329 Choosing Sides (1/2)

”Brother Rodel, we can't survive if this continues! Our savings are starting to run dry and if we don't get any work, there's a chance that we will be forced to our old ways.” said a scrawny man to the person on the other side of the table.

Karl fumed upon hearing his best buddy's choice of words. ”We're not going back to those days! We know full well what happens to people in that job. They either get imprisoned when caught or killed when they resisted arrest. It could rake us some quick bucks but too troublesome to operate.”

There are only limited things that could bring quick cash, and most of them are illegal in nature. Sale of unregistered firearms, drugs, and underground services.

The seven people inside the room have known each other for a long time. After years of planning, they were able to overtake the syndicate they were in, and after experiencing the ups and downs of life, decided to turn over a new leaf.

Well, if they were going, to be honest, they got caught by the government and forced to help catch other big criminal groups in exchange for a lighter sentence. In the end, they agreed and only had to pay the fines for getting involved with illegal drugs.

'Besides, we don't have any connections in the local powers.'

Even if they want to delve back to illegal trade, they at least need a connection with some local power. However, the prime executioner of people doing illegal drugs, the president, has finally returned. It would be far riskier to do drug trades with that person in charge, especially now that communications have been destroyed and that man could focus solely within this area.

”If we just apologize to Mr. Leo, there's a chance that he would lift the ban for assigning jobs to us.” said his best buddy Joris.

”We won't lower our heads to him!” Rodel responded. ”Everyone here knows that it was his men who started the fight!”

”That's right! And we all know that he knows that too. What he wants is not the truth, but something that could give him a better reputation. Just think about how much money we're losing out every day!”

Leo was their district's job commissioner. Anything regarding earning money mostly comes from him. From collecting resources, escort missions, and local expeditions. Everything involves around him since he had family connections with some people in the local government.

Their group was experienced with the way of the world. They know how to fight, they can get their hands dirty, and most of all, they're good at talking. In the small community, their group's name and prestige resounded loudly everywhere. Their past left behind, everyone thought that they could finally enjoy life in the coming future.

Until they encountered a group of familiar people while reporting the success of the town expedition given to them.

The familiar faces were members of the criminal organization that they betrayed. Upon facing each other, a heated tension between groups immediately erupted. Still, as the leader of the group and having turned into a new person, Rodel tried to fix the situation as civilized as possible.

Unfortunately, the other side was intent on getting back at them and a fight immediately ensued. The other group was no match to them and got easily overpowered. What they didn't expect was they were loyal dogs of Mr. Leo, the job commissioner.

Infuriated by the sight of his underlings badly beaten on the ground, Leo identified them as misfits who would cause trouble anywhere and banned them from the job center. They were given no chance to explain and despite having witnesses in the area, no one stepped forward to help them.

Bathing in injustice, they took the reward money and skimped on the items they submitted. Though it wouldn't matter much, getting back a little made them feel good a little.

Expedition jobs were always dangerous and offer high payouts. Jobs like these often have a large survivor count recruited by the government for scavenging resources. Groups who accept expedition jobs have to defend everyone while escorting them back and forth until everyone's inventory runs out of space to fill.

Rodel pondered over the options available before coming up with an answer. ”No, we will not apologize.”

Joris frowned and was very close to shouting profanities, so he could instill some logic with his best friend's brain. However, after knowing each other for so long, he knew there's another part he wasn't aware of, so he asked, ”What's your plan then?”