Afterlife Department

Chapter 242 - Districts

This is the world where the mafia rules. They normally shouldn\'t see the light of day and only operates in the shadows. However, the mafia has become very powerful and became equal with the government. And so, this world was split between the two factions: the government, and the mafia.

District 1 and 2 are where the wealthiest and most influential people live while District 8 and 9 are wastelands, and where the people in the bottom of the society live. District 3, 4, 5 and 6 are where the common people, the working class, live. District 7 is where the shady areas, like red-light districts and other illegal business establishments, are located. It is where the outlaws live, and the illegal transactions happen.

However, District 4 is being secretly disputed by the government and the mafia. The government has already 3 districts under its hands: District 1, 2 and 3. Meanwhile, the mafia also has 3 districts owned: District 5, 6 and 7. The mafia, after it became equal to government, claimed the districts. And the District 4 is situated between the territories of the two factions.. It is currently under the government\'s hands, but ever since the mafia come into the surface after it suddenly became not contented with its own lot, like a behemoth, it began to devour each land it sees. After it transferred the District 5, 6 and 7 under its claws, District 4 became its prey.

The government, naturally, wouldn\'t let everything fall under this monster\'s claws. Thus, it didn\'t relinquish the District 4 to the mafia\'s hands. And so, until now, the District 4 became its battleground. What gave the government a moment to breathe from its battle against the mafia is that the mafia having an internal struggle. The mafia has three factions: one is a prominent clan, one is a business party, and the other is a large group of mercenaries.

The prominent clan is the Baurne Clan. They are centuries-old family that has long been attached to the name \'mafia\'. Illegal trades, illegal gambling, smuggling, illegal firearms dealings, etc.. Anything that has a word \'illegal\' in it is what this family does. The current head of the Baurne Clan is Jonathan Baurne, the younger brother of the previous head of the Baurne Clan. He took over after his older brother died.

There is a rumor that he killed his elder brother for power. This is always what\'s going on in wealthy families, so everyone treated it as normal. After all, they are also a part of the mafia world. Who hasn\'t seen a family strife? Someone can even sell his lover to a prostitute den in exchange for money.

The business party is a group of businessmen that made their name in the mafia world. They are experts in selling company secrets, thus they became a part of the mafia world where their talent shine. They are all careful people, and so they didn\'t create their own family. Right now, they have aged and just a group of grandpas, but are craftier than the fox. No one dares to underestimate them just because they looked like the grandpas dancing on the parks.

Their leader is called Old Xie. He is the former CEO of a large business company before he was betrayed by a subordinate. After his subordinate stole his position, he retaliated and sold his own company\'s secrets to their rival companies. And then he ended up in the mafia world after that.

The last faction is Lu Si\'s faction. Lu Si is the leader of a large mercenary group. In the mafia world, the mercenaries occupy the largest number. Thus, Lu Si\'s faction became one of the powers in the mafia world. It was said that Lu Si and his people came from District 8, one of the two wastelands.

District 8 and 9 became barren because of the largest war that ever happened in the history. No one lives in District 9, since it is not suitable to live in. District 8 looked better than it, since it is nearer the District 7 which is inhabited.

Huo Ling is a part of the mafia world, and came from the District 8. He was abandoned by his parents, and later was picked up by the head of the Baurne Clan, Jonathan Baurne. He raised him alone and treated him like his own child because he has no children of his own, nor he took a wife. He named him \'Huo Ling\', hoping he\'d become a raging fire, but at the same time as soft and as pure as a father. He became his protégé.

Jonathan Baurne, naturally, can\'t avoid giving Huo Ling dangerous tasks. And so, he arranged for him a less dangerous task: a spy.

Huo Ling panted after he landed on the ground. He looked up the wall where he leapt from earlier and frowned when he heard the sound of bullets hitting against it, making the wall shake and dust fall. He immediately ran and saw an abandoned building. He directly went inside and hid.

