Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

Inian and Burt were both wearing ragged clothing and walking through the City of Tulum in the Ranid Kingdom.

The buildings were run-down stone instead of the standard metal in most cities. Mud was used to help keep the bricks and materials together.

A woman was cradling a baby and holding a bottle to its mouth, but the baby wasn't drinking. It remained still in her arms, but the woman didn't seem to notice, she continued making gentle hushing noises to the dead child.

"This place is so run down; I don't understand why the kingdom hasn't done anything to help its citizens," Burt said.

"last time I was in Ranid, it was just as run-down as this in Segar. The government is corrupt and has no real power here. Crime lords and corrupt city lords run this whole country."

"Well, that'll make it difficult to work with anyone. Does this mean we shouldn't expect any help from the government?"

"That's correct."

Inian was observing all of his surroundings. The buildings were low, and many people stood on top, overlooking the city folk.

Many of them wore ragged clothes but had military-grade rifles. A few even had weapons with monster cores in them. The remaining people on the rooftops had basic spears or swords with nothing special about them.

The streets were overcrowded, and that could make it easy for a pick-pocket or other people to slip away unnoticed.

Inian reached for his money bag to make sure it was still there. He sighed with relief when he felt the coins jiggling around in the bag.

He asked Burt, "where do you think we should start? I don't have much experience with crime. Back in Seyukha, most people were mercenaries there. So nobody dared to try to steal or murder, because the entire community would lash out at them if they tried."

Burt shrugged, "I have minimal experience in crime as well. Irigia has only recently been exposed to the drug trade coming from Ranid, and I grew up in a pretty comfortable environment."

"I could always shake a few people up, try to get them to talk."

"Then nobody would talk to you Inian. I would guess that the people here look after their own, or they have some family in the crime lords' gangs."

Inian thought for a moment, "what I could do is have a few rats follow the people in the city and then report to me. They could see if there would be any kind of suspicious activity going on."

Burt nodded, "Let's do it."

Inian closed his eyes. His power has significantly increased since he rose to the Titan level, and now he can send out a signal to lower-tier or mid-tier monsters from a distance and give them commands. He sent out a message to all rats in the city to follow any drug dealers.

He opened his eyes back up, "done. Now, let's go eat."

Burt smiled, "sounds like an excellent plan to me!"

Inian reached down to grab a few coins from his money bag, only to find that his money bag was missing. He turned around and checked all around him to see if it dropped.

"Did you see anyone grab my money bag?!"

Burt turned around, "what? No, I didn't even realize anyone was near us!"

Inian g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "I had 40 diamond coins in there..."

Burt's eyes widened, "why do you have so much money on you?! This is supposed to be an undercover mission; we aren't buying the whole drug trade!"

Inian looked down, "I always like to prepare for emergencies. Besides, whoever got my money is good. They even got past MY senses!"

Burt pulled out a few silver coins from his c.h.e.s.t pocket, "I've got some money. Let's just get some food while we wait for your rats to come back. Your money is long gone."

Inian heaved a heavy sigh and followed Burt to a simple food stand not too far away. They fried up some meat for them, and they sat out at one of the tables set up nearby.

They sat to chat and eat for about an hour until one of the rats came scurrying up to the table. It hopped on Inian's l.a.p, then Inian leaned in close.

In a tongue, only Inian could understand it said, "sire, I followed one dealer who went into a bar with an underground chamber. I can lead you there now if you'd like."

Inian nodded, then motioned for Burt to follow.

The rat went on ahead, and the pair followed close behind. They moved through waves of people to find this bar somewhat isolated in a back alley.

They walked down the alley to the door that stood in the back.

"Let's go see what they've got." Burt said.

Inian knocked on the door three times when a little slit opened up, and a pair of eyes were staring down at them.

"Names?"

Inian said, "my name is Marc, and this is Alex. We've heard that you provide the best quality products money can buy. May we enter?"

The pair of eyes stared at them for a moment and then unlocked the door. Inian and Burt walked inside where they were frisked down by the door guard who was as big as Burt.

The guard nodded to the bartender, who was wiping glasses. The bartender nodded and motioned for Inian and Burt to follow.

Dozens of hard-looking men were sitting at tables with drinks in front of them, although none of them looked like they were there for fun.

They kept an eye on Inian and Burt as they walked behind the bartender towards the back, where a hatch opened up to lead them down a set of steep stairs.

"If you go down these stairs, our seller will greet you. Don't come back up until you've made your deal," The bartender said.

Inian and Burt looked at each other, Burt was sweating, but Inian was perfectly calm.

"Only you could be so nonchalant about walking into a drug dealer's base Inian. You have nothing to worry about."

"You don't need to either Burt, because you have me with you."

"I know..."

Burt didn't seem entirely convinced, but, the pair walked down anyway, into the darkness.