Texas had already been the leader of the Thumb for quite some time.
Through the aid of that Thumb-personality, she'd gained a deep understanding of the organization…
At first, Texas had doubted whether the Thumb's "system" could truly function as intended. But later, she discovered it was unexpectedly easy to execute.
High-pressure rule, as long as it came with comparatively high pay, could be carried out smoothly enough…
And because of that, the Thumb had now grown into a massive syndicate.
Hundreds strong. With plenty of affiliated sub-gangs. Among the City's roughly three-hundred-thousand people, the Thumb's name was now loudly known.
Working with the new "Three Associations," they'd secured a steady supply of firearms, while ammunition came almost entirely from the same source… As their reputation spread and their numbers swelled, the Thumb now possessed wealth enough to even purchase certain products from K Corp.
At present, within the entire City, only The Index led by Suo Bismar could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Thumb…
That gang, driven by a cult calling itself "Order," had unexpectedly become quite popular in the City. In a remarkably short time, it had grown to about the same size as the Thumb.
Though in terms of core combat power, they still lagged behind the Thumb… Texas knew their leadership was probably stronger.
Lock's combat power was, after all, top-tier even among first-rank Sweepers.
As for Texas, though she'd been the Thumb's leader for some time, her own strength remained caught between the upper second rank and lower first rank…
That was after considerable enhancement through various Workshop methods.
But for Texas, none of this mattered much right now. The Thumb and the Index hadn't clashed seriously yet.
Now, Texas was the "big boss" of the Thumb. In the City, she held a status high enough to stand as an equal with many company heads… In hierarchy, perhaps only just below the upper echelons of the Wings.
Yet even so, Texas was not without troubles.
For her, Siracusa was the shadow that never stopped haunting her dreams.
She often woke in the middle of the night, startled by dreams. Dreams where she was forced to leave all she'd built here, to leave this still-unfamiliar City, to return to Siracusa—to once again face the tangled past she'd never been able to cut clean.
But Texas also knew: she was not the same as she once was.
She was no longer the powerless girl unable to face her past.
Now she had an organization, she had power; she was qualified to confront it, to resolve it all. All she needed was a moment—a chance to return to Siracusa and stand before everything from her past once again.
Nothing more.
And now, that chance had arrived.
When she awoke that morning and saw the letter lying on her desk, her first reaction wasn't fear. It was Finally.
Finally, the time had come to confront her past head-on.
She read the letter.
The sender was unknown. Texas guessed it might be Zaro—or perhaps some still-surviving family from Siracusa… The letter said a "Wolf Hunter" had recently appeared there.
This "Wolf Hunter" wore a red hood and cloak, carried a musket and a scythe, roaming Siracusa's lands. According to the letter, one family had already been slaughtered by this Hunter…
On that day, the entire family was wiped out, not a single survivor left.
The Hunter seemed to be searching for something, killing ceaselessly to find it.
Thus, the remaining Siracusan families were terrified. They'd searched for the Hunter endlessly, trying to eliminate them, but every effort had failed. No one knew where or when the Hunter would strike next.
Therefore, they had made a decision: Siracusa was issuing invitations to all those whose families were once connected to it. Now, most of the families had gathered together, discussing how to defeat the Hunter.
And naturally, Texas was on that invitation list.
After reading, Texas frowned slightly.
How did they even know she was in the City?
Was this a trap… or something else?
The Hunter could be real… but these families might also be using this chance to erase the Texas family for good. Or perhaps Zaro wanted her back as a "claw," at least to play a role in this incident…
Texas kept guessing silently, until at last she exhaled and rang the bell at her door.
The door opened. A purple-haired woman stood before Texas, head lowered, eyes shut, awaiting her boss's orders.
"Go. Call the rest of the Thumb…"
Texas spoke calmly:
"Bring most of them. We're heading for Siracusa."
The purple-haired woman didn't lift her head, only bowed lower and said firmly, "Yes!"
Within the Thumb, orders were neither questioned nor allowed to be questioned.
After the woman left, Texas exhaled softly and stepped out of the mansion.
Trap or not…
She was going.
Now she had the strength to sever her past.
Texas thought this to herself as she walked steadily forward.
...
Meanwhile, in Obsidian's little cabin, his consciousness swept across the Thumb's territory. Once he confirmed their movement, he pulled his awareness back.
Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.
He was sure of it.
In fact, that letter had been sent by him.
Though it described true events, Siracusa at present had no means of contacting the Thumb's boss directly… If it were Zaaro, he'd probably choose to meet Texas in the dead of night instead—
And then take a few rounds from the Thumb's custom-made bullets.
Thinking of this, Obsidian smiled faintly. He whistled, expression light and cheerful.
"Come, then. Come…"
He smiled, still whistling, muttering to himself:
"Let's see… how this Siracusan performance…"
"…Turns out to be."