Chapter 499

“So what should we do about them?” Rick said, into the silence. “They might be criminals, but its not like we can just kill them. Never mind the ones who aren’t criminals.”

“Ordering Arthur’s death sounds like criminal behavior to me,” Leia said, glaring at Rick.

“You know what I mean. They’re not…” Rick ran out of words to say.

“Not what?” Leia said, raising an eyebrow. “Not the ones wielding the knives? So they are better.” She looked at Arthur, smirked. “Rich people. Always thinking the rules are different.”

“Hey!” Rick’s voice rose in volume, only for Eric to shift in his seat, catching the boy’s gaze. They might both be Climbers of the same rank, but Eric was a close combat specialist and Rick was not carrying his gun with him. Even so, he was no coward and his eyes narrowed, meeting Eric’s gaze.

“Let’s not,” Arthur said, looking between the two until they broke their staredown and looked to him. He waited till he had control of the room again before he continued. “We need to go after the tongs and triads. With the police if we can.” His lips curled up. “They’re already looking into my attempted murder, so pointing them in the right direction will help.”

“We can certainly ask Cynthia to help and put more pressure on the polis but…” Casey trailed off, shook her head. “The entire thing is so riddled with corruption, I don’t know how much she can do. They’ll just tell her they’re doing something. Maybe stage a few raids, mess with their business a little.”

“Won’t be enough, lah,” Jan said.

“I know,” Cynthia said. “Their bosses are… hard to reach.”

“If you even know who they are.” Which was, of course, not easy. The tongs or gangs were easier, they were small – generally half a dozen people at most, sometimes a dozen. You could surveil them, learn who was the one running things in a few weeks. A triad was hundreds of people large, with money flowing up the chain and then sideways, being laundered, being shifted in sucha way that it was impossible to tell who was actually at the top.

That was how they survived, such that the actual leaders – those one believed might be in charge – were often just the spokespeople. Only those near the top would know who was in charge, knew who it was that controlled the gang.

Things grew even more complicated when you took into account the international branches, the groups that all called themselves the same name but might or might not be directly affiliated. Sometimes they were branches of th same group, sometimes they were just named similar; with very loose ties.

For outsiders, it was almost impossible to know which was which till it was too late, of course.

“If we take out their lower people, won’t that make them focus on fixing that?” Arthur said.

“Or make them more desperate to sort us out.” Rick said. “We don’t want to start a gang war.”

“We’d win,” Yao Jing growled.

“At what cost?” Rick countered. “We’re a Climbing guild, not a gang.”

“Can we not negotiate with them” Leia said.

“We’ve been trying,” Casey said, frowning. “It’s not that easy. They already have ties with the TG group. They won’t break away from them.”

“Sounds like we should just work with our own.” Uswah spoke up for the first time. “I’ve… my people and I – we have been approached. To tie the Clan more closely.”

“Who?” Eric asked.

“The UN. The 66. The Ghee Hin.”

“All of them?” Arthur looked surprised. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“We were planning to. Then you went into the Burmese Tower. And then things got busy and we wanted to explore it further,” Mel answered. “Nothing has been guaranteed. Or promised, or even guaranteed. But we wanted to see what they could offer.” A slight beat, then she added. “What we can offer.”

“They’re still worried I might die?” Arthur said, sardonically.

“We all are,” Rick said, sardonically. “Why do you think they keep trying to kill you? You’re the weak link.”

“I resent that,” Arthur grumbled. “Even if I might be.”

“That’s the other danger,” Casey added. “Right now, they’re only going after you, and they’ve been ramping up slowly. But after this last run…”

“You think they might use Climbers?” Mel said.

“I would have already,” Rick muttered. “Idiots sending in low levels like this is a video game.”

“Good thing they didn’t try to send a Climber to start lah,” Jan said. “Don’t know if we can handle one…”

“I’ve fought Climbers before!” Arthur said.

“One who has cleared an Intermediate Tower?”

“Well, no…”

“So like that lah,” Jan gestured. “We also never try. Perhaps best not to.”

“There’s something to be said about keeping you out of danger by keeping you in dungeons,” Mel said, consideringly. “No one but other same tier Climbers can reach you, and with three already under your belt…”

“That’s not a bad idea…” Casey said, consideringly. “We can establish a place a couple more Beginner Towers, shuttle him between each so no one can get to him. By the time we’re done…”

“Hey, don’t I get a say in this?” Arthur said, holding a hand up to stall the discussion. “I am the Clan Head.”

“Of course you do,” Casey replied, smiling widely.

“So, boss. You want to stay outside, risk everything for all of us, or you want to go into Towers, get stronger, more powerful, make things less risky and grow the Clan at the same time?” Mel asked.

“You know, when you put it that way…” Arthur crossed his arms. “Fine, you’re right. I’ll go increase my might.” His lips twitched before it broke into a full smile. “That also means all of you people get to handle the paperwork while I’m gone.”

“Like you do much anyway…”