To his relief, the heat he’d struggled against during his previous meeting vanished as he took his pent-up rage out on Bobby.

The man looked on the verge of tears as Arthur let out the entirety of his verbal frustration on the one person he knew couldn’t do anything about it. He screamed at him for longer than he needed to, knowing he wouldn’t get any additional answers. Not that he expected to. No, this was mostly for him.

He needed a chance simply to vent, and this hapless prisoner was his best target. As his questions about the theft turned into bitching about his entire situation, he caught Theobold shifting uncomfortably in the room. His bodyguard stayed silent, but his expression conveyed his opinion of the scene well enough—disappointment.

Arthur couldn’t bring himself to care. This was something he needed, even if he knew he shouldn’t have indulged. He wondered if this was why Derrick had gotten on his case so much. Had he simply been the only outlet for his old boss’s frustration with his failing business?

A twinge of guilt hit him at the thought.

With effort, he forced himself to calm down, stopping himself midway through his rant about Wilth pushing him from the door. Bobby looked a mix of terrified and confused, which Arthur supposed made sense.

"Are you sure you can’t tell me anything else?" Arthur said, apparently, after a quick breath.

"N-no. No. I’ve told you everything, I swear! I won’t do it again. Never. Anything you want." The man’s voice quavered as he spoke, and he pushed himself further into his corner.

"Fine." Arthur shook his head, feeling his dry throat beg for water. "Don’t. I’ll make sure you’re released, but don’t expect to work on anything important again. Understood?"

Bobby nodded so fast it looked painful. "Yes. Yes, sir."

"Alright then. Augustus, Theobold, we’re leaving."

His rat bodyguard bared his teeth at Bobby as Theobold simply turned his back on the man. Arthur turned and pushed open the door, finding Leo standing on the other side of the door.

"That was an interesting tactic, sir." His voice was devoid of emotion, but from the way his hand trembled, he was wary.

Arthur shrugged. "Sure. Is Carina awake yet?"

"No, sir."

"Alright." He nodded and motioned for Leo to follow him. "In that case, I have some instructions for you to give her."

Together, they walked through the halls towards the elevator as Arthur outlined what he wanted Leo to do. The first was to inform Carina that Sandy was being transferred to a new project and to pick a new underling. The second was to make some discreet inquiries among Riccardo’s old lieutenants. While he thought Jim was sending him on a wild goose chase, it wouldn’t hurt to check.

"Anything else, sir?" Leo asked as they arrived at the door that Keith and his friend guarded.

"Don’t kill Bobby," Arthur said. "Put him somewhere that someone can keep an eye on him, and that will force him to work hard. He’s stupid, not a criminal mastermind. I think he’s learned his lesson."

"As you say. I’ll tell Miss Heady, what you need from her, too."

Arthur waited and watched as Leo left before he turned to Theobold. No one else was around; the sight of their group was enough to make everyone have a pressing need to be elsewhere. It made him wonder exactly how loud his yelling had been.

"You’re not happy with how I dealt with that."

It wasn’t a question, and from the look Theobold gave him, the younger mutant didn’t take it as one. His posture straightened into what Arthur knew as his report pose, but he said nothing.

"Well?" Arthur asked. "What do you think I should have done?"

"Kill him," Theobold said.

"Why?"

Theobold didn’t so much as twitch as he spoke. "Because he had no more information, and it would have been a strong sign to the others. I think I understand what your plan is with the board, but with him? He wasn’t important. Why not prove you aren’t to be messed with?"

"Like Alyssa planned to do with Carina?"

Arthur could still remember seeing the woman trussed up on the horse as the knights led her away from the store. If not for her information, he knew Alyssa would have gone through with Carina’s execution. There were moments when he wasn’t sure if that hadn’t been a better option.

"Yes." Theobold’s tone was blunt and sounded unconcerned.

"No," Arthur said. "If I killed everyone who opposed me, I wouldn’t have anyone to man this place, for a start. I understand the idea, but it’s not the direction I want to take. Not unless someone forces my hand."

