ccnovels Chapter 525 - 343: Electric Eel Club
Chapter 525 - 343: Electric Eel Club
Dream Talk Bar lounge.Gino lazily leaned back into the soft sofa cushions, holding a bottle of mixed drink, with a half-eaten tray of fried food on the small iron trolley beside her.
"He just... shot?"
She mimicked the posture of holding a gun, simulating Saw’s dying motions. "Then you feel a bit uneasy, is it because you think dying like that is undeserved, or just... simply uncomfortable?"
"A bit of both, I can’t quite articulate it."
"Oh~ Fine."
Gino pursed her lips, shook her head, raised the bottle, and said with a face of calmness, "Do you know what my thoughts are?"
John looked at her.
"He got what he deserved, buddy." Gino felt no remorse for Saw’s death. "Everyone on this street with the gangs has a kill under their belt; a legendary killer, a feared executioner, how much cruel stuff do you think one must have done to survive until now?"
"Do I look like I’m mourning?"
John met Gino’s gaze straightforwardly. "No, Gino, I don’t feel sorry for anyone, nor do I think anyone shouldn’t die; it’s just plain fucked up."
Black Gold Gang’s way of controlling the streets certainly wasn’t through persuasive speeches.
Their economic sources were filled with blood and violence.
Anyone hit by a bullet could die; it’s the fairest rule in the city.
"Hmm, is that so?" Gino seemed to see through John. "Follow me."
She led John out of Dream Talk Bar, walking through the neon-lit streets of the West District via damp alleys.
The blue-black night covered the city.
Colorful flames burned amongst the steel jungle.
Gino put up her hood to cover her head.
John zipped up his work jacket.
Ad waves crashed over them like tides, the roaring car engines and meaningless rock noise pushing them forward on the city streets, while police cars occasionally passed by on the main thoroughfare a few meters away, alongside patrolling gangsters...
Gino halted, tilted her head to suggest the narrow dark alley beside.
The entrance was barricaded by ECPD’s caution tape; inside were two fresh corpses, with a few yellow marker tags scattered nearby, not bagged up or dragged away yet.
They looked like ordinary people, with no gang tattoos, and no combat exoskeletons.
"Are those drug deals and territory disputes related to them?"
Gino and John stood by the alley entrance, their elongated shadows cast over the bodies. "No one will come to apologize to them either."
This is Eden City now, gunshots more blatant than ever.
Death has become part of everyday life.
[Shop - Snake Club]
Another bar managed by the Black Gold Gang.
The front door requires climbing a few steps and turning a corner to see, the sidewall has a huge sign and a dynamic holographic projection.
Two beams of light highlighted the top of the bouncer’s head at the entrance, contouring muscle lines, and casting shadows perfectly over facial crevices, crafting a strong and formidable image.
Gino lifted her hood, passed the facial scan and led John through the bouncer’s check.
The metal sliding door was half-open, smoke billowing inside, laser lights outlining silhouettes of men and women.
John followed Gino into the thick fog, immediately a fragrant scent of drugs infiltrated his nostrils, tightening his scalp and quickening his heartbeat.
Gino was obviously more accustomed, pulling out a bottle of medicine from her pocket and handing it to him.
[Medicine: Tatane]
[Manufacturer: Unknown]
Gino said it was a supplement provided to club staff to prevent them from getting too high during work hours.
Bam!
A sudden noise erupted next to John.
A Ghoul with gold-painted ribs fired a gun on stage.
Including him, five or six highly modified men shouted at a bulletproof glass enclosure in the center, where a girl was dancing hotly.
Overdosed, he drew a gun, shot at the glass, and the bullet jumped out, injuring a waiter.
Several Black Gold gangsters pulled shotguns from the second floor, shooting the Ghoul dead in the seating area, promptly tossing the corpse and his companions out.
During the entire process, no other patrons left.
There were about a dozen similar bulletproof glass enclosures distributed around the hall, inside were men and women in bizarre or scant outfits, all engaged in vulgar services.
Metal staircases divided the club into upper and lower parts.
There were more secluded private rooms, uniquely spaced booths, with cables and various mobile devices sprawling across the floor.
Many customers lay together in the center of booths.
They wore virtual helmets, likely watching Super Sensing Chips, occasionally twitching or drooling from the corners of their mouths.
Gino brought John to the second floor.
Facing them was the security who shot earlier.
Two or three others were still standing guard.
"This place is really fucked up."
"Yeah, not meant for ordinary folks."
Gino seemed unfazed, tilting her chin to light a cigarette, her eyes coldly scanning the shadowy figures below.
Ghouls, mercenaries, gangsters, drifters in the black market.
They were all violent people engaged in illegal work, with money in their pockets and peculiar needs; the city had venues like this specifically for them to vent.
Black Gold Gang’s business isn’t just fist fights.
If the Eastern People’s Sex Doll Club had earned the praise of Eden City’s elites, then Black Gold Gang’s hallucinogenic drugs were equally rivaling, a must-taste part of the experience.
John also noticed quite a few ordinary people.
They didn’t look like criminals, nor seemed like fans of such venues, dressed neatly, with slightly dim expressions, scattered around the walls smoking alone, making sure not to be bumped by the frenzied crowd.
The troublemakers had already been kicked out.
John saw the waiter injured by the bullet stopping the bleeding in a booth—her embedded face mask was pried open, exposing the nasal bone which was oozing blood.
This venue should also be managed by a Black Gold Gang leader.
He didn’t show himself, only a few suited guys carried the injured away, pushing through the club’s back door, whereabouts unknown.
"Why bring me here?"
"I work here."
"You sure know how to pick a place... it’s a cesspit of scum, throw a grenade in it, you can claim quite a bounty from ECPD." John furrowed his brow. "Aren’t you doing hacking jobs?"
Gino exhaled smoke, her earrings gleaming under the lasers.
"Do you think I’d look good doing a hot dance? Screw you, John, what the hell are you thinking? I took a network maintenance job through Raphael."
Some time ago, a hacker overdosed on Super Sensing Chips and went mad, committing suicide.
The same booth’s patrons smelled burnt flesh, alerted the staff, but there were plenty of Magic Puppet remnants on the server, requiring cleanup along with the playback equipment.
So Black Gold Gang found a Middleman.
The Middleman tossed the job to hackers, arranging people to clean the junk in cyberspace, while also maintaining these devices, at least giving them decent security measures.
The task was quite challenging and well-paid.
Gino had been busy with this business for a while.
Her hacking skills were good; she was also adept at equipment repair and modification. The job had been mostly wrapped up, she was just dragging it out, to disguise her hacking prowess.
This was a way to protect herself.
"See the girls in the glass enclosures?"
Gino gestured downward.
Black Gold Gang and Owl Town Gang were quite similar, both involved in dirty works of human trafficking, controlling the flesh trades within their respective territories.