….

When Shin arrived at the living room, he saw Laura waiting there together with a beautiful woman with a curvaceous body. The girl’s biological weapons were enough to suffocate someone and bring them straight to heaven, despite being the same age as Shin, the girl’s body is already started to mature. Her hair were black and tied into a pigtail. Her skin were smooth like a jade. This girl is enough to bring a nation into its downfall just using her looks.

“Eh!? Laura? Lorraine? What brings you here?” said Shin the moment he arrived at the living room.

When Laura saw that Shin is coming, she immediately run towards him and jump into his arms. Then she open her mouth like some sort of machine gun and tell him the purpose of their visit. “Big Bro Shin! Help us! Big Brother is in trouble! He called me, then then …”

“Hey, hey, Calm down little girl, I can’t understand what you are saying.” said Shin to Laura while patting her head. Then he looked at Lorraine and smilingly said. “I thought this little girl already sold her brother to you. Hahaha.”

“I wish! That girl called me because she thought that she can’t contacted you, since her brother also can’t. ” said the curvaceous woman while rolling her eyes at Shin.

Shin shift his gaze at the little girl in his arms and said when he saw that she already calmed down. “OK, Laura tell me what your brother told you.”

“Ahm… He said ‘A little lion cub were cornered by a bunch of hyenas’ and… and…. He also said you should go to a ‘Mountain called lake’ if what to look for him. Big Bro Shin, what did he mean by that? Is he in deep trouble? Because, because… When I’ve talked to him he looked….” Laura her mouth rapidly once again, while trying to recall what here big brother have told her.

Shin muttered the phrases that he heard while thinking about its meaning. Before, they were given a job by Captain Bernard to spy on an underground organization by infiltrating their underground boxing fight for the kids on their age. So they made a bunch of codes like this, so that the other side can’t catch them.

When he is done decoding the message, Shin smiled at Laura while reassuring the little girl. “No, he is just occupied by some matters and can’t go home for quite some time, so he told me to take care of you while he is gone.”

Laura looked at Shin suspiciously and said. “Really? Then why he didn’t tell me directly, and told me to deliver a strange message instead?”

“Haha, of course it is because he don’t want to worry you. So for now, you will be staying here while waiting for your brother, OK? Don’t worry, I’ll look for him, in your place instead. How is that sound?” said Shin.

“Is that so? Then fine! This is my first time coming here. And your place is very big. And I think it is enough for me to get lost here.” said Laura.

After that, Shin tell the head butler to arrange a room for Laura and make some arrangements for her stay. And after Laura settle down, Shin go to his master’s place to seek some help.

“Quite good at tricking little girls, aren’t you?” said Lorraine to Shin, as they walk towards Old Plum’s place.

“What can I do? I need to reassure the kid before looking for his brother.” replied Shin while having solemn face.

“Is the situation that serious, for you to get that nervous?” asked Lorraine.

“I’m not sure about the situation yet, but I am pretty sure that this is going to a very troublesome matter, or even worse than that. Because from Leo’s message, this matter should be related on what happened on the parking lot of Lake Heart Hotel, and those guys maybe a part of powerful organization.” said Shin solemnly.

“What happened there?” asked Lorraine curiously

“We saved a pair of girls from being abducted few days ago. About the details of the kidnappers, I’m not sure about their identity yet, since Big Sis haven’t discovered anything about it at that time. I’ll call her later to ask if she already found anything about those f*ckers.” replied Shin.

Then, they arrived at Old Plum’s nipa hut. But unfortunately, the old man was not there. Shin tried to call his master but the call can’t connect. After that, he tried to call Shiella and Captain Bernard, but still his call can’t connect on them.

“Huh? I can’t contact anyone of them? I guess I need to look on this on my own.” Force with no choice, Shin decided to go out and personally investigate the matter on his own.

“Hm? Do you need my help or something?” Lorraine offered a helping hand.

Unfortunately Shin opposed the idea almost immediately. “Not for now, because if this matter is something worse then you are going to get drag on this. And it is better for me to move alone, That way I can move more freely.”

“But….” Lorraine what to say something on it but Shin’s decision is already resolute. “No, buts for now. I know that you are worried for Leo, but I can’t involved you in this matter. Instead, I need your help on protecting Laura on anything that may happen. In case that those guys target Laura, at the very least we are ready on that time. I can also arrange some guards for her, but it is also better to have some guards in the shadow.”

They separate ways after that. Lorraine left the Springfield Household to make arrangements for Laura’s protection, while Shin went to his room to take some things.

He change his clothes with a military camouflage pants, coupled with a black V-neck shirt together with a pair of combat boots. He also take a flexible 3-feet long shortsword under his bed, and wrapped it on his left arm. Then, he took a black leather jacket on his wardrobe and put it on.