Augustus squeaked in what Arthur hoped was agreement, while Theobold simply nodded and fell in line as they made their way toward the elevators. It was time to head back to Apocalypse Assortments and check up on things there.

It would be nice to deal with supplier problems after all this.

***

A familiar cart—and—stench awaited him as Theobold pulled them to a stop.

From the driver’s seat, he saw Theorisa sitting next to Knight Charleston, and Penny. The younger girl waved to him as he approached. Behind them was a pile of corpses, most of which weren’t the mutated animals.

Around the cart, several other knights sat on horseback. Their armor appeared damaged, and they twitched each time they heard someone approaching. When he got closer, he saw multiple Lerna Spawn in the back of the cart, along with what he was sure was a Slagsoul jar. That made his skin crawl. He understood immediately why these two knight leaders had led the escort.

"You’ve been busy," he said as he reached up to help Penny down.

She was clutching a wicker basket in her hand, and she grinned as soon as she touched the floor.

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Behind her, Theorisa nodded at him. "Yes. I was hoping we could talk about that once we get this sorted out."

"Of course, please follow me."

With Penny beside him, chattering on about the meals the farmers had made, he installed himself behind the counter. Carly worked the counter, and she looked slightly intimidated as the knights lined up to start their bucket brigade of corpses at the counter.

Arthur smiled and took pity on her.

"Have you taken your break today?"

"No sir," she said. "Not yet."

"Alright, well, why don’t you take that, and I’ll sort this out? Actually, can you help Penny here with the food first?"

Her expression made him think he’d offered her a pay raise as she turned away from the knights and towards the smiling teenager. He kept half an eye on her as he accepted the corpses, while Theorisa talked to him in a hushed voice.

"It’s been getting worse. More attacks, and with stronger monsters. Well, sort of. They aren’t right," she said.

Charleston nodded. "They’re sick, and the Lerna’s shouldn’t even be up this far. Are you getting anything new from them?"

Arthur quickly scanned a box that floated in front of him after he touched one of the Barkhopper corpses a knight placed before him. It was slightly larger than the others, and he saw a splotch of purple along one of its legs. To his surprise, there was a difference in the items it dropped, and one that concerned him the more he thought about it.

STOCK FOUND

1X BARKHOPPER MEAT - COMMON

1X BARKHOPPER CARAPACE - COMMON

2X BARKHOPPER LEGS - COMMON

1x EXPERIMENTAL MOSS (ALIVE) - UNCOMMON

1X RADIATION CRYSTAL (RANK D) - RARE

SEND TO STORE INVENTORY

ADD TO BAG (UNAVAILABLE - MISSING SHOPKEEPERS BAG)

DISCARD ALL OPTIONS

"This one’s radiation crystal is a higher grade. It’s a D-rank now when it used to be E-rank," Arthur said as he dismissed the box.

For a moment, he studied the corpses before he turned to the knights. The nearest one was a younger woman, her face covered with scars. "Can you do me a favor?"

"What?" she asked, sounding cautious.

"Can you please place any of the corpses marked with purple to the side? I want to do them separately. I need to test a theory."

The knight looked as though she was about to refuse until Theorisa turned and glared at her. With a quick cough, she nodded and talked to those behind her. While they sorted corpses, Arthur double-checked the knights’ payment as he asked Charleston a question.

"Have you got any information about how the compound is doing yet?"

"No," Charleston admitted, sounding nervous.

Theorisa took up the story then, and he didn’t miss the way she placed a comforting hand on the man’s shoulder. With how Theobold paused in the doorway, he’d seen it too, though he simply walked inside and gave his mother a hug. She returned it as Charleston continued.

"The council has the entire place on lockdown after the attack. I take it they haven’t been here either?"

"Not in a while. It’s a shame. They were good customers." Arthur tried to inject some humor into his voice to defuse the tension in the room.

Charleston didn’t laugh, nor did the tension in his posture fade away. Still, he seemed to appreciate the attempt.

