Chapter 39: There Will Be Profit!

"You fool!"

Sometime ago, an angry shout echoed through the narrow alleyways of the lower ring, disturbing the vermin rummaging through the overflowing trash containers nearby.

The man shouting was in his mid-thirties, with a slightly trained body and broad shoulders from years of manual work. His arms carried a modest amount of muscle for a man his age and importantly, his line of work.

His dark hair had been slicked back and a thin moustache framed his upper lip. Standing several steps in front of him was a giant of a man.

"You absolute fucking, useless oaf! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!"

Nile Crocodile Sobek screamed, jabbing an accusing finger toward him.

"That mutant woman was supposed to be sold tonight! Tonight!! Do you understand what that means? I had buyers already interested in her, and some of them were prepared to pay obscene amounts of money because of those feathers, but you couldn’t even follow one simple instruction without crushing her skull!"

The enormous man said nothing.

A brown cloak concealed most of his body, but even the heavy fabric couldn’t hide the sheer size of his frame. His shoulders were wide enough to make the cloak look stretched across him, and his arms hung heavily at his side. A crude wooden mask concealed his entire face, leaving Sobek with no idea what he looked like.

Not that it mattered. This big oaf killed one of his most valuable slaves.

"She was a mutant with feathers unlike anything I’ve seen before. Do you know what that means? Exceptional rarity, exceptional beauty, and therefore exceptional value. Some collectors would have paid a fortune just to keep her as a personal ornament while others would have paid even more for whatever twisted purposes they had in mind. I don’t care what they intended to do with her, because every single one of them was going to put money in my pocket!"

He took several agitated steps back and forth. Then, pointed at Obba again.

"Now she’s dead. Dead! Now what am I going to display at the auction? I can’t exactly walk onto the stage and tell them, ’Sorry everyone, the exotic mutant you were promised is now a corpse because my oversized idiot bodyguard punched her too hard’. What do you think happens to my reputation after that? What do you think happens to my clients?!"

Sobek was fuming but the masked giant was indifferent to it all. That irritated him but he was already used to this behavior. He rubbed his temples and spoke in a slightly calmer tone.

"The auction is tonight, Obba. This is my big chance to make it out of this dump. Do you understand? I’m sick of living down here. I’m sick of dealing with these filthy streets, these worthless criminals and every other bastard"

He continued, his voice starting to rise again.

"You have somehow managed to turn it into a disaster before the day has even ended. What? Do you think a replacement for an exceptionally rare mutant is just going to fall out of the sky?!"

Clang!

Something crashed behind him, making him quickly turn. What he saw were trash cans that had been knocked over and their contents scattered across the filthy ground.

For a moment, Sobek saw nothing except garbage and the shadows between the buildings. Then something moved, a small figure pushed itself upright from among the rubbish.

It was a small girl... a child!

Sobek’s mouth fell open when he got a good look at her.

Her skin was unnaturally pale like that of a corpse. She had long silver-white hair that spilled around her shoulders, every strand gradually fading into a deep red. Two crimson horns protruded atop her head and her ruby red eyes had an intricate pattern.

A simple white garment covered her small body. She rubbed her forehead with one hand and winced, apparently recovering from the impact.

She looked around and her mouth produced a sound.

"Raa...?"

She said something else in the same unfamiliar language, her voice confused as she examined the alley around her.

Sobek stared at her in astonishment. He looked upward and back at the girl.

’Did she just fall out of the sky?’

He quickly shook his head, whatever the case was it didn’t matter. His expression slowly twisted into a grin as his eyes greedily examined every detail of the girl. He tried to step closer, but was pushed back when the girl’s gaze settled on him.

"....!"

Sobek felt a strange shiver run down his spin. There was something animalistic about the way she looked at him. And that made his grin even wider.

"Golden Chain Sect, you beautiful bastards. You actually answered my prayers"

He spread his arms as though welcoming some divine blessing.

"Praise Gilgamesh!"

Sobek’s excitement became very difficult to contain. He turned toward Obba and pointed at the girl.

"The feathers are gone, but something better has been handed to me. This is our replacement. In fact, she’s better than the feathered mutant. Much better. Get her"

Without hesitation the giant gave notice to the little girl. Her entire demeanor changed immediately and the confusion vanished from her expression.

Her body lowered until her hands touched the ground, her back arching as she stared at the approaching giant. Her lips pulled back when she growled.

"Rrrrrrr...."

Sobek’s eyebrows rose.

"Oh?"

She lunged at the giant man. Her movements were so fast that Sobek could barely follow them. She crossed the distance between them in an instant with her claws aimed at Obba’s face.

Unfortunately for her, Obba was an assassin. Such a bruttish attack was nothing to him. This was why his response was simple. He merely punched her in the face, which sent her tiny body backward like a rag doll.

She crashed into the brick wall with enough force to crack the surface before collapsing onto the filthy ground without moving.

Sobek stared for a moment before busting into a laugh.

"Hahahaha! Perfect!"

Obba walked over to the unconscious girl and picked her up.

"What a find. Horns. Strange eyes, unnatural skin, and a feral temperament, so fast too for a child. I don’t know what kind of mutant she is, but who cares?!"

He rubbed his hands together, unable to hide the greed in his eyes.

"Forget the feathered woman. This one is going to make up for everything. My new centerpiece!"

His laugh echoed through the alley.