At the foot of the mountain, a group of five people was assembled in a uniformed manner as they stared at their master who had been daydreaming for a while now. It was a very rare moment for the Black Mist squad to actually see their master in this state.
As for their peerless master, Ru was busy trying to digest the fact that she was supposed to fight this war with a... gun! Oh, her hatred for this metallic thingy was incomparable!
The Black Mist squad after playing a round of rock paper scissors finally decided their candidate who would dare to go up to their master and even shake her a bit to brief her about the details of the on-going events.
And the candidate chosen was Adia who cursed her luck before trying to call out, "Master... Master..." Seeing that Ru wasn't really reacting, she took a deep breath and called out in a loud voice, "Master!"
Ru languidly lifted her eyes and looked at her. That one look made Adia's breath to hitch. "What are you yelling for?"
Adia tried to maintain her composure as she began, "Our teams have entered the Death Valley. Until now, 50 landmines and other deadly traps had been dealt with."
"Too slow," replied Ru as she dismantled the gun in her hand before rearranging it again. As if she had too much time on her hand to play around.
Adia's face twitched at her reply. They only came an hour ago! How was the progress still counted as slow?! This was really unfair!
"What about the main lair?" Ru inquired while she aimed the gun at the tree behind Adia but it really looked like it was aimed at her head.
"We have found the security rooms with their people keeping a watch along the way but the main lair is yet to be found," replied Adia with a pale face. It wasn't that she wasn't brave. But facing death was not easy for anyone. Especially when the person on the opposite side was someone like her eccentric Master.
"Still too slow," replied Ru in a lazy voice.
They suddenly heard the sound of explosion from afar. Adia closed her eyes as if she was the one who pulled the trigger but when she didn't feel any pain, she opened her eyes and looked at her master's frown and licked her dry lips. Oh, she was saved! "Seems like someone miscalculated the landmines. Or perhaps the traps are getting deadlier."
Ru looked at her in a bored manner, "Did I ask for an explanation?"
Adia straightened up as if she was on alert as she said, "No, Sir!"
"Then stay quiet!" ordered Ru before she picked up her tablet from the side and pulled out her mini-drones from the bag before setting them up. She was focused on seeing the situation through her mini-drones when she noticed that Adia was still standing where she was. "Do you have something else to say?"
Adia hesitated a bit as she looked at the skilled team of a dozen people standing behind Ru with a blank look on their faces. The emblem on their chests was different than theirs. They definitely weren't the people of Knight Empires. Instead, those people with blank faces came from Xavier Cooperation, their biggest rival in business and in the underworld.
"Master, why are we cooperating with Mr. Xavier?" asked Adia after much contemplation.
"You have a problem with what I do?" retorted Ru.
"Never! Master is wise but we always had been at odds with Mr. Xavier. Is it wise to trust him now?" She managed to voice out her worries. It wasn't wrong that the Black Mist squad was the most apprehensive one after they got to know about this synergy. They knew nothing about Ru and Rong's relationship except for the fact that both parties were like fire and water. "Besides, didn't you always disagree with the way Mr. Xavier works? So, I thought you really hated him."
The corner of Ru's lips lifted up slightly which stunned her team to their places. "Hate is a strong word. I told you not to use it so carelessly," said Ru. "Yes, I had a disagreement with how they worked because I thought being in Russian Mafia one shouldn't be this soft and kind-hearted. With this Lord's ruthless ways of life, there was bound to be a rivalry and dissent."
"Then what changed?" chimed in Connor from the back.
Ru smiled at his question. Not slightly. Not like her usual lopsided grin. She smiled softly like never been done before her people. Her issue with the Xavier cooperation had always been that Mr. Xavier's way of dealing with things went against her own. And only now she learned why it was like that.
If Xavier wasn't her own brother Rong, she might have not been able to understand this but now she did. Rong might be similar to her in many ways but he was still very different. Especially when it came to his kind-hearted nature. Ru was considered ruthless and she stuck with that image of hers. Rong was kind and compassionate. It didn't change even in all these years.
"Little brother, what are you still doing here?" came Rong's voice as he came to Ru's side.
"I'm looking around," answered Ru before standing up. "Bro, is there no way that we can have a normal fight? I don't like these guns."
"You still disagree with this weapon?" he asked with a raise of his brow.
Ru nodded her head in agreement. "I do. Guns are a coward's way of battle. What's the fun in this? Even a dog can win a gunfight! You don't even need skills for such a thing."
Rong smiled slightly at her reply and shook his head before he lifted his hand to ruffle her hair saying, "This is why grandfather used to say that there is no such thing as an honest fight in this world now. You should really get over this already."
Ru nodded her head obediently completely not noticing the look of horror that dawned on her squad. The Black Mist squad looked at Ru's interaction with Rong as if they were watching a horror movie. When was their master so easy to talk to?!
Soon Ru noticed Rong's frown as he pressed the earpiece in his ear and listened carefully. The frown got deeper and deeper until he looked at Ru.
"Found something?" asked Ru and received a nod in reply. "What? What is it?"
"You should come with me first," he said as he dragged her to a side with him.