"Perhaps. I was actually thinking of sending some of our escorts up, but with the monsters like they are…" He trailed off, and Arthur knew what he was asking.

"You’d like me to send someone?"

"If you could." Charleston nodded. "It would be nice to know what’s going on."

"Will they let anyone I send in if it’s a lockdown, though? That seems serious."

Theorisa broke off her hug with Theobold to turn back to him. "No, but the gate guards should tell them something; otherwise, you might have to go yourself."

"Well, I can think of a couple of reasons to drop by. Oh, while I have you here, I have a question." Arthur said as he closed down another screen that informed him of the loot from a feral cat monster.

"How can I help?"

"Do you know if your scribe captain—Kourtney? Yeah, if Kourtney has any information on the monsters in The Pit, I’m getting sick of being surprised."

"She does," Theorisa said. "One copy, and I doubt she’d give it to you. A rare tome like that would be beyond your capability to duplicate, isn’t it?"

Arthur grinned. "It used to be. Now? Not so much. Actually, that is something else I can offer them. With my upgraded Stock Loop power, I can solve your armor problems. If that’s something you think they’d be interested in."

Charleston looked surprised. "Are you being serious?"

"I am," Arthur said as he finally finished with the basic monsters.

The pile of over two thousand coins that sat on the counter made him wince, especially knowing that he still wasn’t done. His eyes drifted over to the small pile of corpses that sat nearby, showing some signs of purple. With a sigh, he gestured to the knights to bring them over.

"That would be amazing, though in some ways not that helpful. Could you do raw materials?" Charleston asked, his tone taking on an edge of excitement.

"Sure."

Even as he answered, he made a note that each of the purple-tinged corpses, bar the Lerna Spawn and the Slagsoul, had the upgraded radiation crystal. In some ways, it was useful. Larger crystals could keep the lights on for longer. Not that running out had been an issue so far. Though with the potential of additional businesses, it might be.

However, he knew it likewise spoke of an additional danger. As far as he could tell, it meant one of two things. Either Rathnil was experimenting directly on the creatures with radiation or the area he was in was exposing them to it in high enough quantities to make a difference.

With no idea if Dragons were immune to such things, Arthur couldn’t decide which outcome he liked the least.

"I might have to push for the summoning if it’s the latter," he thought as he closed the final stock found box to clear his view. "Or at least invest in some good anti-radiation gear. Someone in the mall must sell them. I’m sure Pydes said Radiation Crystals were common."

The cheering of a group of nearby knights interrupted his thoughts, causing him to look up from the pile of gold he was counting. When he did, he saw Charleston gesturing to his armor. It was apparent he’d been explaining they might get new ones, which made Arthur wince.

While he could do it, the question is if the knights’ council would let him help. It wouldn’t surprise him if Hulvin put his foot down. The Crafter-Captain had made it clear that they wouldn’t get along as long as Arthur employed mutants.

It wasn’t a big loss in some ways. Even if Hulvin tried blocking him, he could simply turn to Cyrus the Merchant Captain. There was little chance he’d turn down the chance to buy new ore or expand his markets.

He was about to ask Theorisa about Hulvin when he heard a commotion outside. People were shouting, but they didn’t sound alarmed; they sounded more annoyed. Through the window, he glimpsed Jemima running down the street.

As she burst through the door, each of the knights drew their weapons. They looked nervous, and Arthur noted that Penny moved closer to Carly.

"What is it?" he asked as he moved towards the heavily breathing crocodile woman. "What happened?"

Jemima didn’t bother trying to control her breathing as she gasped out her words. Every eye turned to her as she spoke. All the knights’ hands trembled even as they kept their weapons raised. Arthur caught Theorisa’s eye as she cursed her lips, trying to take in what Jemima was saying.

He couldn’t manage it, and so he yelled for everyone to calm down. When the room had gone silent, he asked her to repeat her message. She did, taking a deep breath before condensing it all down into a single sentence.

"I found a tunnel in the sewers on level three, and I’m pretty sure it leads directly into The Pit."