"Woof... woof..."
Lock and Annie covered their noses as they walked through this dog meat slaughter street.
The stench from the stray dogs in those cages could be smelled from far away.
The two stepped through the bloody water on the road, the buzzing of flies around them causing a headache.
Lock couldn't help but complain: "Improve the hygiene a bit. Even if meat is scarce, it shouldn't be this filthy."
He turned to look at Annie's boots and said enviously, "If I had known, I would have worn those too."
Annie waved away the flies and asked, "How much further?"
Lock pointed to a building ahead and said, "It's just up ahead."
...As they got closer, the building turned out to be a large warehouse. A fierce-looking young man sat in front of the only door.
He held five leashes in his hand, with five sturdy, large dogs lying around him.
Noticing Lock and Annie's approach, the five large dogs stood up, arching their backs and growling low.
But when the two drew near, the five dogs whimpered and retreated behind the man as if they had seen some terrifying monsters.
The man stood up and looked at them, his gaze lingering on Annie for a moment longer. "Are you two here to buy a dog?"
Lock pulled out a portrait and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, have you seen this person?"
The man stared at the portrait for two seconds, his expression suddenly changing. He glanced at Annie again, then turned and ran back.
Annie looked at the indifferent Lock and asked, "Not chasing him?"
Lock pulled a pistol from his pocket, aimed at the man's back, and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The man fell to the ground.
Lock holstered his gun and turned back confidently. "My grades in marksmanship class weren't low."
Annie ignored him and walked over quickly, finding that Lock had only hit the man's calf.
She looked at Lock as he followed and asked directly, "Why did you shoot?"
Lock said calmly, "To cut out a lot of unnecessary steps."
"See, isn't someone coming out now?"
The warehouse doors had opened, and a group of shirtless thugs rushed out.
The thugs were all armed with wooden sticks, axes, and daggers.
Two lackeys dragged the shot man back.
A fleshy man nearly 1.9 meters tall, the Baldy, stepped out from the crowd. He shouted at them in a thick accent, "Even members of the Military Police Corps can't just open fire on us civilians at will, can they?"
"Kid, I see you're the one in charge. What's your status?"
At that moment, the shot man whispered something nearby, and Baldy's expression gradually darkened.
Lock, who clearly heard their conversation, said to Annie behind him, "It looks like they want to silence us. I'm really curious about what they did to that guy."
Annie assessed their combat strength and frowned. "My suggestion is to escape before they decide to make a move. You'd better stay calm."
"No need." Lock walked forward, twirling his cane in his fingers, and said to the Baldy, "We're not here to cause trouble. Just tell us where the person went, and we'll leave immediately."
The Baldy held back his restless subordinates and said in a low voice, "You've got the wrong place. We don't have the person you're looking for here."
"Really?" Lock smiled, pulling out his gun again and aiming it at the Baldy. "I'll give you one more chance."
The Baldy stared at the muzzle and gritted his teeth. "No."
"Bang!"
"Ah!"
Lock fired directly, hitting the Baldy in the thigh.
Annie's brow furrowed, seemingly very dissatisfied with Lock's actions.
The Baldy leaned into a lackey's arms and roared in pain, "Kill them for me!"
Seeing their boss injured, over a dozen thugs grabbed their weapons and rushed toward Lock and Annie with a howl.
Lock unbuttoned his suit jacket with one hand while saying to those behind him, "Annie, do as you see fit. I'm going in first!"
Before Annie could react, he charged forward.
His black leather shoes splashed through the sewage as Lock launched a flying knee strike, sending the leading three flying back together.
Ducking under an axe swing, Lock turned and smashed his elbow into the ribs of the person behind him, breaking them.
A man swung a short club at his head; Lock caught the club with his right hand and sent the man flying with a left Cannon Punch.
He turned and punched away a dagger flying toward his head, then delivered a Tiger Tail Kick to the stomach of a thug rushing from behind.
Lock tilted his head to dodge a dagger thrust, pinned the man's arm with his left hand, and delivered consecutive elbow strikes to the chest with his right.
Once the sternum collapsed, Lock delivered a horizontal elbow to the temple and then hurled the unconscious thug away, knocking down four others rushing forward.
The rest didn't dare step forward. Without knowing who started it, they all abandoned their boss and turned to run.
Lock looked back at Annie, who had been watching the show, and said irritably, "You're really not going to help?"
Annie stood her ground and asked coldly in return, "Do you even need my help?"
Lock ignored her and walked up to the Baldy. Staring at the man's terrified face, he smiled and asked, "Can you talk now?"
The Baldy clutched the wound on his leg and said tremblingly, "A noble from above bought him. I really don't know who they were."
Lock pressed, "What did they buy him for?"
The Baldy lowered his head and said, "I don't know. I just took the money and gave him the person."
Lock slapped him across the face. "You're lying. You've been eyeing him for a long time. You knew he liked to gamble, so you deliberately lent him money just to use it as an excuse to take him away from Black Star."
"What noble would suddenly contact you to buy someone?"
"It's obvious you had already contacted a buyer."
Lock stared into his eyes and asked directly, "On the surface, you're a butcher who kills and sells dogs, but behind the scenes, you're actually dealing in the slave trade. Do you know what the consequences will be if you're caught by the Military Police Corps?"
The Baldy trembled all over and grabbed Lock's arm, crying, "I haven't done it many times! This is only the second time, really... You have to believe me!"
Lock shook off his hand, grabbed his ear, and roared, "Who did you sell him to? Speak!"
"He hasn't been sold yet... He's still in the warehouse..."
Still won't talk... Letting go, Lock stood up. Since the person was still there, he didn't plan to press further about who the buyer was.
Lock turned back and waved to Annie, saying, "The person's been found!"
The boy was locked in a cage alone by the Baldy. When Lock and Annie found him, he was already somewhat delirious from dehydration.
The two carried him and headed back the way they came.
Returning to the surface, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
Getting into the carriage, Lock gave the boy some water and let him go straight to sleep.
The carriage drove steadily toward the Stohess District.
Lock finally spoke up, "That was quite a pleasant detective adventure, though it's a pity someone didn't participate at all."
Annie crossed her arms, completely indifferent to Lock's complaint...
As the sun dipped low in the west, the carriage slowly came to a stop, and Lock helped the boy out.
He looked back at Annie: "Well, that's it for today. I still have to thank Lady Annie for gracing me with her presence."
Annie reached out her hand to Lock: "Where's the other bag of payment?"
Lock sighed and, like a magic trick, pulled out another bag of bear biscuits from behind him. "You won't take money, and this is my last stash."
Annie reached out to take it and turned to leave.
"I'm leaving, Lock."
Under the setting sun, Annie's shadow gradually drifted away.
Looking at Annie's back, Lock's expression was complex.
"You won't be able to leave, Annie."
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A/N: Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded. Please Check It Out. It will really help me out and will keep me motivated to continue.
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