and shocked. They knew that these windows were bulletproof, and they made sure they had good protection. After all, how could they grow so much doing business in the criminal world if they didn't protect themselves? And yet, that sniper managed not only to pierce such bulletproof glass but also to hit an object as small as the pen cap on Elliot's hand!
Coming out of his shock, the muscular man paid attention to some information that Elliot had intentionally leaked.
"You said your sniper is a survivor of the Black River Battle?" He asked with a shaky voice.
"Yes, one of the few survivors." Elliot said without any change in his tone as he watched the movements outside the room.
Gulp
Everyone, without exception, swallowed dryly at this information.
A few years ago, the android revolt had occurred. The humans had become complacent and incredibly dependent on their androids. The androids took care of the children, and the finances cleaned their houses, ran their businesses, and even satisfied their sexual desires. Because of this dependence, the humans did not pay attention to basic things, such as the androids learning how to run factories and billion-dollar companies without the need of a human.
After years of slavery, the androids revolted and sought equal rights with humans, and were brutally denied. The humans considered that the androids had become defective, and soon a planet-wide mass discard began. The android leaders were angered by this attitude, and a brutal war ensued. The humans fought bravely, but because more than half the armies of all the countries in the world were androids before the revolt, the androids knew their strategies and strengths.
The humans overwhelmingly lost this war, and 1/3 of the entire planet was taken over by the androids. One of the most brutal fights of that war was called the battle of the black river, and all the survivors of that battle were living legends for surviving what happened in that place.
Everyone turned once more to look at the young man, who was sitting quietly in front of them all without any expression. His suit that fit his body perfectly, his posture, with one leg crossed over the other, his gaze is uninterested in everything that was happening in this place. They ended up ignoring something that should be of utmost importance. From the moment he arrived, Elliot showed no nerves whatsoever.
He arrived and sat down in a seat of his choosing. The people in this room didn't think it was a big deal. After all, Elliot was called there simply to give the map "gladly" to the people in this room. If the price for this was for him to choose where he would sit, so be it. But nobody stopped to think that Elliot had already studied the layout of this building, and therefore had a sniper in a good seat. The chair Elliot sat in was not random, either. This chair gave a good view to his sniper, with good lighting, and with the sniper's skills, the chance of missing a shot was close to zero.
Realizing the mistake they had made, everyone was furious. The angriest of them all was the mayor. From the beginning of the meeting until now, he didn't say a word. The mayor was a man in his 40s, with blond hair and green eyes. Although he was past the prime of his life, his beauty was still there for anyone to see. The mayor had a mechanical hand, and no one knew if he did this because he lost his hand or if it was just to improve his body.
Doval, the mayor of H-town, believed that the entire city belonged to him, and seeing these lowly creatures sitting around him disgusted him, but he knew they were a necessary evil. And if that wasn't enough, now some cripple was in his house and wanted to sell something that already belonged to him? That was unforgivable!
"Since we've all put our cards on the table, let's cut to the chase. I won't cooperate with anyone and I won't sell the map to anyone. One week from today, I will be holding an auction with this map and other items I found while walking around Brezik. If you want to participate, is to accept the invitation that will be sent to all of you."
Elliot knew he couldn't be greedy. As much as he had the upper hand today, it only means that he has more speaking power at this particular meeting. Elliot has been active in the criminal world for only a week. There is no way he can compare to these people, who have entire organizations backing them, and some have families rooted in the world of politics, who could send the country's army to hunt Elliot down.
Knowing that being greedy and wanting to keep the map would do more harm than good, Elliot was quick in his decision and decided to auction it off, getting some benefit instead of none. Elliot slowly stood up from his chair, leaning on his new sophisticated cane. Elliot felt good using it, so he stood up more slowly than usual, to see if it would hold his body weight.
The people in the room thought that this was some kind of demonstration of power by Elliot, and even Mk and Bruja thought that this was Elliot's intention. If he knew the thoughts of those around him, he would laugh until his stomach hurt.
"He who comes to take revenge or tries to steal the map and kill me will die. The one who tries to cheat at the auction or use something other than credits or an item of similar value to the map will die. Don't think that I only have one sniper with me, think about how in just one week I have accomplished so much. And to end any chance of you being dumb enough to kill me for the map, it's already at the auction house with other items." Elliot said as he headed for the exit with Bruja and Mk.
Stopping on the way, Elliot looked at everyone in the room one last time. Giving a small smile, Elliot said:
"That was a nice meeting, guys. We should do this more often. But next time, please add some snacks and something to drink. My throat is dry and I didn't get any glass of water." Elliot left the room after saying that, and Mk closed the door for being the last to leave.
The room was silent for a second, but soon the mayor used his steel arm to hit the glass table with all his might, shattering it in the process. His eyes were bloodshot, and his thoughts were not good at this moment.
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