Pursue

A new plan has arisen as the knowledge over the highvale control of Red Valley city deepens. Everything Ryu and Nura could do with the single information that there is a gang controlling the town was to pick a fight and aim for its member, but now that they knew the reason why the highvale gang took control over this town, they could come up with a plan much more elaborated.

"Are you going to tell me what is this new plan of yours?" Ryu asked, a little bit frustrated that they were not going to the mines.

"Of course I am going. It's a very simple plan, actually. Now that we have an idea of how do they get the money to pay for this big organization, we can figure out who's getting profiting for it." Nura said.

"You mean that if we should follow the money, we will reach their leader? Is that your plan?" Ryu asked as he comprehended the basic idea of Nura's goal.

"It's not so simple." Nura said, confusing Ryu, but then he explained better "By following the money, we should reach the manager or someone responsible to sell the stones, pay every member and stuff business related. But the real leader of this gang should be another person, someone that relies on power and persuasion."

"I see. To reach the true leader, we will first have to discover who deals with the money and make him take us to the leader." Ryu said and continued, "but how are we going to follow the money with just what we know.".

"I understand your worries. And I think I can have a solution for that, as our small operation two days ago had a big impact. If I'm correct, they must be concerned that someone is actually trying to attack them, so they will try to protect the money in case someone tries to steal them, if only as a precaution." Nura said.

"That explains why there are so many patrolling the building. There must be more than thirty there." Ryu expressed his worry.

"You are correct again. That's the downside of our reckless skirmish, we've put them on alert, and now they're going to protect the money much more cautiously than they would otherwise." Nura said with a frustrated face and added, "I can't believe that I was so stupid. We should have started here from the very beginning.".

"I don't think we did wrong. Remember that your main goal is to increase our own power by getting level and combat experience. The mission and the people come later. I know that I should not say this, but we have to put ourselves above this town." Ryu said, a little afraid that Nura would think badly of him for putting himself above the townsfolk as a priority.

"I see your point, and I agree with you. We must put our safety above everything else, so let's make a deal. If things start to unravel and we see ourselves in great danger, we'll give up and leave." Nura said, to which Ryu agreed promptly.

With the new plan resolved, it was just a matter of waiting until someone from the highvale gang left the building with the money to deposit it elsewhere, according to Nura's estimates. Of course, it could take a few days before they had to move the money, in which case Ryu and Nura would have to keep watch for as long as it makes necessary.

In addition, another problem that could arise is identifying the person who carries it, since it would be inside a ring, and there would be no way to be absolutely sure about its location.

However, Nura was confident that it would happen soon since the gang had spent so much trouble locking the whole town just because of a single battle. So they waited at some distance while keeping watch until the evening when people started to leave the building.

One after another, more people left the building, back to their homes after a day at work. Some had the outfit of the highvale while others wore regular clothes, but each person that reached the street caused Ryu to get anxious with the perspective of losing their target.

However, Nura was confident in his ability and deduction, so he kept his eyes focused on examining each person who left the room and judging if they were the ones he was looking for.

"Are you sure it will work, that you can identify the right one? It can be any one of them. We are not sure even if they would take the money out." Ryu said.

"After all this time waiting, I deducted a few things, and I am one hundred percent sure that they would take the money out, and it would be today." Nura said.

"How can you be so certain of this?" asked Ryu, somewhat incredulous.

"Think about this. Why lock up the entire city for a single fight outside a bar? Can you answer that?" Nura asked.

"Not really. I found it exaggerated if you ask me." Ryu said.

"In a city this size, filled with cultivators, all of them starving for resources to try a breakthrough to get a little bit stronger, and someone has a large amount of money, gained illegally exploring the mines. Certainly, they should have suffered some heists and lost money." Nura explained.

"Even they being criminals people would rob them?" asked Ryu, innocently.

"Of course. With a large group, make a heist and flee to another town should not be difficult. It is just a matter if the profit is worth it or not." Nura said.

"Still, I don't understand how this is related with them locking the town." Ryu said.

"This behavior must be some sort of protocol to protect their business, at the first sign of attack, encircle the town. The next step should be to move the money to a safe location." Nura said.

"I got it. But how do you will know the actual person with the money?" Ryu asked.

"Very simple. It is that guy." Ryu pointed to a man leaving the building with a group of five others. And before Ryu could ask why he was so sure of his deduction, Nura explained, "The qi leaking from his body is above the others, which mean that he must be the one with higher level, if I had to estimate, maybe one or two levels above mine."

"The others surrounding him also don't feel as casual as I expected. All right, it must be him. I agree with you." Ryu said.

So, struggling to keep as much distance as possible so as not to draw the group's attention to themselves, and being careful not to lose sight of the short, middle-aged man who supposedly carried the money, Ryu and Nura followed them around town.

Keeping hidden while chasing the group proved to be not as hard as Ryu imagined, as the streets were crowded with people returning home after the end of the day, providing a means of hiding in plain sight.

However, things would not go as well as Ryu and Nura had dreamed because instead of taking the money directly to be saved, the group went elsewhere.