Lumian drew the dagger from Hedesey, smiling as he said, "I have some questions for you.""You could've just come to me directly. There's no need for this," Ait "the Hammer" instinctively tried to stall for time.
Meanwhile, he discreetly scanned the room, noticing there were no corpses around. Based on his fight with Charles, he found it hard to believe that Charles could have killed all ten armed men without letting any of them escape.
In such an enclosed space, even Ait himself wouldn't dare to face ten handguns head-on. He might take down three or four of them, but he'd surely die as well. This Charles, who won through schemes and traps, shouldn't have been able to handle such a situation.
Given the lack of bodies, Ait believed most of his men had fled, and surely some of them had gone to seek help from "Black Scorpion" Roger. If he could avoid angering Charles and stall for six or seven minutes, he might be saved.
"If I didn't do this, how would I ever get to meet you, given the relationship between your Poison Thorn Gang and me?" Lumian intentionally created the illusion that he wasn't necessarily out to kill. He raised the dagger and continued, "Stop wasting time. Answer my questions honestly. You know I'm not very patient. If you refuse to answer or lie, I'll kill you on the spot. I can always go find Bald Haman later to get the answers. After all, there are plenty of people in the Poison Thorn Gang who know what I need to know."
Lumian had driven away the gangsters not just out of necessity but also to remove any hope from Ait. A person with hope clings harder to life, which makes them more afraid of death.
"Alright," Ait immediately replied.
He had decided to give up some information, hoping to last those six or seven minutes. He also considered whether Charles might kill him in the end, but he had no other options. He could only hope that the information he provided would be valuable enough to keep Charles interested.
Lumian did a quick mental calculation of the time and asked, "Have you seen Louis Lund?"
Ait hesitated.
In a flash, Lumian swung the dagger, stabbing Ait in the shoulder. Blood quickly oozed out. "This is a warning," Lumian said flatly as he withdrew the dagger.
Ait, feeling the proximity of death and sensing Lumian's ruthlessness, was terrified.
"I've seen him," Ait blurted out. "At the Moulin Dance Hall and other places. There are wanted posters of him everywhere. I recognized him when I saw him at the boss's house."
Ait realized that silence and hesitation wouldn't buy him more time; they would only lead to uncontrollable consequences. Lying was also risky since he couldn't be sure which questions were meant to test his honesty.
Ait decided to offer longer, more detailed answers to prolong the conversation.
Lumian, inwardly pleased at the confirmation of a connection between Louis Lund and the Poison Thorn Gang, felt he had achieved his primary goal. Everything else was just a bonus.
"Why did he seek out Black Scorpion Roger?" Lumian pressed further.
"I don't know the specifics," Ait replied, shaking his head. "I just heard that the lady whom Louis Lund serves has come to Trier and wants to coordinate territory with the Poison Thorn Gang to avoid conflicts. This was approved by the Moon Lady, and our boss is mainly handling the details."
"The Moon Lady?" Lumian hadn't expected another "lady" to be mentioned. He still hadn't figured out what the "Night Lady" was all about.
"The Moon Lady is the one our gang serves," Ait continued. "No, our boss mentioned that she's no longer a lady; she's now the Lady Who Nurtures Gods. We must pray to her often. I've never met her, only our boss and Bald Haman have."

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The Cycle of Fate
AdventureWhen destiny falls into an infinite loop, how can it be broken?