After that, he dialed a number on his Advance Watch to call someone. After few rings, the person on the other side of the line answered the call.

*Beep!*

A virtual screen appeared in front of Shin, showing a young man with the same age as him, and wearing a round transparent reading glasses.

“What can I do for you, Young Master Shin?” said the young man on the other side of the call.

“Hey John, I have a job for you, and I’ll send the details later. But for now, I want you to find where did Leo last appeared this last few days, and send it to me, as soon as possible.” said Shin to the guy on the other side of the call.

“Got it, Young Master Shin.” replied John almost immediately, before ending the call. From Shin’s tone alone, John can tell the severity of the situation. After all, this is not the first time he work under or with Shin. His Father is a direct subordinate of Captain Bernard, so he also considered himself as a part of the subordinates of the Springfield Family.

After that, Shin immediately get out of his room, and planning to find Leo’s whereabouts. But before he get out the Mansion, a middle-aged woman in formal suit prevent him from going. “Young Master Shin, you can’t get outside for now, especially that you are alone.”

Shin frowned his brows and asked. “Huh? Why is that? I need to do something important outside.”

The middle-aged woman hesitate for a moment before telling Shin her reason. “Ahm… The Young Miss said that you and Young Master Arthur have provoked some big shots because of what have happened on the Lake Heart Hotel. So she ordered us to warn you and prevent you from going outside.”

This time, Shin’s face turned solemn when he have heard that. “And Why are you telling me that important message just now? Do you have any idea what happened because of your negligence?”

“Ah!?… So-Sorry young master Shin. I-It just…” the middle-aged woman’s face become tense when she saw the sudden change of Shin’s mood, and this is her first time to see Shin’s angry side.

“Enough for that for now. A friend of mine was abducted by those guys because you didn’t tell to me the severity of the matter earlier.” said Shin before brushing pass the middle-aged lady, and went parking lot to get his Black Panther. Then, Shin send the details of the matter to John, before driving his car out of the Springfield Household.

The middle-aged woman stared at the shrinking silhouette of the black car for a few moment, before dialing Anna’s number on her Advance Watch. And when the call connected, the middle-aged woman immediately reported the problem in a panic manner. “M-Miss Anna we have some problem. Y-Young Master Shin just went outside alone and…”

…

Shin arrived at the place where Leonard last appeared, and inspected it to looked for some traces that were left. He is quite familiar with these kind of things because aside from him learning it on the training camp when he was young, he also learn some more from military training.

But too bad for him, the people that have abducted Leonard were professionals and know how to perfectly erase their traces.

“If Leo told Laura to pass the message to us, then he should have left something for us to know his whereabouts.” Shin muttering to himself when his eyes suddenly become attracted on a shining object in the corner of the room.

Shin knitted his brows and walk towards it. He crouched down and picked up the object, and saw that it is a broken Advance Watch. Shin inspected it for a few moment before crashing it into pieces and taking a nano-chip on it.

Shin scanned the nano-chip with his Advance Watch, to see what it was. And when saw the details on the chip, he smiled satisfyingly. “Heh, truly worthy to call as the ‘Crimson Devil’. That guy really don’t want gamble on something without having a reassurance.”

It turns out the broken Advance Watch earlier is Leonard’s Watch, and the nano-chip is connected to some kind of tracking device, telling the whereabouts of his friend.

“I don’t know how that guy manage to slipped pass this tracking device, given that those guys are quite professionals. But since you troubled yourself to give me a clue about your whereabouts, then let me make use of it, so that your effort will not get wasted.” said Shin while dialing John’s number once again.

And when the call connected, Shin immediately said his new discovery on the guy. “Hey John, I’ve discovered something. I’ll send you some coordinates, I want you to use the military satellite to track it down and tell me what’s on this place.”

“B-But… B-But I’m pretty sure that I’ll get punished severely, if I’ve got discovered using the military satellite, I don’t want to get in huge trouble, Young Master Shin. My Dad will surely beat me into pulp, if he discovered about this.” replied John with some hesitation.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll take full responsibility on this matter. All you have to do, is do what I’m asking and I’ll do the rest. I’m going on that place now so you better do your job properly.” said Shin before ending the call, not caring about John’s feelings.

Then, he immediately dash outside the room, and went to his car. His destination, Red Lightning District of Michigan City.

…..

When Shin arrived at the Michigan City, he immediately looked for the place to stay, because if his suspicions were correct then he might need some time to solved this matter. Especially since this thing involved some big-shots. So he also need some time to observed his target.

After finding a hotel, Shin consolidate his mind while waiting for the sky to turned dark, so that he can go outside stealthy.

When Shin arrived at the place, he immediately looked for strategic location to spy on, but unfortunately, the place is in the outskirts of the City where there is not many establishments in the vicinity.

