Chapter 362: I Hate You

West emerged from the ruined building and immediately pulled out his phone.

He stared at the list he’d created earlier and crossed Renzhi name out. "Not him."

That left one significant possibility.

West’s eyes narrowed as he moved downward... Arlott...

Bloodstain’s former right-hand man.

Unlike Renzhi, Arlott had an obvious motive.

Bloodstain had been more than a superior to him. The two had spent years building their organization together before West came along and destroyed everything.

Bloodstain was dead, his organization was gone and Arlott had disappeared...

If anyone had reason to hate West enough to target Aria... Arlott was near the top of the list.

Immediately after leaving the abandoned district, West began digging.

He contacted informants, checked gang movements, looked through reports of awakened activity and even tracked former Bloodstain associates.

For a long time, he found nothing... Arlott had vanished remarkably well... but West wasn’t someone who gave up simply because information was difficult to find.

By the next day, a lead finally appeared.

An informant reported seeing a suspicious awakened in an industrial district on the outskirts of Misty High City and the description matched.

---

West arrived at the industrial district where old warehouses stretched across several blocks with rusty shipping containers scattered everywhere.

West walked down the empty road with his hands in his pockets as broken headlights flickered.

After about half a minute, West sudeenly stopped and turned his head slightly.

A figure stood on top of a warehouse several hundred meters away with a strange device in his grasp.

He was tall and broad, clad in a dark coat.

The moment their eyes met, the figure turned around. "Shit."

West smiled. "Found you."

Arlott immediately jumped from the warehouse.

GBAM!

He landed heavily and sprinted toward the opposite side of the district.

West sighed. "Seriously?"

A sonic boom erupted behind him as he activated Radiant Acceleration and coupled it with his own speed.

Arlott pupils contracted as he glanced over his shoulder. "What?!"

Arlott’s expression changed upon noticing that West was already beside him. "You’re kidding!"

The West he was seeing now, seemed much more faster and powerful since the last time he encountered him.

He immediately activated his branch and his body began expanding.

His clothing stretched as his physical size increased and within seconds, the man had grown to several meters tall causing the ground to shake with every step.

Arlott grinned. "You think you can catch me?"

He threw a massive fist downwards shattering the road.

BOOM!

Dust exploded outward, burying West beneath the impact.

Arlott laughed while raising his gargantuan fist. "You’re the reason Bloodstain is dead!"

"Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this?!"

He swung again causing another section of pavement to explode.

BOOM!

Arlott continued attacking, demolishing everything beneath him with each blow.

Warehouse walls cracked, shipping containers were crushed and concrete was pulverized.

"Die!" Another enormous fist came crashing down.

BOOM!

A shockwave spread across the surroundings and for several seconds, there was silence.

Arlott massive chest rose and fell as he let out heavy breaths.

A grin slowly appeared. "That’s it?"

He looked down. "After everything I’ve heard about you in recent times?"

He laughed. "You’re nothing!"

All of a sudden, his enormous fist began began quaking causing Arlott’s laughter to stop. "Huh?"

His eyes widened. "What?"

Arlott’s expression transformed from confidence to disbelief as the massive hand began rising.

A dark, bluish-furred figure seemed to be emerging.

West’s body slowly rose from the crater completely transformed into the seven feet tall Voidfang Predator.

Sharp fangs protruded from his mouth while glowing eyes burnt beneath the shadow of his brow.

He slowly tilted his head while raising Arlott massive fist higher and higher. "That was supposed to hurt?"

Arlott’s face twisted. "Impossible!"

He pushed down harder but West remained firm and unmoving.

"Get off me," West suddenly yelled and pushed the fist upwards with immense force.

BOOM!

Arlott was immediately launched backward despite his size and sent flying through the air.

West immediately leapt after him.

Thooommmm~

Arlott barely had time to react before West appeared above him with his fist pulled backward.

Arlott’s eyes widened as the air around it distorted. "Wait—"

BOOM!

The punch connected directly with his massive jaw, sending Arlott’s enormous body crashing toward the ground.

He slammed through a warehouse roof, collapsing an entire portion of the structure.

Dust rolled through the area as the entire building shook.

West landed moments later and began walking through the debris.

Arlott transformation was already beginning to reverse as he laid in the center.

