Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 545: Understanding the Underworld

Pliro knocked on the door to the forge as he heard boisterous laughter inside. Despite what he thought. Everything took half a day to complete. So he had not managed to get back here until just now.

"Who is it?!" A voice asked in annoyance.

"Pliro." He answered and the door swung open before he was pulled inside and stumbled. Reaching for his weapon as the door slammed shut. But Ezekiel ignored him as he walked back over to his seat.

"Tell me that was not the end of it. How did he manage to get out of a situation like that?" Alitru asked, clearly enamored with the story that Gladiator was telling.

"I did not even get a chance to touch him before he was rambling so fast and with so much information that I did not know what to do." Gladiator explained with a chuckle as he leaned back in his chair. "So... I put a muzzle on him and decided to come back later. That turned out to be a mistake. Because as soon as I took it off he was rambling again!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Umm... did Gladiator get what he needed?" Pliro asked in confusion as he chuckled nervously.

"And then some. This man is a bonafide genius." Alitru answered as he punched Gladiator in the shoulder. "Now then, I suppose this is goodbye for now?" Alitru stood up with a grunt as did Gladiator.

"Indeed it is. Good luck with studying what I told you about." Gladiator told him as they clasped arms before he patted Ezekiel on the shoulder and walked out of the forge. Pliro looked at them in confusion before following Gladiator out. They arrived at the Colonel who neighed as Gladiator climbed on.

"Where are we going next?" Pliro asked.

"Straight to Basilisk territory. I am going to take your sister up on her offer." Gladiator answered as the horse began slowly trotting in that direction.

Pliro shook his head as he followed him. His superiors were pestering him for more intel but Investigator Sherlock warned him about trying to dig too deep. Saying it would be better to keep a calm head about the situation.

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He was definitely more nervous and on edge than before. Jace had noticed that almost immediately. But it was not his problem.

However, what was his problem were the clowns and the El Muerto group that were still following him. Before it was not a problem. But now it looked almost as if they were trying to keep up with him for a different purpose. It was not one or two people either. Both of them were climbing in number.

They were hiding it well by moving on parallel streets. But that did not escape Jace’s electrical vision. Nor did the fact that the Basilisk woman that followed them noticed as well and had run off.

"Hey Pliro? Are you armed?" Jace asked out of the blue as they entered a street that was full of vendors and opened shops earlier but was now completely empty and looked abandoned.

"What? Yes. Why?" Pliro answered before frowning and pulling out his piece. "How did I not notice before?"

"Because it is more difficult to notice the absence of something than it is to see something that is not supposed to be there." Jace answered as he pulled on the reins and stopped Colonel who neighed in response and moved around in a circle. "You can come out now! There is no point in hiding!" Jace called out.

"You are the foreigner that the government has been looking for." A voice responded as a bald man with a Hispanic heritage addressed them as he walked out into the street in front of them. "The El Mureto and Circus Du Lessal have an offer for you."

"Okay... I see where this is going." Jace nodded as he climbed off the Colonel. "Pliro take the Colonel, I can make my way to Basilisk territory on my own once I am done here."

"Umm..." Pliro looked concerned but Jace just waved him off. But before he and the Colonel started walking away a voice called out.

"What makes you think we will allow that?" Another voice called out behind them. They turned and saw a man in clown makeup and colorful clothes.

"Because the Basilisk gang is watching you as well. So they are probably waiting to see how uncooperative you are before deciding whether to strike. So the question you should be asking yourself is if you want to fight just me, or do you want to fight me and Basilisk?" Jace asked before he whistled loudly. Almost a moment later there was hooting and hollering from other nearby roofs as several silhouettes of women appeared.

"How..." Pliro started.

"I set it up ahead of time. I had some extra time so I created a communication device. Hacked their communication network and several other networks and learned what they were planning. I was bored." Jace answered with a shrug. "Now go along, I arranged everything with Basilisk ahead of time."

"You arranged all of this because you were bored?" Pliro asked as he started walking away slowly.

Jace just shrugged in response as he walked around the wary gang members of El Muerto and Circus Du Lessal who were both watching him but were also looking behind themselves. Probably worried about Basilisk.

He waited until Colonel and Pliro were past the gang members line and almost at the Basilisks who were waiting beyond that when he clapped his hands. "Now let’s hear your offer!"

Both of the leaders of the two gangs flinched in surprise. They both moved forward while discreetly motioning for the rest of their people to stay back. Jace waited until they were within a few feet before motioning for them to start.

"The El Muerto would like to offer unimaginable wealth and-"

"Pass. That just means you could not come up with something concrete so you want to offer as much as possible instead." Jace scoffed as he waved him off.

The clown hesitated for a moment. "Yeah... no. My offer is probably not going to be any better than."

"Then we are almost done here." Jace declared as he clapped his hands. "Because I do have something to say and an offer." He smirked at their confused expressions. Here were two people that were supposed to be terrifying in the eyes of the local population. But he was putting them in their place. It was exhilarating in a way.

"You... have an offer to us?" The clown asked as he exchanged a look with his half from El Muerto.

"Yes, I do." Jace answered. "You see... I know that your two gangs are planning to fund a rebellion on Prima Terra." They both flinched, instinctively reaching for their respective weapons. But Jace held up a hand to stop them. "I could care less about your rebellion. But I will keep quiet about it along with the fact that you have a third party who is funneling the money through your two gangs. In exchange, I want you and all of yours to steer clear of my people. That includes your third party sponsor who you will reach out to and inform."

"How do they know they will agree?" The Hispanic man asked with a scoff.

Jace shrugged, "they probably will not. But they will come for me to meet. That will be enough. Now then, I am going to leave. I suggest you get ready for your first move. I mean, it is in a few days. Is it not?" He smirked at their horrified expressions. Then he walked past them, moving in the direction of Basilisk territory.

It only took a few minutes before he arrived at the edge of the Basilisk territory. Where Pliro and Colonel were waiting with a number of female gangsters and strongwomen. "What did you talk about?"

"That would cost you far too much for you to afford." Jace told him as he patted Colonel who neighed in response. "Now then, I am going to stay at your lovely sister’s mansion for the next few days. But you do not have to continue to observe me. Especially when I am making it a point to drive you away. You know where I will be, you know I will not run. So..."

"I get it." Pliro grunted in annoyance. "But someone will still stop by daily to make sure you are still here. Tell my sister. I am going back, I am sure I have something better to do than try and pull information from you like teeth." He walked away in annoyance going in the direction of the center of the city, probably the neutral territory. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Mister Gladiator... this way please." One of the women waved him over and he followed them to Basilisk Mansion. As he moved he could feel the eyes on him. But now that he had some time to investigate, he knew who it was. He knew who had enough pull to sponsor not just this rebellion but the one on Mars as well.