Keloat glanced at the shield still tightly clasped in his arms, his lips pursed tightly. Then, gripping his short-handled axe, he dashed in the direction where the key members of the Banca Gang had fled.
He bounded downstairs along the stairs and spotted the wooden door inside the tavern slightly ajar. Eager not to lose his quarry, he lunged forward. But the moment he stepped in, a glinting dagger flashed towards him! He quickly raised his arms to block. Keloat felt a searing pain as the dagger sliced into his right arm. In an instant, blood trickled down his bulging muscles. Steadying himself, he looked ahead and saw the bodyguard who had been twirling the dagger on the second floor standing right in front of him.
The sudden attack did rattle Keloat for a moment, but the bodyguard on the other side was also filled with shock and disbelief. He had full confidence in the quality of his dagger. However, this dagger that had once effortlessly severed the limbs of many opponents seemed to hit a solid rock when it struck the right arm of this towering man. It only managed to cut through a small portion of the flesh and then got firmly stuck in the muscles!
Gritting his teeth, Keloat twisted his right arm and aimed the axe blade straight at the bodyguard's throat, hacking down with all his might. The bodyguard never expected that the enemy could still counter-attack despite the pain of his cut arm. He quickly leaned backward, narrowly dodging Keloat's powerful swing.
Then, he bent down and charged forward into Keloat's arms, stabbing repeatedly with the dagger in his hand. At this moment, the disparity in their fighting skills became glaringly obvious. Keloat was caught off-guard by this sudden onslaught and didn't know where to direct his strength!
At this critical juncture, the assassin raised the dagger blade upwards towards Keloat's chest. As a seasoned assassin, he was confident that he could plunge his dagger into the enemy's heart before the enemy's short-handled axe could land a blow. His judgment of their speeds was accurate. Even Keloat, who had made the first move, couldn't match the speed of his backhand dagger thrust.
But this bodyguard got the beginning right and the end wrong. When his dagger stabbed Keloat's chest, he was stunned to see a faint blue water film unexpectedly appear on the man's chest, enveloping the blade of his dagger and preventing it from penetrating any further.
In close-combat, victory or defeat is often decided in a split-second. Since the bodyguard's dagger couldn't pierce Keloat's chest, the short-handled axe had already crashed down on the bodyguard's back!
"You stabbed me so many times. I deserve at least one swing at you!" Keloat growled menacingly, his cheeks smeared with blood. No matter how you dodged, as long as I landed one blow, you were a dead man!!
He gained 3 points of bloodline energy, but the system didn't activate... The energy dissipated!
Since there was no one around, Keloat activated his Tide Bloodline ability, determined to end the fight quickly. He struck with such force that the short-handled axe directly severed the bodyguard's spine. The splashing flesh and blood stained Keloat's clothes. He quickly reached out his left hand to push the body aside and rushed out of the room through the door leading to the back of the tavern.
He vaguely saw a group of people running in the distance. Keloat ignored the injuries on his right arm and abdomen and started chasing after them. He originally thought that with his eyesight on land and the dim light of the sky, he might lose them this time. Who would have thought that those people stopped when they realized there was only one person following them. Probably they thought it would be inconvenient to reach their hidden strongholds with someone trailing behind, so they decided to deal with Keloat first.
Of course, the top-level members of the Banca Gang were definitely not among those who stayed. The leader ordered several key members to stay and block Keloat, while the remaining three each carried a suitcase and fled. Keloat was quite frustrated about this. He was confident that he could keep all of them there if he fully activated his Tide Bloodline, but that was something he would never do.
In fact, he couldn't even quickly eliminate these key members. He had to engage with them in a protracted battle and put on a show of a tough fight. He had already planned the impression he wanted to leave on Burke and the other policemen. He should come across as a person with a bit of natural strength, reaching the early stage approaching the middle stage of body-forging, but lacking in fighting skills and mostly relying on brute force in battles.
Therefore, when facing these key members, Keloat deliberately held back his strength. When Burke and his men rushed out from the back door of the tavern, they naturally saw Keloat struggling with the key members of the Banca Gang.
After seeing Burke and his men approaching, Keloat deliberately showed a weakness and let his arm be cut, pretending to be completely exhausted. The key members of the Banca Gang weren't fools. When they saw the enemy's reinforcements coming, they all fled as fast as they could, leaving Keloat sitting on the grass, gasping for breath as if he was utterly spent. Burke and his subordinates drew their guns and quickly shot dead those who were about to escape.
Then Burke squatted down beside Keloat. Looking at the two scars on his right arm and the blood on his abdomen, he couldn't help but let out a sigh. This little brother he had just taken under his wing was so dedicated to him. He was deeply touched.
