They took one last look at the completely dark street, then stepped into it.
Even though it was technically just a street, it acted more like a boundaryâa dividing line between two parts of the city: the half-lit side, and the dark half.
As they crossed the street, the surroundings gradually began to change. The colorful and elegant houses gave way to abandoned slums and crumbling ruins.
No matter where you looked, there were homeless people and beggars everywhere.
The atmosphere was heavy and cold, the air almost unbreathable from the stench.
As they entered, eyes quickly turned toward them, especially because of Serysâs clothes and appearance. Temptation was clear in the eyes of the people around.
However, Daniel released a portion of his aura to scare them offâand just like he expected, the suffocating pressure of the man next to the woman was enough to terrify them. Though tempted, they didnât dare get close.
"Do you know the person weâre looking for? Have you seen them before?" Daniel asked, glancing at Serys.
"No, but I know a few other beggars and asked them about this one. You should knowâunlike Wanderers who donât have a fixed base and keep moving around, beggars each have their own district or city. They never leave it."
"I see." Daniel nodded and they kept moving. As expected, the dark half of the city was large.
Along the way, they passed many beggars, but unfortunately, none of them were the one they were looking for.
Still, they didnât have to search long. A sudden noise caught their attention.
"Whatâs that?" Serys frowned as she saw a group of men in the distance beating up a beggar.
"Is that him?" Daniel frowned tooâhe suddenly felt something different about this beggar. Even he didnât know why he sensed that difference.
"Thatâs him! Go save him!"
Daniel nodded and stepped forwardâinstantly appearing beside the group.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Shit, where did this bastard come from?!"
"You wanna die, asshole?!"
Seeing a black-clad, masked man appear out of nowhere startled them. They instinctively let go of the old man.
"Gentlemen, Iâm going to have to ask you to let go of this old man and leave this place."
The four men looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter as if they had heard the funniest thing in their lives.
"Are you stupid? Are you threatening us, asshole? Do you even know who we are?"
"I didnât threaten. I gave a recommendation. If you donât leave, I canât guarantee youâll walk away from here in one piece." Daniel sighed. Why did no one ever take his words seriously?
"Haha, guys, look at this idiot! Heâs giving us advice!" the four of them burst into laughter again.
Right now, they were looking at Daniel like he was some fool who didnât even know where he was.
Did this bastard not know who they were? In this entire city, there wasnât a single person who would dare threaten themâor even try to stop them from doing whatever they wanted!
"Too bad, we canât say the same for you. Since you got in our way, youâre gonna pay." Each one pulled out a dagger, ready to attack.
But Daniel just waved his handâand they exploded on the spot, blood splattering everywhere.
"Bunch of idiots." Unfortunately, even his clothes got slightly stained with blood.
"That ended quickly," Serys walked up and laughed a little when she saw the mess.
Daniel ignored her and walked over to the old man. He seemed unconscious and had several deep injuries.
He checked the manâs internal conditionâand what he found shocked him. The beggar was completely fine! Despite the beating, none of his internal organs were damaged.
In fact, he wasnât hurt at all. The blood was the only thing that made it look like heâd been beaten near death.
"Is he okay?" Serys assumed the old man was in bad condition.
"Heâs actually healthier than both of us. How long are you gonna pretend to be unconscious?"
But the old man didnât respond. Even his breathing was weaker than normal. He really seemed unconscious.
Serys frowned too. Was Daniel wrong? Or was the old man faking it? If he was, he was doing a great job.
"Old man, you just saw what I did to those guys. If you keep pretending, Iâm going to have to use a less gentle method to wake you up."
Still no response. It was clear the beggar had no intention of reacting.
Daniel sighed, placed his hand on the old manâs shoulder, and injected a burst of death energy into him, shaking his entire being.
"Kid, are you trying to kill me?!" The old man shot up like a cat, jumping several meters away.
"So you really were faking it." Daniel and Serys exchanged a glance and smiled.
"Hmph, I donât know who you are. Thanks for saving me, but you can go now. This place isnât safe for people like you." The beggar turned around to leave, ignoring them.
Daniel was about to stop him, but Serys motioned him not to. She pulled out a coin-like token and tossed it toward the beggar.
Sensing something flying toward him, the beggar caught it. He frowned when he saw what it wasâthen his frown turned to surprise.
"Donât you want to respond to your clientâs request?"
"Follow me." The old man paused for a second and then gestured for them to come along.
Daniel and Serys smiled and followed him. Before long, they arrived at a crumbling shack that was clearly his home.
"If you have this token, it means youâve got good ties with the Beggarsâ Network, which means youâre a clientâand Iâm obligated to help you. But..." The old man sat down on a stone that looked like a makeshift chair.
Strangely, all the blood and wounds had vanished.
"But... what? You retired?" Daniel asked sarcastically.
"But you idiot! You killed those four bastards! You werenât supposed to do that! For Godâs sake, why do you think I didnât defend myself?! You think Iâm weaker than a bunch of brats like them?!"