Tommy walked calmly along the streets heading back towards the east district of the city.
His theory was that once the king ordered the city lockdown, the locations controlled by the criminal organizations would still be allowed to operate to a certain degree.
While the organizations would have to reduce their operations slightly as a sign of respect, the king could also not order them to fully stop all business operations for fear of retaliation.
There was a fragile balance between the king and the criminal organizations that neither wanted to disrupt since it would damage their positions.
The eastern business that was likely to remain in operation was the red light district, after all it wasn’t only the common folk that came here to satisfy the sexual urges and needs, the nobles did also.
While a king could get away with not caring much for the common folk, the same could not be said for the nobles who he needed to keep happy to a certain degree.
After all nobles could to a certain degree challenge his rulings and make things difficult for him.
As Tommy entered the eastern district of the city he found that unlike the central district that was mostly dark and empty, the red light district was alight with colorful lanterns and strange stones that glowed in different colors.
People of all ages were gathered in groups as they talked and laughed loudly while drinking, eating and sniffing something Tommy suspected to be a drug.
The men wore flashy and expensive looking linen shirts and trousers, while the women wore very little. Most of them wore clothing that showed off their legs or belly area, in some cases their breasts were only covered enough so that they were supported and wouldn't move around too much.
As he passed dark alleys he saw the occasional man leaning up against a wall as one or more women had her face in his crotch area, or the woman was pressed against the wall as the man moved his hips back and forth.
((FUCK FUCK FUCK, KILL THEM ALL, THEY ALL NEED TO DIE, WE CANT HAVE IT SO NOBODY SHALL.))
Tommy eventually stopped in front of one of the largest buildings in the red light district called Club Tai. It was the building Chelna had indicated Tai Paom operated out of.
As the name suggested it was a night club and had men and women regularly entering and leaving the premises. A few bulky men dressed in black suits that were obviously this world version of security stood at the door of the club occasionally refusing someone entry for various reasons.
Tommy took his place in the queue that slowly moved towards the door as people were allowed in or rejected. When it was Tommy’s turn the security men gave him a quizzical look since unlike everyone else who was trying to gain entry, Tommy was wearing normal everyday clothing.
“You sure you have the right place brat?” One of the security guards asked.
“Does this place sell alcohol?” Tommy replied.
The security guards gave him a surprised look before bursting into laughter. “Haha of course it does brat.” The guard replied as he finished laughing.
“Then I’m in the right place.” Tommy replied before pulling a bag full of gold coins out of his pocket (Item box) and shaking it in front of the guards.
The guards as well as the other patrons who were queuing up all focused on the bag as they heard the jingling sound of money.
Tommy opened the bag and threw a gold coin to each of the guards before asking, “Are we going to have a problem?”
The guard inspected the coin and once he was satisfied that it was real gold he replied, “No problem sir, welcome to Club Tai and please enjoy.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Tommy nodded before walking into the club.
As he entered through the doors and walked down a corridor he soon reached another door with a guard standing next to it, the guard gave him the strange look as the others but didn't say anything as Tommy passed through the door.
The first thing to hit Tommy as he entered was the sound, loud music came from a stage at the other end of a large room as people laughed and shouted at each other to be heard. The center of the room was taken up by a large empty space where people were dancing and grinding up against each other. Around the dance floor numerous large and small tables with chairs where people sat and talked with one another. Further out from the dance floor and against the wall to his right was a bar that ran the entire length of the room where people ordered drinks or sat and drank at the bar. The wall opposite was lined with many large comfy looking sofas that people relaxed on while sitting and talking or in some cases making out and probably more.
Scantily clad waitresses roamed the floor delivering drink orders or collecting empty glasses while regularly getting their asses slapped while they faked enjoyment.
Tommy looked up and saw three fancy looking chandeliers hanging from the roof that provided light from more of those strange glowing stones he saw outside. There was a mezzanine that ran around the entire room allowing people to look down on those below.
Above the door Tommy had entered via was the largest part of the mezzanine that seemed to stick out.
Tommy followed the mezzanine and noticed a staircase over by the bar that led up there. Tommy started walking towards the bar before sitting on a stool and signaling to one of the bartenders who were serving drinks.
“What are you after?” The bartender asked.
“What’s good here?” Tommy replied.
“First time?” The bartender asked with a chuckle as Tommy nodded.
“For a newcomer you need to try the Tai bomb.” The bartender suggested.
“Sure.” Tommy replied simply, causing the bartender to nod before he started to prepare it.
Tommy looked over at the staircase and saw that there was a guard stopping people from accessing the mezzanine area.
“Why are they stopping access to the mezzanine area?” Tommy asked the bartender.
“VIP’s only.” The bartender replied simply.
“And how does one become a VIP?” Tommy asked.
The bartender paused in the creation of his drink and shot him a strange look before continuing and said, “Either be a noble, be friends with the owner, or have more money than sense.” As he finished speaking the bartender put a glass on the counter that was filled with some orange liquid before saying, “twenty five silver.”
“For a drink?” Tommy asked in surprise.
“Welcome to Club Tai.” The bartender replied with a smile.
Tommy shrugged before he reached into his pocket (item box) and pulled out a gold coin that he put on the counter. As the bartender and the surrounding patrons saw the gold coin they all showed surprise and slight greed.
“Keep the change.” Tommy said before picking up his drink and heading towards the staircase under the shocked looks of the bartender and the patrons. “Maybe he has more money than sense,” The bartender muttered as he took the gold coin before moving on to serve someone else.
As Tommy reached the staircase the guard said, “VIP’s only.”
Tommy pulled out a bag full of gold before shaking it in the guards face.
The guards eyes dilated as he focused on the bag of jingling coins before he moved aside and let Tommy pass.
Tommy nodded and passed the guard a gold coin before he started to climb the stairs. Once he reached the top he was able to see that the mezzanine was mostly a relaxation area with large comfy sofas and chairs taking up most of the space. Along the back wall above the stage was another bar that this time was staffed by topless men and women in only their underwear. More women in only their underwear roamed among the patrons doing their work until one of the patrons took a fancy to them and pulled them onto their lap to have some fun.
The large mezzanine section Tommy saw before was another small dance floor so that the rich and powerful didn’t have to mingle with their lessor's.
Tommy looked around trying to see if he could spot someone who matched Tai Paom’s identity but unfortunately it seemed she was presently not in the main room.
Tommy noticed several doors that all had guards standing in front of them however so he guessed one of them led to her office.
Deciding he first needed to study the guards and their patterns Tommy moved towards one of the large empty sofas that was in a dark corner away from the others before sitting down and taking a sip of his drink.
As he sat down the other patrons noticed where he sat and began to whisper and laugh to each other with smirks on their faces.
Surprisingly the drink was actually pretty good and so he started to observe the guards movements while enjoying his drink until.
“Oi brat do you know where you're sitting right now?”