247 Shining Girl


    “Are you sure ck did all that?” Ian asked.


    Nicko nodded. “All of it. And, there were not just two of them. ck is more than two men. The rest is hiding somewhere.”


    “They are mysterious,” Troy muttered as he rubbed his chin. He didn’t know how many times he had said the same words.


    “I’ll keep having a ride every night looking for them,” Calvin said as he stood up and grabbed his backpack from the table.


    “If you met them, what would you do?” Ian asked.


    “Offering an alliance maybe?” Calvin shrugged.


    “Are you seriously going to do that? Don’t you notice that there is Jita Kyoei’s name beside you?” Ian asked.


    Calvin looked at Ian with furrowed brows. “How long are you guys going to hold on to such egos? We’ve experienced it ourselves. Our power was greater when we joined ck that we managed to defeat RJC. The same will happen to Beast Empire. Do we still have topete to prove who is the greatest at saving people?”


    Ian was silent. Calvin did have a point. However, Ian still had high suspicions of the group called ck. The grouppletely concealed their identity, just like a ghost that would appear and disappear suddenly without a trace. Ian also found their way of talking and thinking were quite strange.


    .....


    As a man, Ian attached great importance to the pride of his group. Although he did not pursue recognition as the greatest, at least he did not want his group to be seen as weak because it depended on other groups.


    Would you go after someone who was clearly ignoring you? As a fellow male, of course it would tarnish Jita Kyoei’s self-esteem. They would look as if they hoped to have a friendship with ck. That of course would make ck a big head. Jita Kyoei must not be under any man.


    “I don’t want to argue about this anymore. My goal is to destroy all the evil gangster groups in Handway City. If my way of thinking is different from yours, then I don’t mind out of here and looking for another alliance, or even moving alone like before. I’m sure ck has the same mission as me.” Calvin said before leaving the old radio room.


    “He has a point,” Nicko said after the door closed.


    “What’s bothering you, Ian?” Frank asked. He realized that it was Ian who had been the most suspicious of the ck group.


    “There’s something odd about ck,” Ian replied with his arms folded across his chest while leaning his back on the chair’s backrest. He let out a long sigh.


    “They are indeed weird, aren’t they? Everyone knows that,” Troy said.


    Ian shook his head. “But that weirdness is out of bounds. Their mindset is different from any other group. They are too unusual. I feel uneasy because I can’t read their pattern, especially that midget-ck. Everything he does – every decision he makes is always out of my prediction. What I’m afraid of is that they will do something that harms us without being predicted by me,”


    “Well..” Nicko nodded slowly. “ck is just that weird. Facing them, I feel like facing my sisters. They are so unpredictable. They can be so patient to unreasonable things and get furious for a small thing.”


    “Maybe it’s because of the leader’s small body? Just like dogs, if it was a small breed, they would be very fierce. Large dogs tend to be calmer but lethal when they bite.” Martin said thoughtfully.


    “You’re taking a bad but perfect analogy, Martin,” Nicko said.


    “To be sure, since ck started to mess with Beast Empire, the damn group became more and more frequent in recruiting martial arts studio students. Even though many students refused because they had heard of RJC’s case, not a few were swayed by their offer. The problem is that Beast Empire isn’t relying solely on money to attract martial-arts students.” Frank huffed and continued, “They also use women to seduce the men,”


    “They purposely attract high school kids who are in their puberty stage, have no mature mind and are very curious about the adult world. Of course, the boys wouldn’t refuse if they were given free money and women.” Ian said, shaking his head in disbelief.


    Troy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It seemed the problems never stoping.


    “If that’s the case, it’s best if we don’t act too soon to prevent a sh with ck. We still don’t know exactly what ck’s intentions are. Given the previous incident, we fought with ck’s side due to a misunderstanding. We must prevent something like that from happening again. For now, we’d better hold back and continue to watch only,” Troy said.


    “What if ck really has a goal of overthrowing the Beast Empire just to destroy their business and save the girls?” Nicko asked.


    “Then we will help them,” Troy replied. Then, he seemed to think and shook his head briefly, “No. Even if it turns out that ck doesn’t have the same goals as us, we will certainly go back to the original n; which is to overthrow the Beast Empire for the good of the martial-art world.”


