Both Kai and Gary were working hard to come up with a plan, but with the current plan, they would need to rely on Midwak, and he was still out of commission at this time.
Instead, for the time being, Gary was focusing on a few things. For one, his sister Amy, as well as his mother. He had asked for increased security around his mother, and he would secretly keep an eye on his sister in the meantime.
Since they were hitting everything that belonged to the Howlers, they would also assume that Gary Dem, a business tycoon that worked for them and an ex AFC fighter, would be on their list of targets.
However, there was a chance that they wouldn't come for them directly and instead would target those around him.
Amy was living a good life now; she had finished school and was getting ready to go to university. Surprisingly, White had chosen the same course as her in computer engineering.
It was hard to say if this was Kai's doing, to have someone around her at all times protecting her or not, but Amy was just happy that a friend was staying around her.
---
In the city of Slough, on Burnham food street, a new luxury seafood restaurant had opened up. There was glass all around, and the fish were swimming around the guests as they ate.
The idea was to make the customer feel like they were dining under the sea while eating their seafood. It was quite the hit, and since Burnham was becoming more well-known as a place for new restaurants to appear, there were those who came from outside of the city just to experience the food.
The restaurant, due to its popularity, was already fully booked for the next three months, and it had only just opened.
Sitting on one of the seats on the edge, right up against the glass, was a large man with a pompadour hairstyle. He was dressed up in a nice white dress shirt that almost sparkled as it had hints of glitter. It wasn't buttoned up to the top, as the top button was undone, allowing the collar to flare out. The person who was dressed up was none other than Austin. If those from his school saw him now, they would have had to take a second look to make sure it was the right person.
As for the reason why he was dressed up so nicely, it was due to the person who was sitting opposite him, one that he had come to know quite well over the past year, Vere.
She was in a long elegant black dress that slit by the legs and just about touching the floor.
"The dress you're wearing, it reminds me a lot of the Phantom Brawl," Austin said.
"Oh come on, let's not talk about that on a day like this," Vere replied. "You finally managed to have the nerve to ask me out and then brought me to a nice place like this. So let's enjoy ourselves and not think so much about the past."
Vere picked up her drink, and the two of them clanged their glasses together. Austin took a few more gulps down than he usually would have done and was rubbing his leg a few times.
'He's nervous, but it's kind of cute,' Vere thought. 'I should help ease him in a little.'
"So you managed to get a booking at this place even though it was completely full. Tell me, did you use your connections, Mr. Big Shot?" Vere asked.
The Howlers had their hands in everything in Slough at this time, so knocking off a few people for them to get reservations was expected. Vere was part of the Howlers as well, but she wasn't in as high of a position as Austin, who was a masked member as she came to know.
"Of course not!" Austin exclaimed. "I rang up as soon as I heard this place was ready, as I wanted to show you I could work hard."
Just then, a curly-haired dark-skinned woman came along and gave a little sweet treat for the two of them.
"How is everything then, Austin?" The woman asked.
"Oh, you know him on a first-name basis?" Vere raised an eyebrow, as she had never seen this woman before.
"Ah, well, Gary did introduce the two of us. Since he had asked me for a favor to give one of his friends a reservation. It's nice to meet you; I'm Izzy, the owner of this restaurant," Izzy claimed as she placed her hand out.
Izzy was one of the students that Gary had made an alliance with a while back. Her family had owned a chain of restaurants across other tier-3 cities. With their partnership, they had decided to work closer in Slough, and her mother had sent her out to look after the new restaurant.
"Oh really, nice to meet you, Izzy," Vere said, shaking her hand and looking at Austin with a cheeky smile.
Having been caught in a lie, Austin was now somewhat sweating.
"Well, please, I hope you two enjoy your meal; the two of you look great together," Izzy commented. "If you need anything at all, then give me a call, and I hope I get invited to the wedding."
Walking off, Izzy was ready to leave the two alone, but she noticed something odd. Several of the guests in the room had suddenly stood up from their seats. It wouldn't have seemed like such an odd thing, apart from the fact that they stood straight like a bamboo shoot, unmoving, and it was all at the same time, as if it was coordinated.
At the same time, they took off their uniforms, revealing dark red-colored clothing underneath their shirts.
One of the men in the center of the group had half his hair dyed red while the other half was black, and he had a sinister smile on his face as he started to laugh.
"We are here to get rid of the Howlers! We will burn everything to the ground!"
*****