Mickey was already an old gangster.

  As soon as he noticed something strange was happening, he made the perfect decision that any experienced gang member would make, he drew his pistol and aimed it at the door, reduced the sound of his footsteps and even his breathing to a minimum, ready to move at any moment.

  In theory, this preparation would be enough to deal with most attacks, at least the first two enemies to break down the door would undoubtedly be precisely hit by Mickey’s shots.

  But...

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  The silence was abruptly shattered.

  Three violent bangs tore through the darkness of the night.

  Without any prior warning, the heavy office door was completely ripped from the wall by an immense force, and two electromagnetic bullets shot out of the barrel almost at the same instant.

  Very clearly, Mickey believed that some unknown enemy had invaded his “lair.” Unable to distinguish any target amidst the cloud of dust and broken concrete, he fired purely on instinct.

  Electromagnetic pistols may not be as powerful as military rifles, but they still have notable destructive power.

  With his shooting experience, Mickey knew that not even soldiers in powered armor would dare face such projectiles head-on. In theory, the screams of pain from the wounded intruder should already be echoing at the office door.

  But in reality...

  “Mickey... the most powerful boss in Flaren City. They say you control all the city’s crimes. So you’re really the bastard who schemes in the shadows?”

  Unexpectedly, a soft and clear voice echoed in the room.

  The person who entered Mickey’s office wasn’t a group of heavily armed soldiers, nor a mysterious assassin, quite the opposite.

  At that moment, Mickey was sure of what he was seeing: a girl, no more than eleven or twelve years old, crossing the curtain of dust and walking toward him.

  Without a doubt, the one who had arrived at the casino’s underground office that night was the “magical girl” Alice, who came in the name of justice, to punish the wicked and redistribute the wealth of the rich to the poor.

  Of course, don’t be fooled. Our novice “magical girl” had actually tried to act stealthily. At least until she reached the gaming halls on the first and second floors, where her infiltration was, let’s say, “perfect,” not noticed by a single “living soul.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  But as soon as she tried to use the elevator to go underground, her undisguised movement caught the attention of the guards, who tried to stop her.

  What followed was a massacre, Alice eliminated all the problems quickly. But this time, her bloody presence was so striking that it scared off more than a thousand clients in the betting hall.

  The bloodied pieces scattered throughout the elevator made the smell of blood reach the second basement.

  It was this smell that alerted the “little gift” heading to the vault, allowing Mickey, at least, to prepare for the “enemy.”

  However, for someone about to be approached by an “Entropist,” being prepared or not... made no difference.

  “I’m... a magical girl? Cough, never mind. I came to rob you. You’re the gang boss, so you must have a lot of money. Hand over everything now, or I’ll let Nisha tear you apart.”

  Perhaps even Alice herself felt she wasn’t acting very much like a “magical girl.” So, she simply abandoned the embarrassing introductions that Thalia had prepared and got straight to the point, demanding that Mickey hand over all his money.

  This wasn’t a robbery, it was wealth redistribution! A heroic act. With a still fragile sense of right and wrong, Alice felt no guilt at all. But she also knew the gamblers who fled had likely already alerted the guards or even the imperial army.

  Therefore, her “redistribution” had to be quick.

  From Mickey’s point of view, that little girl who ignored electromagnetic bullets and twisted a steel door with her bare hands was getting impatient.

  Although he doubted he was awake and thought he was hallucinating something so “unnatural,” his years as a gang boss had given him the composure needed to react and accept the absurd before him.

  At that moment, he clearly understood what he could and couldn’t do.

  Fighting was out of the question, especially after his bullets proved useless. There was no point in trying to understand why something so absurd was happening to him. Would he have the courage to question a “monster” who rips off steel doors with her hands just for money?

  This wasn’t the time to get distracted.

  Clang!

  Mickey threw the pistol to the floor without hesitation and raised his hands.

  In fact, he had already entered “negotiation and appeasement” mode, trying to sound as calm as possible.

  “Hey, wait a minute, don’t rush, beautiful miss! You just want money, right? There’s a safe in my office with money and gold. I can guarantee you’ll have all my fortune today. My assets can be yours too... please, have mercy! Gang boss? What are you talking about?! I’m just an office worker in a suit, as you can see, working late in this ‘dungeon’ without even getting paid overtime. My lovely daughter is still waiting for her daddy to come home and help her with her homework!”

  Speaking like a true salaryman, complaining while surrendering completely, the experienced Mickey executed the best survival strategy possible.

  Yes, the moment he saw Alice, the shrewd Mickey realized that she wasn’t a cold-blooded assassin or a heroine of justice.

  Even though that beautiful girl had a power neither of those groups possessed, deep down, she was just a child.

  And that made her extremely dangerous. Innocent children don’t understand limits, don’t distinguish right from wrong.

  Mickey knew that any verbal threat from him would probably be misunderstood by her. If he didn’t want to end up like that twisted steel door, he needed to play on both her emotions and her material interests.

  Profit is the foundation of negotiation. Emotion is the chance to survive it. Both are indispensable, and that’s why Mickey the “uncrowned crime king” of Flaren City didn’t reach the top by chance.

  Besides... although his words weren’t entirely true, at least 90% of them were sincere. After all, Mickey really was just a “middle manager with some power”... and his “little daughter” really was at “home” waiting for him.