But the moment he stepped inside, he sensed something was off.
The Tavern was divided into two factions.
On the right sat the usual regulars, including Big Beard and other familiar faces.
On the left, however, were a group of men marked with Crab tattoos.
At the bar sat Sean, the boss of the Crab Gang. His hand—the one that Caius had ripped Iron Claw from—was still wrapped in bandages, clearly not healed yet.
The Tavern was eerily quiet, and that was what felt wrong. Normally, this place was buzzing with noise and laughter.
Caius’s smile disappeared instantly, his expression turning blank, but his eyes glowed with a dangerous light.
"What’s this? Your Crab Gang is trying to take over this place now?" Caius strode into the Tavern, hands in his pockets, eyeing the Crab Gang members with a hostile gaze.
Immediately, the Crab Gang members shook their heads frantically and pointed at their boss.
Sean, who had been drinking, put on a smile—one laced with a hint of fear. "Misunderstanding! Big brother, it’s all a misunderstanding. We’re not here to take over."
"Oh, is that so?" Caius’s expression shifted in an instant, and a foolishly honest smile replaced his previous menace. He then sat down beside Sean.
"So that means… you’re here to buy me a drink?" Caius slung an arm around Sean’s shoulders, appearing quite affectionate.
Sean instinctively shrank back.
The sheer pressure this brute exuded was overwhelming. The phantom pain in his severed hand throbbed as if it had just been torn away yesterday.
Seeing Caius’s smiling face, Sean quickly turned to Yvlan and said, "Hurry! Bring my brother the best drink in the house!"
Yvlan rolled her eyes but still poured Caius a drink.
Caius nodded in satisfaction, then tilted his head slightly, gesturing toward the little catfolk beside him, who was practically meowing with hunger.
Sean, an old hand at reading the situation, immediately added, "And get the best milk and dried fish too!"
Just like that, barely a few words had been exchanged, and over a hundred gold coins were gone.
Sean felt the sting deeply. Ever since Caius had swindled him out of thirty thousand gold, his pockets had only been filled with loose change. With Caius claiming a whole street in the market, the gang had been struggling to make ends meet.
A lot of people had already jumped ship. He wasn’t even sure if there were a hundred members left in the gang.
"Alright, spit it out. What do you want?" Caius finally spoke after taking a sip of his drink, casually tossing Sean a cigarette while lighting one himself.
Mercenaries were like that—yesterday’s enemy could be today’s ally.
Of course, today’s ally could also become tomorrow’s rival in a deadly mission.
It all depended on the situation—adaptability was key.
Sean removed the cigar from his mouth, lit up the cigarette from Caius, took a drag, and then sighed bitterly. "Brother, I really admire you."
"To be this strong at such a young age… I can’t compare."
Caius didn’t respond, simply smiling as he stared at him.
He knew Sean was just buttering him up. The reason? Most likely self-preservation.
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He was probably acting under orders from the Inner City’s power players.
And sure enough, when Caius didn’t respond, Sean stopped playing coy and got straight to the point.
"To be honest, my boss wants to meet you."
"Your boss? Who’s that? Are they a big deal?" Caius asked indifferently.
"Big deal? Definitely!" Sean assured. "He heard about how you and I had a… confrontation."
Caius raised an eyebrow.
Sean immediately corrected himself, "He heard about how you beat me up… There aren’t many people in the Outer City with that kind of strength, so he admires you and wants to be friends."
Caius chuckled.
Just as he thought.
Sean’s boss was clearly someone with real clout in the Inner City, while Sean himself was nothing more than a middleman managing the Outer City operations for him.
Although Outer City businesses made up less than a tenth of Ocean City’s economy, the Outer City population accounted for a staggering 80% of the city.
That led to one very important issue—stability.
The Inner City had to let some scraps trickle down in order to keep the Outer City citizens from rebelling. Otherwise, if an uprising happened, the Inner City would be in serious trouble.
If the Empire investigated, the first heads to roll would be those so-called "big shots."
In a way, these gangs were just another tool used by the Inner City’s elite to maintain order—no different from enforcers.
And now, with Caius entering the Outer City, Sean could no longer keep him under control. That left those big shots with two choices:
- Recruit him.
