"…How is the Wolf Hunter situation?"
Facing Hugh, Giovanna couldn't help but ask. Hugh glanced at her briefly and immediately gave a confident reply:
"No need to worry for now. The Wolf Hunter has been driven back; at least for the next few days, there shouldn't be any further issues."
Hearing Hugh's words, Giovanna nodded slightly, not questioning further. She didn't notice that her movements had become somewhat slower—her perception was only that Hugh and Da'at seemed to be moving slightly faster than before.
In fact, this was exactly the trick Hugh had pulled within the Rossati family's residence. He'd installed some of T Corp's time-tracking technology, slightly slowing down the flow of time across the entire Rossati compound. The actual difference was less than an hour.
But since there were so many people in the Rossati family, even this small increment, multiplied by their numbers, amounted to a significant quantity of stored time.
And for the Rossati members themselves, as their thinking had also slowed, they wouldn't notice anything amiss in the short term… Even if they eventually realized something was off, it wouldn't matter to Hugh.
By then, T Corp's infrastructure would already be fully established. And as for the lost time—they'd simply regard it as payment for the transaction.
Want to get that time back? Of course they could. Just like everyone else, they could simply "buy" time back from T Corp. And if they found T Corp's offer of double-time days appealing enough, they'd naturally integrate themselves into T Corp's business cycle…
Of course, T Corp wasn't satisfied with only this amount. The Rossati members who had been relocated were already on their way to a special T Corp facility.
There, the flow of time was slowed to the extreme. The residents would experience merely two hours per day, while T Corp would provide for all their needs.
Internally, T Corp had no obligation to explain further to these people. Externally… by the time the Rossati family realized, T Corp was certain they wouldn't openly confront T Corp over something so trivial.
They wouldn't dare. Nor would it be necessary. The ones lost were mainly peripheral Rossati members—many just gangsters loosely affiliated with the Rossatis. These people could easily be replaced. Letting T Corp take a few meant nothing.
And the people T Corp used for harvesting time certainly weren't limited to this group alone… They'd also taken some from Kazdel, where not all the refugees had yet been properly integrated. From the refugees' perspective, T Corp was practically their savior, fully providing for their daily lives—time flow rate wasn't something they cared much about.
Yet, even these additions were too few for T Corp… Before the emergence of W Corp, T Corp lacked a large-scale method of harvesting time. The more people they could acquire, the better.
Kazdel's refugees were nearly exhausted. T Corp halted after taking around a hundred individuals. From the Rossatis, this current operation had similarly provided several hundred people… But even this was far from enough.
The ideal number T Corp aimed for was over five thousand people, enough to support T Corp's internal development and external time supply.
"…If only a completely annihilated family could be absorbed into T Corp's system…"
Involuntarily, Hugh softly muttered. Giovanna seemed to hear him say something but couldn't quite make it out.
"What's the matter, Mr. Hugh?"
"Nothing."
Deliberately slowing his speech, Hugh replied softly:
"Oh right… What's the nature of your conflict with the Saluzzo family?"
Hearing Hugh's question, Giovanna's movements momentarily froze. After slight hesitation, she replied:
"To tell the truth, even we don't really know what's going on… We've only noticed that recently, the Saluzzo family has been behaving rather strangely."
"Their peace agreements with most other families have been broken. In recent days, the Saluzzos have had friction with nearly every family around. There was even a confrontation with the Bellone family… Thinking back carefully, it's probably just been these last two days."
After hearing Giovanna's explanation, Hugh nodded with understanding. Right at that moment, Kali walked in from outside. Giovanna urgently asked upon seeing her:
"How's the situation?"
"Temporarily repelled. Halfway through the fight, that one withdrew."
Having already placed the Mimicry E.G.O back into her dimensional bag, Kali explained succinctly. Then she silently stepped beside Da'at, clearly indicating no one should attempt anything against Da'at.
"Since this immediate danger has passed, we three shall take our leave now."
Seeing this, Hugh bowed slightly toward Giovanna, then called out softly to Kali and Da'at. Amid Giovanna's polite farewells, they swiftly departed. They wouldn't linger here any longer than necessary. If Giovanna had any second thoughts, things would become troublesome.
And just as they left the Rossati family's residence, amidst the ceaseless drizzle of Siracusa, another figure appeared before them…
They paused. Ahead, Texas stood holding an umbrella, clearly having waited here for quite some time already.
Hugh glanced briefly, then smiled softly and spoke:
"The Thumb's boss herself, waiting here for us… Might I ask why?"
"…"
Texas opened her mouth slightly, momentarily puzzled as to how they'd called her name so readily. In the next instant, she asked clearly:
"You all… came from the City?"
...
Roughly twenty minutes later, Hugh's group appeared within the Thumb's temporary headquarters. With cooperation in mind, Texas had begun negotiations. After selecting a room to temporarily stay in, Hugh briefly explained the current situation to Texas, who had come to visit.
"…So Lobotomy Corporation has also gotten involved in the current Siracusan situation…"
"Yes, it's related to the Wolf Hunter."
To the thoughtful Texas, Hugh responded simply. Texas fell silent, her brows deeply furrowed, clearly in deep thought.
In the midst of Texas' contemplation, Hugh's lips gradually curved upward, and he gently spoke:
"Oh yes… Miss Texas, there's one more thing I forgot to mention."
"You… are also one of the Wolf Hunter's targets. And, I fear, not very far down the list."