Seeing Daphne, Gary remembered the situation when he was in the ring. Although he had focused a lot on Harvor, he remembered her, not just because of who she was, but because she had also oddly helped him out during a difficult moment for him and his group.
‘What is she doing here?’ Gary thought. ‘I thought she would have gone back to her city after the escape. How long have I even been asleep for... it couldn’t have been that long.’
Regardless, Gary had to see Daphne as somewhat of an ally after helping them in the tough situation they were in, especially since she was here, and Kai was here as well.
“Daphne Bree... it’s a pleasure to meet you. I didn’t get to thank you for helping us out back then,” Gary said. He was tripping over his own words as he wasn’t quite sure what the right thing to say was.
He then just realized that he had gone on a rampage right in front of her and was a little embarrassed by what he had done. The two of them were both Kings, meant to be on the same level.
“It’s no worry,” Daphne said with a bright smile. She was extremely confident, even though she was technically in enemy territory, and in the Ice Ring, not a single person was on her side.
Everyone present was core members of the Howlers, who were incredibly strong. Gary remembered seeing some of her power, but just with the power to control Altered alone, how could she just freely be here? And Gary was even wondering if her power would work on Werewolves, since technically they weren’t Altered.
“I make my own decisions,” Daphne said. “And at the time, I took the opportunity. Now we both have a common enemy, which is the One Gang and Harvor.”
“I’ve made a bet, and betted on you, Gary Dem. Let’s not make Harvor right and make me lose this bet. Listen to your friends more.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Gary could see she was looking at Kai. It seemed the two of them had been having much deeper conversations than he realized.
“I’m not against you helping us,” Gary said. “But I just don’t understand what you’ll get out of all of this.”
“We already discussed that, Gary. You’ve been out for a day,” Kai answered. “Just like you, I was also skeptical about the help, but seeing how badly hurt you were, it makes sense.”
“It’s quite possible that Harvor is the strongest Altered in this world, and if he makes a move, none of the other Kings can survive. So, the only way we can survive is by working together.”
“In turn for helping us out, Daphne wants Inferno City,” Kai explained.
“The city that used to belong to the Phoenix Gang?” Marie asked as she tried to rack her memory. She had been busy training with Olivia and hadn’t focused too much on the status of the current country's underworld scene.
“It belongs to Harvor now, right?” Marie asked.
“Correct,” Daphne replied. “Inferno City is still a tier 1 city. With it, Harvor has gained positioning, strength, and a whole leap of funds. If there’s a better time than any, it’s now.”
“He can wage war against all the other Kings if he wants to, and even if we all tried to cut him off, he’s got large enough finances and hold over the country to be able to continue the fight.”
“Going against the Kings hasn’t always been about strength, but wealth and influence as well. If we take out the One Gang, you can have their city, and we will take Inferno City. I think that’s a fair split.”
“And if you’re worried about the power and control getting to my head, don’t worry. I’ve never been interested in that stuff. I’m not one of those Kings because I want to be. The reason is because of my family’s legacy.”
“You should know, our family is big all over the world, not just this country. Our family has had influence for many years and wants to keep that influence.”
“I have a duty to somewhat uphold that. So, I can tell you now, as long as you don’t step on my toes, I won’t step on yours.”
For some reason, even though Gary hardly knew Daphne, he believed her. Her whole attitude to the whole thing, in the first place, felt like she was just doing what she wanted.
She was unlike any of the other Kings he had met before.
“I spoke to Crowley, since he used to teach at the AFA,” Kai said. “The Zodiacs are incredibly strong and something we need to worry about, but even more so, the general gang members are incredibly powerful as well.”
“Honestly, I asked him what he thought would happen if our two gangs were to fight, and he said it would be a complete annihilation on our part.”
“Which is why Daphne will attack Inferno City. It’s likely they’ll send a large group of people, including some of the Zodiac members, to combat it.”
“However, Daphne and the Bree family can’t take on Harvor. If he comes to defend the city in full force, everything will fail.”
“Which is why shortly after the attack on Inferno City, we need to attack Harvor directly as well.”
“Attack Harvor? We’re going to be on the attack?” Gary asked. It was the first time for them. To do such a thing... they had always been on the defensive, and attacking others felt a little wrong to Gary.
They had attacked Notsburg before, but that was a one-time thing.
“You’re not ready, though, as we established,” Daphne said. “Which is why, in the meantime, I’m going to be the one to train you up.”
Gary blinked a few times. Just what was Daphne planning to do? And how could the two of them even train together, to begin with?
Meanwhile, Kai’s thoughts were elsewhere. How much time did they have for Gary to get stronger before Harvor was the one to attack?
‘It’s worrying me, but why hasn’t Harvor made a move... there has to be a reason,’ Kai thought.
****