Egon got back into the stagecoach, and Homer and Guillotine pushed him from behind and ran inside again as they went. When they arrived at the Grandfather's warehouse, Guillotine said:

"So, what's your plan, Homer?"

"I'll tell you everything, just wait a little."

They got out of the coach, and Egon told the mercenaries guarding the entrance that the Grandfather would be glad to see them. As they stood waiting for the Grandfather, Homer handed Egon and Guillotine each a strange yellow ampoule.

"If anything happens, just drop them and lie down."

"How do they work?" Egon asked.

Before Homer could answer, they were called inside, after being searched for weapons. The Grandfather, who was of enormous stature and build, was already standing at the entrance and waiting for them. When they came in and met him, he crossed his arms, hunched his shoulders, went to Guillotine and began to look at him.

"Hmm. That's what you are, a pyromaniac boy, eh?"

The Grandfather laughed. Several of his men were standing next to him. He looked at them and said:

"Really, like a little boy! I thought you had me fooled, Egon. And that's how it happens. What brings you to me, eh? Oh, please don't say anything, I already know what you want from me. But the question is, what is the price?"

"A chest of gold."

"A whole chest full of gold, innit?"

"Yeah."

"That's quite a lot, isn't it?"

"Much more than you paid us for the VV crystals."

"You're carrying a valuable cargo, aren't you?"

"Yes."

The front doors closed behind them. Grandfather's men began to surround them from all sides.

"I suppose the young people have sensed that this city is getting hotter than the fucking hell, where the Inquisitors send people to, right? You guys decided to take all the most expensive things with yourselves, and the exit from the city is blocked, isn't it?"

"We've come to offer you a deal, and you either agree, or we're looking for someone more interested," Guillotine said.

The Grandfather came closer to Guillotine, ignoring Homer or Egon, and asked:

"Or maybe you just throw off the burden of this material world and go your own way. Then no inquisitor will look in your direction. What do you thing, mate?"

"I don't give a fuck," Guillotine said. "Not a single coin of mine is there."

"Only your friend, Egon, doesn't think so. He wants to buy me with his money."

"I want to offer you a deal that's good for both of us."

"Good for both of us, huh?"

"Yes."

"Look," the Grandfather held out a piece of paper, "my lawyer has prepared this. It says here that you give me half of what is in the coach, and I help you with all my heartfelt love."

"Are you kidding?" Guillotine asked. "You'll never get that much from us."

"I see you're a brave fellow, aren't you? Either on the roof of my warehouse or here, you're pretty confident. Just like your parents, right, who blew up the police station. You don't know how they died. Well, of course, how could you know, you only knew how to scream and see the darkness in your eyes. You look like your father, you know, eh? Although who could tell you, because everyone who ever knew your parents are also dead, and their bodies were thrown in a huge pit to rot. Their ardent temper has ruined them, and your temper is even more ardent, it’s from your mother. You're lucky to see that this man, named Egon, found you in time. Otherwise, you’ll be in prison or dead, won’t ya?" Grandfather looked at Egon and continued. "And how will he deal with your temper when I tell him that I was responsible for the murder of his parents, relatives, and all their friends, eh?"

Guillotine paused and looked at Egon, who also didn't know how to react.

"Alba came to see me, and said, my friend, you supply all the fuel mixtures in the city to these madmen, your couriers must know all their secret places. Okay? Of course, it was difficult for me to give him such a client, they brought me a lot of money, it's true, right? But Alba gave me a lot more, he didn't even bargain. Anyway, that night I wrote to the inquisitors about the places where all the revolutionaries were hiding, and the next morning your parents were suffering in the torture chambers, and your relatives were burning at the stake, hm."

"Then you're going to die in agony, too! This will be my retribution!"

Guillotine pulled the ampoule out of his sleeve and tried to throw it before Egon could stop him.

"Fuck me! The second time, you guys, with a trump card up the sleeve. And what’s it now?"

"Do you know what happens if you make a solution of white phosphorus in sesquisulfide?"

The Grandfather noticed Homer for the first time.

"So, you, did it?"

"Yes, I did."

"It's you, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Well, our Candy Boy is the dark cardinal of this company, isn't he?"

“Fuck off.”

The Grandfather nodded and smiled.

“You have balls, innit my friend?”

Then he turned to his assistant and asked:

"For what fucking purpose do we need these retarded degenerates at the gate, if every time, yeah, these kids come to me with some fucking explosive! Bring them here."

