Just a dozen meters away from them, a large group of people had gathered there.

They were all fully armed, some holding machetes, some carrying sharp alchemical mechanical devices, and many of them were also equipped with alchemical amplification prostheses.

It’s over…

At this moment, this was the only thought left in the masked man's mind.

"May the smog not reach your home." Vandel walked forward, patted his shoulder with a smile, and said, "Black Alley extends its warmest greetings to you and your friends."

…

…

In Benso's grocery store.

Caitlin's face was full of worry, and she stared intently at the two middle-aged men, one fat and one strong, who were busy working in front of the bed.

Lying on the bed was Li Lin, who had been given anesthesia and was in a semi-comatose state.

After relieving them of the crisis, Vandel took Caitlin and the injured Li Lin back to Benso's grocery store to treat his wounds.

Benso threw the towel in his hand into the basin of water that was already soaked with red liquid and shouted outside: "Ike, bring in another basin of water!"

"knew!"

Not long after, a little boy with white hair and black skin came in again with a basin of clean water.

Vandel used tweezers to remove a piece of metal fragment from the wound and dropped it into the basin. Then he washed the blood from his hands and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm.

Seeing this, Caitlin, who was already restless, immediately stepped forward to ask about Li Lin's condition, "Is he okay?"

"This kid is in pretty good shape. The bullet didn't penetrate deep, and all the shrapnel has been removed. I'll let Benso sew up the rest of the wound. He'll be fine after resting for a while."

"That's good." Caitlin breathed a sigh of relief. "By the way, those five people you captured..."

"Come out and talk." Vandel motioned for her to follow him.

The two walked out of Benso's grocery store and came to the narrow alley next to the store.

Vander lit his pipe with a match, leaned against the cold wall with his arms folded, and blew out a few round smoke rings with his head raised.

After pondering for a while, he slowly spoke, "My men haven't gotten any results from the interrogation yet, but what I can confirm is that they are not from Dicheng. People from Dicheng don't have the money to install the city's augmented bodies."

"I know. They must be sent by someone who is hostile to our family."

"Well, the Jiraman family... I didn't expect you to be the daughter of an upper city councilor."

"I never thought you were the boss of Black Alley." Caitlin's gaze rested briefly on Fandel. "You are very different from the Alchemist Baron I imagined."

"I'm not a chemist-baron. I'm just trying to make a living." Vandel extinguished his pipe, not wanting to continue the conversation. "What would you do if you knew the identities of these people?"

Caitlin's expression darkened. "I will personally send them all to jail, including the forces behind them."

"Well, that's a good idea, but sometimes the law isn't as effective as eradicating the problem directly..."

"I'm not a murderer."

"Of course, this is just my personal experience... although I don't like getting into trouble right now."

Vander spread his hands and said nothing more.

The air fell into silence for a long time.

Time passes by every second.

After an unknown amount of time, hurried footsteps were heard in the alley in front of the grocery store.

A woman wearing a worn brown leather jacket, with dark skin and thick black eyeshadow that perfectly highlighted her fierce eyes, came in front of Fandel.

"Sevika, what's going on?"

"They are mercenaries traveling between Upper City and Bilgewater. They were hired by someone to kidnap this young lady."

The woman casually glanced at Catelyn beside Fandel, and her hoarse voice was a little harsh.

"But none of them knew the true identity of their employer. They only knew his codename: C."