I work as a sorcerer in the US, and my side hustle is building Gundams.

Lynn's words plunged both of them into silence.

Yes, that's a little kid.

Moreover, he was a small, pitiful child with mild intellectual disability.

Is it appropriate to use it as a bargaining chip in gang warfare?

"Mike, what do you think Perez would do if he found out that Carib's son was a fake, and that the real son was being raised in a safer place?"

"What will he do? He'll definitely kidnap this poor kid and use him as a hostage to force Caribou to hand over his position as boss..."

Mike answered without even thinking.

"What if Caribou doesn't agree to step down? Do you think he'd actually agree? He's already in such a high position, always managing the gang with oppressive policies, and he's offended so many people..."

"Yeah, if that's the case, then that kid is definitely dead, no doubt about it."

The two of them looked at each other, quite conflicted.

Only Tim, the little devil, was happily munching on a chicken leg, completely carefree.

……

The next morning, Perez didn't come, but an unexpected acquaintance did.

"Amir, good morning! You're all smiles, you've kept your job, haven't you?"

Aamir Khan burst into laughter from a great distance, opened his arms, and strode toward Mike.

"Thanks, old buddies. With your help, I easily got my job back... You should have seen the look on that temporary worker's face. The two of us, without any gear, were positioned at a corner, and I practically pushed him dozens of meters away!"

"For the same price, the school would definitely prefer to hire someone more capable as the strength coach."

"This is a job that pays $5000 a month! Thank you, Lynn, great witch doctor. Here's $900, and I'll take three more of those Lion King's Power potions... Speaking of which, the name of that stuff sounds like something from a game, but the effect is amazing, haha!"

After repeatedly assuring him that he would not use it for cheating in the competition, Lynn readily sold him several bottles of Lion King's Power Potion that he had recently made, thus establishing a regular customer.

"Great, I think selling this stuff is much more profitable than selling enhancers."

"Yes, and the raw materials are very simple and easy to obtain. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"I've been thinking about those IRS guys who came a few days ago... Do you think they might suddenly show up at any moment, surround us with submachine guns, and then shoot us all on the grounds that we haven't paid taxes?"

"Very likely... How about this, I'll ask Geller and Vincent if they have any suggestions, since they're also part of the system."

"That's for the best. Although our business isn't exactly legitimate, the IRS doesn't care about that. They just care about collecting taxes."

The two chatted casually as they warmed themselves by the fire in the room, waiting for noon to arrive.

Soon they will set off for the warehouse by the sea to meet Perez again.

"Now, apart from the debt we don't plan to repay, we have more than $13000 on hand. We spent more than $3000 on the gun last time, and now we have a little over $9000 left."

Lynn had previously proposed splitting the profits 50/50, but Mike insisted on disagreeing.

He said that after all, this was all earned by Lynn as a witch doctor, and he was just his partner and helper. It wouldn't be a problem to split the profits 28% or even 19%.

Lynn insisted on giving him a third, since he had many secrets that only his roommate Mike knew, and it was inconvenient for others to reveal them.

For example, how did he obtain his antidote and Lion King's Power potion? And what about the brat who was eating heartily on the side, too busy to even utter a word of nonsense?

Moreover, he often needs to help with things that his trusted confidants need to do, and Lynn really doesn't trust others to do it.

"Once this is all over, how about we rent a nicer place? A proper apartment, not this cramped, suffocating basement without even a window..."

"I agree. It would be best to rent in Chinatown. The houses there are very cheap, and it's relatively safer than other places."

Mike licked his lips as he spoke.

"And there are lots of delicious and inexpensive food options there, like roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), rice noodle rolls, shumai (steamed dumplings), and beef noodles... much better than those fake and inferior Chinese restaurants."

As they chatted, the time passed quickly and it became 11 o'clock.

So the two of them went out, carrying umbrellas, and headed towards the seaside warehouse they had visited the day before.

The rain was lighter today than yesterday, but it was still shrouded in a thin mist. The waves near the shore were dark black, foaming white, and crashing against the beach and the breakwater.

The two arrived at 11:30, and the agreed time was 12:00. This time they came prepared, and both of them brought a rechargeable hand warmer, so they didn't shiver as much as they did yesterday.

Time quickly reached 12 o'clock.

Perez did not come.

It's 12:30.

Perez did not come.

It's one o'clock.

Perez still didn't come.

A sense of foreboding crept into Lynn's mind.

"Could something have happened to him? How could he not show up for such an important meeting without even saying goodbye?"

"I don't know. Maybe something really happened to him. Why don't we go back first and wait for further notice?"

The two stomped their feet to shake off the heavy, damp, and icy feeling on their feet before leaving.

Suddenly, an old Chevrolet Cruze came rushing towards us from a distance.

"Hey Lynn, Mike, Perez's in trouble!"

As soon as the car came to a stop, Francisco's disheveled head popped out from inside.

"What? Perez got into trouble? No wonder he didn't come... What happened?"

Lynn was shocked and quickly asked again.

"Carib, using the pretext that Perez had embezzled the money for his son's 10th birthday party, cornered him with his subordinates and beat him severely! They broke one of his legs, and he's still recovering in the hospital!"

After witnessing Lynn's unpredictable and elusive methods, Frank completely lost the will to fight against him.

He had even become a little admirer of Lynn, and started to put himself in his new boss's shoes. Moreover, he felt that if Lynn really helped Perez regain his position, then as the person who made the connection, his status in the gang would definitely be greatly enhanced.

"He's just making excuses to finally take action against his former boss!"

Mike nodded, unsurprised. He had long felt that this situation would not last long. Who would tolerate their former boss becoming their underling after being released from prison?

He and the people around him were all promoted by Perez.

He couldn't guarantee that these guys would always be more loyal to him than Perez, but he consistently used extreme methods, such as scorpion executions, to suppress them and prevent any unrest.

Now that we've got the chance, we're going to make sure the former boss is dead!