chapter 37

I appeared in an empty alley several blocks away from the store with the filthy worm still in my hands and threw it to the ground as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to stop myself from putting several more bullet holes in it.

I opened my eyes after I calmed myself and stomped on the worm's uninjured arm as it was trying to reach into its jacket again with it.

"you enjoy bullying old people and children, don't you, little worm?" I asked with an icy voice as I removed my foot from the worm's arm and kicked its head.

"s-so you really stepped in to help that old piece of tra- "it couldn't complete its sentence as I stomped on his stomach this time, but it still stubbornly tried to keep talking. "That old man will be as good as dead, as soon as word of this incident reaches my companions, and so will you. Do you hear me? You're both as good as dead." it continued while coughing and laughing at the same with a confident voice as if any of its words meant something to me.

I said nothing as I kicked it in the side, but it still kept threatening me with all kinds of nonsense, as if it was in complete control of the situation.

"worms can't speak. Know your place, receive the beating in silence, and I just might put you out of your misery when I'm satisfied, worm," I remarked as I kicked it in the head once more, sending several of its teeth flying out of its filthy mouth.

"y-you won't get awa- "the worm tried to threaten me again, and I stomped on its chest, breaking its rib cage. "The boss wi-" it attempted to intimidate once more.

I raised my foot, floating it above the worm's body until it was above one area of its body, and smiled as the worm's turned several shades paler.

I then unceremoniously stomped on the worm's crotch, and my smile became even wider when the worm finally stopped laughing and trying to scare me as it finally screamed and beg for its worthless life.

"I'm going to kill you, worm. There's no doubt about that. But how soon I'll give you the privilege of dying depends entirely on you," I said as I raised the worm by its head and brought its face in front of my own.

It looked into my eyes and finally seemed to understand its situation since it nodded its head fervently while whimpering in pain and fear.

"how many people know about you going to extort that shop, and where can I find them?" I said as I put more strength into my left prosthetic hand that was holding its head.

"j-just the people in the safe house. I'll tell you its location, so please stop hurting me!" It said in a whimpering tone, and I couldn't help but frown.

"speak, where is it? And is there anyone in the safe house other than your gangster companions?" I asked as I buried my fist in its gut to vent my anger at having to deal with this kind of boring shit again because of it.

"it's just a few streets away from the shop," it said with a gasp as the air left his lungs. "No one can go there except gang members. It's supposed to serve as a warehouse and a hiding place in case of emergencies," it said quickly, trying to complete its sentence as fast as possible before I interrupted it with another fist in its gut.

"I see. Let's go and say hi to your friends then," I said to it after questioning it for more details, like the number of gangsters and the defenses of the safe house.

I appeared in front of the building that the gang used as a safe house and took a minute to survey the surroundings and make sure that no one was close enough to the building to be affected by what I was about to do.

"I'm afraid this is as far as you go, worm," I stated. No, I decreed in an icy voice as I spun the little worm in my hand and threw it at the building's front door.

I watched as it impacted the closed entrance head first, raised my left arm, took aim at the building's center, and then fired the explosive arm projectile.

I watched as the projectile instantly made contact with the building with a loud explosion, collapsing it entirely. There was some screaming and some movement in the now wrecked building, but that's all.

The screams soon died out, replaced by the voice of the raging fire as it continued to consume any and all flammable material nearby. I quickly drew my swords and sent several flying slashes to cut off the fire's path and stop it from expanding to the buildings nearby and made my way into the wreckage of the building in search of any survivors.

I found three gangsters on their last breaths, and I left them to suffer until they die instead of putting them out of their misery. I also found two gangsters who were only slightly injured. I gave them a quick death as it would, unfortunately, take too much time for me to do anything else.

I finally left after checking the wrecked building for one last time to make sure I didn't leave any survivors and disappeared from the spot with a quick soru step.