The Silverdust Brothers, the bosses of the Silverdust gang and the masterminds behind the attempted assassination, were relaxing in their headquarters.

Unlike BlueBlood Corp's massive complex, the Silverdust gang was less developed. It had fewer warehouses, vehicles, and land. It was clear they were lacking compared to the director's organization.

Nestled in the center of a woodland, their living quarters contrasted the rest of their base, as it was a luxurious mansion. The infrastructure was made of concrete and embraced by the surrounding nature. They had strategically kept their headquarters hidden in the forest and invested heavily in the mansion. Who wouldn't want a luxurious home, after all?

"Tsk, Steve should have called us by now," Noah remarked. The two Silverdust brothers relaxed in the living room of their mansion. "What the hell is taking him so damn long?"

"...It's a delicate matter, so I'm sure he's taking his time," William responded as he smoked a cigar. "You can't rush something like this."

"Tsk, I guess. Steve better accomplish this perfectly. Those bastards can't get away with deducting our pay last time because of a stupid mistake!" Noah said. "They all should go to hell!"

"I agree. I never liked them anyway. Forcing us to become their manufacturers just because they had more power was never an enjoyable experience," William expressed. "Either way, when Steve kills the director and underboss, we can absorb the rest of the workers there. There will be no one to stop us."

*

The Silverdust brothers were unaware, but Steve had failed the assassination. He failed so badly that he was brought into a dimly lit room for 'questioning.' By questioning, the poor fool was being tortured by the director and his underbosses.

"AAAHHHHH!!! ST...OP!!!" Steve yelled in pure agony. His scream was akin to a dying bird.

He was without the shirt of his overalls, and nasty bruises were visible on his face and his upper body. Strapped to a chair, Steve was deprived of any chance to escape. The walls and floors of the room were stained with blood.

"Shut your damn mouth, bastard!" Octavius yelled as he smacked Steve across the face with a hammer. He struck him with enough force that blood and several teeth violently escaped Steve's mouth.

With blood flowing from his mouth and a blurry vision, Steve drooped over as if he were drifting from consciousness.

"Hey, don't you dare go to sleep now!" Rose yelled as she held Steve up by the hair. She suddenly injected a syringe containing a transparent liquid into the side of his neck.

"...Cough, cough!" Steve coughed up blood as he sat up once more.

"Heh, the adrenaline is pretty effective, huh? It'll keep you conscious!" Rose remarked. "But that's the second dose you've gotten of this heavy stuff. If you keep getting any more, your heart will explode. So tell us why the Silverdust gang tried killing us!"

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"I ain't...telling you...shit." The brutalized Steve struggled to mutter, sparking the ire in Octavius and Rose.

"Tsk, fine then!" Rose yelled as she picked up a bloodstained knife from a desk tray and remorselessly plunged it into Steve's hand.

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!" Steve screamed.

While they tortured him, Zack and the director observed coldly.

This is a pretty gruesome sight. Zack thought. Well, Jack did worse, though. Oh yeah...Jack.

Upon remembering his deceased 'friend,' Zack's demeanor became negative. He frantically took out several pills from his pocket and quickly swallowed them to subside the sudden onset of sadness.

"Steve, why are you so adamant in keeping your mouth shut? You are just putting yourself through more suffering," The director remarked. "You won't be protecting the Silverdust gang by keeping quiet, so just tell us. It will end better for you if you do."

Steve kept silent as he processed what to say. His audible breathing made it clear that he was trying to muster the strength to speak.

"...Are you...going to...let me...live?"

"That depends on if you tell me," The director responded.

"Heh...he...like hell...you're going to...let me live, but I...don't care," Steve muttered. "You deserve...to die."

"Did they order you to bomb me just because I deducted their payment last time?" The director questioned. "Because I don't remember doing anything else to wrong them--"

"Don't make...me laugh. We tried...to become successful...drug dealers...but you and...your power-hungry self...forced us...to do your bidding," Steve weakly retorted. "Because of your hold...on us...we couldn't...grow. We always...wanted to get revenge...some way...but deducting our payment...because of a simple...accident...was the catalyst..."

Huh...that's kind of like me. Zack thought. I was also forced to work for this guy...let's not think about that.

"I see. How unfortunate," The director remarked as he turned around. "I've heard enough. You guys can put him out of his misery."

In response to his words, Rose and Octavius focused their cold gazes on the badly injured Steve.

"I hope...you die a sad death..." Steve weakly said as Rose put a handgun to his forehead. "Where you witness...your organization...fall to...the ground."

"What are you going to do after this, boss?" Zack questioned.

"We have to begin preparation, Zack," The director responded as he walked through the door.

BANG!

"We're going to go to war."

*

The Silverdust Brothers awaited the news about the assassination, but their patience started to waver as several hours passed.

"Dammit! What the hell is Steve doing!?" Noah exclaimed with anger. "It's been seven hours! How has he not reported to us yet!?"

"I don't know...there must have been a hiccup or something," William responded. "But what could it be...?"

"You don't think he got caught? Right?" Noah wondered. "If that's the case, wouldn't things end badly for us?"

"Nonsense, there's no way he'd be caught. We packed bombs with enough power to blow away entire blocks in a single cocaine pack, which was placed at the bottom of one of the containers," William responded. "It's unlikely that they'd open and search them all before accepting it from Steve. Even if they found out, Steve would have blown himself up with all of them anyway."

"You're right...maybe I'm just being too anxious--"

DING, DONG!

The sound of their doorbell was audible, which garnered the brothers' attention. Upon opening the door, they observed a large open box at their doorway, raising confusion among the men. Their confusion quickly morphed into pure fright as they witnessed what was inside the box.

It was none other than the corpse of their subordinate, Steve.

"...Ah, shit," William muttered. "This won't be good."