Chapter 164

Chapter 164: Capture

The door of the Night Song Bar opened, and a dusty man walked in. Hungry and thirsty, he made his way to the counter and sat down, then spoke to the bartender.

“Bring me a glass of water and a sausage sandwich.”

“Sure, sir. Please wait a moment.”

Following the new guest’s request, the waiter went to prepare the food. Meanwhile, on the other side of the bar, Gregor had finished his last cigarette and his last drink. He left some money on the counter and got up to leave, walking toward the exit. As he passed by the new guest sitting at the bar, he headed out the door.

Gregor reached the bar door, extended his hand to push it open, and as he was about to head home as usual, a clear, loud sound suddenly echoed behind him.

Gregor turned around and saw that a guest at the bar had accidentally dropped a glass, spilling wine onto another guest. The bearded, square-faced guest was angrily scolding the other.

“What the hell! Don’t you know how to handle yourself, boy!”

“Haha, sorry sir, I’ll pay for any damage. Can I treat you to this meal?”

As the clumsy guest paid the waiter, Gregor, who witnessed the scene, turned to continue leaving without much thought.

Just then, his expression froze, his body stiffening as if he suddenly realized something.

Standing at the door, Gregor slowly turned his head, looking at the man at the bar who was wiping his wet clothes. His expression grew serious as he stared at the man’s face for several seconds before silently pushing the door open and walking out.

Inside the bar, Godfrey calmed down after being splashed with wine, wolfed down the food brought to him, drank the water, and then left his seat, heading towards the bar door while thinking about what to do next.

Thinking, Godfrey approached the bar door, opened it, and stepped outside.

As soon as Godfrey stepped out, a brick that had been prepared beforehand slammed into his head from the side, smashing into his forehead with great force. The brick shattered completely, and Godfrey staggered, dazed by the impact, falling to the ground.

“Aa… Ha…”

With his mouth wide open and eyes bulging, Godfrey, still dizzy, looked in the direction where the brick had come from and saw a young man in casual clothes, around twenty years old, standing by the bar door. The young man held fragments of the brick in his right hand and a thick pipe in his left. His expression was cold, almost filled with a hint of murderous intent.

“Thanks to the Holy Son, you’ve been delivered into my hands…”

Staring at the familiar figure in front of him, Gregor muttered silently. Seeing the young man with a murderous look, Godfrey felt a sense of unease and immediately stood up, turning and running away from the young man.

Although he didn’t know who his enemy was, it was clear that he wasn’t in a position to fight at the moment, so he needed to run quickly.

Watching Godfrey run, Gregor gripped the heavy pipe tightly and followed at a steady pace. Familiar with the terrain, he knew that the direction Godfrey had fled was a dead end.

Soon, Gregor caught up with the fleeing Godfrey. Trapped at a dead end, the path he had taken was a cul-de-sac from the start.

Facing the high wall at the end of the alley, Godfrey, panting, stared at Gregor, who was approaching him. He said,

“Hey… Sir, there must be some misunderstanding between us.”

“There is no misunderstanding,” Gregor replied, then swung the pipe at Godfrey. Godfrey tried to dodge, but Gregor was much faster. Nearly all the attacks hit him, the heavy pipe striking his hardened skin with a sharp, resonant sound echoing through the alley.

In the face of Gregor’s assault, Godfrey, who had been taking hits passively, wanted to retaliate but couldn’t touch his opponent. Even with the agility and speed of a Shadow Stalker, Godfrey, despite his superhuman stamina as a Thirster, could only be toyed with in a one-on-one fight.

As a Bone Craftsman, Godfrey, though a Black Earth Tier, was one rank higher than Gregor and had strong defenses, but he lacked significant physical enhancements. Catching Gregor in close combat was impossible without his Bone Artifacts and Ghosts. Without them, he was no match for Gregor.

‘This speed… Is he a Shadow Stalker?! d*mn it! If I still had my Bone Artifacts, I would have chopped you to pieces long ago!’

In the constant barrage of blows, Godfrey thought angrily. For many “Stone” Extraordinary Beings, eighty percent of their power came from their own equipment and constructs. However, his equipment had been stripped by Dorothy beforehand.

Back on Knight Road, with both Bone Blade and Ghost, Godfrey could easily play with Gregor’s squad. Without Dorothy’s interference, he could have wiped out Gregor’s entire squad single-handedly. After all, he was a Black Earth Tier. But without his Bone Blade and Ghost, he could only suffer Gregor’s relentless beating.

A Black Tier’s “Stone” had skin hard enough to stop bullets, and Gregor’s pipe couldn’t cause much damage. However, Gregor noticed that although he couldn’t break the other’s skin, the shockwaves from blunt force strikes could still affect the tissues beneath. While it might not affect other parts, it could significantly impact the brain.

Though Gregor’s heavy blows only caused minor scalp damage to Godfrey, the shockwaves transmitted to the brain still affected the brain tissue.

After several attempts, Gregor quickly found the best spot to attack. He struck Godfrey’s head repeatedly with the pipe until Godfrey begged and screamed, knocking him unconscious.

In the alley, watching the man lying unconscious on the ground, Gregor took a deep breath, rested for a while, then began searching for ropes to bind Godfrey and take him back to the Bureau.

…

At that moment, on the roof of a house above the alley, a crow stood there, observing the situation indifferently. A kilometer away, in a coffee shop, Dorothy sat in a private cabin, savoring her coffee.

“Well done, Gregor. Capturing a Black Earth Tier is quite an achievement for you.”

Sipping her coffee, Dorothy murmured to herself. Indeed, for her captive Bone Craftsman, she had let Gregor catch him, giving her brother some merit.

Since the captor was useless to her, it was better to give Gregor a chance to earn some merit. During the time on Knight Road, this Bone Craftsman, who controlled Bone Blades, had caused significant losses to the Hunter team. The An Yin Bureau certainly wanted to capture him.

After all, Gregor was the only family she had left in the world, so it was natural to take care of him a little.

There was a period when Dorothy followed Gregor to confirm the location of the An Yin Bureau. Knowing he liked to drink at this bar, she used a Zombie Puppet to place the unconscious Godfrey nearby and woke him at the right time.

Later, Dorothy had set up enough Zombie Puppets disguised as civilians in the area, ready to guide the two together covertly. The clumsy guest who broke the glass and spilled wine on Godfrey was one of Dorothy’s pawns, meant to draw Gregor’s attention to Godfrey. There were similar setups elsewhere.

Dorothy wasn’t too worried about whether Godfrey would reveal anything harmful about her to the An Yin Bureau. She and Vania had disguised themselves during their fight with Godfrey, so he hadn’t seen anything. And concerning Audric, the Bureau Chief probably knew something.

Dorothy had paid 50 pounds to Audric. If the An Yin Bureau asked Audric about the identities of the two women who defeated Godfrey, Audric would say they were hired privately from outside Igewent.

“I wonder… What reward will Gregor get this time?” Dorothy pondered as she watched the street outside while sipping her coffee.