“So, did she agree to go?” When Marcus came back to the apartment “rented” to them by Luoshan Zi, Kevin asked.

“Yeah. Which means we have one more ally in our team.” Marcus smiled: “Now, I must ask again - what did I miss? Did you find anything out of the files from Chef Tang?”

“Basically the reason we went out earlier.” Keryn shrugged and pulled Kevin back, as he appeared he was about to apologize to Marcus again about going out to check out the Kshiti Temple earlier: “The interrogation records from those henchmen, they all confessed to being tasked to monitor the churches, temples and other prayer places. So these people kinda know what they were planning to do. Before - you know, before getting caught at the docks area.”

“But who are these people they are working for? Do they even know?”

“No they don’t.” Kevin sighed: “Those who might have some idea are all dead. The curses placed on those folks broke through the arrays set up by the Chef and his crew. I was assuming they cannot set up anything serious.”

“I am guessing it’s Deliverer-related. From what I heard from Gloria, dealing with them is super tricky. You can’t really harm them, you can’t easily drive them away. The only thing you can do is wait till the summoners run outta energy or materials.” Marcus sighed, shaking his head: “Whoever these people are, they’re always ruthless even to their own. ”

“Doesn’t it bother you though - you’ve decided to go against them like this, but still don’t know who they are?” Elvin asked.

“Yeah.” Marcus, Kevin, Keryn and Mick all answered at the same time. They then proceeded to laugh.

The room went quiet for a moment, then Keryn was the one to break the silence: “So, tomorrow evening? How do we get there? We need to head to the Temple of Forgetfulness, right?”

“I would say we steal a car.” Keryn chuckled: “I noticed a lot of cars still out there on the road. There must be at least a few we can hotwire. Or better, someone could have just left the keys in.”

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“You’re way too comfortable saying that.” Marcus chuckled along and shook his head: “But - I don’t know how to do that. Do you?”

“Well - I might have picked up a few tricks. ” Keryn hesitated, “No promises though. I don’t - don’t really have that much experience actually doing it.”

“If I remember correctly, there are some older builds of buses or trucks that are quite easy to hotwire. I counted two of them down the road. I don’t know if they’re the same ones as I remember though.” Elvin nodded: “If you bring me along and let me drive you - ”

“No - not happening.” Marcus immediately shut his father down: “That’s too dangerous. Didn’t we already talk about this? You should stay behind, Dad. Otherwise I can’t concentrate on actually doing what we’re about to do.”

“Yes, yes. But if you can’t even get to the temple and meet your master, you won’t be able to do anything.” Elvin shrugged: “I don’t wanna be your burden either. So how about this - I’ll go with you when you guys go on your hunt for rides. And if you can’t find anything, I’ll give the two buses a shot. Do any of you have a permit to drive buses?”

Everyone else just looked at each other in silence, then after a moment they just simply shrugged.

“No, I can drive it if everything comes down to it.” Marcus waved his hand: “You’ll help us steal the car and then you’ll come back here.”

“Uh - Marcus - ” Mick tried to interject.

“The city has special regulations on buses. I am quite familiar with it, as I drove it before.” Elvin raised his hand: “Trust me, when you guys enter the Northern District, you’ll want to be discreet. And - if you drive it just like some random bozo, you’ll get stopped. And then your cover will be blown.”

“Nonsense. You’re not driving!” Marcus raised his voice while shaking his head.

“But you are taking a big risk, Marcus, I can’t let you do that. It is a way to minimize the risks.” Elvin refuted with a soft and gentle voice: “You wouldn’t have to worry about me. If the situation requires, I’ll just drive all of you there, then come back. It’s just the Temple of Forgetfulness, it’s not that far. And it’s mostly safe. I’ll take a bus back, or I’ll stay at the temple if you’re worried.”

“No - no. End of discussions. This is not happening - ”

“Let’s go out and scout around our ride first, how about that?” Mick interjected: “It’s very late right now, so - it’d be a good chance.”

“Nonono, I suggest we take a break and rest up.” Kevin shook his head and raised his hand: “We should have someone to watch the night if something happens. But everyone needs to take at least a bit of a break. We should go out when it’s a few hours before sunrise, or few hours past midnight - by then most people would still be asleep, and people looking for us throughout the night would probably be tired and ready to go back. Then it’s our best time.”

“I agree.” Keryn shrugged: “I don’t know about you guys, but I could really use some rest. Can’t go attack a fucking datacenter when we’re tired.”

“Okay. Fine.” Marcus let out a long sigh.

“I’ll keep the first watch.” Mick volunteered: “You guys rest up.”

“Thank you Mick.” Kevin yawned and headed to the bathroom: “I’m gonna go wash up a bit. Can’t go out stinking like this.”