Chapter 96: Desperate call to the mayor.

Ocean was back in Greenwich after spending many fruitless days in the hot, beast-infested Wild lands looking for Zyra. He had returned to the location of the first dungeon many times but failed to find her. Not even one whiff of her scent remained. Finally, he was convinced that she had no plans to return there. She would be a fool to do so.

He was keeping his search operation private, which was why he was heavily disguised. Ocean had not taken off his dark bucket hat and a thick fake beard even indoors. He was not even moving with his half-life beast. When people knew what kind of beast you had, it was hard to hide in public.

Achilles’s men were actively hunting him down like a dog. Ocean knew that his former subordinates had snitched on him, selling his secrets just so they stay in Achilles’ high graces. Worse, he couldn’t find the bastards anywhere. It was almost like they had vanished off the face of the earth, leaving him unable to properly track them down and cut out their treacherous tongues.

The main reason he had risked coming back to Greenwich was simple: he was completely out of resources. No food, no money coming in, no meat for his beast, and worst of all, he had absolutely nowhere left to get his hands on energy stones to sustain himself. He had not known that hunting for Zyra was going to cost him so much.

Even his backup plans had blown up in his face. The brothel that used to be his steady secondary source of income was now a pathetic shell of its former self because Achilles had people monitoring it. When he had tried showing his face there earlier by sneaking in through the kitchen, Madam Cammy had literally chased him down the street with a loaded gun, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Achilles’s men who overheard her had started a pursuit immediately. He had been clever enough to hide under the cart of a braised meat vendor before making it back to his cheap hotel room.

"Tragic. Truly, there is no loyalty in this world," Ocean muttered, staring blankly out the window of his rickety room cautiously. "I did so much for that ungrateful whore, and she tries to put a bullet through me."

He took a deep breath, rewiring his thoughts. The room was far from safe. The floorboards creaked, the lock on the door was held together by prayer, and the air smelled like damp moss. He paced back and forth, wondering what his next move could be. His back was entirely against the wall. To him, he was left with just one desperate card to play: he had to reach out to the powerful political figures who had been searching for Zyra from the very beginning. Surely, one of them was still interested.

The mayor’s public office number was widely known, so Ocean dialed it.

A sharp, professional voice picked up. It was Angus, the Mayor’s personal secretary.

"I need the mayor’s private number," Ocean said, deepening his voice to sound intimidating.

Angus let out a dry, bureaucratic sigh. "Sir, I cannot give you the mayor’s private line. But you are welcome to leave a detailed message and the mayor will get back to you in three to five business days."

"Tell him it’s about Zyra Scorpion," Ocean barked.

On the other end of the line, Angus inhaled sharply, the professional calm instantly shattering. "Who did you say?"

"Zyra. Scorpion," Ocean repeated, emphasizing every syllable. "And I don’t have three business days."

"Hold the line. Do not hang up," Angus said, his voice as calm as ever.

The line went completely dead. Just as Ocean’s heart had started to flutter happily with a glimmer of hope. "Are you kidding me?" He roared, tossing the phone aggressively onto the creaky bed.

The phone bounced and almost hit one of the bony heads of his Bone Crasher hound. The multi-headed, hungry beast growled fiercely at him, its glowing eyes annoyed as it dragged its body to the opposite side of the broken mattress.

"Don’t look at me like that, I haven’t eaten either," Ocean snapped at the hound.

Suddenly, the phone rang again. Ocean stared at it. He ignored it the first time, letting it buzz against the blanket to play hard to get. When it rang a second time, he casually reached out and picked it up with very little apparent interest, pretending he wasn’t desperate. "Speak."

"This is Logan Spegger, the Mayor of the great capital Concordia," a powerful, commanding voice announced on the other side. "Whom am I speaking with."

Ocean stopped moving entirely. A big grin spread beneath his mask. He had hit the absolute jackpot. "Ocean Belfast."

"What information do you have on Zyra Scorpion?" the mayor demanded without wasting time on pleasantries.

Ocean chuckled darkly. "Woah, slow down, your honor. In the merchant world, we don’t give away goods for free. I want to be paid first. A little security deposit, if you will. I will give you a clue to the value of the information I have, this concerns a special thing she is carrying."

The line fell into a heavy, tense pause. The mayor didn’t argue. "Send your bank details and wait ten minutes."

Ocean quickly punched in his account number. Eleven minutes later, his phone chimed with a beautiful, heavenly notification. 20,000 low grade energy stones had been deposited on his account. The grade of the stones was not the best, but the amount was worthy. An ordinary family could live off this amount for at least three years if they tightened their belts.

Ocean almost squealed out loud. He forced his voice to stay level. "Pleasure doing business. Zyra Scorpion is alive."

"Are you certain?" the mayor asked, his tone dropping an octave.

"I am currently looking for the little bitch," Ocean explained confidently. "I personally escorted her all the way from the Wild lands right into Greenwich where she took a map that can lead to dungeons. She’s hiding somewhere in the city. With a little bit of financial help and some extra muscle, I am absolutely sure I can track her down for you." He was not about to tell the mayor that it was a compass.

When he got the money and found Zyra, he would draw a fake map with the location of two correct dungeons and keep the compass for himself.

The mayor let out a low, amused laugh over the speaker. "Don’t move, I will send my own men to join you. I am sure you can understand why I wouldn’t trust a stranger with this. I will be in touch with your next instructions. Do not dare give this information to anyone else or I will kill you. Consider us partners now."

The call disconnected. Ocean started planning how to spend the stones he had received. He needed to upgrade to a better room and eat some good food.

Ten minutes later, as he was concluding his budgeting, he received another message. The mayor had sent 50,000 low grade stones. A minute later, the location of a hotel in Greenwich and a room number.

Ocean stood frozen for three seconds before letting out an absolute scream of pure joy, jumping up and down on the rickety floorboards. Seventy thousand energy stones! His days of starving and hiding in trash heaps were officially over. With the Mayor’s massive political protection backing him, he didn’t have to give a single damn about Achilles anymore.

He slapped his knee, looking at his skeletal dog. "Pack your bags, buddy! We are eating meat tonight!"