Lincoln sat down next to Hector. He consciously avoided sitting next to Jodie. Their little spat was getting a bit out of hand. Yes, they didn't like each other. But they couldn't act like this. He needed them working together.

Hector scooched to the side a little and patted down the dirt next to him. A small dust cloud formed from the two quick thuds, forcing Hector to fan it away. Lincoln slid closer.

"So?" Hector asked, crossing his arms. "How did you get this information?"

"Well, you know those vagrants Adrien used to hang around with?"

Hector nodded. He smiled as memories of Adrien's starving dogs played in his mind. Those poor fools. The boy had probably forgotten about them by now. "The dump guards, right? What about them?"

"Well, I ran into one of them," Lincoln said. "And as you know, I'm a kind and caring soul. So I offered him a few slices of bread and had a little chat."

"He actually talked to you?" Jodie asked, raising an eyebrow in doubt. Her blue eyes shot to Hector. As if asking whether he believed him.

Hector gave her a slight nod and turned back to Lincoln. "And what did he say?"

With a smug smile aimed at Jodie, Lincoln continued. He cleared his throat, raised his hands, and began gesturing. "Well, I asked him how he'd been faring since… you know, Adrien abandoned him. And, as I could visibly see, not well. I then asked the guy what he'd been doing since then, and he said: Following people around, looking for scraps."

Hector levelled a glare at Lincoln. He needed to get to his point; if they lost Adrien because of his blabbing, that would be more than a little annoying.

Lincoln waved him off and smiled sheepishly. "After some back and forth, the guy tells me. He went to see Adrien today to get his old spot back—a bit desperate, if you ask me—but Adrien chased him off. Though, as he was leaving, the poor sod overheard something about a job on Hallford Street."

Jodie and Hector shared a look. That was pretty bold.

Frowning, Emela glanced between the three of them. "Am I missing something?" she asked.

Jodie laughed, scooping up some dirt as her hair tumbled over her shoulders. "You must not get out much. Hallford is a street controlled by the Collar Gang. You wouldn't be able to tell that by just looking at it, but most people know it."

"I see," Emela said, glancing at Nyx while pulling at one of her twin braids that rested on her chest. "So why is Adrien going there if he's with these other people?"

"Scoda," Lincoln replied. "Your guess is as good as mine. But it wouldn't be to have a polite chat, that's for sure." The boy shrugged his shoulders. It seemed he hadn't managed to get that part out of his new friend.

"So, when are they meeting?" Hector asked. Mirae shifted at his side; raising a hand, she rubbed her eyes and let out a small yawn. She'd been cultivating pretty much all day. So it was no wonder she was tired. But that would go away once she reached Gravity Forging One.

Lincoln smiled, rubbing at his nose. "Well, if we leave now, we should be able to get there before him and the others. According to his dump guard, they are meeting a few minutes before the sun goes down."

Hector frowned. There was nothing wrong with the timing. But the question was, who would go? After all, they couldn't all barrel down the street stalking the guy. Even if it was darker by the time they got there, Adrien would spot them. "So we need to decide who's going to go," Hector said.

The group nodded.

"Well, it's easy to figure out who," Jodie said. She sprinkled the dirt onto the ground before pointing at Emela and Nyx. "One, those two will probably have to head home. I don't know what's going on with them, but it seems to me like they have a curfew."

Emela scratched her cheeks, a shade of red crawling onto them. "It's something like that."

"That's rough." Jodie then thumbed at Mirae. "Two. Someone has to stay with her. Because, first, some of those rats could be lurking nearby, and second, if you leave, this dome goes down."

"I can go, I—"

"No," Jodie and Hector said in unison. His sister was getting stronger, yes, but Hector wouldn't have her sneaking around the city. She'd stay here where it was relatively safe—it was a lot better than above, anyway.

Mirae's head dropped. Fidgeting with her fingers, she turned her head to the side. Hector rubbed her shoulder and let out a sigh. "Would you mind staying with her?" Hector asked Jodie.

The girl raised an eyebrow. Bringing a finger to her lips, she nodded. "I had a feeling that something like this was going to happen. So I told my mom I would be out for the night."

"And they just let you go?" Emela asked, her mouth hanging open. The girl was definitely under some form of curfew. Not that Jodie's parents just letting her out for an entire night wasn't a major extension of trust. But it made sense. They were all almost eighteen. By society's standards, they were adults. If anything, it was strange that Emela's parents still kept her under curfew. Her parents were probably overprotective.

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"I mean, yeah," Jodie said. "My mom grumbled a bit, but for the most part, it was fine. The only real problem they'd have was if I came back late and woke everyone up."

Hector gave the ginger-haired girl an appreciative nod. "So, Jodie is going to stay here while I, Lincoln, Emela, and Nyx go after Adrien."

"Actually, about that," Lincoln said, scratching at the back of his head. "My mom has asked me to run some errands for her. And I can't be back too late, as I might get grounded."

"And?" Jodie asked. "Can't you just sneak out when she goes to sleep? Or, I don't know, finish the errands and come back?"

Lincoln's head dropped. He shifted uncomfortably on the dirt, fingering at a spot in front of him. Jodie had a point, but Hector wouldn't say that. Though he also understood Lincoln. Unlike Hector, his life hadn't fallen apart; he had a mother waiting for him at home and responsibilities he had to fulfill. That was life.

It would be selfish of Hector to expect him to drop everything just because he asked him to. "I get it," Hector said, resting a hand on Lincoln's shoulder. "I've been asking a lot of you guys lately, and my burdens are not yours to bear. If anything, I shouldn't drag your lives down because of mine. I've kinda been doing that for a while now, and I'm sorry."