Grandfather's assistants brought two mercenaries. He came up to them and asked:

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"You fought in the war, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"So, you fought, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"And what troops did you fight in? Probably sat in the trench and transmitted radio signals? You can't distinguish a pill from an ampoule of incendiary mixture, right?"

The mercenary began to look around, mumbling something. The Grandfather took out a steam pistol and shot the first and second mercenaries in the face.

The friends tried to stand with stony faces, not betraying their fear, but they did not understand that fear had already permeated all the people nearby, and everyone was afraid scared to the bone.

“It turns out that you don’t really dislike the Inquisition since you made a deal with Alba,” said Egon.

“Business has no face, my boy. You will soon find it out.”

The Grandfather looked at Guillotine. He was panting heavily, his eyes were red and he looked like he was about to get out of control.

"What's his name?"

"Guillotine."

"No, what's his real name, mate?"

"My name is Ogun, you, soulless scum."

"Ogun, right? So, they were named after his father, innit? Well... In this case, forty percent of all your chests of gold."

"Two chests of gold, bitch," Guillotine said, "or I'll blow the fuck out of this place."

"My services are expensive, mate, okay? You came to me, right? Not me. And you're asking for help, innit? But no one asks for help through threats. So be it, thirty-five percent of all the chests in your stagecoach. And this is only for the fact that I was pleased with this young man with ampoules."

"You'll burn in hell, Grandfather, along with everyone else here. And there in hell, you will meet my parents, who will take revenge until your soul disappears and falls into the endless darkness," Guillotine said, breaking his voice.

The Grandfather smiled and thought.

"He'll fucking kill us all, boss! He'll kill everyone, this kid is not in his right mind!"

The Grandfather turned around and hit him in the face, then took him by the collar and told him:

"You're whining like a snotty private. If you don't have the courage to stand here, then crouch in a corner like a little boy. Fuck off!"

The Grandfather looked at Egon, then at Homer, then at Guillotine, who was no longer restrained.

"Thirty percent. That's a good deal, right?"

"Two cases of platinum," Ogun said, and swung. "There will be no more trading."

The Grandfather went to Guillotine, spat on the palm of his hand, and held out his hand:

"I like platinum coins. Deal."

Guillotine was looking at him with crazy eyes full of rage. Egon and Homer watched what Guillotine would do next.

"Come on, Ogun, hold out your hand, and we'll solve all your problems, okay? Or we'll have a massacre."

"That's all he hopes for," Homer shouted to Guillotine.

Guillotine breathed heavily for a few more seconds, spat on his palm, and shook Grandfather's hand.

"Very well, very well, my friend. I'm glad we were able to reach an agreement, yeah? Guys, help Egon get his stagecoach into our warehouse."

"Is it going to be stored here?"

"No, of course not. The Inquisitors will come to us very soon, how will I explain all this to them, eh?"

"What's your plan then?"

"All in good time, Egon, come on, come on. Open fucking doors."

Egon went to get the coach. The Grandfather turned to all the people who were not taking their eyes off the scene:

"What are you looking at? Let's get to work already."

Everyone turned their heads and dispersed. The doors swung open, and a stagecoach was pulled in. The Grandfather waved his hand, telling them to follow. They drove into a second storage room, filled from top to bottom with wooden crates. They drove to the end of the wall where the carpet hung. The Grandfather tore off the carpet and opened a secret iron door, slightly larger than a stagecoach.

"Get in there, mate." He said.

Egon entered first. The steam coach slid slowly down until it came into a strange, dark tunnel. Egon got out and asked:

"What the hell is this?"

"A tunnel, my boy, it's a tunnel."

"A tunnel? Underground?"

"The Inquisitors, you know, are at war now. Right? This is an underground train delivery net. They deliver all sorts of things to the front line. These tunnels protect our military power from sudden sabotage. My colleagues and I dug our own tunnel and joined it to the main one."

The Grandfather handed over the paper with the train schedule.

"Here, look at this. See, yeah? You have two hours. The tunnel is long, and there are many turns. You keep straight, pass three intersections, and at the fourth, turn left. This path will take you and your stagecoach out of the city, somewhere in the forest. The Inquisitors won't find you there."

Egon nodded and opened the coach doors.

"My God, how much money you have there!"

Egon pulled out two chests and opened them, both containing platinum coins.

