Premium Call

“You called the city police in the meantime? You crazy bastard!”

As Angela grew furious and was about to shoot him right then and there, Felix shouted once again.

“Waid! If you’re thinking of killing me and running away, like I said earlier, it’s already too late. The DCPD is already here. Hah, money really is the best. The money I made selling out my brother is really paying off! The premium call service sure is fast.”

Why do you think I was so kind and talkative, explaining my crimes one by one? The answer is to stall for time! I was waiting for this. If you kill me here, you’re guaranteed an immediate arrest as a suspect caught in the act. Are you willing to risk that?”

“Fuck, why should I care? I’ll just kill you and go to prison.”

Angela was about to pull the trigger without hesitation, but she had no choice but to pause at his next words.

“You might be fine. But what about Hina?”

Right. That was the problem.

If Angela killed him, it wouldn’t just be Angela getting taken away.

There was a gruesome scene with corporate soldiers sprawled out, blood splattered and limbs severed, and a seemingly ordinary civilian tied to a procedure chair being tortured.

Contrary to the truth, anyone looking would see our entire group as villains, and everyone present would face arrest by the DCPD.

Angela might be fine. Maybe the Shaolin Monk too. Given the nature of their professions, they might know a way to get out after being arrested by the DCPD.

But Hina and I were different.

My special situation with a fake ID was one thing, but Hina’s situation was just as serious.

If she got a red mark on her record at such a young age with a bright future ahead of her, the Gifted Academy, her success, and everything else would be completely ruined.

“It’s not just Hina. Mr. Aaron too, and that Machine Monk over there, aren’t they all people who have nothing to do with this? But you’re all going to get arrested together? Just to kill me? And you too, Angela, the police will be thrilled to death about boosting their performance if they catch you, since you’re a successful assassin/Hitman.”

…He was right. The outcome of us all being arrested by the DCPD was a risk we couldn’t handle.

“Just kill him! I’m fine! I’d rather go to prison!”

Hina shouted, but I couldn’t make a decision that would completely ruin a kid’s life just by hearing those words.

Angela gritted her teeth and yelled.

“If it’s too late to run away anyway, won’t we get arrested whether we kill you here or not? If we’re going to get caught the same way whether you die or not, wouldn’t it be better to just shoot you dead here and be taken in?”

“It’s still fine. When the DCPD arrives, I, the informant, can explain things. I’ll just say you guys are victims like me. We’ll say the culprit already ran away. Even if they’re suspicious, there’s nothing they can do, right? If we just get our stories straight and slip them a little bribe?”

It made sense. In theory, at least.

Angela contorted her face.

“So, you’re saying we should spare you, beggar. Am I crazy? Why would I trust you?”

There was no way we could trust a man who would sell out someone he considered a brother, treating him like an old shoe, just for money.

Felix shrugged.

“I don’t want you guys getting arrested either. I killed Miguel for money, sure, but sending you guys to the slammer doesn’t put any money in my pocket. You’re people I was pretty close to and cared about. It breaks my heart.”

This was absolute bullshit. What was this obvious psychopath blabbering about?

Angela must have had the same thought as I, because she snorted.

“Forget it. I don’t need it. It’s better to just kill you here and kill all the DCPD too.”

“You think that’s possible? No matter how good your skills are, Angela, it’s a premium emergency call, so there’ll be at least one patrol officer included―.”

Thud―――!

The Silver Arm pierced through and embedded itself into the chair’s headrest.

For a moment, I thought Angela couldn’t hold back anymore and had killed Felix. From the side, it really looked like she had.

Judging by how he gulped and fell silent, Felix seemed to have been incredibly terrified for a moment too.

But it had narrowly missed his head. If Angela had been the only one here, she would have killed him without hesitation…

Angela looked back. Somehow, I felt like I knew what she was going to say.

While I hesitated, the Shaolin Monk spoke first.

[It is a pity, patron, but this monk cannot fight against a police officer. Please understand that I cannot help as it is tied to my precepts.]

I was the same. Kill Felix, and then kill all the city police troops that followed?

It might be possible. If I were to join forces with Angela and squeeze the microchip’s performance to its limits… then it might not be a completely unrealistic feat.

The problem was what came after. Could we mess with the most powerful State-Owned Enforcement Group in this city and walk away unscathed?

The DCPD would not just sit by and let anyone dare to challenge their authority and force head-on.

Why did the city’s prominent violent group fear the city police’s patrol officers so much and unconditionally avoid fighting them?

It wasn’t because they couldn’t beat a patrol officer.

It was because even if they somehow managed to kill a Patrol Officer, more patrol officers would come after, perhaps an enforcer of a higher rank, and, going even further, Mili-Tech would come looking for them.