"That's what good friends do, though," Jodie said, shooting a glance at Lincoln.

Hector smiled. Jodie returned a firm nod, her support clear. But he couldn't expect them all to be like her; the girl was a particular breed. She supported those she loved with fire and passion and would hate just as intensely.

"It's fine, Lincoln," Hector said. "You head back. If you can, we should meet up tomorrow to go over what we'll hopefully gather today."

"Yeah, that should be alright." Lincoln wiped a smidge of dirt from under his eye. "So, are we going now?" he asked.

Hector raised a brow towards Nyx and Emela. The two girls nodded. "Yeah," Hector said. "It's probably best we go now. We can't risk missing this."

—— —— —— ——

The four of them plodded through the sewers, exchanging a few words; talking would be the least of their priorities soon enough. Emela made polite conversation. Probes, mostly. She wanted Hector to talk about his father. Perhaps she thought it would help him grieve, to deal with the pain. But he already had a plan to get over the pain, and that was the destruction of the Collar Gang.

Several minutes of walking later, they surfaced. Lincoln said his goodbyes and promised to meet up the next day. Hector, Emela, and Nyx then continued, walking through the alleyways as the sun dipped below the horizon. By the time they made it to Hallford Street, the streets were mostly dark.

A few feet down, streetlamps flickered, their orange flames dancing in the evening wind. A lamplighter climbed down his short ladder as his companion, who stood to the side of it, held it in place. The sun had almost gone down now. Adrien should have met up with his crew. With that, all they had to do was wait and watch.

Few people occupied the street, some sat on their doorsteps smoking, while others milled about. Some of them were probably Collar Gang members. Hector stared at a gruff man, his shirt clinging to large muscles as his pants equally struggled. The man was big. But that wouldn't protect him if he wasn't a cultivator.

"Are you alright, Hector?" Emela asked.

Hector nodded, feet adjusting, nose flaring. "I'm a little antsy, is all. We should probably move over there." The storefront of a bakery watched the street, a place of order in a sea of gang-owned businesses. It probably wasn't as clean as it looked. But it was a good place to wait. "Try not to draw too much attention to yourself."

Emela's eyes went to the gruff man, seemingly analysing him before turning back to Hector and signalling that she'd follow.

Stopping in front of the bakery, they stood and waited, though it wasn't for long. A few minutes later, a group of eight boys, all of them around Hector's age or younger, marched down the street. Adrien walked in the middle, his eyes shifting around, his hands fidgeting.

The chubby-faced boy spoke to a blond-haired boy next to him. Hector recognised him from the Hilda festival. He'd seemed close to Adrien, close enough to know about Lincoln and Hector anyway. It was unlikely the former king of the dump would run around, letting everyone know what happened to him.

"Is that them?" Emela asked. The girl brushed one of her ponytails behind her as she shifted on the stone.

Hector nodded. It was them. The same brown-haired older boy was in the lead, marching the group of eight down in a line. They all seemed to have survived the Hilda festival unscathed. Hector lowered himself a little and turned to the side. The last thing he needed was to get caught by these guys. If Adrien spotted them, it could be a repeat of the festival.

Though it would be over a lot quicker this time. Hector's knuckles popped as he clenched his fist, his eyes boring into Adrien's form.

"What do we do now? Just wait?" Emela asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Hector replied. He then frowned at her. "How long do you have before you have to return home?"

Emela turned to Nyx. The black-haired girl glanced towards the sky, her hair blowing in the wind as she searched the evening. Was she thinking, or looking for something? "We should have some time before we have to get back. Though not long."

That narrows it down a lot, Nyx. Thanks. What was she even looking at… you know what—never mind. I just hope that whatever happens will happen fast.

Walking down the street, the group of boys made a beeline for the alcohol store a few feet down. But as they closed in, another group of boys swarmed out of a side alley. And like them, all were armed. But unlike them, they all carried metal implements.

One boy even held a knife.

"Hector," Nyx said. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the boy. "We fought him at the barn."

Hector shifted, drawing in a breath. The cool evening air filled his lungs as he examined the boy. The same scruffy shorts, brown shirt and jacket. A mop of scruffy hair that danced gently in the wind. It was him, alright—the one they'd fought in the barn. The Gravity Forging Three.

"Well, this might be a little tough for Adrien's group. If I remember correctly, the only ones who were cultivators were the older boy and Adrien. The other two were just mortals."

But then again, this was the Collar Gang.

"System, scan them, but only tell me if there are cultivators present and their levels."

Right now was not a good time to get bogged down reading a comprehensive list of ranks and Talents. Though he doubted any of them even had one. Even if they did, this wouldn't exactly be the best opportunity to collect it. His gaze shifted to Emela—not even close to a good opportunity.

———————————————— Scanning… Scan complete… ———————————————— ///: There are a total of six cultivators in the scanned group: 1 Gravity Forging Four, 3 Gravity Forging Three, and 2 Gravity Forging Two. No Talents detected. ————————————————

No Talents wasn't a surprise. But the levels of the members were. They shouldn't have been that high; besides, they'd only fought the boy just over a week ago. It was unlikely he just happened to breakthrough. But then, how were their cultivation levels so high?

Perhaps they've been taking those Ham pills, but Jodie destroyed them all, didn't she? An extra supply? But would the Collar Gang waste the last of it on their own people? No. There had to be another source. Another Void Singer.

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