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nGary didn’t know what to say after Jayden’s accusation. As such, he opted to stay quiet, which in itself was pretty telling to the Altered. Since they seemed to be done with their conversation, Gary quickly texted Kai, who told him that he would pick him up in around ten minutes.

nIt felt like a small eternity as Gary and Jayden were waiting together in an awkward silence.

n‘How did he find out? The first time we met, I was buck naked… and I didn’t do anything serious during our fight two days ago, did I?’ The Werewolf was racking his brain as to how he was discovered. The two of them had only fought for a brief moment until today. ‘Was it the kick on the arm? He could have avoided that blow… but he took it straight on. Was that the whole reason he wanted to fight? To test me?’

nFor once, the high schooler was right on the money with his guess. Jayden had had his suspicions after fighting the masked high schooler two days ago. It just seemed strange for the teenager to be able to perform that well. After all, the Altered had seen that Gary, just like himself, had fought his way through to the cabin, yet he hadn’t looked exhausted.

nThis meant that the green haired teenager either had the stamina of a top athlete… or that of an Altered. He might have believed the former, but streaker boy had looked completely different to when Jayden had first met him. Unless Gary had started to use performance enhancing drugs ever since the time he had picked him up, something that shouldn’t be able to change someone this drastically in such a short amount of time, the only other explanation would be that he had become an Altered.

nThe final nail in the coffin was the kick. Jayden had decided to take the full strength of his attack head on, and that was what had convinced him that Gary wasn’t completely human any more. The real question was, how had the food thief been able to pay for it?

nA kid being sponsored who wasn’t in the AFA was practically unheard of. It wasn't that no one his age was selected, but whoever would have sponsored him, would have also paid for his tuition at the AFA, and of course they would have registered him. Since he wasn’t on the register for Altered, it would mean that it would have had to be an illegal procedure, which would cost even more…

n“You’re not in any trouble. Your secret is safe with me.” Jayden spoke up as they saw the car arrive. “I won’t pry into your circumstances, but I highly recommend you think my idea over. Even if it wasn't for chasing after my little sis, I would still tell you to go to the AFA. It will completely change your life. You’ll be able to move to a high tier city, and you’ll also be able to look after your family.”

nWith that, Jayden headed back inside, while Gary approached the Bersedez Menz. Before entering, though, Gary looked towards the house and could see a curtain drawn and Xin looking out of it.

nHe gave her a wave, which she returned, before heading inside, and he was off. Perhaps never coming back to this place ever again. During the car ride, Kai looked at Gary expectantly, waiting for his friend to share him the details. Unfortunately, the green haired teenager was just staring out of the window, seemingly in a world of his own.

n“Shall I take it that the date didn’t go as well as you would have liked? Is that what’s on your mind?” The upperclassman asked eventually.

n“No… I'm just thinking about everyone and everything.” Gary answered, shifting his gaze to Kai. “Do you think… we could ever move to a Tier-2 city… I mean all of us. Changing schools and everything?”

nPondering over Jayden’s suggestion, there were a few big problems. Gary didn't have a sponsor, so he would have to come up with the funds to join the AFA in the first place. Then there was the fact that it was located in a Tier-2 city.

nJoining them would mean leaving everything behind, unless he could take all of it with him. Sure, if they had enough money he could take Amy and his mother when she got better but what about the gang? On top of that, the money that they had earned wasn't his money. Leader or not, it was primarily the Howlers’ money, which was why he asked his upperclassman.

n“It should be possible… if we’re talking down the line.” Kai answered after taking some time to think about it. “However, if you mean right now, then I’ll have to ask you to forget about it. It’s already too late. Since we’ve taken over the Pincers area, we’re officially one of Slough’s small-time gangs.

n“At the moment, we are at a crucial phase for the Howlers as a gang. Taking over was just the very first step, and we’ll definitely have to prepare for the others trying to challenge us for our territory now. Then, there are other things we have to do in Slough.

n“Still, once we’ve taken over the town and can guarantee that nobody will try to pry it from our hands, we could talk about it. After all, I have my sights on the higher tier cities anyway. So if there is something that you want in those higher tier cities, then go for it. Use it as a goal to push you forward even more.”

nThe answer at least gave Gary some hope that maybe one day he would see Xin again, though for now he would have to concentrate on the things inside Slough. They needed to deal with everything here, including the Underdogs and the Grey Elephants.

nThe two started to talk about what went on, and Gary had talked about the unfortunate events, such as the condom incident and the dinner table problems. He even admitted that he was worried that he might never see Xin again. Kai responded in turn by trying to hold back his smirk, some concern and lastly by pretending to wipe away a tear, much to the annoyance of Gary.

n“Well, it sounds like it's a good thing that I didn’t go in detail about the mayor after all. Otherwise, you might have really said some rude remark to him in that little heated conversation of yours.” Kai mentioned as if to change the topic.

n“What do you mean?”

n“You already know that the mayor is involved with the gangs in this area. In particular the Rising Dragon, but there is a lot more to that than meets the eye. Tomorrow there will be a meeting between all five of the gangs.

n“The invitation was originally sent out to Olivia, but of course with us having taken over the Pincers, we got one addressed to us personally. That means you, as our leader, will have to attend this little meeting and as for the one that called it in the first place… well I think you can guess where I'm going with this.”

n****

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