“Hey, buddy. Give this to your captain.”
Levi pulled an envelope from inside his coat and handed it to one of the men guarding the entrance to the estate.
“What’s this?” The guard stared at Levi suspiciously without reaching for it.
The young man before him was a complete stranger, and he had no idea what he was up to.
“Count Harker wants your captain to have it. It’s about that Miss Fortune woman. If you don’t hurry, you’d better hope no one finds you floating facedown in a gutter tomorrow.” Levi regarded him calmly, his expression completely unhurried.
“Uh…”
The man seemed to imagine something unpleasant and shuddered.
He quickly took the letter, called another man over to watch the entrance, then hurried inside the estate.
Watching him disappear into the distance, Levi’s lips curled into a knowing smile.
He gave the second letter hidden inside his coat a light squeeze before swiftly leaving.
Inside an inconspicuous room in the estate, a bald man lounged against a soft sofa, a cigar pinched between his fingers as smoke drifted around him.
A vicious knife scar ran across one of his eyes, giving him a savage appearance.
This was Crow, one of Bilgewater’s most infamous crime lords.
He took pleasure in brutally torturing people and was a genuine sadist.
Miss Fortune had wanted to negotiate a truce, and Crow and Captain Bragg had taken the opportunity to demand half of her men.
That pretty boy Count Harker had joined them as well, even though neither Crow nor Bragg particularly liked him.
One of Crow’s men suddenly rushed through the door, panting heavily.
A trace of displeasure crossed Crow’s face.
“What is it?” he asked coldly.
“A letter from Count Harker. His messenger said it’s extremely urgent and asked that you read it immediately.”
Under Crow’s icy stare, the man nervously handed over a sealed letter bearing what appeared to be Count Harker’s conspicuous seal.
“Knock next time.”
Crow waved him away.
The man looked as though he’d been granted a pardon and hurried out of the room.
Crow put the cigar between his lips and opened Harker’s letter.
“Miss Fortune has to die. MacGregan’s Killhouse, Slaughter Docks, midnight. , Harker.”
The message was brief, but excitement gradually appeared in Crow’s eyes.
If they could divide Miss Fortune’s territory among themselves, his own influence would expand considerably.
A cruel smile tugged at his lips.
There was no reason not to sink his teeth into such a juicy prize when it had practically been placed in front of him.
He did not doubt the letter for even a moment.
That pretty boy Harker didn’t have the guts to play a trick on him.
Not long afterward, Captain Bragg received a letter from Harker at another estate.
Stroking his greasy beard, he immediately rose and headed toward the designated meeting place.
At midnight, the Slaughter Docks were eerily quiet.
The butchers and dockworkers had long since gone home for the night, leaving no one in sight.
Inside MacGregan’s Killhouse, the nauseating stench of blood and offal filled the air.
Sea monster blood had stained parts of the floor a dark crimson, leaving everything damp and sticky.
Aside from the workers themselves, few people would willingly spend any time in a place like this.
A cold draft swept through the building.
The hanging lamp in the center of the killhouse creaked softly, its dim yellow light swaying back and forth across the empty room.
A figure wearing a heavy, wide-brimmed hat stood at the entrance.
A thick coat covered the person’s entire body, concealing their face completely.
A heavily bearded man was about to push open the door when the cloaked figure extended a hand and spoke in a low voice.
“Please surrender all your weapons. Those are the rules of the negotiation.”
“Of course, of course. I know.”
Captain Bragg removed his pistol from his belt and handed it over before pushing open the door.
Inside, he saw a familiar figure.
A bald man leaned against a pillar in a shadowy corner of the room, taking deep drags from his cigar.
The glowing red tip flickered in the darkness.
Hearing the door open, he did not even bother raising his head.
The foul smell that assaulted Bragg made him frown.
“Crow,” he said impatiently.
“Bragg.”
“Where’s that pretty boy Harker? I’m waiting five minutes at most.”
As he spoke, Count Harker’s voice came from behind him.
“Let’s make this quick, gentlemen.”
The cloaked figure spoke again.
“Please surrender your weapons. Those are the rules.”
Harker ignored the request and barged inside with two of his men.
But the person he had expected to see was nowhere to be found.
When he saw Bragg and Crow instead, confusion flashed across his face.
“If I get to personally put a bullet through her head, I’ll gladly give up my share for this month. Where is she?”
“Hell if I know,” Crow replied coldly.
“Why don’t we discuss the plan while we’re here?” Bragg immediately suggested.
“My men can seal off this entire section of the docks.”
“What? You’re saying she’s not here? Then why the hell did you call us here, so we could smell sea monster guts all night?” Harker snapped angrily.
Crow and Bragg looked equally baffled.
“You called us here. The letters we received even had your ridiculous seal on them.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t even have a damn seal!”
The argument among the three men grew increasingly heated.
The cloaked figure stepped inside and slowly closed the door behind them.
“Gentlemen, surrender your weapons,” the figure called loudly.
This time, however, the voice unmistakably belonged to a woman.
Harker, Crow, and Bragg knew that voice all too well.
All three stared at the figure in shock.
“Actually, gentlemen,” she said with a soft laugh, “you can keep your weapons.”
She threw open her heavy coat.
Two black pistols were already aimed at them.
“Sarah?”
All three shouted her name at once.
Sarah did not hesitate.
Bang!
Bang!
Two shots rang out in rapid succession, instantly dropping Harker’s two men as they reached for their guns.
Bragg charged forward.
Sarah pivoted and drove a kick straight into his face, then spun behind him and locked an arm around his throat.
Harker drew two pistols.
Sarah knew those guns better than anyone.
They belonged to her.
Harker fired, and the bullets slammed squarely into Bragg’s body.
Crow roared and swung a fist toward Sarah’s face while several others rushed her at the same time.
Sarah ducked beneath the punch and pressed one pistol toward Crow’s chest.
Bang!
Crow’s muscular body crashed to the floor.
Sarah immediately put distance between herself and the remaining men.
Seeing this, Harker turned and ran.
He no longer cared about anything else.
The only thought in his mind was escaping this place as quickly as possible.
But the moment he opened the door, a familiar figure was waiting directly in front of him.
“You.”
“Good evening, Count Harker.”
Levi smiled pleasantly at him.
Harker raised his pistol, but Levi had no intention of giving him another chance to fire.
A strand of spider silk shot out instantly, wrapping around Harker’s body and binding him tightly from head to toe.
Ignoring Harker’s deathly pale expression, Levi crouched down and patted him on the cheek.
Under the man’s furious, unwilling glare, Levi calmly pulled Miss Fortune’s pistols from his hands.
Flashes of gunfire lit the killhouse behind him, followed by several more shots.
A moment later, Sarah walked out completely unharmed.
She shrugged off the heavy coat covering her body, revealing her flawless figure underneath.