He sighed and said, "I guess I'll just have to harvest these bounties without cashing them in."
He will do all the work but take no credit for it. Maybe someone else would feel bad about wasting their time like that. But not him. He only feels half bad about it because it will not be a complete waste of his time.
In fact, he seems to be gaining as the bounty list has offered useful information about plausible targets that he would need to pay good money to acquire in a normal situation.
There is even information that he is unlikely to be able to acquire by paying. It was an anecdote about the purpose of the Count in the city.
It was stated that one of his purposes for coming to the city is for the war between the heroes and villains. The second purpose is that the Count is looking for a shape-shifter that murdered one hero and her girlfriend.
He grumbled to himself, "Even in death, she wants to drag me down with her. She truly is the Black Widow, the bane of all men."
Now he knows for certain that they are looking for him. He doesn't know if he should be glad about the revelation or not.
But then he chuckled when he saw the line that said, "Whoever that shape-shifter is, I want to thank you for your work. Feel free to claim your price for the head of Black Widow. I'll even throw something in for Stella too."
Kelvin shook his head in mirth and said, "Who is this information from? It seems they have something against the Count."
He found the line amusing, but he doesn't plan to claim the prize that is being offered. That would be the worst thing he could do.
He didn't find any information about the person who supplied the data for the bounty, so he read on. As he was reading the bounty list, it was updated with another bounty. This entry was for the boy that he saw beside the Count.
The boy's name is Rewind. He has the omega ability to create anchors in places he has been before. He can shift his position to his anchors instantaneously. This shift can't be blocked or interfered with. He can cross an unknown amount of distance instantly with it.
The number of anchors he can make is unknown. But it is suspected to be less than ten. And each anchor is exhausted each time he uses it. So he needs to create the anchors again.
There are no visible signs when he is creating an anchor or when he is about to shift to them. The location of an anchor can't be found either. But the boy is weak as he hasn't advanced to the professional league yet. He can be killed easily if caught off guard.
The more Kelvin read, the more tempted he became. By the time he was done reading, he already had his mind made up.
"Two omega supers within reach? I must get one, or I won't be able to live with myself."
They were just too appetizing to ignore. One of them was an ability that would enhance his power and make him difficult to kill. The other was an escape ability that would save him from any situation instantly.
It would be best if he could get the two of them, but he would be content with getting one. Either way, he had to give it a try.
But he didn't let his greed blind him to the danger of what he was about to do. He had to make plans, and the plans had to be very good.
So he too began investigating the duo just as they were investigating him. This was happening while Red Dream was doing the job assigned to her.
Red Dream's job was to find a way to bring the leaders of several narco gangs together for a meeting with him. It was not a difficult task at all. In fact, she managed to bring them together for a secret meeting just an hour after Kelvin left.
She told them the truth. She said, "I met someone today who wants to annex gangs to create a cabal. He is in the professional league and is at least D-rank. Let's meet to talk about what to do about it."
The message scared a lot of them, and many of them thought that the meeting might be a trap to eliminate all of them. So they didn't want to go.
But they were still curious, so they sent their subordinates to the meeting on their behalf. These subordinates carried various instruments for transmitting information across distances. This way they would be able to participate in the meeting without danger.
Eleven such bosses attended the meeting. She could have settled for just five, but she wanted as many gangs as possible to experience the misfortune that she experienced. She was also hoping that their large number would be able to overwhelm her new boss.
It is nothing devious. Just an innocent hope knowing that the more gangs she involves, the more likely things are going to go wrong. And if things actually go well, she will be rewarded for a job well done.
So she sent the message to as many gang leaders as she could. But only eleven bothered to take her warning seriously enough to come to the meeting.
The meeting was held in a restaurant in district 666. There was booze, food, and drugs available in the booth that she booked. But she didn't touch any of it as she waited for them to arrive.
The booth was large and filled with mostly seats. Its edges were lined with couches that formed a circle. Then the space at the center of the couches was occupied by a long table curved to serve every couch.
It looked like a place for a group of friends to meet. It was harmless and there was plenty of light.