Chapter 118

Alvin walked into the Half Inch Bar and into the underground Hivemind established there.

Inside, he saw Sven looking at some files and Harold sitting in front of the difference machine monitoring the surroundings and working on what appeared to be a smooth box.

"Ah, Alvin. The information you had sent yesterday was a huge help, as was the one's we just got. We will reimburse you for your expenses at the end of the mission" said Sven. "We have had quite the developments yesterday after we attacked the Red Knife Gang. The matter is getting more and more serious. I will let Harrold fill you in for now. Bishop Bruce will be joining us shortly" said Sven.

Alvin nodded, and went down and sat down next to Harrold.

"Well, according to plan and using the information we got, we attacked the Red Knife Gang and managed to subdue them easily. There were no Beyonders we at all in there. And as you had suspected, a force attacked them shortly after it was discovered that gunpowder was stolen. And the two leaders, who seemed to have been Beyonders, were whisked away by the attackers on that day" said Harrold.

"Figures. The backers of the factory might know a lot. Are we targeting them next? I don't know how much information on the Tintin factory and Mach Gore has already been delivered, but with some time, we could get more" said Alvin.

"The files your informants sent are over there. You can read it later. But the unexpected development we talked about is no this" said Harrold.

"You said that the supervisor of the factory had doubts partly due to the increased wealth displayed by the Red Knife Gang shortly after the gunpowder went missing, and he assumed that they had stolen the gunpowder and sold it to someone for profit. But this may not be the case" said Harrold. "You see, we managed to track down the finances of the Red Knife Gang, and their windfall was indeed due to them selling a large quantity of gunpowder. But it doesn't seem to be the gunpowder that was stolen from the factory" he continued.

"What do you mean? Was there another source of gunpowder?" asked Alvin.

"Indeed. The Red Knife Gang used to work as a distributor in affiliation with the Baccardi Gang. But the Baccardi Gang terminated the partnership due to a few reasons. But in the time they were partners, they had hoarded a large amount of gunpowder in multiple secretive areas" said Harrold.

"Wait, so there is more gunpowder out there than that missing from the factory?" asked Alvin in horror.

"Yes. At least another batch of the same size. This case is now gaining more attention from the higher ups" confirmed Harrold.

"What happened to that gunpowder?" asked Alvin.

"2 weeks ago, a person came asking to buy it. The Red Knife Gang, after some deliberation, unloaded everything for 4000 pounds. As they were getting prepared to divide up the money, a different person apparently came by, and demanded to purchase the same amount. The Red Knife Gang did not have any in stock, but they tried to get some from their channels. They failed of course, and thus rejected the second person's commission. They then proceeded to divide up the money from the previous transaction. They never heard from the second person again, but barely a day later, they were attacked and their leaders went missing" said Harrold.

"So the Red Knife Gang sold a large batch of gunpowder, and tried to purchase enough to sell another such batch, but having failed, decided to divvy up the proceeds from the previous transaction. The second person who did not manage to procure gunpowder from the Red Knife Gang, made a bold move to steal it directly from the factory. The people from the factory only noticed the Red Knife Gang of enjoying an increased amount of money shortly after they tried to buy a large amount of gunpowder, thus suspected them of committing the theft. They abducted two of the leaders of the Red Knife Gang for this. This should be the situation now right?" asked Alvin.

"Indeed. We were thinking of making a move against the people from the factory. The person we got this information was in charge of the finances of the gang. He knew the basics of what was going on, but he wasn't the one who negotiated with the two people. He was responsible only for the distribution of income after the transaction" said Harrold.

"So our current requirement is probably to target the people from the factory, and try to get the two Beyonders of the Red Knife Gang as our prisoners I am guessing?" asked Alvin.

"Indeed. We need to find and take into custody those two people, extract all information about the two maniacs who now have enough gunpowder to destroy a small city, and then work in finding them with everything at our disposal. We have requested Bishop Bruce to permit us to attack the factory and violently apprehend the people they send. Then, we have requested the highest and most thorough interrogation on them, and a Sealed Artifact with powerful predicting capabilities to lock onto those two maniacs" said Harrold.

"Two different people? So were the two explosions near here made by two different people? What are they competing?" wondered Alvin.

"Well, that remains to be seen. The other 3 are already in the church. We have to see what is going to be done about this after a discussion presided by Bishop Bruce" said Harrold.

"Is he going to be coming here?" asked Alvin.

"Of course not. Do you see this box here? It is connected to another one in the church. The Bishop will be joining us through a projection via the box" said Harrold.

"Can all members of the Machinery Hivemind use such virtual presence device to attend far away meetings?" asked Alvin.

"Of course not. This requires the support of large amounts of spiritual strength, which not all of us have. We have much simpler ways of communicating. While not through as this, they get the job done" said Harrold.

The box on the table started flickering, and Harold placed the box on the table and took a few steps back. Alvin mirrored his movement.

A few seconds later, a face appeared on the box.