    **


    Calvin sat alone in the campus garden. He was working on his coursework, but his brain couldn’t concentrate because he was thinking about ck and the Beast Empire.


    During the meeting with Jita Kyoei, Frank shared the information he got about the Beast Empire group. Although it was still uncertain, Frank suspected that the Beast Empire had a very serious illegal business.


    It seemed like the Beast Empire had an illegalbour distribution foundation. They were likely to be supplying female workers to several nightlife spots in Handway City. And what was worse was that some of the female workers were actually obtained by kidnapping, as was currently happening.


    Unfortunately, Frank had some difficulties confirming his suspicions. But apparently, ck knew more about the Beast Empire than they did. He didn’t know how they did it. They might have had spies who were insiders working for the Beast Empire.


    Lately, Calvin found out that ck was the one who stopped kidnapping crimes and other street crimes. But at that time, Calvin did not know that the perpetrators of the girl kidnapping were Beast Empire. Calvin and Jita Kyoei were always one-step behind to ck in fighting crime on the street.


    ck moved extremely fast, just like a ninja. Maybe that was also the reason Jita Kyoei waste to find out about the crimesmitted by the Beast Empire; they never got a chance to even touch them.


    But in the end, it was ck who attacked the Beast Empire’s van openly, as if voicing that Frank’s suspicions had been right all along. The Beast Empire was indeed the perpetrator of kidnapping and human trafficking.


    “So rare to see you here,”


    Calvin snapped out of his thoughts and turned to the side. A pretty girl with wavy brown hair was sitting beside him while looking at him with a bright smile.


    “Emma,”


    “Are you doing coursework?” Emma asked.


    Calvin nodded. “Yes. I just feel like getting some fresh air. Since I have a lot of work to do, I do it outdoors.”


    “Oh. What work are you doing?” Emma asked since they took the same major.


    ” Human resources,”


    “Oh, looks like I took a different ss with you for that one,” Emma muttered to herself.


    “That’s why I didn’t find you in that ss yesterday,” Calvin replied. Then he cleared his throat. “Anyways, aren’t you busy?”


    “Busy?” Emma repeated.


    Calvinughed lightly as he scratched the back of his non-itchy head, “Sorry, but I’ve noticed you’ve been very busytely. It’s as if you’re being pressed for time. It makes me feel reluctant to appear in your way,”


    “Oh,” Emma looked understand. “I have been a bit busytely. I have some things to take care of,”


    Calvin nodded in understanding, then cleared his throat again, “Um, Emma.”


    “Yes?” Emma turned to the man who looked awkward.


    “Actually, I was thinking of taking you to a concert this weekend. If you aren’t busy that day, can you possiblye with me?”


    “This weekend, huh?” Emma seemed to think for a while. Then she nodded, “Sure. I’ming.” she smiled widely.


    Emma’s answer made Calvin smile with relief. “Thank God. But you really do have time, don’t you? I don’t want you to force time to be with me.”


    Emma shook her head. “No need, Calvin. I do have time. At least I should make time for myself, right?” she ended with a mumble.


    “Time for yourself? Are you talking about private business?” Calvin asked a little confused.


    “Well..” Emma smiled awkwardly, “That actually does involve several people. But it’s an off-university affair,”


    “Oh..” Calvin nodded in understanding. “I think you better not push yourself too much, Emma. You look a little tiredtely.”


    Emma held her cheeks. “Am I? Is it so visible?”


    Calvin smiled gently while shaking his head. “Just very little. Maybe it was just me paying too much attention to it,”


    Calvin’s words made Emma feel awkward. Then she nced at her watch. “Well.. Looks like ballet ss is about to start. I’d better go now,”


    “Sure. I’ll pick you up the day after tomorrow.” Calvin Said.


    Emma smiled. “Okay! Bye!”


    Calvin waved back at Emma without loosening his smile. Day by day, he was more and more fascinated by her.


    Emma Hind was a girl who knew exactly what she wanted, and worked hard to reach it. She was a girl who could respect herself. The figure of Emma who looked busy but still lived her day with a bright smile made her look radiantly shining; made Calvin want to be a part of her interesting life.