32. Meeting

"So yeah… we're attending a warehouse deal, and I've been asked to go since I owe sir Lax money," Mark explained whilst he and Tristan walked down the streets of the area.

It was nighttime and the coolness of the sea breeze remained evident in the environment. Also, the place was livelier than the last time Tristan had been down there.

Stalls were open, lamp posts illuminated the streets, chattering was the order of the night and people seemed to be genuinely having a normal day.

The duo walked on the left side of the street even if people walked on the road itself. Mark told Tristan about cars merely a minute or two after they got outside of the house.

Only then did it properly dawn on him that he would need to explain every little thing to the young man. Annoying, but a small price to pay for his help.

He just hoped Tristan didn't ask too much.

"I've dealt with these men before, at least I've been in their presence. They are highly volatile and honestly full of themselves. But they have power and have actually killed off a few people without getting into trouble," Mark continued weaving through passersbys.

"I don't like nor want trouble, all I ask is that you stay close to me at all times."

Tristan nodded even if more than half his attention was on the stuff placed on stalls and even small shops that looked like they were about to close.

Apparently, the phone could measure time and the time was past the hour of eight.

Marcus saw this and ground his teeth, but he did not stress further.

There were hardly any vehicles on the road as the town was still recovering from the fear of the killer whales group. And other reasons.

Shej was a relatively small town about 1.5 square miles. It had a population of about one thousand. It was situated close to the ocean and was left out from most of the more advanced and well-to-do areas.

The elected leader did whatever he liked and no punishment came to him. That place hardly generated revenue after all.

The people of the town were further abused by the same protectors sworn-in by the government. The enforcers. The corrupt ones of course.

This issue had naturally given rise to characters that dealt in shady businesses. Shej was also a hub for shady contacts to meet. All sorts of things happened there.

Most happened without the knowledge of the public, while some did. For example, the different gangs in the town taking various areas.

Only three existed in the town but after the decimation of the Killer whales, the only smart thing was to lay low, at least this is what they decided for the past two days.

Due to the in-existence of transport, the duo had to walk to the meeting location and ended up walking for a bit over twenty minutes.

As they traversed the various streets the amount of humans that populated them naturally reduced.

Their destination was located in a rather notorious portion of the town, coupled with the fact that it was late.

Soon a really bad road unfolded in their eyes even if lamp posts lit about half its entire length.

Potholes riddled the path before them and the drainage system leaked into those holes in certain locations.

Tristan's nostrils never stopped quivering. He had a greatly increased sense of smell, even many meters from the street he could already catch whiffs of that rather irritating portion of the town.

"You don't look too good," Mark's tone spoke of anxiety and even fear. Their destination was close. He almost looked for a reason to turn back even if he knew he didn't dare do such.

Not everyone had seen the brutal side of Sir Lax and his coward of a people.

"Nah, I'm okay," Tristan responded even if he pinched his nostrils close. He cringed when the smell of the environment entered his mouth. It ruined the state of the oat-like meal he had been given earlier that day.

Still, Tristan had a strong stomach he couldn't vomit, the air there wasn't bad enough for such a reaction.

Mark nodded, leading Tristan along the way. It wasn't his first time down a badly maintained or damaged road.

Thanks to the yellow street lights, they could see their way and soon arrived before a large warehouse featuring a big black gate.

The gate was left open so the duo could stroll in and walk down the slightly sloppy entrance.

"Remember what I said?" Mark asked when they neared the already rolled-up door into the warehouse building. There were three similarly built buildings in that large compound, They had been there for almost twenty years.

"What?" Tristan raised an eyebrow peeking into the large building. He could already sight rows of shelves even if they were mostly empty.

"Please don't get us into trouble," Mark pleaded after facepalming himself. The anxiety in his chest further bloomed when Tristan nodded in affirmation.

Soon the duo crossed the warehouse's entrance and saw two men standing a few meters into the wide interior of that place.

"I'm the one sent by Sir Lax. He's with me," Mark timidly explained to one of the two men.

Both were mean-looking in appearance and the blades on their hips further amplified that reality. Then again, even Mark had a weapon on his hip. Tristan on the other hand did not.

The man nodded and led them deeper into the building. Tristan had his eyes on the details of that place.

Cream-painted ceilings with lots of yellow bulbs inscribed into them. The walls of that place were rather brownish and the tall shelves suitable for a warehouse of that size were black.

The man; dressed in a casual attire of a black shirt and blue jeans, led them down the wall-like shelves possessing boxes here and there.

There was silence in the air and Mark tried his best to look confident and at least calm, he only succeeded partially.

The shelves soon withdrew and a wide area in the center of other rows of shelves unfolded in their eyes.

The lights in the room bounced off the cream-colored tiles further illuminating the place. Big stacks of brown boxes existed at seemingly random positions. Their heights were more than 2m.

The arrival of the trio alerted the already twenty-five individuals present there.

The man that led them walked forward toward one middle-aged man and whispered something into his ears whilst glancing at Mark and Tristan.

The man being spoken to nodded and the mean-looking individual left in silence.

"Now that everyone is here why don't we get on to the reason for our meeting," the man announced, raising his hands while three of the five men behind him brought forth a big brown box and placed it at the center of the group with a heavy thud.