I could not oppose the DCPD. Nor did I want to. It would be the same for anyone else, not just me.

I shook my head as well.

This wouldn’t work. Since Felix had shrewdly called the city police, resolving the situation with force was not the right method.

We needed another way, some other method…

[Everyone, raise your hands! Put down your weapons if you don’t want to die!]

There wasn’t much time to think. While everyone was stuck in a dilemma, the DCPD arrived.

A patrol officer wearing a dark blue carbon fiber police uniform and a helmet emitting a red laser kicked the door open and aimed a gun. At the same time, the patrols under his command smashed through the walls, shining flashing lights from all directions.

As if he had been waiting for this, Felix’s acting began.

“Waaaah, thank you! As expected of the DCPD! the Guardian of the City! Thanks to you, I’m saved! Please help me! These people were torturing me here and―.”

I knew it. “I don’t want you guys getting arrested' my ass.

When I stared at him, dumbfounded, Felix mumbled in a low voice.

“I didn’t want to do this either, but it seems you guys aren’t sufficiently of the opposite sex unlike me, so it can’t be helped… I’m sorry about this, Mr. hand butcher.”

Jeez, how do I beat the crap out of that guy?

It went without saying, but we couldn’t get arrested like this. And we couldn’t just let Felix go like this either.

[I said raise your hands! Right now!]

While I was lost in thought, the patrol officer shoved me against the wall and yelled. The modified frame pressed down on my shoulder with brutal force.

It hurt like hell!

Let’s jog my memory. Don’t I know one patrol officer? What was her name? The electronic business card I received back then―.

“Carla! Do you happen to know Carla Daniel? Mr. Patrol Officer? Isn’t she a colleague?”

Faced with a crisis, my brain spun rapidly. I shouted the name of the patrol officer who had mistaken me for an inspector.

There was a one in a million chance that this patrol officer was Carla herself, or even if not, they might be acquainted since they worked in the same district/sector.

[Cut the bullshit, criminal.]

“Aaaagh!”

Guess not. Or maybe they did know each other, but he was ignoring it due to a principle of not negotiating with criminals. Either way, Plan A was ruined.

The patrol officer easily ignored me and grabbed and twisted my arm. I wasn’t even resisting, so I didn’t know why he was acting so violently.

Glancing sideways to check the others, I saw that the Shaolin Monk, Angela, and Hina were going through the same process.

Think, Aaron. Plan B, Plan B…

A cold sensation touched my wrists. A sticky cable wrapped around my arms. Handcuffs! Already?

Taking a page from Felix’s book, let’s stall for time first!

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“What do you think you’re doing right now!!!!!!”

At my confident shout, a momentary silence fell. But it was only for a moment.

After about a second passed, the patrol officer personally grabbed me by the hair and lifted me up.

[Shut up. Before I kill you right here and now.]

Saying that, he applied grip strength with his hand. Honestly, I was scared.

Given his patrol officer’s physical ability, it would be entirely possible for him to punch a hole in my face just by applying force with his fingers like this.

But if I didn’t throw a hail Mary now, I was fucked either way. I suppressed my fear and spoke in the most brazen voice possible.

“You, a mere patrol officer, dare to treat me like this? Look at my face. Do I look like some lowly criminal to you?”

I felt the patrol officer falter at my unyielding demeanor.

That’s right. Look at my appearance. I am a Pure Asian.

In Dusk City, I was wearing an East Asian mask, which was practically a symbol of the upper floor.

A Pure Asian criminal? It wasn’t impossible, but my overly confident attitude would raise the question, “Could it be?”

A patrol officer is a police officer. Police are public officials.

And public officials have no choice but to be wary of things escalating.

What if I were someone of a status he shouldn’t mess with? His head would be spinning.

Good. Let’s keep this momentum going.

“I came from Neo Tokyo. You’ll know immediately if you check my ID. You’re not going to tell me you don’t know where Neo Tokyo is, are you?”

It was an undeniable fact that the information that I was a Neo Tokyo immigrant was written in my background. Plus, I even mixed in a bit of the high-handed tone that the upper floor would use!

He wouldn’t be able to help but fall for it.

[Hah, if this is a lie, know that you’ll be subject to kill on sight immediately.]

The patrol officer, who had made a terrifying threat, quickly checked my identity and spat.

[…Fine. So you’re an executive. So what? Whether you’re a member of a zaibatsu or not, if you committed a crime, you have to be punished.]

And then he tried to put the handcuffs on me again. He was going to arrest me regardless of whether the surrounding patrols were murmuring or not.

Huh, I didn’t expect this.

No, why is he so upright, unlike the DCPD! If he’s corrupt police, shouldn’t he immediately grovel upon seeing that I’m from Neo Tokyo?

This is a disaster! What do I do now?