The Cycle Continues: Alice in Borderland Novel

49) Dealer Headquarters

Early morning of the next stage

===Gabura Sachi===

I did some light stretches outside, as Chihaya turned on the truck, his foot on the brake pedal as he turned the key in the ignition. It was just past dawn, and the sky was still dark, bare wisps of sunlight peeking through, chirping of crickets still filling the air.

Zakū was bent over, tying his shoes. "So from what we saw last night, it should be around the Minato ward."

"Where the hell is Rafferty?" I asked, scanning the area. Benkei shrugged, dumping a backpack of supplies into the back of the truck.

Next to us, on a rusting metal table, Kazetani unfurled a map, fighting against the wrinkling edges in the breeze as he pushed it flat, popping a marker open. "So, thinking back to Taitō, we can eliminate a few places it can't be. Any place that was a former game venue, we can be certain isn't the dealer base."

He leaned across the table, circling and scribbling out an entire city block. "This entire city block was the site of Benkei and Tori's Nine of Spades, and to this day it's still in charred, igneous ruins. Definitely not there." He paused, analyzing the map, before crossing off a neighborhood. "I've also heard that this entire neighborhood was involved in a super large-scale Nine of Clubs, which involved breaking and entering into various houses. So right off the bat, that's already two large areas eliminated. There's still a lot left though..."

"These buildings right here I remember from the Beach records." Chihaya pointed, after he got out of the car. "This hotel, bank, and these office buildings."

Haga appeared from behind us, handing Kazetani a file. "Here are records of our logged game venues. I've highlighted the ones found within Minato."

"Thanks, Haga." Kazetani smiled, as Haga nodded and left. He flipped through the list of highlights, continuing to cross off more areas and buildings.

"It's weird how Rafferty just ghosted us." Benkei said, scratching his neck. "I haven't seen him all day!"

"Yeah, it is strange." I said. "But maybe he's just doing his own thing. He's already done so much for us, so I understand if maybe he's just tired and ended up going for a walk on his own or something."

Chihaya nodded. "Yeah, the five of us are all ready to go. Looks like we should probably hit up..." He circled the northern portion of the ward with his finger, which was void of any scribbled areas. "This part, first."

"And also be on the lookout for dead bodies." Zakū suggested.

Kazetani clapped his hands together, rubbing them as he opened the car door. "Alright. Time is of the essence; let's get to work."

We got in the car, and after a rev of the engine, we began the drive to Minato.

. . .

The car slowed down as we entered a large stretch of road in the Minato ward.

"Well... We're here." Zakū said, getting out of the car. "I guess we can just start looking for corpses now."

"Do we just walk around the entire area?" I asked. "That's going to take forever! What are we exactly looking for?"

"Strange buildings, I guess." Benkei shrugged, slinging on the backpack.

"Anything that looks out of place." Kazetani answered.

Chihaya began popping open some car trunks, as I backed up, craning my head upwards. Buildings towered into the sky, many covered with unlit billboards.