Code Collector

"What building is this?"

"This wasn't here yesterday."

"Are the D rankers inside?"

…

A crowd was formed outside of the new building in the outskirts of the camp. While in Haven, the poor are treated as lowlife and are in the Rundown Street, in Paradise, D rankers are placed in an abandoned street.

Behind their building was the dumpsite where the trash are thrown in a daily basis. The smell was foul and the scene was even more disgusting. This was just one of the ways why the D rankers are treated as.

"You know," Allen hummed as his friends and him watched the people outside through their window. The glass was tinted, so they could look as much as they want without worrying about the people seeing them.

"Even though this is just another drama for our popularity, I find it quite amusing," Allen said. "With how they look at the building, baffled and angered, it's entertaining to watch."

"I sometimes feel like you're a lowkey sadist, no?" Gary pointed our, earning a snort from Allen. "Yeah, you are one."

"I'm just glad," the boy clarified. "To think that they would want us to put in our places and now they're having breakdowns just because we resist. It's really amusing."

The four of them decided to go out to get something to eat. Of course this was another stunt for them, to go out while there were still a lot of people and they were still the content of the rumors.

Allen walked down the hallway and he was seen by the people outside. The whispers got even louder and the people got more curious about the newly built building.

"Hey," Bryant's voice rang the loudest as the group exited the building. They pretended to be shocked about how many people gathered outside of their building. "What's all this?"

The man gestured his hand up and down the three storey building. He was furious judging by the look on his face alone. His expression tells everything and it was so easy to read.

"What's all what?" Allen asked. "You guys told us that we were not allowed in Sebastian's unit, so we went back to our building."

"But then we saw that it wasn't in the best state so we fixed it a bit," Jeremy added. "Just so we would be comfortable living inside."

"Ahh," Gwen smelled the air and scrunched his face at the smell. "I miss the smell of pine trees inside. The outside world smells like dump."

Bryant growled and grabbed Allen's collar. He pulled the boy close to him as he continued to scowl. "What games are you playing at? You're nothing supposed to touch public property! Boys, this is a citizen's arrest."

Three more people got out of the crowd and helped Bryant in capturing Allen. "As a good citizen of Paradise, I hereby sentence you to prison for destroying public property."

"We fixed it. Have you seen the ruined state of the building?" Jeremy growled. "What do you mean destroy? You should be thankful for us because we're here to help out."

"But D rankers are supposed to live in a ruined state building," Bryant smirked and laughed. "You guys are low lives. You don't deserve the money given to you by the organization."

"Hmm," a familiar voice spoke behind Bryant. Everyone spun to see who it was and saw Wesley there. "I was told to inspect a building here, one that wasn't here before. Sure enough, I checked and saw that there was a new building."

He walked over to where Bryant was. Bryant was still trying to tie rope right around Allen's wrist. "Come on, Wesley. Help me arrest these fools for public property destruction. This is unaccaptable."

Wesley nodded and took out a rope that was wrapped around his thigh. It was long that it's a wonder how he could still walk properly, let alone why he tied the rope in the first place. Bryant had a victorious smirk on his lips as he saw Wesley preparing the rope.

The smirk however was wiped off when Wesley pulled Bryant's wrists and tied the rope to him. "Wesley, what are you doing? You're tying up the wrong guy."

"If you were a good citizen," Wesley started. He kicked the back of Bryant's knee, causing the latter to kneel on the ground on one knee. "If you were a good citizen, you would have investigated further and asked the people in the office. There I found that these good folks received a permit for them to fix the building."

"What?!" Bryant gasped. "But how? They are D rankers."

"Oh, don't ask me why I know," Wesley scoffed. "I just do. After all, I am a good citizen."

After Wesley tied up Bryant, he gazed at the other three who were tying up Allen's friends. They immediately loosened their rope and ran away, leaving their leader behind.

"I'm sorry that this has to happen to you," Wesley sighed. "These people are just the worst. They have no compassion whatsoever. They only think about themselves."

"It's okay," Allen smiled. "I got used to the treatment here."

"It will be better," Wesley smiled back. "I promise you. You will have more to you that you can ever imagine."

"Thank you, Wesley," Allen bowed. "Thank you so much."

"It's no biggie," Wesley said. "Just ask me for help if you need it. Here, take my card."

Allen took the phone number of Wesley as the latter walked away. The crowd that gathered around them dispersed, making a path for Wesley. "Oh, I forgot."

The man got back and dragged Bryant out of the scene. He used the back of the rope to drag him, the man just letting the man drag him away. The people laughed at the scene after it looked like a mother was dragging her son away from the toy aisle of the mall.

"That should create a news," Gwen chuckled. "Good thing Bryant created that scene. Or else Wesley wouldn't have come and the people wouldn't have talked so much."

They were just laughing when they turned to an alley and found a man that was being beaten. Allen raised his hand to the side to stop Jeremy from advancing. The latter had already conjured his spear.

"Allen, don't stop me," Jeremy growled. He gripped Allen's arm and was about to push it off but Allen switched hands. "Allen–"

"Shh," using his free hand, Allen placed a finger over his lips. He then used the finger to point up. When Jeremy and the others looked up, their eyes widened at the sight. "They are on duty."

There were four cloaked people above the building of the alley. Each of the side of the building had two people, standing in front of each other. "Soul Burners."

The four people leaped down and slammed their iron boots on the ground.

Clank.

The sound silenced the people who were beating the man, each of them looking up to see what the commotion was, only to see four Soul Burners behind each of them.

"You have come," the beaten man cried. "You finally came to rescue me."

Each Soul Burner grabbed a head of the people who were beating the man. They then placed a hand over their target's faces, slowly pulling their hand as a thin mist was wrapped around their hands. 

Their targets' eyes rolled to the back of their heads, the men creating guttural sounds as they fell to their knees. The man who ordered the Soul Burners, cried in joy after seeing his assaulters slowly lose consciousness and humanity.

"Your order is finished," one of the Soul Burners said. "We have received the payment. Congratulations, Cory. You're free from these men."

The Soul Burners glanced at Allen and his friends. They placed a finger over their lips and chorused. "Shh."

In an instant, the cloaked figures leaped on top of the buildings. It was then that the man who was the victim of the beatings sighed in relief. He then fell to the ground with a loud thud, making Allen ran to him.

"Call the police," Allen said. "We have a case for them."

They took the man to the hospital where they were rejected multiple times. It was Gwen who had a loud voice in the front desk, arguing with the woman behind the counter.

"Hey, you listen to me," Gwen said. She rubbed her forehead and narrowed her eyes threateningly at the woman. "A man is severely injured. We don't know him, we just found him in an alley."

"Ma'am," the woman behind the counter said back. "Let me also tell you this, we are not to be serving the D rankers when we have B and C ranks in queue. We are short on medical staff and there are a lot of Hunters who are lined for their check up."

"But this is an–"

"I permit you," the victim said to Gwen. "You're a healer, right? I permit you to heal me."

Another door has opened for their plot.