West grabbed him by the collar and lifted him effortlessly.

Arlott struggled. "Let me go!"

West stared directly into his eyes. "Where is Aria?"

Arlott froze. "...What?"

"Where is Aria?"

"Who?"

West’s expression darkened. "Don’t play games."

"I’m not!"

Arlott genuinely looked confused. "Who the hell is Aria?"

West stared at him and for several seconds, neither spoke until West slowly lowered him.

Arlott coughed. "I don’t know any Aria!"

West’s eyes narrowed. "She was kidnapped three days ago."

Arlott blinked. "And you think I did it?"

"You’re one of the people with a reason."

Arlott stared at him incredulously. "You’re seriously accusing me of kidnapping someone I don’t know."

Arlott wiped blood from the corner of his mouth as he added. "I hate you."

"I’ll admit that."

"You killed Bloodstain."

"You destroyed everything we built."

"I’ve wanted to kill you ever since."

He pointed toward West. "But kidnapping some woman I’ve never even heard of?"

"No."

West studied him and noticed that Arlott wasn’t behaving like someone caught in a lie. He looked genuinely confused.

"Then where were you two days ago?" West questioned suspiciously.

Arlott laughed bitterly. "Running."

"From who?"

"Your people!"

West raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because half the city came after Bloodstain’s remaining people after his organization collapsed!"

Arlott shook his head. "I’ve been hiding ever since."

West stared at him. "So you didn’t take Aria."

"No."

"Didn’t send anyone?"

"No."

"Didn’t know someone was targeting Shadow Reapers?"

West’s gaze sharpened upon noticing Arlott hesitation. "...What?"

Arlott looked toward the destroyed warehouse. "I don’t know who took your girl."

"But..." he paused briefly. "There are people who would love to see you suffer."

West’s expression became cold. "I already know that."

Arlott gave him a bitter smile. "Then you should probably hurry."

"Because if someone went after your girl..." he looked directly into West’s eyes. "...they probably aren’t planning to stop with her."

West expression remained calm as he stood there silently but something inside him had just been triggered.

Arlott had been right about one thing... Aria wasn’t simply an assistant, she was someone close to him.

And whoever had taken her had known that.

West’s eyes narrowed. "Interesting."

•••

•••

Back at Shadow Reapers headquarters, West sat in his office with a blank sheet of paper before him.

He had already created a list of enemies, now he was creating another.

This time, however, he wasn’t listing people who might have kidnapped Aria, he was listing everyone important to him who could potentially become targets.

The first name he placed on the list were his parents.

His parents weren’t awakened neither were they fighters... they couldn’t defend themselves against someone powerful enough to target him.

West immediately picked up his phone. "Get my parents."

The person on the other end paused. "Sir?"

"Bring them here."

"To Shadow Reapers?"

"Yes."

"Immediately."

There was no room for discussion... the best place to keep them safe was Shadow Reapers... since there were enough awakened here.

If someone wanted to reach his parents, they would have to come through him first.

His gaze returned to the list and he began adding more names.

He paused at Lianhua, staring at the name for a moment before crossing it out.

He didn’t cross her name out because he didn’t care about her... on the contrary, he did so because she had something most of the people on this list didn’t... protection.

She was Renzhi’s wife and Renzhi was an awakened. More importantly, he was a grand captain in Dragon Fang.

Anyone who knew that would understand that attacking Lianhua would be an entirely different proposition from attacking an ordinary civilian.

The same applied to Mei so West crossed her name out as well. "Nobody with a brain would target them."

"Not unless they want to start a war with Renzhi and Dragon Fang."

He moved down the list and paused at Yelena before crossing her out.

Although, he had dealt with Darius, the family was still connected to Eagle’s Print.

That wasn’t something an enemy could casually ignore.

Anyone planning an attack would have to consider the consequences of provoking an entire organization.

West paused at Jax briefly and crossed his name out. Jax was already an awakened. He could defend himself. The same went for Nina and the other awakened members of Shadow Reapers.

They weren’t helpless civilians but West still wasn’t taking chances...

He picked up his phone. "Jax."

"Yeah?"

"You and Nina... nobody leaves the base."

There was a brief pause before Jax protested. "Wait, what?"