Payback

Ten minutes later.

The agents in the vicinity arrived and took over the scene. They coordinated with the police takig over the case.

By the time they came, Ayaan was also done with the sniper. He handed him over to them, got the bullets removed from his body, packed his bags and left the hotel and then the city.

He got everything he needed and more from the sniper.

9th January 2025. 7:00 AM.

Aswin hospital.

In Maya's room. Ayaan and Raj are having breakfast as the latter reported the details about the assassination attempt.

"What the sniper said is true, sir. At least, as far as their identities go. He was indeed a foreign national with Bhavaran ethnicity. They belong to a mercenary group that offers internation security work.

The same company that offers private security for some of our minister's organizations.

I am working on finding the money trail and when we do, we can nail this on the minister and bring him in.

That could be our link to Maya's incident and the minister."

Ayaan nodded and his mood has gotten a little bit better. Even as he was killing the assassins that swarmed his room, Ayaan knew that this wasn't the same type of assassination as the previous one. The last one performed by Black Dog, was very discreet in attempt and execution.

However, now… it was fast and crisp, but very crude. Like a blunt instrument.

They just wanted to kill Ayaan no matter the cost. And they underestimated him big time. Granted that if Ayaan didn't have the same stats that he had today, he might have been had. But of course, if he didn't have these enhancements, he would have made completely different preparations.

Anyway, after questioning the sniper, he understood that they were hired by a completely different person. Not the minister directly, but the person who mediated the deal was a close confidant of the minister.

The same minister, whose son is right now in Raj's custody. One of the four vermin that attacked Maya.

Previously, Raj and Ayaan were lost on how to connect the minister with this whole fiasco. Now they got it, almost.

Ayaan finished his breakfast and said.

"That mercenary company. Connect with the foreign agent nearby. Tell him to keep an eye on their activity."

"Already did, sir."

"I will go and deal with those two vermin. Did you administer the drugs as I asked you to?"

"Yes, sir. But… are you sure, you should be walking around like this? You were shot just a few hours ago."

"I am fine."

That's all Ayaan said, because that's how he felt. The leather armor did cover most of his body, and he was actually surprised by its durability.

It was better than any Kevlar he could have worn. ]

Still, because of the battle with the reaver warlord, the armor is corrupted by the Abyssal Smog. It was damaged and that allowed some bullets to go through. If it wasn't damaged, he was sure he would have been fine with these few bullets.

However, he was surprised by how thick and dense his flesh and muscle have become. The bullets just got stuck in the outer layers and didn't go too deep. Even the medic who treated him was surprised.

They just had to suture the wounds a bit and he was good. He doesn't even consciously feel the wounds hurt anymore. He is confident that they would be healed by the next quest.

9th January 2025. 8:00 AM.

Ayaan appeared at the Black site. Dia who was already waiting for him, led him to the holding cell. Two people were bound to metal chairs. They were quite some distance away and they were facing each other.

They were shivering and sweating as they were feeling the heat and cold at the same time.

Both of them were on IV, to ensure they were properly hydrated.

A metal table was placed at the center. The table is full of various torture devices. Some looked so lethal that the human rights activists will have stroke just by looking at them.

Ayaan walked in.

"Wh…who.. are you? Do you think you can get awa…way with this? Do.. you know who my father is?"

One of the young men got started with the threats. Ayaan ignored his words and walked to the table. He didn't pick any lethal torture devices, instead he picked a small knife, while checking his sharpness he spoke slowly.

"Before you go deep into your rant. Let me tell you a few things.

I know exactly who you are and who your fathers are.

I know what I am doing better than you can imagine.

I know exactly why you are and I know that deep inside you also know.

My name is Ayaan. I am the brother of the young lady that you decided to toy with, a few days before the new year.

You are two among four people. One of your accomplices died, I killed him quite recently.

Today both of you are going to die.

How soon and easily you are going to die, will depend on your answers to my questions. I don't have many.

First one is, why was my sister subjected to this violence? Why did you guys choose her? Was in intentional or random.

Second one is, who is the fourth guy?

Third and final question. How are my parents involved in this? Why were they dead?"

