"Hey! Idiot! Can you even drive?!"
The battered black Toyota came to a stop, and three hulking men in black piled out of it like they owned the road. They swaggered over, thumping the hood of Akemi's car and shouting "baka! baka!" at her in angry bursts.
Akemi's hands tightened on the wheel. She went suddenly tense and, half-panicked, asked, "What should I do?"
"What else?" Ren Kuroda laughed outright. "I was worried—what if they ran away after we took care of one of them? Guess they did us a favor by climbing out themselves."
"You really don't hold back on your sayings, huh?" Akemi muttered.
"There's a saying back where I grew up: if heaven gives you a chance and you don't take it, the consequences land on you." Ren translated with a grin. "In other words — the opportunity's been handed to you; if you blow it, that's on you."
As he spoke he produced the Glock the System had given him and pushed the car door open.
"Hey! How does your driver even drive?" one of the big men barked at Ren, his face twisted with anger. "And why the mask? You ashamed to show your face?"
He'd barely finished the sentence when he saw Ren pull out a handgun.
Like someone shutting off a radio, the three thugs went quiet.
"N—no, wait, you… you just pull out a gun like that?" one of them stammered, panic snapping into his voice. "Kid… calm down! Don't be reckless. You're too young—don't do anything illegal!"
"Yeah, yeah—" another blurted, suddenly contrite. "I admit—we were out of line, we were loud. Sorry, okay?"
"We don't need your money. Is that enough?" the third one hurriedly caved.
Ren watched them, amused as their bravado shrank. He sneered as they backed away slowly, their hands twitching toward their pockets like puppets. "Too late. You guys already scared me half to death."
The three men's faces went white, but before they could make a move—
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three red dots bloomed on the foreheads of the gang members in quick succession.
With a sick thud, they dropped. The rhythm of their falls was unnervingly identical.
Screams rose from the surrounding street as Ren crossed to the black Toyota, grabbed the two cash boxes from inside, and returned to the car. He closed the door; he didn't need to say anything. Akemi wasted no time and drove off.
Ren opened one of the cash boxes, glanced inside, and a satisfied smile spread across his face. "Nice. This one wasn't a waste of effort. Split it evenly."
He set one cash box on the front passenger seat.
Akemi let herself look for a second and felt a flush of excitement. After all the work they'd been doing lately, finally some income — it was a relief.
She was about to find a place with fewer people to pull over when Ren asked, "Do the others have trackers in their other car?"
"They do… why?" Akemi frowned.
"Chase them," Ren said, checking the time. "We've got the time. Might as well finish them off. If this batch of powder hits the market, how many families will suffer?"
Akemi couldn't argue with that. She'd seen what drugs did. She switched the phone's signal source and quickly locked onto the location of the other gang vehicle.
She started the pursuit at once, studied their route, and said, "They're heading out of the city. Should we wait until they're out of town to make a move?"
"Catch up first," Ren replied, and as he spoke he deposited the loot into the Outlaw System.
On the Outlaw System account, the balance jumped by ¥25,000,000.
That was another hefty boost to their funds.
Because the target hadn't been wary, Akemi reached the car carrying the powder in just over twenty minutes. "It's that black Mercedes S up ahead… same method as before?" she asked.
"This road's quiet — no need for that much fuss." Ren grinned and bought something from the Outlaw Shop: a rocket-propelled grenade. He chuckled, "Perfect — I've been dying to test this thing."
Akemi glanced in the rearview and watched, incredulous, as Ren somehow produced an RPG.
Her brain short-circuited for a few seconds. When she snapped back, she yanked her gaze to the road. Luckily this stretch was straight and clear — no accidents.
She let out a tiny breath of relief, then bit her lip in worry. "Isn't that… a bit loud? A bit flashy?"
"There's another saying where I come from: be modest in life, grand in action," Ren said, moving to another window with a wicked smile. "Besides, when it comes to stopping drugs, you want it to be a public example. Drive steady. Don't swerve. If you hit other cars, that's not my problem."
Akemi gripped the wheel tighter and kept the car steady.
Ren leaned partway out the window, aimed the RPG at the black Mercedes S, and pulled the trigger.
The rocket screamed out and slammed into the back of the Mercedes.
Boom!
The Mercedes exploded into a ball of fire on the spot. The blast was so fierce it lifted the car, flipped it wildly, and it came down on its roof with a sick, metallic crunch. The wheels spun helplessly.
Akemi's heart jumped as the other vehicle became an instant inferno. She swerved to avoid the blast, kept the car steady, and couldn't help but glance at the rearview. Through the crackling heat and smoke she saw no struggle inside the Mercedes — they were dead, cleanly.
"Don't look! The traffic cops are closing in," Ren warned when he saw flashing lights and heard sirens in the distance. "Lose them—now."
"All right." Akemi snapped back to focus and realized the police were indeed nearby.
But after watching Ren's brazen recklessness up close, the uniformed officers felt almost gentle.
Akemi made a quick U-turn at the next intersection. "There's a parking lot nearby where I keep a backup car. I'll head there and swap vehicles."
"Fine. I'll deal with those cops," Ren said.
He tossed the spent RPG aside, bought an automatic rifle equipped with a scope from the Outlaw Shop, and opened fire at the pursuing police cars.
At first Akemi worried he might shoot people, but then she watched in the rearview as the police cruisers all started skidding in place; Ren had been aiming for the tires.
She exhaled and used the commotion to lose the squad cars, slipping into the parking lot and heading for the backup vehicle.