The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 95

Greg and Ivory got back into the cab and went straight to the address Nash just gave him. They reached the factory within forty-five minutes.

When they got off and stepped towards the entrance, the two guards glowered at the duke and his follower. With an unperturbed expression, Greg announced, "I'm here to see Ruby Lyworth." "Ms Lyworth did not mention any visits or appointments being scheduled today."

"Tell her that Greg Claw demands an immediate appointment."

Greg's name got the guards on full alert. The duke, on the other hand, was insulted. How could there still be creatures who didn't know what he looked like? The rogue world wasn't even that big...alright, in all fairness, it did expand over the years, but shouldn't these newcomers at least know the face of the person who was in-charge here? He hadn't even been gone for a year!

Sensing their hesitation, Greg murmured in a low, homicidal tone, "You have one minute to get me an appointment, or I kill you both, and if you have families, pray that I'll never find them."

Upon hearing that threat and acknowledging that Greg had a good track record in hunting down creatures and torturing them, one of the guards linked Ruby while the other politely said, "Give us a moment please, Your Grace."

Greg crossed his arms and his left foot tapped on the ground while he waited impatiently. His mental count reached fifty-seven when the guard who was mind-linking swiped his access card on the monitor at the gate and invited them into the compound as they offered a slight bow and muttered, "Apologies, Your Grace."

As Greg and Ivory walked in with one of the guards, they both caught the look the two guards exchanged. There wasn't the usual unwavering submission to the highest position but a knowing look that Greg might not be the one they'd be obeying in the near future. Maybe Nash was right he had been gone for too long.

Within the factory with machines pumping in chemicals of various colors into bottles and vials of numerous shapes and sizes along conveyor belts, heads of employees carrying shipment boxes turned to glance at the unexpected visitors.

Greg and Ivory ascended a flight of cement stairs and came to a metal door, which was left ajar. Before the guard could knock on it, the door opened and a short, plump woman with bronze-colored curls offered a slight bow and a forced smile when she greeted Greg, "Your Grace. Please, come in."

The guard saw himself off, and the two men entered, closing the door behind them and taking the two seats in front of the office desk piled with a high stack of paper on the left side and about ten figurines of mice stood, some on all fours and some on its hind limbs. "Interesting decor," Greg mentioned in passing.

Ruby's eyes followed his sights to the figurines before she smiled and uttered, "Ah, the rodents. Well, they've proven to be quite useful in my line of work, so I'm sure you can imagine how they can have a special place in my heart."

Yeah, the part of her heart that was specially reserved for experimenting and potentially killing the animals.

"Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure, Your Grace?"

Greg got to the point, "I understand you produce allicin?"

"I do."

"I need the list of all your purchasers of that particular product."

"That...wouldn't be possible, Your Grace. Client confidentiality is something we adhere to in this business. Being in your own line of businesses, I'm sure you can understand."

Greg smirked darkly and with his legs crossed, he declared, "I respect confidentiality when it's NOT used to piss me off, Lyworth. If they guarantee you a higher status or protection, you can be assured that those are sales talk for you to keep your mouth shut. Have they done anything to alleviate your status so far?"

Silence followed, and Greg proceeded fanning the flames, "Not even some form of part-payment?"

Ruby tried her best to control her expression when she cautiously challenged, "Using your line of reasoning to assume that such a client exists, how can I be assured that you can top their offer?"

"I've never touched you in the years you were here, have I?"

He knew of the existence of this factory but it was just labeled as 'poison production' in his system's archive. When the business started decades ago, it didn't have a large variety of poisons. Although Greg got his people to keep tabs on all rogue businesses, skimming through how each one grew or deteriorated, Greg didn't have information that was kept on paper since he couldn't hack into those. For whatever he could hack into, he learned that time did help Ruby Lyworth scale her business.

Lyworth couldn't argue with Greg. She was the handful of lucky ones who were never touched or visited by the king of the rogue world, so she smiled and said, "Well, I can't argue with that. But I do have a question, Your Grace - how am I to be guaranteed safety seeing that your... style of work has...altered recently?"

Greg knew this was coming. Lucianne was right. It was no secret where his loyalty lay as soon as he chose to give himself up.

The duke smirked and decided to hurt this woman's confidence and pride enough to make her think twice before asking any questions about his decisions next time. "For a long-established entrepreneur, I would've expected you to at least have the due diligence to conduct basic research. Looks like I've overestimated you. Have any of my followers been caught since I decided to take a short vacation in police custody?" "The fact that you didn't try to get out was troubling, Your Grace."

"Why would I get out of a place that had such promising individuals to learn about? I was looking for new recruits and where better to look than there?" he lied. Silence. Ruby didn't expect that answer.

Greg caught the hint of uneasiness and embarrassment in her lilac eyes, and continued, “A certain customer of yours has somehow managed to piss me off while I was taking a break from governance and business. So, before I forcibly take what I want, your best move would be giving me what I ask for."

Ruby considered her options while Greg looked her dead in the eye. She mentally went through whatever she knew about this duke, and whatever little she was told about the people who were trying to challenge him.

Although she was promised a better status, one of power and monopolization in the poisons industry, she couldn't be sure if those were Grade A-sales talk or a contractual agreement. There was definitely nothing written on paper, and even if there was, it wasn't as if she could go to court and make her case. The case would be struck out for illegality, and she would be thrown in prison, her business and legacy she had worked so hard to build would perish for one simple mistake.

But what if she played it safe? What if she gave Greg what he was asking for then, in order to remain in this anonymous player's good books, gave Feva a heads-up? If Feva's new employer won, Ruby could make her claim for what was promised to her. If Greg won, Ruby would be as safe and prosperous as she always had been.

When Ruby came to her decision, she smiled and took a white ring folder out of her desk drawer that she kept under lock and key. She then opened it from the back and extracted the last invoice, handing it over to the duke as she said, "I believe this is the only document you need, Your Grace."

Ivory stood and took it on Greg's behalf, and remained standing as he waited. Greg prompted Ruby, "When I say I want all the purchasers of allicin, Lyworth, I mean ALL purchasers."

"One can never be too careful, I see," she muttered with a fake smile as she took the thin stack between the red and blue dividers before handing it to Ivory.

Only then did Greg stand, Lyworth following suit. The duke gave a firm nod and said, "Thank you for your cooperation."

He headed for the door, and right before he touched the doorknob, his head turned and he delivered a warning in a low voice, "I hope we have an understanding that THIS is confidential. Should word be sent to the new player, you can be rest assured that I will find out, and when I do, our next encounter would be on less civilized terms."

"I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing, Your Grace!"

"You'd better not. Good day, Lyworth."

Once the door closed behind Greg and Ivory, Lyworth reconsidered her plan and still decided to send a message, via old-fashioned paper, to the anonymous new player.