Ren eventually arrived at his destination—a coffee shop. He entered and went up to the second-floor corner balcony. There, he found Kai.
"Sorry I'm late," Ren said.
"Oh, it's okay. I just arrived," Kai replied.
Ren sat down in his chair. "Hey, did you watch How I Met Your Mother like I recommended?"
"Oh yeah, I really loved it. I watched the whole season yesterday. It was so good."
The two of them talked for a while before the conversation shifted to more important things.
"So anyway, I guess it's time for us to talk about what we found while investigating," Kai started. "I found a specific target I was looking for. He is a low ranked target. But Compared to what we received, what he was dealing with was basically bullying. Anyway, he called the teachers at his school to complain about it, but the harassment only got worse. That part isn't important, though. What matters is who he is."
Kai took a breath. "He was actually the very first target of Gunshot. It was his first year of high school when he got targeted, and the guys who went after him—the very first members of Gunshot—were the same age as him. Now he's in his third year of high school, which means Gunshot has been around for two to three years. He stayed a target for about a year before they finally let him go."
Ren nodded. "A year, huh? That fits. I found other targets who were also let go after about a year. But that's no good. I don't want to get harassed for a year, let alone get arrested or severely injured multiple times."
Kai nodded along. "So what did you find on your end?"
"Well, I actually found some targets who were let go even though a year hadn't passed," Ren said with a smile.
Kai looked surprised. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. From what I found out, they were apparently let go randomly. There were only a few of them, though. When I looked deeper—using public records—I found out that Gunshot had been involved in a couple of major incidents around the same time. Things like gang wars or raids on their facilities by the cops. So those people weren't really 'let go'—they slipped through the cracks."
Kai frowned. "Wait, seriously? That's it?"
He leaned back. "This is useless."
What did you expect us to do? Start a gang war between Gunshot and another gang? We might as well call the police if that's our only option," Ren just smile.
"Well actually, that might not be necessary. Not everyone who slipped through the cracks had timing that matched any public event involving Gunshot, at least not in any public records I found. So my point is, there are other cracks besides big fights. What I suggest we do is try to look for all the cracks and find one we can easily slip through—or at least one that only needs a bit of effort," Ren explained.
Kai thought about it for a moment. "That… actually isn't a bad idea. But we need to investigate Gunshot more. And I don't mean the same way we've been doing it—talking to people who were involved with them. I mean we need to look into them and their operations."
"Isn't that a bit too risky?" Ren asked.
"Normally, yes. But Gunshot has other operations, like that illegal bar. Obviously, considering that most of the population on the island is made up of students, stuff like bars is illegal. Even though there are about 4 million adults living here, anything alcoholic is illegal. That Bar is mainly focused on students, so we won't see adults there. I know the location, so I think we should move tonight," Kai said.
Ren thought about it, then nodded. "Yeah. I think going into that bar would be a good idea."
Later that night, they went into an alley.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Ren asked.
"Yes," Kai replied. "This is it."
It looked like a regular hole-in-the-wall bar. Eventually, they reached a door. Kai knocked on it, and a voice came from behind. The door and made a sound clicking.
"Gunshot," Kai said.
The door opened.
Ren and Kai went inside and saw the bar.
It was shabby. There were a couple of chairs, some dim lights, a TV or two, a few rocks, and a giant table that looked like a massive bookshelf from a library used to hold booze. The whole place felt makeshift, like they found an empty room—with a bathroom, at least from what Ren could tell—and decided to turn it into a bar.
Before they arrived, they decided to split up to gather information.
And that's exactly what they did.
Ren began walking toward the bar section. He didn't intend to drink anything at all—he didn't trust what was in this place. He just wanted to see if there was anything he could find.
"Hey, you, pretty boy. How about you sit with us?" someone said from the side.
When Ren looked over, he saw three girls waving at him.
Well, this might be easier than I thought, Ren smiled to himself. He walked over and sat with them.
"Hello there," Ren started.
The girl closest to him inched a little closer. Ren felt slightly uncomfortable but chose to ignore it. They talked for a while, normal conversation at first, until eventually the girl who seemed to be leading the group brought up something interesting.
"You know, you could maybe come with us to a nightclub."
"A nightclub? Aren't those places only allowed for college students?" Ren asked.
The girl chuckled. "Well, no. I don't mean that kind of nightclub. I mean a different kind—similar to this place, actually. It's owned by the same people."
That intrigued Ren. "What makes it similar to this place exactly?"
The girl chuckled again and leaned in slightly. "Well, they also serve drinks… and fun substances." She said the last part with a naughty tone, raising her eyebrows.
Ren frowned internally. Fun substances… she's definitely talking about drugs. Is Gunshot dealing with stuff like that?
"There's no way I can go to a place like that," Ren said apologetically. "An illegal bar is one thing, but a place that sells and has that kind of stuff? I don't think I can risk going there."
The girl just laughed. "I don't think you need to worry. Me and the girls actually went to A similar place once, and we got caught because the place was raided by the cops. But we didn't get into too much trouble."
She pointed toward one of her friends, who hadn't made eye contact with Ren once and was just blushing. "See her? She's actually in the hero course, and she only got suspended for a while."
That surprised Ren. "Seriously? You didn't get into trouble for going to a place like that?"
The girl smiled. "Of course not. Nothing really bad happened to us—but that's mainly because we weren't caught with any drinks or that fun stuff on us or in our systems. Anyone who's actually running the nightclub or selling gets caught with it? Yeah, they get kicked out of the island."
Oh… this is interesting.
Ren continued talking with the girls for a bit longer, then eventually parted ways with them and headed out of the bar. He made eye contact with Kai, and the two of them walked outside together.
"Damn, I didn't have much luck," Kai said. "All the guys I talked to were assholes."
"Well, luckily for us, I got some information," Ren replied.
"Oh yeah? I saw the girls you were flirting with," Kai smirked.
Ren immediately blushed. "What the hell are you talking about? They weren't flirting with me."
Kai laughed. "Wait, seriously? They were clearly flirting with you."
Still blushing, Ren quickly changed the topic. "Anyways, here's what I found."
Kai listened carefully.
That's interesting," Kai said. "I think we could go there right now. The place isn't too far."
"Wait—what?" Ren exclaimed. "Are you serious? We can't just go to a place like that. It's really dangerous for us, especially if we get caught. What if someone slips drugs into our pockets or something? We'd be doomed."
Kai didn't interrupt. He just listened while Ren kept babbling.
"Well, first of all," Kai said calmly when Ren finally paused, "don't drink or eat anything at that nightclub. And if someone did actually slip something into our pockets, I don't think you need to worry that much. They won't just casually expel us without a serious investigation."
Ren looked at him.
"You have no idea how many people try to get others expelled—politics hatred rivalries, between students and influential families. It happens all the time. As long as we keep our heads down and don't do anything suspicious or stupid, we'll be fine."
Kai paused. "So… do we go right now?"
Ren sighed, rubbing his face. "No. I think we should go tomorrow instead. We need time to prepare at least a little. We have no idea what could happen in a place like that."
Kai thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. That makes sense.
"Tomorrow night, then," Ren said.