Chapter 490

“What do you mean they were mugged?” Arthur growled, staring at the man who had delivered the bad news. He was not one of the Clan members or even a member of the martial arts school but one of the Ghee Hin. A low ranking member, possibly, tasked with delivering the bad news.

“Your carrier came out, was met by one of your people. They’ve been watched, we think, because when they started walking to their car, they were grabbed.”

“They didn’t fight?” Arthur said, softly.

“They did.” The Ghee Hin made a face. “It didn’t help. They shouldn’t have really. The muggers had guns. They were both shot, one of the attackers was blasted apart by a Mana Dart and an arm was broken. Then, they tore the backpacks off and jumped into a waiting van before leaving.”

Arthur’s mind raced, cataloguing the options. He was a little ashamed to admit, his first thought was not how his Climbers were, but what make and color of the van the fleeing was made of. The concern and empathy came a moment later, and he chose to voice that question first.

“Uncertain. They weren’t killed, but it was bad, I hear for the one who was waiting.”

Arthur looked over to Jan who shook her head. “I don’t have the list, but I can ask Gina. We can check on them both.”

“Find the hospital, bring along some cores. If they’re lucid, they can use the cores to heal themselves faster than anything else that can be done. If not-”

“Tell the doctors to keep them alive and let the Clan seal fix them.” Jan confirmed his thoughts. “I’ll get Yao Jing on it.”

“What about you?”

“I’m not leaving you alone.” Arthur shook his head as she popped her head out of the meeting room, calling for help. Orders were given, even as the gangster looked on, uncertainly but with sharp eyes.

Attention drawn back to the kid, Arthur continued. “I want all the details you can give me, now. And whatever kind of help the Ghee Hin or the triads can provide in finding them.”

“You are asking for our help?” the man said, slowly.

“I am.” Arthur knew there was going to be a cost, a favor owed; but he was not going to let his people get shot for no reason. “Though I think you’d want to help anyway. It’s not just us they’re stealing from – your share of the cores are in the package.”

Rather than answer, the man gave what details he could. Three men had jumped the two, using a pair of guns to shoot down his Climbers. They had left, after pulling the backpack off the newly emerged Climber, cutting it off them and injuring the other as they struggled, all while exchanging fire with the guards who had rushed out of the building.

Innocents were definitely hurt, and the vehicle – a simple grey panel van – had raced off. While they had details and description of the van, the man noted that it was likely already tossed, the vehicle abandoned for another. Whoever had done it, they had moved with some degree of professionalism.

As much as muggings went, anyway.

“Thank you.” Arthur dismissed the man after shaking his head and sending him off with a request to push his people. If the triads could find out details of the attackers, he would be grateful. Certainly, they had a better idea of who had access to guns and other weapons like this in the city.

When they had left, he gestured for Jan to make some calls. Specifically to the Manager and their contacts with the police. They were certain to have details, though what would be released to the Clan, he was not certain. Which is why calls to Casey went out next who might be able to acquire the information outside the normal rules and regulations.

Once all that was done, Arthur found himself in the unenviable position of not having a lot to do. He could go to the hospital, but it made little sense to do that right now, not when he might need to-.

“Don’t,” Jan said, putting herself in the way of him and the doorway.

“I didn’t-”

“You’re thinking of going out yourself, seeing if you can find whoever it was. Or maybe you’re waiting till we get enough information and going yourself to deal with them.” Arthur opened his mouth, then shut it. Nodded. “Don’t. That’s what they want.”

“It could be just random.”

“The man said they were watching our people. Knew enough to bring guns to deal with our Climbers. Knew enough to hit them before they got into their own cars.” Jan made a face. “We need to change how we do that.”

“I think that was on Gina’s list…”

“It’s mine now,” Jan said firmly, raising her chin. “At the least, we make a call. They stay next to or inside the Tower, so we have more people coming in.”

“Seems simple enough.” So simple, he wondered why they didn’t think of it easier. Except, of course, their lack of personnel, because they hadn’t been hit yet. Such a brazen attack, it was uncommon. Unusual. Even if cores were expensive, the use of guns brought a level of heat, a degree of focus that most criminals refused to touch.

Especially when word had gone out from the triads not to touch the Durians. That was, after all, part of the deal. So yeah, he might owe them a little, but they also were going to chase it down anyway, because people messing with their money was bad business.

Even so…

“I don’t like staying here,” Arthur said, softly. “I want to be doing something.”

“Then cultivate.” She pointed to the chair. “Refine and increase your strength. But you can’t go out. That’s what Uswah, the allies you have made are for. Going out, fighting yourself… it’s a fools choice. If you get caught and have to be thrown into jail…”

“I know but…” Arthur sighed. “I hate it.”

“Trust us. Trust your allies. We’ll find them, and work out what happened.” She drummed her fingers on her leg and added. “If you need to do something, once we know its safe, you can visit those injured.”

“Fine.” Letting out a huff, he sat back in his chair and leaned back closing his eyes to focus on his breathing and calm himself. It didn’t take long, not with the Yin body running through him. After a moment, he cracked an eye. “Refine, eh?”

“Yes.”

“Fine…” Plucking a core from a zipper pocket, he cupped it in his hand drew the energy in. She was not wrong. All this trouble was because he – the Clan – wasn’t strong enough.

Not yet.