Code Collector

Allen almost didn't blink when Gwen's state got intense. He wanted to gulp and look away but he had to stand his ground. One wrong move and he could be toasted.

"Is that so?" Gwen pursed her lips. "Well I guess you didn't know anything about his double life, but yes. He was part of a gang."

"I don't think I should listen to this," Gary said, clearing his throat. "This sounds like a serious matter. I just don't want my name involved."

"Verta Carta has pulled their men out in Camp Twyla," Gwen informed. "It's no use talking about them now since they won't care."

"I'm curious," Allen said. "What does their gang do or what did they do in this camp? Then why did they suddenly disappear just like that?"

Gwen sighed and started to tell both men about the gang Jack was leading.

Trading in the Otherworlds are much more complicated than in Earth. In the Otherworlds, you have to prepare twice the amount of contacts needed just so you could buy or sell goods in the mainstream market.

The mainstream market refers to the buying and selling of goods from Haven and into Earth. Allen had undergone this process when he sold a couple of tea leaves from Haven, so he knew exactly the frustration of a lot of people.

Along with the tons of processes comes the cost of these processes. One simple trade from Haven to Earth would be taxed to up to forty-five percent of the profit, that made frowns in all traders' faces.

That was until gangs like Verta Carta started to rise into power. Their gang allowed people to smuggle the goods and money from the Otherworlds directly to Earth at a fraction of the price. The forty-five percent tax would be decreased to only ten percent.

Of course, they had to operate underground and they got into more dangerous goods. Illegal drugs.

Substances and plants in the Otherworlds were undoubtedly more potent than the ones in Earth. This opened the eyes of a lot of traders and made them venture into these products, trading them through the gangs for much less tax and huge amounts of profit.

There were three main gangs in the country that lead this illegal transactions. Verta Carta was one of these gangs.

"But wait," Allen asked. "If Verta Carta was just a smuggling gig, why were they here? And why didn't the police do anything? People knew he was from Verta Carta yet I didn't see no officer arresting his ass."

"Child," Gwen sighed. "Verta Carta is much more powerful than the governing body in this camp, or any other camps in this country. You just don't know but Verta Carta is the one financing the police along with the other two gangs, Saint Olive and Rock Flux."

"T-That's…" Allen trailed off. He knew there was something going on underneath the police ranks, but he didn't know that the influence of these gangs were rooted much deeper than he thinks. "Wow."

"I know," Gwen snickered. "That's exactly my reaction when I got the hint of it. But after a while, I just got used to it. What can I do? I don't even have the capability to raise my rank since I'm only a support type. If I was a fighter or even a ranger, I could rise to the top and fix our broken system."

Allen clenched his fists and grit his teeth. Days goes by and he had more and more reasons to change the world they live in. The justice in both Earth and the Otherworlds seemed to be inexistent because of the lack of proper power from the ones on top.

"What is Drake Nelson doing?" Allen found himself asking. He could still remember how much he looked up to the Dragon Code Bearer. The man could practically beat everyone else in a one-on-one combat, that was why he was given the opportunity to lead the world.

"Allen," Gwen called out. "These gangs aren't really doing anything wrong except for underground trading of goods, so you don't have to worry that much."

Allen scoffed, "I think this is why these people can just do what they want. The police officer themselves just let them. Who knows what the gangs are trading in their own private transactions? What if they're smuggling people? What if they're trading children?"

"And that's why Jack came to Camp Twyla," Gwen said, making Allen's body relax slightly. He tilted his head to the side, face filled with confusion. "Saint Olive and Rock Flux were investigating the cases of missing Hunters in this camp and their investigators also went missing.

"It wasn't until Jack himself came to investigate and found that another gang was kidnapping people from Earth and trades them as slaves into the Otherworlds. Camp Twyla was one of the main channels of this gang, so Verta Carta had to act."

Allen's jaw drop in shock and disbelief, "You mean…"

"Yes, Jack saved a hundred women and children from being sold as slave just from a single visit in this camp," Gwen finished. "These main gangs may operate illegally, but they have their own principles and since their inception, they have lived by them."

"Still," Allen muttered. "It doesn't change the fact that they're gangs."

"They're antiheroes," Gwen snickered. "I just read the full case of the Phantom Cunt and this man is not an example of that."

This made Allen gulp. Just when he thought that he was getting away with this topic, he was caught by again. If only he could ask Gwen for help, it would be better.

But since the woman despised the Phantom Cunt figure all her life, Allen couldn't possibly make a move on clearing his name at the moment.

"This man…" Gwen rubbed her forehead, the stress was evident from her facial expression and her voice. "He's just vile. I know the twins weren't the best people out there, but he didn't have to do that to them."

"Again," Allen started to say, trying to swerve their conversation away. "Are you allowed to talk about this?"

"Only if you didn't say anything," Gwen sighed. She cupped her whole face and groaned. "I don't have anyone to talk about this and this case keeps on getting worse and worse. There will come a time that I'll explode by how evil the Phantom Cunt is."

"What did he do this time?" Gary asked, his voice laced with anger.

"He threw the bodies of the healers he caught," Gwen said. "Right by the riverbanks where we get the supply of water from."

"What?!" Allen and Gary both gasped in shocked.

Gwen snickered in amusement after hearing the boys, but she shook her head to get the smug out. "There were also traces of poison in their bodies, and if we didn't get them out in time, the poison could've spread and everyone would be infected."

"Oh, now that I think about it, I have information regarding this," Gary interjected. "I was near the crime scene when it happened– well, the vendor at the market was. And he said that it was gore."

"H-How gore?" Allen gulped.

"The bodies were already rotten and it seemed like they were drowned in the poison," Gary said. "Their bodies were also mutilated and shredded like chicken breast on a salad."

Gwen smacked the back of the large man's head. "That's a disgusting comparison."

"Sorry," Gary whispered.

"But it's not far from the truth," the woman sighed. "It is time that the police office of Camp Twyla to declare this Phantom Cunt as a criminal. He's the current number two in the Most Wanted list."