"Fucking hell, mate. Are you going to buy a neighboring state, or have you decided to feed all the hungry children in the world with all this money, eh?"

The Grandfather laughed and checked the platinum from the first chest – it was real. He opened the second chest, checked it too. Then he took his leave and said good-bye.

Egon went to Guillotine and asked:

"You specifically mentioned the two chests of platinum, didn't you?"

Guillotine was still shaking with anger, and he nodded and climbed into the coach. Homer followed him and got into the passenger seat next to the driver. The headlights in the tunnel illuminated only a few meters ahead. Everything else was covered in darkness. As the stagecoach moved forward, Egon wondered what had happened to Metyr. After all, he is one of those who can be called "untouchable", if he did not come, then there is something more serious than a bunch of inquisitors on the streets.

"Egon, what intersection are we passing through already? I lost count."

"I guess it's the second one."

"What do you mean, when you say "I guess"?" Guillotine asked.

"I was lost a little in my own thoughts."

"Did you really got lost in your own thoughts at moment like this? Do you want to leave us underground or what?"

"Come on, look, there's the third intersection."

"What time is it? I think we've been driving for an hour or more."

"I don't know. I think this night will never end."

“I have the same feeling.”

“Wait, emm…” said Homer.

“What?”

“Nothing. Never mind. Just go.”

Egon turned left, and on the right, in the darkness, he saw a dimly lit depot with a gray-and-black train. They drove up the road, higher and higher. They saw a passage filled with bright white lights. When they emerged from the tunnel and their eyes adjusted to the bright light, they froze in a daze.

“Shit,” Guillotine shouted. “We took the wrong turn!”

“Is this a military weapons depot?”

“Life didn’t prepare me for that,” Homer said.

“Where the hell are we?”

"Probably in a place no one knows anything about."

"These are gun-tractors, right?"

Egon walked over to the technique and began to examine it more closely.

"No. These are not tractors, it's artillery."

"What-what?"

"Artillery is something like gun-tractors, except for the fact that they don't shoot at 800 meters, but at a range of ten kilometers ahead."

"Tell me it's a nightmare."

"It's a nightmare."

"Thank you, Homer," Guillotine said, "it helped me a lot."

"You asked, I said, it's not difficult for me."

"Quiet!" Egon said.

Egon walked over to the already assembled artillery piece. The wheelbase consisted of metal tracks. The body consisted of a first-class multi-layered metal armor. In front was the muzzle itself, about five meters long. Egon climbed to the roof of the artillery installation and saw a red-and-white sign on a black background on the hatch, turned to the others and said with horror in his eyes:

"This is the sign of the Inquisition."

"Is the Inquisition making artillery somewhere in the city and using underground tunnels to transport them to the front line?"

"Let's go to the front door and see where we are."

They passed through a hundred artillery pieces, and stood in front of the entrance. Egon looked through the peephole and saw the dawn. Also, outside, there were about a hundred soldiers guarding the depot and a small mountain.

"Shit, shit, we need to get out of here."

"Where are we?" Homer asked.

"I don't know. Do we have small mountains or high hills in our city?"

"Only in the forbidden city."

"So, we're in forbidden city with a bunch of militaries on the outside."

"Fuck, Egon, what turn were we supposed to take?"

"On the third ... sort of…"

"I think we should have moved on. The Grandfather spoke in fourth."

Guillotine and Egon turned to Homer with horror on their faces and said:

"And you didn't fucking say anything when we were talking about this?"

"I... I... I wasn't sure."

"So, when you get angry at the inquisitor, you're sure, and when you tell us we're going the wrong way, you're suddenly unsure. Make up your mind, Homer. Good thing you're sure now, let's get out of here."

They went back to the coach, and Egon pulled the lever again, and the coach puffed a little and stopped working.

"What happened?"

"I think the fire crystal has run out."

"Very fucking timely!"

Egon began to search for a small box of VV crystals among the piles of chests.

"Where the fuck is it?"

"Have you forgotten where you put it?"

"I put it on the seat, but Ofir put the chests in the coach, if you remember, and he put the box away somewhere."

"Fuck it."

"Stop whining and look for the box!"

Before two minutes had passed, the friends heard that people were beginning to enter the warehouse.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, push the fucking stagecoach back."

They were trying to push the stagecoach down, but suddenly a strange voice came from the tunnel:

"Who’s there?"

“This night really will never end," Egon said softly.