Ning looked at the girl with a stunned look on his face.

Clara, the black-haired girl, had brought him and Carlos here before to talk with the boss. That same girl had now killed Grayfire.

‘Where did she come from?’ he wondered as he stared at her. There were only 3 of them here the entire time. Has she come from the open roof?

‘No,’ Ning thought of something. ‘When did she get out?’

After she had brought the two of them here, she had just… vanished, and none of them had noticed. She had definitely not left by the door as Ning had been there the entire time. Then where had she disappeared to?

“What’s going on?” Carlos asked as he was confused as well.

“Kepli, do you need treatment?” Clara asked.

“I… I’m fine. I will just need to absorb some Earth Essence,” Kepli said.

“Absorb the pure one,” Clara said. “Carlos, give the Essence crystal you brought to Kepli, he needs it. He will also test the purity of the Essence in it.”

“Are… are you…” Carlos could barely believe what he was about to ask.

“She is the boss,” Kepli said as he slowly got back up. “The boss of the Paradise Hunters.”

Both Ning and Carlos looked back in shock and awe as not in a million years would they have expected a young girl to be the boss of one of the biggest gangs in the entire empire.

“But… but the boss is a man,” Carlos said. “I’ve heard his voice.”

“Yes, you’ve heard my voice,” Clara spoke with her normal voice. However, layered on top of that voice was another deeper voice, a more distorted one that sounded like a male voice.

Carlos had no doubt that this was the boss’s voice. “And the silhouette?” he asked.

“A simple craft,” Clara said as she created a humanoid shadow next to her, one that seemed to be filled with black fog that roiled around in itself. It was no different than the black shadow that was inside of Dale and Bodrick.

“Alright, give him the crystal now,” Clara ordered.

“Y-yes, boss,” Carlos said and quickly turned around to help Kepli.𝒪𝚟𝓁𝒩xt.𝐜𝗈𝓂

Clara looked at the crystal that was brought out. She stared at it for a few seconds as the energy inside was taken in by Kepli.

Kepli’s eyes went wide as he looked at the crystal in his hands and then back to his boss. “This… this is extremely pure, boss,” Kepli said.

“How pure?” Clara asked.

“I… I will have to get the people to do some actual experimentation, but judging by the flow alone, I will say it’s about 80% pure, if not more.

Clara’s dark eyes seemed to shine when she heard that. “80%? That’s quite unheard of in this section of the empire,” she said. “You can only find it in big auctions on the southern side.”

“If we can get the monopoly on the mine, we will definitely grow bigger,” Kepli said.

“Alright, heal first. We will deal with it all later,” Clara said. “Carlos, carry him. We will be leaving this place now.”

“Yes, boss,” Carlos said. He picked Kepli onto his back and walked out of the front door. They did not go up the stairs as they would be swarming with city guards at any time now. Instead, they followed a secret path to a secret exit that sent them out into an alleyway.

From there, they walked anonymously to another building on the other side of the city. By the time they were there, Kepli could already walk on his own, and his ribs didn’t hurt as much anymore.

Clara sat on a chair at a large table and gestured for the others to sit as well. Kepli and Carlos sat on either side of the boss, but Ning sat opposite to her.

“What’s your name?” the girl asked him.

“My name is Ning,” Ning replied to her.

“Ning, huh? So, what’s your story?” she asked.

“I have none,” Ning said. “He wanted my help, so I did.”

“You decided to help him because he asked?” Clara asked.

“He said he would pay me 50 Earth coins,” Ning said.

“And you jumped into a gang fight for 50 Earth coins?” Clara asked.

“I needed the money,” he said.

Clara narrowed her eyes and stared at Ning for a few seconds. She tried to figure out what was going on here exactly. She turned around to Carlos as she looked for answers.

Carlos explained the situation how he found him and what they had done together.

“Boss, he is strong,” Carlos said as he turned around as well. “Brother Ning killed Gerren and defeated Hanson all by himself.”

“I find it hard to believe someone with such little Essence can do that,” Clara said with her arms crossed in front of her. “Did he sneak attack?”

“No, he is just a very good fighter,” Carlos said. “His swordsmanship is out of this world.”

Clara raised an eyebrow. “If you don’t mind answering, please tell us where you learned how to fight,” she said.

“I don’t know,” Ning replied.

Clara frowned for a second, but Carlos was there to explain the situation. “Boss, he has lost his memories after an accident in the sea. He doesn’t remember who he was or where he came from. I doubt he remembers how he learned to fight.”

Clara looked at Carlos for a second before turning back to Ning. “You don’t remember anything?” she asked.

“No, not really,” Ning said.

“But you remember your name?” Clara asked.

“I think so,” Ning said. “I’m not sure if that’s my name or not, but that is the first word that comes to my mind when I think of what my name might be.”

“So you remember your name and the fact that you can fight? What else do you remember?” she asked.

“Nothing, honestly,” Ning said. “I’m trying to find where I came from, so I am roaming the cities for that.”