He was still thinking about this difficulty by the time he reached the complex. Packing his hoverbike was easy. He just had to pay for a packing spot nearby. Getting into the building was not so easy.
He had to pass through many scans and inspections before he was granted access to the building. These were all done by robots, so killing them wouldn't be easy, and it certainly won't go unnoticed.
This thought went through his mind as he gained access to the mall on the first floor. This mall is the heart of the complex. Goods and services enter the complex through the mall, and money leaves the complex through it. The residential and relaxation areas were on other floors.
He found a map showing the general floor-by-floor outline of the building besides the elevator. He used it to find his way to his destination.
The girl's family lives on the 37th floor. There is a park and other relaxation facilities on each floor, which he plans to visit. He doesn't plan to go to their apartment directly. Instead, he plans to scout for information by asking around about the girl.
He looked like a teenager himself, so no one would bat an eye about a boy asking about a girl. He was right about that. He just didn't know how well he would be about it.
He expected to ask around for a while and then use Wrath to scout the girls place while he lurks around their apartment. But no sooner had he asked about the girl that he received information about her.
He went to the skating park to ask for information. There were boys and girls there skating around on their skateboard. The first boy he asked gave him all.the information he wanted.
"You mean Justine? I know her. She just awakened two weeks ago. She awakened with this ability that could freeze things around her. She couldn't control it at first, so she created quite a spectacle. She was even rushed to the hospital for treatment."
Kelvin sighed in relief and thought to himself, "It seems everyone knows about her. That's good."
But his relief turned to something unpleasant as the boy continued speaking.
The boy looked up wistfully and said, "I wish I could be her. She has become popular and rich now. A lot of people have been asking about her. If only I could awaken a powerful ability and be recruited like her, I too would have a chance to become a famous hero."
Kelvin kept the panic out of his voice and said, "Me too."
The boy grinned at him, making the freckles on his face wrinkle. He said, "Right. That's the wish. I will be able to move out of this place with my family and eat anything I want anytime."
Kelvin was nodding along. He eventually got around to asking, "Do you know who recruited her?"
The boy rolled his eyes and said, "Of course it is the Lnyx corperation."
Kelvin smiled wryly as he said, "Of course."
He doesn't know why that information is obvious, but he intends to find out.
"So she is gone now. I guess we will never see her again."
The boy agreed with a melancholic nod. He said, "We are different people now."
He bade farewell to the helpful boy and left to confirm the information he just acquired. Unfortunately, what the boy said was true. Everyone knew about the girl because her story had become popular.
His actions didn't look strange because many people had been asking around for her too. Apparently, the Lynx Corporation, which owns this complex, found out about the girl a week ago and recruited her three days ago.
That was a day before someone offered information about vulnerable targets with powerful abilities that he could kidnap. The situation is clear to him now.
He gritted his teeth and said, "I've been scammed. I blame you for this."
"It wasn't all a bust. You have learned some lessons with this experience, and that counts." Wrath said in encouragement.
He asked, "Oh yeah? What lessons have I learned?"
Wrath replied, "You have learned that you need a more trustworthy source of information that will provide the information you need very quickly and that you need a reliable way to nab your targets when you have found one."
The shadow spirit had a point, but he wasn't going to let things go just like that. He contacted the league and reported the scam to them.
Both he had Wrath don't think it would work, but he could only hope. After all, the information the person provided was true. It was just late. Besides, the information is still useful. He can still kidnap the girl if he dares to.
He left the complex feeling angry and bitter. It wasn't just because of the 440,000 dollars he lost, but because of the time that he had spent on top of the scam and the fact that there was very little he could do about it.
He felt that he couldn't trust the mission system anymore. After all, he had been burned twice by it already. The first time almost took his life. Now he has lost 440,000 dollars.
Wrath didn't think much of the 440,000 dollars that he had lost. It was of the opinion that he should continue trying.
Wrath said, "You are like a fisherman. Sometimes you will catch big fish, and sometimes you catch stunted ones. Other times, you will only succeed in pulling up someone's underwear that they threw into the lake while having lakeside sex. But you can't let that discourage you. You need to be patient."
He was on his hoverbike riding back home while Wrath talked his ears off.
"I don't know. I feel like I should take the mission down and wait until I can use something more trustworthy."
Wrath didn't agree. "Come on. It is just 440,000 dollars. You can earn that back in a week. You can even earn it by scamming some noob with useless but true information."