Kon and his group had finished making the call to NIRV, and he didn't have the best expression on his face. The others could tell based on his whole demeanor that they weren't happy that they were unable to finish the job and that they needed support.
However, Kon didn't care; he cared about his team more than he did NIRV. With the car off in the distance, the group decided that they had to head back inside.
"Is the S-rank retriever coming to this city?" one of them asked.
"Yes, when he arrives, he will be here to support us. NIRV doesn't want any of what happened today getting out, and they want us to find out who was behind the real attack," Kon replied. "While we're waiting, it's best if we do research into just what the goal was for those guys."
It didn't make much sense to the retrievers, apart from one thing they had witnessed: one of them going ahead and collecting the Altered solutions.
The most likely answer at the moment was that they were competitors of NIRV who had hired another gang to do their business. Most likely, they didn't have a clue what they were getting into. Taking out a Tier-4 gang and taking something that belonged to NIRV were two entirely different things.
"They were strong, though, a lot stronger than I thought. There can't be many gangs that have members that are that strong. That limits our numbers down a bit," Kon thought.
Entering back into the Phantom Brawl, the whole place looked a mess. Altered had been killed and left on the ground. Some of them were just badly injured, and Vixen, who was originally a retriever working for NIRV, had been taken care of as well.
"Round up all the Altered, and get Nox to stand with the rest of them," Kon ordered. "And make sure no one leaves this place."
The steel doors were closed behind them with one of the retrievers standing by. It was the retriever who had been injured most by Gary, taking a direct attack on his own. The fact that he was standing strong made none of the gang members want to try and test if they could break free or not.
Doing as Kon ordered, the Scavenger squad leaders had been lined up, and that included Nox, who was following everything he was told. Meanwhile, the sisters, as well as the onlookers, were told to just stay standing by the side.
Kon walked up to the lineup and turned his head to look at the others.
"As you might have guessed, we have been sent here by NIRV!" Kon shouted so everybody could hear. "Nox here was taking care of the city for us, and in turn, we gave him quite a few valuable gifts: the Altered. Yet, today, he failed us."
Swinging out his hand, Kon slammed it right into Nox's face and stopped. The force of the punch was powerful, and since it was just in one area and Nox was a normal human, his skull was smashed, and his head exploded before he fell dead to the ground.
"I hope you know not to speak of what happened today to anyone, and I hope in the future, that we can work together."
Kon clicked his fingers, and the other retrievers immediately went full force into the injured Altered. They swung their fists repeatedly and quickly until they were no longer moving.
"All of you are free to leave now!" Kon smiled, and he looked over at the four sisters who were shaking, swollen-eyed, and their minds a little broken from everything that had happened.
"Between the four of you, one of you decide who's going to be the next one to run the Scavengers; NIRV will be in touch," Kon said.
The place had been cleared out, and reports had been given through phone calls about what had occurred in the city before they had arrived. Still, it was making even less sense to them all as they were finding out information.
Around an hour later, a large knock was heard on the metal door. One of the retrievers slid it open, and in front of them was the S-rank.
"Jayden Clove, reporting in," the man said, as he walked past and entered the room.
Jayden Clove was Jayden's real name, and it was what NIRV had him documented as. So they clearly knew who his family and connections were, unlike the rest of the world.
Due to his skills, not just inside the AFC, but outside, he was considered S-rank, being one of the top 50 AFC fighters. However, S-ranks weren't the highest rank retrievers; there was SS and SSS. However, if these retrievers were to be called, there would be a country-wide issue happening for them to be involved.
"I hear that they left not too long ago, so if we want to track them down, then we need as much information as possible. Did you find anything out?" Jayden asked, as he walked over to the others who were sitting at a table.
They had propped up one of the fallen tables and brought chairs over for them all. The retriever that was by the door flew in and sat down with the rest of them.
"Everything has been strange; we can't find out the reason for their attack," Kon answered. "They started out at the factory, yet they didn't destroy it, nor did they take anything of large significance. Instead, they took the workers, of all things."
"Then joining this underground fighting and Phantom Brawl. It doesn't add up, apart from that some Altered solution was taken. They should have known that Nox was just a figurehead, yet they still went after him."
They sat around the table, and all of them were thinking for a bit until one of the retrievers spoke up.
"I think I know who that Wolf Altered is," they said. "Before he transformed, I knocked off his mask, and I saw his face, the green hair and the transformation. I was looking into it; I think it's Gary Dem!"
Some didn't know the name, while others had reacted, and for Jayden, his heart beat even faster.
"I'm sure of it. I was looking into him, and it appears he's connected with a gang called the Howlers. I'm pretty sure these were the guys who were hired, but I don't understand why they would steal the workers. The Scavengers could always just replace them with more people."
Everyone was waiting for an answer, and that’s when Jayden just smiled.
“It’s because he’s a good guy.”
“Sorry, what did you say?” Kon moved closer thinking he might have misheard.
“And you guys aren’t.” Jayden’s eyes had changed and only in that moment had Kon managed to catch it, but it was too late.
Jayden’s hand had transformed into a claw and smashed Kon’s head right through the table. His claws had dug halfway through Kon’s head.
Continuing his transformation, Jayden was getting ready to deal with the rest of them as well.
“Why are you doing this, aren’t you with us!”
“Me?” Jayden replied. “No, I hate NIRV.”
*****
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