On the one hand, he resolved to take better care of Keloat in the future. On the other hand, he classified Keloat as one of those not-so-smart people and was less on guard against him. He even thought that he could assign some private jobs to him in the future.
What he didn't know was that although the two scars on Keloat's arm looked quite serious, they were just superficial wounds. With the powerful constitution bestowed by his Tide Giant Bloodline, he would recover in just two days.
"Sheriff Burke, I'm sorry. I couldn't catch up with those people and almost got killed by these minions." Keloat seemed to be apologizing on the surface, but what he really meant was that he was working for Burke now, had been "seriously" injured, and Burke should show his appreciation, especially since there were still a group of subordinates around.
"Alas... Keloat, how can you say that? You've really helped me a great deal. Don't worry. The people who came with me this time aren't just my subordinates. There's another team responsible for handling the follow-up that has been lying in ambush beside the tavern for a long time. Those members of the Banca Gang won't be able to escape. Later, go to the tavern and take whatever you want from the cash register on the first floor. I've always been good to my own people."
If someone else had said those words, Burke might have wondered if they were trying to trick him. But when the seemingly a bit dim-witted Keloat, even though covered in blood, said this, Burke's first reaction was to comfort him, and his second reaction was to give him some benefits. Otherwise, he would seem like an ungenerous leader.
So Keloat stood up with Burke's support and followed them back to the tavern. He started rummaging through the things left by the Banca Gang. This was an unwritten rule in the garrison. Teams like the commando had the right to search such places first. After all, they were the ones who shed the most blood and sweat in every mission. They were always the first to face the danger, while the others were just in the back-up position. If they weren't given some rewards like money, who would be stupid enough to risk their lives for such things?
Of course, they couldn't take everything. In the end, Keloat got a dagger from the man he had killed, a pistol from one of the minions, four ten-round magazines, and three silver coins, which was roughly equivalent to an ordinary person's monthly salary. After everyone had taken some money, they left the scene.
Keloat was quite satisfied with this result because he saw that Burke only took about ten silver coins. This might be a show for his subordinates. Keloat knew that Burke's real gain wasn't here. Just for this operation of eliminating the Banca Gang that had defied the government, there would surely be a bonus from above, and his performance record would have a very good entry. There would be plenty of benefits in the future.
But Keloat wouldn't say such thoughts directly. On the surface, he was extremely grateful to Burke, constantly patting his chest and telling him that if there were any difficulties in the future, just come to him and he would surely do his best to help.
"Hehe, Keloat, go back and clean up the things in the tavern today. Don't live in those shabby places anymore. The money you got today is enough for you to find a good rental house. Take a good rest. Remember to come to the garrison to report tomorrow. I'll go back and handle some of your employment documents later."
The successful completion of the mission put Burke in a very good mood. He patted Keloat on the shoulder and said.
"Sir, you know about my identity certificate... I was picked up by Aunt Ruili from the harbor. I don't have one. Do you think you could...?"
"Ha, what's that! Other stowaways have to wine and dine the people in the garrison to get an identity certificate. But you've got me. Don't worry. Leave this to me. Come early tomorrow. I'll ask the people in the garrison to try to get it done for you in half a day. How about that? Feel more at ease now?"
"Thank you, thank you, Big Brother Burke. Take care. See you tomorrow!"
Watching Burke and his policemen drive away, the smile on Keloat's face gradually faded. The plan was a success!
The arrangements he had made in the past month hadn't been in vain. Through this operation, Keloat had obtained his first substantial amount of money, three weapons Burke didn't take back the short - handled axe and said it was a gift for Keloat's employment], an identity certificate that was about to be obtained, and most importantly, a police identity!
It was a multi - pronged success, which made Keloat's lips curl slightly and the light in his eyes shine brighter. He went back to the tavern to say goodbye to Aunt Ruili. This aunt was like his savior. Keloat had guarded the door for her for two months without taking any money, which could be regarded as a way of repaying her. From now on, they owed each other nothing.
In his room in the tavern, he packed the books he had bought with the money earned from various odd jobs into a large backpack. Finally, he put on the glasses he had spent a lot of money on for the convenience of reading. After removing his disguise, the silly look on Keloat's face disappeared completely, leaving only a sense of toughness and wisdom!
There were many rental houses in Dulas Port. In order to make it convenient for his future work, Keloat simply found a rental house near the garrison. It actually took him quite a while to find this place to stay because he had to soak in water for about two or three hours every day to suppress his Tide Bloodline, so the rental house must have a big enough bathtub...