After getting ready, Oliver went straight to the place informed by Forrest.
It was the Hoffman Transportation Company on 35th Street, a company that handles a small part of Crime Firm's logistics
There was a low wooden fence around the open site, and there were dozens of trucks that seemed to be unused.
It was quite old, but it was still good compared to the ones in the innermost part of the site.
It wasn’t known when the building at the site was built but it was worn out like a naked mouse.
In addition, in front of the building, a group of people was arguing loudly.
"Let go of me, you piece of sh*ts! I'm gonna take this opportunity to kill those b*tches! If they get a bullet in their head, they'll learn something!!!”
A man who seemed to be in his mid to late 20s could be seen shouting, and some people who seemed older than him were stopping him.
He was filled with all kinds of emotions such as anger, anxiety, and irritation. He was literally in a state where he was swayed by his emotions.
On the other hand, others around him were trying to suppress emotions such as Irritation, Disappointment, and frustration, while trying to stop the man.
“Ah, I understand, Boss. But, let's wait a little longer. Murphy says someone is coming soon.”
“Do you fu*kers think I can’t blow the heads of some puss*es by myself?”
"No, it’s not that, Boss. Don't you know, it's noisy in the city these days. It's not good to stand out at such a time… When it's appropriate, let's re-educate those fu*kers. Now is not the time for that.”
Older men took turns persuading the young man.
Interestingly, the young man who was consumed by anger was also wary of the eyes of the older men who were persuading him, and the scene felt quite amusing to Oliver, who was watching.
Even though they could be seen exchanging their thoughts, they weren’t talking about what they were really thinking. It was as if they didn't want to show anything on the outside.
"Um."
Oliver saw Murphy, who was standing still from afar, watching the situation. He patted his chin and watched them quarrel without saying a word.
He was thinking deeply about something, and suddenly his eyes shone with a cunning light.
"Mr. Murphy."
Oliver approached and talked to him.
Murphy frowned with his brows narrowed, but soon loosened his expression and politely greeted Oliver.
"Oh, Mr. Warlock. You're here. I've been waiting for you."
All eyes turned towards Oliver.
They all looked at Oliver with a sense of welcome, but soon those emotions turned into questions and doubts.
An awkward silence fell for a moment, then a fat middle-aged man spoke.
"Hey, Murphy….. Is this the Solver you were talking about?"
A fat, middle-aged man asked Murphy with emotions that shone with contempt, to which Murphy responded with firm faith.
“Yes, his name is Dave, the warlock I was talking about. I owe a lot to him.”
Everyone couldn't open their mouths hastily because of Murphy's guarantee, but Oliver could see that they didn't seem to have any trust in him.
They just didn't show it on the outside, and at that moment, someone said.
"I knew this would happen. I told you before, didn’t I?”
Everyone's eyes were focused on someone. At the point where everyone’s sight converged, stood a man in his 40s in a neatly dressed suit.
His appearance was that of one in his mid-30s, in attractive all-white hair and a neat beard, which seemed to be one that had been cut at an expensive barbershop.
"Um… Who is that?"
“… This is Hilton, a warlock who signed an exclusive contract with the Hoffman family. He has been around since the time of the previous Boss."
While Murphy answered Oliver's question, the man named Hilton pointed to Oliver.
"Don't tell me everyone believes in this kid who doesn’t even seem to be in his 20s. Are you really thinking this brat could take care of Stonefist Arthur? If you send him, those drivers will look down on us even more. They're already in high spirits with the support from the Union…..If you send a guy like this, it's like pouring oil on it."
As soon as his words ended, muffled voices could be heard here and there.
“Is that kid really a warlock?”
“I think Stonefist Arthur would send him flying in one punch.”
“He would look like a puppy in front of those veteran Solvers.”
Oliver wasn't particularly angry or displeased since this has been the reaction of all those people who met him for the first time. It was natural because they did not know him and therefore they lacked trust.
