Murphy took Oliver to a warehouse near the factory area. It was quite deep, and there were a lot of other warehouses around, so the warehouse couldn't be seen easily.
It was like a tree hidden in the forest.
Looking at Oliver’s expression Murphy asked.
"It's pretty quiet, isn't it? Mr. Warlock."
"Yes."
"It's actually a quiet place. Some of the warehouses here are owned by gangs, and a few people, including myself. We collect money and give them to the cops on a regular basis, so they don't usually come in. Of course, it's a different story when there are a lot of cases."
"I see."
"Yes. But usually, they don't even come close. Of course, even if that happens, it might be for some petty thieves, you don't have to worry about it. Security is tight around this area, so even thieves don't come often."
Oliver understood the meaning behind Murphy’s words ‘security is tight’ as he looked around. It was not often seen, but he did see some security guards and warehouse workers, who don't look like one, loitering around the place.
The place looked perfect for Oliver – Separated from the outside, even neighbors don't care about each other. It was perfect for doing black magic research.
“It’s here.”
Murphy stopped in front of a building.
It was a shabby two-story house in the corner, and it was not conspicuous, but it was a building whose first floor was arbitrarily demolished and converted into a warehouse.
Oliver went inside and looked around.
It was crude and narrow but he didn't think it was that bad.
On the contrary, it even looked good.
‘How should I make it a place to do experiments?’
As Oliver was figuring out how to turn this place into a laboratory, Murphy spoke up.
"Mr. Warlock?"
“Um, yes?”
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt you?"
“Oh no, I was just thinking about how to use this space.”
"Here? This is the highlight feature. Come this way."
Oliver didn't know what he meant, but he soon understood the meaning behind those words.
As they exited through the narrow byway of the passage up to the second floor, Oliver saw a secret entrance going down, and below it was a refreshingly spacious basement.
“This?”
"This is the real warehouse. The entrance is narrow, so it's hard to see, and I think it's a good place for Mr. Warlock to use."
Oliver nodded his head.
It was spacious, and there were three large tables that could be used as a laboratory table and a bookshelf shelf to put things on.
“I can use this.”
“Do you like it?”
"Yes. I really like it."
Oliver said what he thought as words.
The environment was comfortable enough, and the surrounding location was not bad.
He didn't know anything about real estate prices yet, but from what he had been picking up, it seemed like a place that would be very expensive.
But he wanted this warehouse.
“Um…. May I ask you a few questions?”
“Yes, tell me.”
“If you had a request, you could have done it through Mr. Forrest. Why are you talking to me about it yourself?”
"I hope you don’t misunderstand, Mr. Warlock. I'm not trying to do anything strange here. I just wanted to get some help from Mr. Warlock, so I said it myself."
"…?"
"It's been a while since we last met, and Mr. Warlock's reputation has grown even further. Well, it's not something I don't understand. I've seen Mr. Warlock's skills… . And, since there is a high probability that my request will be rejected, I took the liberty of talking to you directly.
"Um… I don't understand… This is a problem of the Hoffman family, why is Mr. Murphy trying so hard for it?"
“Because… helping them with this might increase the profit of my business.”
"Profit?"
"Yes. Currently, the Magic wines I’m producing are not only sold in our pub but it's also sold in other places."
"I see."
“For the places in this district, I make a deal myself, but for selling to a district or city other than here, I sell it through Crime Firm since I don’t have a sales network.”
"……"
“Because it goes through an intermediary, the profits get reduced, and the quality also gets disturbed because there are some people who play with things during the distribution process. This affects my business motto.”
“So you want to help the Hoffman company?”
“Yeah. If I try to create a sales network by myself, it will be difficult and risky, but it’s much safer if an intermediate organization like the Hoffman family is involved.”
“An intermediate organization?”
“It’s the organization that’s right below the director of the Crime Firm who manages this district. It’s also above the sub-organizations like mine. In short, they have quite a bit of a say in District T.”
Murphy's voice grew stronger.
“To make this work, I need the help of Mr. Warlock.”
It seemed like a far-fetched story, but Murphy's words were sincere.
Not only was he richer than before, but his ambitions were also even more blazing.
And, it didn’t seem bad in Oliver’s eyes.
Although it was a little different, it was a beautiful light similar to the early Marie, Peter, and Rosbane.
‘He seems to have some other reason as well.’
Murphy asked with a slightly nervous look.
"Mr. Warlock?"
"Um, that's fine."
"What?"
“I think the conditions are fine. I’ll help and get a warehouse.”
"Oh, thank you."
“Can I also add a condition?”
“…? …Yes, tell me.”
“Please set a reasonable fee and commission it via Mr. Forrest. Then, I will accept the request….. It’s not a big deal, but I’m just scared.”
Scared, Murphy didn't seem to believe Oliver’s words, but he nodded.
"And I don't want anything to do with the general public. It won’t be good if I end up meeting the city officials and Paladins once again."
Murphy was about to say something, but then he withdrew. Instead, he asked.
"….Okay. However, if you think they will use violence during negotiations, can you protect me?"
"Yes, I will."
"Thank you. Then I'll tell them that… If we have to put a formal commission request to Mr. Forrest, it will take some time…"
It was like Oliver heard. In the case of Forrest, he formally investigates the commission he receives.
