Houses there were mostly abandoned with barred windows and high fences with home-made barbed wire. The surroundings here tells me all I need to know, it isn't a stretch of the imagination to understand how Nicholas the Barbaric> was able to thrive and fare inside such an area.

----------

Well. Whatever, it wasn't really any of my concern, to begin with. Let's just get this over with.

After pondering on this subject and how I would like to tackle this issue, there are actually a lot of factors that come into place if we are talking about how this mission should be done to maximise efficiency.

It wasn't as if the "dead zone" was my backyard, strolling across it like no one's fucking business. That shoddy stretch of land got its name for a damn good reason and I'm not willing to test it.

After crossing the border, new information could be seen flooding into my minimap. There were red and blue areas marking "hot spots" where most of the crimes and incident occur, those being based on previous incidents that were recorded down in the institute's database.

Gang activity was also at an all-time high down here, walking down the open roads was of my best interest. A rule of thumb would be to avoid shortcuts or narrow passages that would be prone to ambushes and the like. This also applies to other worse off neighborhood, more so in HIVE.

While walking down the path indicated on the minimap and avoiding some of the hot spots, it was clear as day that I was being watched. As expected...

[Suspicious Activities found...]

[Highlighting Individuals....]

[...90%]

[Comfirmed..]

This isn't going to be pretty... keep your cool... keep your cool.

Having previously killed people, it was reassuring that I had some sort of experience regarding self-defense. Nonetheless, it was still a nerve wrecking experience. While following the indicator, the minimap displayed 2 red dots that were not blinking... which probably meant that they were not hostile.. yet.

----

It looks like these 2 goons are still following me, it has been a good 5 minutes and they aren't making it any more blatant that they were trailing behind me. Glancing back, it was pretty evident from their arrogant and smug faces that they were not going to make it easy for me.

From their aura and how they carried themselves, they felt like nothing special or anything that couldn't be dealt with accordingly. Just the run of the mill outlandish thug.

Just look at that smug bastard, all high and mighty... swaggering along. All fat dumb and happy, probably on an ego trip.

I guess it's best to deal with the situation before it escalates... if I do not put an end to it right now it'll bite me in the ass later when there are other things of importance to deal with.

Quickening my pace as I scurried along the sidewalk, my next course of action was to lead them to a secluded dead end.

-----

Reaching the dead end, I stopped dead in my tracks and waited for them to "corner" me. Hehe

Due to the minimap, it was easy to predict when they would barge into the blind alley.

Speaking of the devil, they are finally here. The two goons sauntered in, making a fool out of themselves.

Both of them had their full body tatted up. What was most notable was the jolly roger on both of their arms. Their tattoos were a dead giveaway that they were cliqued up, I guess. One had a blue snapback and the other had a bandana of a similar color.

Now facing them, they gave me a shit-eating grin.

"Hey there buddy, you know the drill" The goon with a snapback came up to me, hands raised in the air like he owned the world, remarked.

"Fork over whatever you've got, unless you wanna get fucked inside out" As if on cue, the other partner hollered back in perfect sync.

Ahhh. What a cliche line, am I right guys? Sounding all third-rate villain like, this is going to be pretty anti-climatic.

"Uhmm... how about no? What're you gonna do about it bitch?"

Staring at them with my eyes half opened, cracking out a loud yawn. Openly disrespecting them, this would hopefully enrage them. Them not thinking and acting with a clear mind would only benefit me. I need all the advantages I can get so that we can even out the playing field... being outnumbered 2 to 1 was a bad enough.

Oh well, I can only deal with the cards I'm dealt.

"I see how it is... let's see what you have to say after I lodge this in your throat." The imbecile with a snapback now clearly fuming, clearly upset. Who asked him to have such a big chip on his shoulder.

To hell with his ego, amirite?

Taking out a blade that closely resembled that of a machete in a clumsy motion, he gazed at me in enmity. This was a dead giveaway and a good indicator that he wasn't proficient with the use of a bladed object though, useful information all across the board.

Goon number two followed suit, slowly closing the distance between us and him as he also grabbed out a blade from his back pocket.

Shit is about to get real now.

[Warning... Hostile presence discovered]

[Possible actions displayed]