It wasn't that serious because Oliver just had to work hard and instill faith in them, but Murphy does not seem to think that way, he looked at Oliver's expression with a flustered expression and said urgently.
"Everyone. Once again, I’ll vouch for Dave. He’s a real deal. I’ve seen it myself. I'm sure of his skills. So, please don't be rude to the person that I've invited. As I've said earlier, I was the one who asked for him to come personally."
Murphy spoke in a polite manner, but he did not hide his displeasure.
The people of the Hoffman family fluttered a little and looked away.
Oliver had heard that the Hoffman family was a senior organization, but looking at the scene that doesn't seem to be the case.
‘Or is there some secret that I don’t know?’
It was nothing serious, but Oliver was curious, he wondered whether Murphy would answer if he asked.
"…Shut the fu*k, Murphy. How dare a newbie like you yell at our family? I couldn't have imagined such a thing when Mr. James was around."
Hilton said with malice. He seemed to be doing this on purpose, and as he expected, the atmosphere became serious, but at that moment, a chubby, soft-looking man intervened.
"Hey, hey. Let's all calm down… Murphy, I understand that you’re trying to help us, but don’t you think you are being a little rude here?"
"What do you expect me to do? I brought the young Warlock to deal with the serious situation, and do you want me to stay still when you guys disrespect him? I'm sorry, Mr. Hilton, but this Warlock is the man who has been the talk of the town recently. Didn't I tell you a few times already?”
"How long do you think I was in this business, Murphy? Half of a Solver’s reputation is just an illusion. Do you know how many Geniuses I’ve seen appear and disappear… Boss, let's just go with my suggestion. Give me some money, I'll get my old friends and thrash those cheeky truckers as well as catch those robbers who are trying to threaten our business."
Hearing Hilton’s words, a few people gathered around the young Boss and started discussing. It seemed to be about the lack of money, and there also seemed to be some other conflict.
There were a lot of things Oliver wanted to ask Murphy, but he decided to do his job first.
Work had an order, and he knew that he could ask for something only if he did something first.
"Excuse me?"
At those words, all the eyes in the open site turned toward Oliver.
“Sorry while you are busy. Everyone seems to have doubts about my skills, so why don't you test me? Then, I guess we don't have to quarrel with each other."
Everyone looked at Oliver with emotions of wonder as if they couldn’t believe what Oliver had just said.
They felt like seeing something out of place that doesn't fit the situation.
At that moment, the well-dressed warlock named Hilton spoke. He showed hostility for some unknown reason.
"Ha… Look at a youngster in good spirits. So, how are you going to prove it?"
“Um… I don’t know. How can I prove it?”
"Hahahaha! He's just a fool. There's a simple way."
With those words, Hilton extracted emotions from his test tube at once.
Soon, a black magic circle got formed in the air, and hate bullets filled with murderous intent got loaded.
The black magic circle was used as the central axis for condensing the emotions instead of the fingers, and Oliver found the idea pretty interesting.
It was inefficient, but if done well, it might give you a surprise.
"Then, let me see your strength….!!"
BAM
Faba Baba Bang———!
Oliver's shadow tentacles instantly rose from under Hilton's feet and smashed the ready-for-launch hate Bullets.
It was an instant, less than a second, and everyone who saw this scene couldn't keep their mouths shut.
Hilton, Hoffman Family members, and Murphy, everyone was dumbfounded.
"………"
"………"
"………"
"…Oh, I'm sorry. Was I mistaken? I thought you were going to test my skills with a light match."
Oliver spoke softly, but the mood showed no signs of improvement.
Eventually, Oliver whispered to Murphy.
"Shall I just go?"
"No! No! No! Don't go."
The one who intervened was the young man who was holding a gun and wrestling with the older men a while ago.
He came to Oliver and introduced himself as the boss of the Hoffman family, Jimmy Hoffman.
"I'm taking over the family in the footsteps of my father, James Hoffman. Nice to meet you… Murphy, you've brought the right person. Thank you."