"Ha… that bastard Jason is actually…!" he uttered a string of curses as he immediately sent a message to Jonathan Baurne along with a picture and a short video. "Ugh!" he grunted when a bullet hit the wall where he has been hiding. "A sniper?!" his eyes widened before it narrowed as he immediately rolled to the side when the shooting continued. Then, he raised his hand to shoot.

"Ugh!" he heard someone cried followed.

Huo Ling followed where the cry came from and he saw a shadow moved. He immediately shot.

THUD! Something heavy fell to the ground. It was the dead sniper. He didn\'t delay any more time and ran up the stairs after he heard the rushed footsteps outside. The moment his chasers saw him, they immediately fired at him.

"Tsk!" he clicked his tongue as he jumped to the second floor, before leaping to the middle of the stairs leading to the third floor.

"FASTER!!!" he heard them yell at each other and continued to shoot him.

Huo Ling didn\'t dare take a moment to breathe and ran to the fourth floor. In the stairwell, he could see Jason Baurne. "Ugh!" he grunted when his arm was shot. He immediately stuck to the wall while continued to run.

He felt his phone was vibrating in his pocket. He already set for automatic call if it was Jonathan Baurne calling. And so, he heard Jonathan Baurne\'s voice from his earpiece. "Xiao Ling!" Jonathan immediately called. "Where are you?!" he asked.

"Jonathan…" Huo Ling panted as he ran up the stairs to the fifth floor. He could feel his muscles are strained. However, he didn\'t want to give up. Even though he already knew that the moment he entered the building, he would cut his chances to escape. "I\'m sorry – " he said.

"Xiao Ling – " Jonathan spoke. Suddenly, amidst the voices yelling curses and shouting at Huo Ling, he heard a familiar voice among them. "Jason. It was Jason, isn\'t it?!" he gnashed his teeth in anger. "Xiao Ling. I already ordered my people to look for your location. I will immediately send people to you. Just wait for us – " he told him.

"I can\'t." Huo Ling answered before he momentarily paused. Suddenly, he felt a sense of dejavu. He shook his head and continued to sixth floor, while Jason and his gang reached the fourth floor. "I\'m sorry, Jonathan." He told him.

"No – " Jonathan\'s eyes widened. He turned to his subordinates and yelled. "What are you being slow for?! Why am I still paying you?!" he asked.

"Jonathan." Huo Ling called. "This is my fate." He told him. "I already have lived enough – " he said as he opened the door to the rooftop and climbed up to the tank before hiding behind it.

"Xiao Ling…" Jonathan sharply inhaled when his heart ached. His eyes reddened. "We\'ve agreed to celebrate you birthday!" he finally yelled. He is mad, but not on Huo Ling. He is mad at himself how can he be so stupid. If he just had adopted Huo Ling back then, none of these would have happened. "Xiao Ling… come back." He told him. "Live…" he closed his eyes and his tears fell. He knew, the other wouldn\'t come back. He couldn\'t.

"Jonathan…" Huo Ling sighed as he watched Jason and his gang kicked the door open and looked for him before shooting everywhere. He immediately withdrew his head and breathed deeply. "I\'m sorry. And thank you for everything. I – " he said as his eyes reddened before his tears fell. He looked at his abdomen where it was bleeding. He had lost too much blood, and no strength left now. "I am very happy to have met you." He told him before he closed his eyes and, using the remaining strength left in him, jumped off the building.

"HE\'S THERE!" Jason frantically said, his eyes had a wild look in them as if he had gone mad. "You bastard!" he yelled and saw Huo Ling falling.

They knew Huo Ling would die when he reached the ground, but they didn\'t let him off. They ran to the edge of the building and rained down bullets on him. The bullets hit his body, riddling his clothes with holes.

Huo Ling slowly opened his eyes with much difficulty and saw Jason and his gang from above. He smiled before showing them his hand. Their eyes widened. It was the pin of the grenade!

BOOOOMMMM!!!!