Chapter 345: Can’t Count
"Um..." The little girl frowned and then shrugged. "The ones running the gang and the orphanage are the Waterboys. They-"
"Bahahaha!" Jace burst in laughter causing the little girl to be completely confused. Then after a minute of laughing he began to calm himself down. "The Waterboys...haha... okay. That is by far the worst name for a gang I have ever heard. Oh man..." Jace took a deep breath and then nodded at her. "Please continue."
"They are the local gang but the boss works under one of the district overlords. Mistress White. Mistress White runs a mafia that runs the races. Everyone who has a hand in the races or does a crime in the Waterways goes through the Mistress." The little girl began explaining.
"So Mistress White is the actual big boss. But we are in the Waterboys-ha. Um sorry. The Waterboys area, who work as Mistress White’s cheap muscle. Now when you go back with nothing, I assume she will be the one visiting because there was an issue with your attempted theft." Jace asked as he leaned down and picked up the first aid kit. Then he set it on the stool as he looked around the room. "You can head on back now. Unless you want a cheap meal and to tell me a bit more about the local gangs and criminals."
The young girl hesitated for a moment before hopping off the stool and quickly walking out of the garage. Jace watched her hesitate again at the garage out of the corner of his eye then she ran off. Probably back to her orphanage.
"Close the garage door." Jace ordered and then looked up at Cho on the second floor. "Open that balcony door. We are going to be throwing up a lot of dust as we clean and organize this place. What is the count on metal?" Jace asked as he pulled the sheet completely off the back of his truck.
Then he grabbed the reinforced container that had the material converter. He brought it over to an open spot and then began setting it up. It was a bit cramped but once he started getting all of this metal converted into ingots he would have room to spread out all of his things.
[There are a bunch of sheets down there. Then some poles and weird hollow things. Then there are weird grates up here as well.] Cho spoke directly into his mind. Causing Jace to frown.
"You can use telepathy but you cannot count?" Jace asked sarcastically and received the telepathic equivalent of a shrug.
Jace shook his head and finished setting up the machine. He then pressed a button and it began powering up. He stepped away to pick a location to clear out first. He figures the spot near the bathroom where the metal was blocking it should go first. Then he would start clearing out the spots near the wall by the bathroom. He would store the metal over there since he would not want to set up any of his equipment over there. So he should clean that area of the garage first.
Cleaning. That reminds him. He needs to do a thorough cleaning of this place so it would be usable for expensive equipment. By expensive he just meant lab equipment that would be expensive to get replacements for. First he would have to see about getting some cleaning equipment delivered.
He pulled out his communication device but stopped and turned to the side door as it creaked open. He blinked as he was looking at a man covered in grease and in a civilian’s pilot suit. "Sorry, we use this bathroom for all the dirty stuff. Hope you do not mind because-"
"No." Jace shook his head and pointed at the door. "Get out now." Jace told the man as he walked towards him going up some stars to the raised floor that the majority of the room had.
The man raised his hands. "No it is okay, see we have permission from the owner."
"I bought the place. You most certainly do not have my permission." Jace was closing the distance and he started backing up. But he quickly looked past Jace and at the equipment that was partially covered.
He smirked and then dipped back out of the room. Jace watched him walk to the next garage over. Glancing back at him multiple times. That might end up being a problem. Jace closed the door and realized the lock was broken on the door. He was going to have to order equipment to fix it as well.
Several minutes passed as he sent out orders for some cleaning equipment and the appropriate ingots of materials for the material converter so he could fix this back door. It might be a good idea to just permanently fix the door to remain closed. But for now he would just have to leave it be. He got through three sheets of metal converting them into ingots when the side door was kicked open.
Jace looked over to see the same guy from before. But he was joined by another man who was skinny and a much bigger man who looked like their muscle. "There it is, doesn’t that equipment look expensive? I bet we could sell it on the market for a whole bunch of creds." The first man grinned with excitement.
The man with glasses pushed them up and nodded as he pulled out a data pad. "He is right, that is... Vexical military grade. I bet we could take it and he could not even call the police. Because that stuff is illegal to have." The man agreed as he began tapping on the data pad. "I will start seeing about getting some buyers for this gear."
The larger man grinned, "then I will get rid of this guy." He rolled up his sleeves as he walked toward Jace. Jace raised an eyebrow and set down the metal sheet he was holding and walked toward the large man. He was twice Jace’s size which meant he was a goliath of a man.
"Jace, do you need help?" Cain asked from the second floor. He had searched
"No. I have this." Jace responded as the big guy began to swing his fist toward Jace.