All of a sudden, their interest in Hilton faded away, and everyone flocked around Oliver instead.
They looked at him like a boat they met while drowning.
“Are you going to help us?”
“Yes, I signed a contract with Mr. Murphy.”
“Okay….Very good! Murphy, I’ll grant you all the terms and conditions you want as long as this case works out. I promise you in my father’s name.”
"Thank you, Jimmy."
"Well, please help me right away. First, let's get rid of those arrogant truck drivers and then the Solvers who help them."
"…?"
Oliver looked at Murphy in silence since what Jimmy Hoffman said right now was something that was not in the contract.
As if to prove it, Murphy had a perplexed look on his face due to the situation, and he begged Oliver for his pardon, then took Jimmy to a corner and said something.
The conversation turned into a shout-out in the middle with one or two swear words heard every few seconds. The man named Jimmy screamed nervously as he did when Oliver saw him for the first time. The emotions were very unstable, but Murphy persuaded politely and persistently.
It seemed like Murphy was in control of the situation. There were words like believe and trust that could be heard, and soon after Murphy came alone toward Oliver.
“Jimmy has allowed me to negotiate on his behalf. Can you help me, Mr. Warlock?”
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
Oliver followed Murphy to the parking lot where the drivers of the Hoffman Transport Company were on strike.
It wasn't far, and on the way, Murphy gave a brief overview of the Hoffman family, about the temperamental Jimmy who succeeded his father as the boss of the family a few months ago, and the fact that he succeeded his father, who had an excellent reputation and skills, and also the fact that he was a little impatient.
"That's right. That's why he was so angry. I hope you understand. After all, nervousness is every young man's characteristic."
A plump man with a wrinkle on his face said as if he was in agreement with Murphy.
His name was Frank. He was the one who stopped Hilton when he taunted Oliver.
He was the one Jimmy sent for help and surveillance, and somehow he seemed very close to Murphy.
"By the way. That's amazing. Murphy… I can't believe you brought someone like this! No, I heard the story and believed it, but it's even more amazing to see it in person. Thank you very much. You have relieved our urgent financial need… .. you’re amazing even though you’re young."
"No. I also need the Hoffmann Transport Company's sales network, so you don't have to praise me for what I did.”
His words were kind, but when Oliver looked at the emotional state, it was more cunning.
It was a little bit shady, but Oliver thought he knew what it was.
‘But it's not the time to ask yet.'
"By the way, Mr. Dave. You said you knew one of the Solvers on the driver’s side, right?”
"Yes, it’s Mr. Arthur.”
“Ah, I see. Isn't he that strange person with a stone-like arm? what was that… .?”
"A golem prosthetic arm?"
"Ah! Yes. Yes. It smashed some of our kids. It's a complete boulder… He hit the truck with his fist and it rolled a few laps. Oh my god… We came back rolling our tails when we saw that, and it hurt Jimmy's pride. Hilton, that guy keeps talking nonsense. He was docile when Mr. James was alive, but as soon as he died, he started acting like he was the boss of the family."
Frank's words were mixed with complaints and dissatisfaction.
Murphy knew and pretended not to know, and somehow Oliver found the whole thing pretty interesting.
"I'm glad that you're still in charge. I think Arthur is in charge there, and knowing that Mr. Dave is familiar with him, it'll at least make it easier for us to start a conversation."
"I don't know if he'll like it. I haven't talked to him much…and, besides, I'm not good at negotiation."
Oliver said as he recalled his negotiation with the inn hostess. It ended with a shout.
"I'll persuade them. Mr. Warlock, you have to just open a window for us to talk, and protect our backs in case of any unforeseen circumstances.”
Murphy said so secretly with excitement and ambition.
Apparently, his purpose was not simply to help the Hoffman family and secure a sales network.
Somehow, it seemed like everyone connected to Jimmy Hoffman has some kind of ulterior motive with them, and Oliver found these kinds of human emotions interesting and worth a study.
(To be Continued on NOV 14 {MON})
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