5 Marco Vicenté Salsar

"The mission is proceeding smoothly. I'm quietly encroaching on their ranks, sir. I don't think they noticed a thing."

Bruce answered respectfully.

Marco Vicenté Salsar was a caporegime of the Salsar Family. He was one of the highest ranking members, only below the Don and Consul.

Naturally, he had to treat the man with respect. The slightest bit of disrespect could kill him in this line of business.

Although he had little experience regarding underworld politics, the memories of his predecessor told him everything he needed to know about the underworld.

The Salsar Family was the criminal syndicate that raised, or more appropriately, trained his predecessor to be current person he was now.

The memories he inherited contained all of the interactions and experiences of the orphaned outlaw Bruce.

Marco nodded appreciatively.

"Continue to do so. You only need to remain at that job for a few weeks, then you can go back to the family."

"Thank you, sir."

Bruce spoke calmly. He had taken a dealer job at the casino because of two reasons.

One of them was that he needed the money, and the other was that the Salsar Family had ordered him to do so.

The casino was owned by the Crimson Black Brotherhood, a rival crime syndicate of the Salsar Family.

Bruce's job was to infiltrate their ranks and provide the Salsar Family information as a spy.

At this moment, Marco looked at Bruce dead in the eye. Bruce was confused but met with the man's eye unflinchingly.

"Is there a problem, capo sir?"

He could've sworn that he saw a trace of approval in Marco's eyes, but it dissapeared as quickly as it appeared.

"...There is a problem. I heard that you got delivered to the alleys of Solace by some ignorant trash?"

Bruce was surprised before he shook his head.

"A minor matter, sir."

"No, no, no, non è possibile. That's not a minor matter, Bruce. We can't let some ignorant trash trample the dignity of our members, no matter who they are."

Marco grabbed the tablecloth and wiped off the food on his lips gently. He continued softly.

"Soon, he'll be sleeping with the fishes. Even if he's a Transcendent, he shouldn't have had mess with one of ours. Take my word for it."

Bruce was chilled internally. 'Sleeping with the fishes' was a famous saying in the underworld.

It meant one was dead, or more precisely, one was drowned to death with their corpse flowing in the depths of the sea. That transcendent was good as dead.

Feeling grateful, Bruce bowed his head and gave his thanks respectfully.

"Thank you, sir."

"A minor matter. I'm doing this because you're special, Bruce. You're trusted family."

Marco tapped the surface of the table quietly. He stared at Bruce with a calm expression on his face.

"We have enough manpower. But few of them deserve our trust like you. We need more members like you, someone who the family can trust."

"The Family values trust the most. It's what keeps the business going. Don't worry, the family will reward you for your efforts and troubles."

Bruce silently nodded. They better do, I've been risking my life for this mission... he complained inwardly.

Though, if Marco was saying this then the reward should come soon. He never broke his promises.

Marco looked at Bruce dead in the eye and smiled.

"Do you have anything else to report?"

"Yes, sir."

Bruce nodded calmly. He reorganized the information in his memories and continued softly.

"I walked past the VIP room once and heard talks within one of the rooms about having a new stellarite mine."

"I also saw Prince Gale in the casino once enter the VIP rooms. I'm afraid that the Crimson Black Brotherhood is planning something."

Hearing his words, Marcus expression turned solemn.

"When did Prince Gale go to the casino?"

"Saturday, last saturday."

"I see..."

Marcus pondered, closing his eyes. He had already known about the stellarite mine and thought that the Brotherhood got lucky.

But if Prince Gale, the successor of the Echelon Consortium, was involved then it implied a whole bigger secret.

Thinking about it, the timeline matched. The Brotherhood acquisition of a stellarite mine was leaked this week.

Prince Gale went to the casino in person last saturday...

While Marcus was thinking, the pace he was tapping the surface of the table increased unconsciously.

Bruce didn't disturb the capo. In truth, the information he had shared was nothing short of massive.

He could expect some generous rewards from this exchange. Though, this ultimately just made his predecessor's death more tragic.

After a while, Marcus opened his eyes. He looked at Bruce with approval and gave a wider smile than usual.

"Very good, Bruce. The information you brought to me this time will merit you a huge reward from the Family."

"It's my honor to serve the family, sir."

"Hehe."

Marcus chuckled slightly, slowly standing up. He took out a wad of cash from his chest pocket and threw it on the table.

Bruce instinctively caught it and looked at Marcus.

As Marcus stood up from his seat, the whole bar went quiet. Even the drunks in the bar turned sober just for this moment.

Marcus fixed his suit and looked at Bruce for one last time.

"We'll end this meeting prematurely. I need to relay the information you brought to the Don as soon as possible."

"Consider that money your early reward for your efforts, expect more this following week."

"As long as you don't betray the trust of the Family, there'll be more where that came from. Remember, the Family values trust the most."

"Don't ever forget that, alright?"

After saying those words, Marcus left the bar in an imposing manner. No one dared to meet his eyes.

Feeling stunned, Bruce looked at the wad of cash on his hands. He put it in his pockets and looked at Marcus' departing back.

He had heard the man loud and clear, although the last part sounded more like a threat than a reminder.

***

Exiting the bar, Bruce couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and press his two fingers against his eyes.

"Goodness... Salsar Family, Brotherhood... I just want to transmigrate in peace, why am I involved in gang wars?"

Bruce complained bitterly. He shook his head in exasperation. Forget it, there was no use complaining about it.

Feeling tired, Bruce looked above him and saw a magnificent sight of countless stars spread across the sky.

"It's so beautiful."

This was Solace City, the capital of the Seal World.

The Solace City was famous for many things but it was mostly known for its magnificent position, allowing its people to observe the beauty of stars.

That's why despite being situated in a low level world and low level star field, the Solace City was still somewhat famous.

"I have to go."

Bruce moved his eyes away and focused on his direction. Enough of observing stars, it was time to focus in reality now.

His next stop... the Tretësirat Casino.