The door of the Night Song Bar opened, and a dusty man walked in. Hungry and thirsty, he made his way to the bar counter, sat down, and said to the bartender:
"Give me a glass of water and a serving of grilled sausage bread."
"Right away, sir. Please wait a moment."
Following the new customer’s request, the bartender went to prepare the food. Meanwhile, on the other side of the bar, Gregor had just finished his last cigarette and drained his final glass of alcohol. Leaving the money on the counter, he stood up and headed for the exit. As he passed by the new customer sitting at the bar, their paths briefly crossed.
Gregor reached the bar’s entrance, extended his hand to push the door open, and was about to head home as usual when a sudden, sharp sound came from behind him.
Gregor turned to look and saw that a customer at the bar had accidentally shattered a glass in their hand. The spilled drink splashed onto another customer, a square-faced man with a thick stubble, who was now angrily berating the clumsy patron.
"What the hell! You trying to get yourself killed, kid?!"
"Ahaha, sorry about that, sir. I’ll pay for the damage to your clothes. How about I cover your tab for today?"
The clumsy customer paid the bartender, and Gregor, having witnessed the scene, turned back to leave without giving it much thought.
Standing at the door, Gregor slowly turned his head and looked at the man at the bar who was wiping the spilled drink off his clothes. His expression grew serious. After staring at the man’s face for several seconds, he silently pushed the door open and walked out.
Inside the bar, Goffrey, having vented his anger over the spilled drink, wolfed down the food that had been served and drained his glass of water. He then left his seat, pondering what to do next as he walked toward the bar’s exit.
Deep in thought, Goffrey reached the door, opened it, and stepped outside.
The moment Goffrey stepped out, a brick that had been prepared in advance came flying at him with full force, smashing directly into his forehead. The brick shattered into pieces, and Goffrey’s head was momentarily stunned by the impact. The force of the blow sent him staggering to the side, and he fell to the ground.
Gasping for breath, his eyes wide, Goffrey looked in the direction the brick had come from. He saw a young man in casual clothes, around twenty years old, standing by the bar’s entrance. The man’s right hand was covered in brick dust, and his left hand held a thick steel pipe. His expression was cold, with a hint of murderous intent.
"Thank the Holy Son for delivering you to me..."
Gregor muttered under his breath as he stared at the familiar figure. Seeing the young man’s murderous aura, Goffrey felt a sense of dread and immediately got up, turning to run in the opposite direction.
Though he had no idea who this enemy was or why he was being targeted, Goffrey knew he wasn’t in any condition to fight and had to escape quickly.
Watching Goffrey flee, Gregor tightened his grip on the steel pipe and calmly gave chase. Familiar with the area, he knew that the direction Goffrey had chosen to run was a dead end.
Soon, Gregor caught up to Goffrey, who was now trapped at the end of a narrow alley. The direction he had fled led to a high wall, leaving him with no way out.
Backed against the wall, Goffrey panted as he watched Gregor approach. He spoke up, "Hey... sir, there must be some misunderstanding between us."
"There’s no misunderstanding."
With that, Gregor stepped forward and began swinging the steel pipe at Goffrey. Goffrey tried to dodge, but Gregor was much faster. Almost every blow landed on Goffrey’s body, the thick steel pipe clanging loudly against his hardened skin, the sound echoing through the alley.
Faced with Gregor’s relentless assault, Goffrey, who had been passively taking hits, tried to fight back but couldn’t land a single blow. With the agility and speed of a Shader, Gregor could easily outmaneuver even a Craver with enhanced physical abilities in a one-on-one fight.
As a Bonesmith, Goffrey was a Black-rank, one rank higher than Gregor, and possessed extremely high defense. However, he had no significant physical enhancements, making it impossible for him to catch Gregor in close combat. Without his bone artifacts and spirits, he stood no chance against Gregor.
"This speed... he’s a Shader?! Damn it! If I still had my bone artifacts, I’d have chopped you to pieces by now!"
As he continued to take hit after hit, Goffrey seethed with anger. For many Stone path Beyonders, 80% of their strength came from the equipment and constructs they created. But all of his equipment had been stripped away by Dorothy earlier.
Back on Knight Street, with his bone blade and spirits, Goffrey could easily toy with Gregor’s entire squad. Without Dorothy’s intervention, he could have wiped out Gregor’s entire team single-handedly. After all, he was a Black Earth rank. But without his spirits and bone blade, he was left completely defenseless against Gregor’s onslaught.
The skin of a Black-rank Stone path Beyonder was tough enough to block bullets, so Gregor’s steel pipe couldn’t cause any significant damage. However, Gregor soon realized that while he couldn’t break through Goffrey’s skin, the impact of the blunt weapon could still transmit through to the tissues beneath the hardened exterior. This had little effect on other parts of the body, but when it came to the head, it was a different story.
Though Gregor’s powerful blows only caused minor damage to Goffrey’s scalp, the vibrations from the impacts affected his brain.
After several attempts, Gregor quickly identified the best spot to strike. Gripping the steel pipe with both hands, he aimed for Goffrey’s head and delivered a series of heavy blows. Amid Goffrey’s pleas and screams, Gregor knocked him to the ground, unconscious.
In the alley, Gregor sat down to catch his breath, staring at the man lying unconscious on the ground. After resting for a while, he began searching for rope to tie Goffrey up and take him back to the bureau.
At that moment, on the roof of a building overlooking the alley, a crow stood silently, watching the scene unfold. A kilometer away, in a private room at a café, Dorothy sipped her coffee.
"Well done, Gregor. Capturing a Black-rank is a big achievement for you, no matter how you look at it."
As she drank her coffee, Dorothy murmured to herself. Yes, her plan for the Bonesmith captive was to let Gregor capture him and earn some merit for her brother.
Since the guy was of no use to her, she might as well give Gregor a chance to shine. During the Knight Street incident, this Bonesmith, who controlled bone blades, had caused significant losses to the Hunter Squad. The Serenity Bureau would undoubtedly want him captured.
After all, Gregor was her only family in this world. It was only natural to look out for him.
At one point, Dorothy had followed Gregor for a while to confirm the location of the Serenity Bureau. She knew he liked to drink at this bar, so she used her marionettes to place the unconscious Goffrey nearby and wake him up at the right moment.
Dorothy had also stationed numerous marionettes disguised as civilians around the area, ready to subtly guide the two men toward each other. For example, the clumsy customer who spilled the drink on Goffrey was one of Dorothy’s marionettes. His purpose was to make Gregor, who was about to leave, notice Goffrey’s presence. There were many similar setups .
As for whether Goffrey would reveal any information detrimental to her during his interrogation by the Serenity Bureau, Dorothy wasn’t too worried. When she and Vania had fought Goffrey, they had been in disguise, so he hadn’t seen their true faces. As for Aldrich, the bureau director likely knew something about him.
Dorothy had already paid Aldrich 50 pounds to help. If the Serenity Bureau asked Aldrich about the identities of the two women who had defeated Goffrey, based on Goffrey’s testimony, Aldrich would say that he had privately hired them from outside Igwynt.
"I wonder... what kind of reward Gregor will get this time?" Dorothy mused aloud as she sipped her coffee and gazed out the window at the street scene.