The Cycle of Fate

Chapter 83: Intelligence

Breeze Ballroom, Second Floor Café.

Lumiere casually walked over and sat down opposite Baron Brignell.

He showed no signs of submission or humility, not even the basic courtesy of respect. It was as if they were on the same level.

This made Louis, standing behind Baron Brignell, shake his head quietly.

He had seen too many people like Lumiere, and their endings were almost always the same: either they were sent to the police headquarters by the Savoy Party or they were seriously injured in a gang clash, losing their abilities and forced to wag their tails like dogs to gain the gang's support. Some even died from various causes, their bodies discarded deep underground or stuffed into barrels and sunk to the bottom of the Serozo River.

"Good evening, Baron," Lumiere greeted with a smile.

There wasn't a trace of anger on Baron Brignell's face. He took a puff from his mahogany-colored pipe and casually asked, "Where were you this afternoon?"

"Underground," Lumiere replied, as concise as the corpse that had drunk the "prophecy potion," only answering the questions asked without any further elaboration.

If "Little Bitch" Jenna and "Red Boots" Franca hadn't kept any secrets from him about how he had killed that pervert to save the former, then his current response would be a sign of honesty. Baron Brignell was momentarily stunned but didn't press further. He rubbed his mahogany-colored pipe and said, "I have something I want you to do."

Before Lumiere could ask, the baron smiled and explained, "I have high hopes for you. I believe you can become a very important member of our Savoy Party, taking on critical responsibilities."

"But my approval alone is not enough. You must demonstrate a level of strength that commands the respect of everyone, make contributions that earn their recognition."

A carrot on a stick for the donkey? Lumiere sneered internally.

"What is it?"

Baron Brignell put down his pipe, took a sip of coffee, and in a calm tone, said, "Attack any significant member of the Poison Sting Gang. It's best if you severely injure them, or kill them on the spot."

Lumiere laughed, "Didn't you just tell me a couple of days ago to be patient, not to escalate things and trigger an all-out conflict with the Poison Sting Gang?"

"Are you no longer worried about such a conflict, or about drawing the attention of the police headquarters?"

Though he had originally planned to stake out the Poison Sting Gang's "Hammer" Ait, he didn't want Baron Brignell to treat him like a fool.

The baron nodded with satisfaction, "You're smarter than the people around me."

"I've been observing the Poison Sting Gang's reaction over the past two days, and I've noticed that they genuinely have no intention of retaliating against you—at least, not for the time being."

"What does that tell you?"

"That they are very afraid of our Savoy Party," Lumiere joked.

It was indeed a joke. If the Poison Sting Gang feared the Savoy Party, they wouldn't have developed into the second-largest gang in the Honest Man's Market District.

Baron Brignell shook his head, "In the past, they would have retaliated proportionally or made us pay a higher price, rather than just covering the medical expenses.

"Moreover, after Margot's death, though they made a big show of being outraged, they didn't take any actions that would provoke a severe crackdown from the police. It seemed more like they wanted to create chaos to find the real assassin."