Kent said that it was a cumbersome process and some brokers skip it, but Forrest doesn't. Thanks to that, it was said as a Broker Forrest was safer even if he was inefficient.
"It will take two or three days at the earliest, is that okay?"
“… .To be honest, it’s a waste of time, but it’s not a waste of time either.”
"Um, may I ask you a favor?”
"Please?"
"Um, can I use this warehouse from now on? There were some things I wanted to do, but the situation didn't work out. Maybe it'll help with the job….."
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
Four days after his conversation with Murphy, Oliver was sweating in the underground warehouse.
He took off his jacket, wore jeans and work gloves that he bought from a secondhand clothing store, and wrestled with the Corpse doll on the table.
Oliver's experiment failed on the first day, but now he has learned some tricks thanks to his repeated practice without sleeping.
Oliver thought, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
‘Sorry, Mr. Kent. You told me not to skip meals and sleep, but I couldn't stop this because it was fun. Please understand.’
Oliver repaired the "Warlock" and "Sniper" Corpse dolls to some extent, and after that, he looked at the "Rag" and the "Swordsman" Corpse dolls, which had been half-renovated.
All of these were Puppet's corpse dolls, which Oliver picked up. There were several other Corpse dolls besides this, but most of them were completely dismantled as materials to fix the [Warlock], [Sniper], [Rag], and [Swordsman], and it was not a waste.
It was clumsy, but it was Oliver's own corpse doll.
"And I was able to do a fun experiment."
Oliver thought as he looked at the test tube near the corpse doll.
Inside the test tube, there was something like a black sphere. It looked like a minion, but in truth, it was not an ordinary minion. It was a minion made by mixing Life-force and emotions.
Oliver took out a flask of emotion and Life-force and fed the Minion in the test tube. The Minion gleamed with a faint emotion of joy and devoured the emotions and Life-force.
‘Interesting. I was just mimicking Mr. Puppet's artificial Soul… never thought something like this would come… By the way, how should I name this? I can't differentiate if I keep calling it Minion. What should I use? Um… It's not disposable, so I think there needs to be a proper name….. Let's just call him [Child].'
Oliver pondered for two seconds and came up with a name, and at that moment, he heard a beeping sound in his ear.
Oliver picked up the communication device that Forrest provided from the workbench.
It was his first time using it. Oliver pressed the green button on the device and took it to his ear.
"Hello."
"Yes, it's me. Can you hear me ?"
"Yes, I can hear you, Mr. Forrest….. How have you been?"
"No, I'm not doing fine. Thanks to you, I suddenly have a job. I would have just ignored it if it wasn't for what happened in the contaminated zone.”
"I'm sorry. And you don't have to feel that way. It was not Mr. Forrest's fault. Even if it wasn’t for the Contaminated zone I know Mr. Forrest would have kindly helped me. Even if I'm ignorant, I know that much. Thank you."
"…….."
Forrest was silent.
Oliver couldn't see the emotions because it was a conversation through a communication device, and for some reason, Forrest seemed pleased.
Soon, Forrest’s voice was heard again.
"First of all, the investigation is over. Most of what Murphy said is true."
Oliver didn't really respond. Because he knew from the conversation that most of what he said was true.
For the most part.
“Why did he talk to me directly? If he was giving me a warehouse, I think I would have accepted even if he gave it through Mr. Forrest.”
"I did some research on that, too. It's not entirely false to say that he did it in the fear of rejection, but the most important reason for doing it this way was showmanship."
"Showmanship?"
"Rather than hiring you through me, what would others say if he were to come forward and hire you himself…. It would look as if he has a closer relationship with you."
"…? I don't understand."
"To put it simply. He could say to his colleagues [Hey look here, I know a great Warlock who’s the talk of the town and I can personally ask him for a favor]….. It seems like Murphy wants to imprint this impression on the Hoffman family and higher-level organizations within the Crime Firm. People with a powerful force behind them are respected everywhere…. It's a shallow trick, but it's not a bad one to work with….. Are you uncomfortable with it?"
"No."
Oliver answered the truth. He had seen and experienced more like this in the orphanage and Mine, so it wasn’t entirely alienating one for Oliver.
And above all, he could use a warehouse, so he had no complaints whatsoever.
Forest once again asked.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes.”
"Sometimes I don't know if you're nice, or stupid, or scary. Whatever it is, it's up to you….. So, are you going to officially accept the job? There's no problem if you refuse now."
"No, I'll accept it. I've already benefited a bit."
"Well, then okay… Now, moving on, Murphy wants you to come now. He said Jimmy Hoffman was running out of patience."
"Who's Jimmy Hoffman?"
"The young boss of the Hoffman family who runs the transportation company. Murphy asked you to come as soon as possible. It seems like they're going to have a fight with the drivers. There are also Solvers protecting the drivers, so if you do something wrong, you will only bleed for no reason."
Oliver wiped the sweat from his body and hurriedly put on his clothes.
"Do you know anything about the Solvers who are protecting the truck drivers?"
"Yeah. Well, it wasn't that difficult, it’s Arthur from District N and other veterans-turned-solvers… Come to think of it, haven't you guys already met?"
(To be Continued)