They were about to yap once again, but Ayaan made them stop with just his gaze.

"I am not done, idiots.

I am sure, you are not feeling well. It is a result of a special drug that was injected in you. A very special drug in fact. It was developed by a few chemists and pharmaceutical scientists that I sponsor.

This drug only has one effect.

It amplifies your senses."

Ayaan paused and slightly pricked one of them.

"ARGGGGGGHH…."

He screamed as if he was stabbed with a jagged knife. But all Ayaan did was leave a very small prick, the one usually done for blood tests on his hand.

"It amplifies your senses by a hundred times. In your current state, whatever you feel, whether it is an itch, pleasure, pain or burn… it will be amplified by a hundred times.

And the IV was injected with another drug to ensure that you won't black out in shock. So, until I am done, you shall stay awake and endure everything that I subject you to.

Now, that you understand what is happening, shoot. Who wants to answer my question?"

"It was a mis…" The minister's son who also happened to be the one to get pricked spoke first.

But before he could finish his sentence.

*SWOOSH*

The knife scraped against his face.

"ARGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH….."

He screamed. His friend, the son of the businessman spoke at the moment.

"It was on purpose."

Ayaan forcefully stopped the minister's son from screaming. He turned to look at the other guy and asked.

"What did you say?"

"Your sister, Maya. She was picked on purpose. But not by either of us, or Williams. The friend… he was not our friend. He was the friend of the minister. At least, that's what we were told. We were in the middle of a party.

He approached Maya and tried to hit on her.

He got a bit handsy and she slapped him silly. That slap… it was humiliating. Just one slap made him stunned. He stood there for a moment, not even knowing where he was.

The club went silent.

We were worried how that guy would react.

But he stayed silent. He even smiled, apologized and came back. I don't know what happened after that. At least, not completely. It went blur.

The next thing I knew, we were in a hotel suite with her…

As for your parents. I honestly do not know the details. And I doubt even my friend knows about it. All I knew was it was part of the coverup process. Apparently, your parents managed to track down your sister, they were about to bring her to the hospital. Then the accident…" He didn't finish the words. He felt suffocated all of a sudden.

Ayaan took deep breaths and turned to look at him.

"Can you recognize that guy?" Ayaan asked.

"Yes."

Ayaan pressed a key on the wall and said.

"Dia, send a sketch artist."

He then turned to look at the minister's son and asked.

"You don't serve much purpose to me anymore. So, you got the short end of the stick now. Once I verify this, you will be done."

Ayaan left the room. Two people came and took them to separate rooms. A sketch artist came and after a couple of hours, the sketch was done.

Dia took the finished sketch to the minister's son and asked.

"Is this the guy?"

He nodded lightly. He didn't have any intention to lie or hide this anymore. He even craved for a chance to speak.

"I know a bit about that guy. I would like to give the information."

"Please do." Dia said while looking at the sketch.

It was a young man with slick hair. He looked the same age as Ayaan.

"He wasn't my father's friend."

Dia frowned and looked at him in askance.

"He was introduced by Arhan to my father, just a couple of days before our trip. My father for some reason tried to suck up to the guy. He asked us to show him some good time.

So, we did whatever he wanted for almost ten days.

He wanted to come to Vashora to look at the beach. We came here and partied. Just like my friend said, we don't really remember what was happening. It all went like a blur.

Before we knew it, we were in the hotel room."

Dia frowned and went back to Ayaan to inform him.

"Doesn't matter. Whether someone else introduced or if he was really the friend of Minister, it wouldn't make any difference.

Our next target is the minister.

Did you send the sketch for a facial match?"

"Yes, sir. But there was no match in our regular databases."

"I guessed as much. We need to find him. Try the internal database and our contacts. If he was completely beyond our digital reach, then he must be an inside man or he should be part of some international crime ring that we have yet to set our sights on."

"I am on it, sir."

Soon, Ayaan and the two captives once again met in the interrogation room, in their previous positions. Ayaan walked to the table and picked a baseball bat.

"Let's get started.

First, the blunt attacks."

.

.

.

Screams that could have moved the gods to tears and devils to squirm had reverberated through the room. But apart from Ayaan who caused this, no one else heard them.