- Eliminate him.
Clearly, they had chosen the former.
Everyone involved was sharp enough to see the bigger picture. Plus, Caius had previously lied about having ties to the Lord of Grilla City, which gave them pause.
Unless they had direct connections, they had no way of verifying his claim.
And compared to Grilla City, Ocean City was like a first-tier metropolis versus a remote backwater town. There was no comparison.
So, it was highly unlikely they could confirm whether he was lying.
And they didn’t dare to gamble on it.
Which meant they had no choice but to go with Option 1.
Sometimes, lies could bring great benefits—one reason people often resorted to them.
Of course, lies always come with a cost.
Unless… you could turn the lie into reality.
Caius had that confidence. As his strength grew, it was only a matter of time.
So he nodded. "Go on, I’m listening."
Sean, seeing that Caius hadn’t outright refused, let out a small sigh of relief. Then he grinned and said, "The meeting will be at the finest Tavern in the Inner City—the Iron Tavern!"
"That place isn’t just for anyone. Only someone like you would have the right to step inside."
"Damn, that prestigious, huh?" Caius smirked, taking a sip of his drink before asking, "And your boss's name?"
"Raymond Enger. A well-known figure in Ocean City. They call him Iron Fist!" Sean quickly replied.
"Half the mercenaries in the Inner City answer to him!"
"Not gonna lie, I learned my Iron Claw technique from him. He’s got an Iron Arm of his own—way stronger than mine."
"Rumor has it, when he was younger, he crushed a Terra Dragon to death with that arm!"
A Terra Dragon—even an adult one was at least Platinum-level.
If Iron Fist had done that when he was younger… then conservatively speaking, he was likely Mithril-level now.
Caius calculated in his head.
With his current strength, anyone below Platinum-level was easy pickings. That was just the confidence of the Giant race.
But Mithril-level… that was a different story.
Fortunately, after advancing to Gold, his unlocked Giant Inheritance had given him a gift—a powerful trump card.
Enough for him to confidently face a Mithril-level foe—if not win, at least escape unscathed.
So he nodded. "Got it. I’ll go see him later."
"Great! The boss will be thrilled. He’s looking forward to meeting such an exceptional mercenary!"
"Hope you’ll look after me, brother," Sean added with a fawning smile.
Caius chuckled. "We’ll see."
The reason behind Sean's excessively sycophantic attitude was likely his fear of Caius. He worried that his boss might kick him out and replace him with Caius.
If that happened, he wouldn't die, but he'd definitely suffer greatly.
So he had to take this opportunity to ease relations with Caius. That way, even if he did get kicked out in the end, Caius wouldn't go out of his way to make things worse for him.
A smart move—no wonder he had made it to the top.
Unfortunately for him, he'd probably been too comfortable for too long. Then, running into a monster like Caius, he ended up failing miserably.
"Well then, I won’t disturb you any longer, brother," Sean said with a smile, getting up to leave.
"Wait a moment." Suddenly, Caius's voice rang out.
Sean swallowed hard, quickly turning back and saying, "Is there something else, brother? Whatever it is, just say the word, and I’ll make sure it’s done perfectly!"
His desperate survival instinct made Caius chuckle.
"It’s nothing major. I just wanted to ask if there are any good smithies in the inner city. I haven’t been there before, so I’m not too familiar with the area," Caius said.
Hearing this, Sean let out a sigh of relief. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Oern's Smithy—it's the best smithy in all of Ocean City. The owner is a dwarf named Oern."
"You know, dwarves are the best blacksmiths on the entire continent!"
Caius nodded. As a blacksmith himself, he was well aware of this.
Oern… Just hearing the name, he could tell this guy knew his craft.
"But the owner of that smithy has a terrible temper, and his work is extremely expensive—very expensive. Even a simple dagger starts at thirty thousand gold. Brother, if you’re looking to buy a weapon, I’d recommend another smithy…"
"No need. That one will do. Just give me the address," Caius said.
He wasn’t going to the smithy to buy a weapon—he was going there to forge one.
He had promised Little Swan her personal weapon, and he never made empty promises.