Two hours later.
Caesar sat on the large tiger-skin chair that originally belonged to the Rat King.
Cecilia had put her hood back on, covering her face tightly. In the open space in front of "Hakime," the originally hard stone floor had turned into a massive Sand Tomb.
The pit was densely planted with "radishes."
Those were hundreds of people with only their heads exposed.
But it wasn't just the Gutter Rats' people.
Caesar was a person who prioritized efficiency above all else. Since he was going to ask for intelligence, he would ask for the full set.
He interrogated them to find the locations of several other gang strongholds in the city and then provided door-to-door service throughout the night.
Regardless of whether they were in Sleep, drinking, or counting money.
He packed them all up and took them away.
Now, every famous gang boss, top-tier fighter, and information broker in Osterburg was neatly planted here.
The scene was extremely spectacular and also extremely bizarre.
"Listen."
"Hakime" pulled her hood tight, revealing only a pair of red eyes, glaring fiercely at the gang members kneeling below.
"From today onwards," Cecilia's voice echoed throughout the warehouse, "this place is named Ha."
"Ha... Long live Boss Hakime!" Jack led the shout, his voice filled with the relief of a survivor who had just escaped a disaster.
—"Listen."
Caesar repeated it. Being interrupted by Cecilia just now made it a bit hard for him to maintain his composure.
"I'm looking for something."
"[Arcane Leather]."
"Tell me, who bought it, and where was it finally shipped?"
The pit was dead silent.
No one spoke.
Everyone here was from the underworld and valued loyalty. Besides, this person had done this the moment he arrived—who wouldn't be suppressing their anger?
"Not talking? Very well."
Caesar decided to break their spirits further. This allowed the residents of Osterburg to spend a peaceful and harmonious day... meanwhile, the city's gangs were in a miserable state.
The boss of the "Broken Bone Brotherhood," the leader of the "Blackwater Dockworkers," along with their core members—over a hundred people—were buried in the sand like radishes, with only their heads showing.
They were squeezed together, unable to move.
Throughout the day, all their basic needs were handled on the spot... from time to time, they were pressed into the filthy sand by giant hands made of sand to feed repeatedly.
The scene was simply indescribable.
What? You're asking what they ate?
It was meant literally, of course.
Even the originally cheerful Cecilia couldn't bear to watch anymore.
"Um... Earth Dragon, isn't this a bit much?" she whispered. "They look so pitiful."
But in everyone else's eyes, it was a completely different picture:
A terrifying woman in a hood, torturing them with the most cruel methods while looking at them with the most compassionate eyes.
"I heard there's a game called the Human Centipede," Caesar said sinisterly. "Since fate has brought us all together, why don't we try it?"
The gang members' faces turned green.
Some began to break down and cry, some began to beg for mercy frantically, and some even started to convert to the god of light on the spot, swearing that if they could get out alive, they would never do anything bad again.
"I'm a good person! I'm really a good person! I was only forced to join the gang because I had no choice!"
"I have a three-year-old mother at home and an eighty-year-old child! Please, Big Sister, let me go!"
"I believe! I believe! Praise the Holy Light! O Holy Light, save me!"
Among these gang members, some were desperate outlaws and some were retired adventurers. They had imagined dying in a turf war or under an enemy's blade, but they never dreamed they would encounter such a schizophrenic madman!
By evening, when Caesar released them from the Sand Tomb, over a hundred gang toughs were all kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly and looking at him with the worshiping gaze of survivors.
Thus, the mysterious Miss Hakime became the sole king of Osterburg's underground world... Caesar didn't go on a killing spree; after all, his goal wasn't rule, but efficiency.
Gabite stood on high, releasing an invisible Dragon Might that enveloped all the gang members.
"Now, I'm giving you a task. Use all your connections and channels to investigate! Find out who bought up all the [Arcane Leather] in Osterburg within the last half month. I want to know where this leather eventually went."
"Yes! My Lord!"
Over a hundred people shouted in unison, their voices shaking the sewers.
The gang's mobilization was astonishing.
The next day, the City Lord's Mansion of Osterburg received a strange report.
"City Lord, a report! In the past two days, fighting and brawling incidents in the city have dropped by ninety percent!" the Captain of the Guard reported.
"Oh?" The fat City Lord was somewhat surprised. "That's a good thing! Is it because the guards' patrols are working?"
"No... no," the Captain of the Guard said with a strange expression. "It's those gangs... they seem to have changed their nature."
"What do you mean?"
"They... since yesterday, they've been running around the city like crazy, but not to fight. Instead, they're asking everywhere for the whereabouts of something called [Arcane Leather]..."
City Lord: "???"
Since when did these scumbags become so interested in alchemy Materials?
What he didn't know was that while he was still puzzled, Caesar had already obtained the intelligence he wanted.
With the intelligence gathered from the leaders of the major gangs, a location surfaced—
The Abandoned Arsenal in the West of the city.
It used to be the Empire's ordnance factory, but it was later abandoned due to an explosion and had been cordoned off ever since.
But recently, someone had seen carriages entering and leaving late at night, and it was heavily guarded.
The missing [Arcane Leather] was very likely there.
"Let's go." Caesar threw the last piece of intelligence into his mouth and chewed it up. "Let's go pick up our delivery."
Night.
The figures of the two little dragons, stacked on top of each other, silently appeared on the outskirts of the abandoned arsenal.
A massive chimney appeared in their field of vision, standing solitary amidst a circle of collapsed walls.
It looked lifeless.
But Caesar stopped in his tracks.
As a ground dragon, he was very sensitive to vibrations in the ground.
There was something underground.
Many things.
Furthermore, a nauseating smell permeated the air.
It wasn't an ordinary stench, but a mixture of sulfur, rotting meat, and a certain dizzying sweet fragrance.
"There's a barrier."
Cecilia's voice became unusually serious; after all, she was a True Dragon and was very sensitive to magic.
"And it's a very Advanced concealment barrier, locking in all the mana fluctuations inside."
"Can you break it?" Caesar asked.
"Nonsense, who do you think this young lady is?"
Cecilia raised her chin proudly. "This kind of human trick, I can see through it with one..."
Before she could finish, the System panel suddenly popped up in front of Caesar.
Bright red font, carrying an ominous aura.
[Ding!]
[Triggered Emergency Quest: Defeat the Plasma Cult!]
[Quest Description: A group of crazed cultists is performing a ritual here that profanes life. They have monopolized [Arcane Leather] to create vessels for evil power.]
[Quest Objective: Break into the stronghold, destroy the ritual core, and kill the Bishop.]
...[Quest Reward: Item [life orb]!!]