There is no Hotels for a perfect spy point, all the structures in there are 2-storey at most.

After some careful thinking, Shin enfold himself with his Mental Energy using a stealth technique of the ‘Four Symbol Scripture’ to hide his presence. Then, he change his facial features using another technique for reassurance, since the other party may also target him, it is better to change his appearance too.

After that he went on a dark alley to hide himself, and walk along the dark places while observing the his surroundings. Few moments later, Shin discovered that most of the people walking on the streets were part of an underground organization.

During his time in the training camp, there are some ways to identify a person if he or she is a part of underworld organization, it is also to identify if the other party is a fellow or a foe. Coupled with the military techniques, Shin is able to identify the party more easily.

“Most of the people here are part of some organization, same for the establishments in the vicinity. Looks like infiltrating inside is going to become troublesome. I wonder what these guys are hiding inside.” muttered Shin as he look at the street.

Few moments later, his Advance Watch ring. John is calling him. Shin hide deeper in the alley before answering the call.

“Young Master Shin, I manage to see what’s in that place using the military satellite. There is a huge secret lab underground. And base on the security measures that they have arranged, that place maybe owned by a very powerful organization.” said John immediately when the call connected.

Shin knitted his brows and asked. “Can you infiltrate their system to get a full blueprint of the place?”

John thought for a moment before replying. “That maybe troublesome young master Shin. They have a pretty solid firewall on their system defenses, but I can crack that defense pretty easily if you manage to plugged on a bug on their system.”

Shin fall into a deep thought trying to consider the situation. After some careful self-deliberation, he replied. “Getting near that place may already been difficult, what’s more putting a bug on their system.”

“Don’t worry young master, all you have to do is download the system bug that I’m going to send to you on a portable device. Then, plugged it to any kind of electrical device in there, and I’ll handle the rest. Once I get in their system, those guys can’t rid me off even though they found the bug.” said John reassuringly.

“OK, send me the system bug, and I’ll find a way to put it in there.” said Shin after some hesitation.

Then, John send the system bug, while Shin download it on a USB after. Then Shin circle around the building where there is a highest number of security personnel. If Shin guess is right then this building should be the center of this place.

Shin patiently stay on the dark, waiting if there is a person that is going to left the group. And that paid off, a security personnel separate on his group to take a leak on a street alley. When Shin saw that, he immediately followed that person and swiftly killing that guy by forcefully twisting the guy’s neck, the entire process were too fast not giving the other guy a time to react.

After that, Shin take off the guy’s clothes and put it on his body. Then, Shin throw the guy’s corpse on a huge metal trashcan to hide its body.

Shin change his facial features once again, but this time it is according to the other guy’s face.

Few moments later, a person called on the end of the alley. “Hey Robert what takes you too long? We are about to change shift inside. The boss will get mad if you don’t hurry.”

Shin adjusted his voice with the help of his Mental Energy and replied. “I’m already done. I’ll catch on you inside.”

Then, Shin run towards the other guy. After getting inside the building, Shin observed his surroundings even more carefully. And when he saw a restroom, an idea entered his mind. He then look at the leading guy and said. “I’ll go to the restroom for a moment. I feel that my stomach is about to burst.” After that, he run towards the restroom.

The other guys on the group look at Shin with a slight suspicion but brushed it off almost immediately.

“That guy have eaten something he shouldn’t I guess.”

“This is not the first time that this thing happened.”

“I’ve already warned him about eating those kind of things before.”

…

Shin arrived at the rest room and immediately checked the place if there is other people inside. After confirming that he is alone, Shin locked the door and looked for an electrical plug.

When he found one, he carefully dismantle it and take out the wires with his Mental Energy. Then, Shin take out a small USB port on his pocket and connecting the wires on it, when he is done, he immediately plugged the USB on it. After that, he dig the plug hole even deeper before swiftly reassemble the plug in a skillful manner. Then, he started erasing his traces after.

When he is done with all of that, he immediately get out the restroom and directly went outside the building. Then, he went back on an alley to take off the other guy’s clothes, before putting on his original clothes.

After all of that, Shin immediately slipped pass the all the dark alleys, making sure that he didn’t get trailed on. Then, he went back to the hotel, straight to his room.

Once he arrived in there, he immediately sit on a lotus position while muttering to himself. “Looks like I need to create my ‘Golden Core’ now, in case the situation turned for the worst. Tsk, I planned to wait for my Mentalism to catch up with my Martial-Arts, so that I can simultaneously create a ‘Golden Core’ and a ‘Niwan Palace’, but I guess I have no other choice, given out current situation.”

After that, Shin send a message to John, telling the other guy about his plan, before entering a deep meditation state.

….