"Young master," Alice began her narration, "as you know, our Nawarin city, like the rest of the cities in the Baharta province, has been divided into various blocks for administrative purposes."
Athar nodded, and she continued, "Nawarin city is precisely divided into twenty-six blocks, named Block 1 to Block 25."
"One block, which can be considered the headquarters of the city, is named Block N, the first letter of the city's name, and houses the main administrative offices of the government in the city."
"The average size of a block is ten kilometres by ten kilometres. Right now, we are in Block 24," Alice informed Athar.
"Generally, for the blocks on the outskirts of the city that are not very important and are inhabited by poor people, a single small gang would control a block," she continued. "As you know, your father, as the head of the VonCruz group, controlled Block 24."
She continued, "From the time your father rose in power and became the supreme leader of Block 24, the Red Rose Group, which controlled Block 23, had been his enemy. But the enmity never stretched beyond minor skirmishes between the two groups."
"You should understand that all this, mafia and gangs, functions with tacit understanding and cooperation from the government. We are the darker side of the people in power. In return they share a part of our income or profits and get their dirty works done."
"And those people under no circumstances would prefer any kind of unusual instability. And groups like ours have no power to defy the government. There are certain lines that could not be crossed. Thus, struggles between two gangs, especially the smaller gangs rarely go further beyond skirmishes."
"But all this changed a few weeks back when rumours started to circulate that the provincial government was planning some kind of large developmental project in Block 24, Block 25, Block 23, and the surrounding areas outside the city."
"This simply meant more wealth for the different groups, and this increased the tension between the three groups of the three blocks, as everyone wanted to control more territories so that in the future, they could acquire more benefits when the projects would be announced."
"The balance would nonetheless have continued, despite the increased skirmishes," Alice said, "but suddenly the Red Rose Group rose in power. They, out of nowhere, had more men, more money, and more resources."
"In days, they wiped out the group ruling over Block 25 and took over that block," Alice said. "This was the time when your father started to feel desperate and launched an investigation."
"During this time, we learned that some other powerful group from the inner city was interested in these projects and was using the Red Rose group as its pawn to take over the territories. They were the ones who had provided the Red Rose Group with more resources."
"Fearing that the VonCruz group would not be able to survive this onslaught, your father decided to lay low, but the Red Rose Group wanted nothing less than our extermination."
"They had a golden chance to sort out the old enmity- they had influential backers, and suddenly the police and the government had also turned a blind eye."
"That is when your father called off all of our operations and went into hiding and called you so that he could hand over all his savings to you. He might have preferred to travel by himself but leaving Nawarin during such a sensitive time was out of question," Alice said, as tears rolled down her face. "But someone betrayed us."
"Someone leaked the location of secret base and we were attacked."
Athar had heard the entire story in silence. What had happened after this, he was well aware of.
"Red Rose Group," he mumbled.
"Where are we currently?" he asked.
"This is a secret basement below a club," Alice said. "Only your father and I were aware of it. No one else knew about it."
Athar nodded thoughtfully as he questioned, "How many men did we lose in the attack?"
Alice was slightly surprised by the way Athar was talking, as if he were part of the group. 'We?'
"Around ten men were killed," Alice, nonetheless, answered. "But we have lost more men to desertions than to death."
"Before all this fiasco began, the VonCruz group had around thirty-five members in its command. But when all this began, many people started to drift away and after the death of your father, most of them had deserted us."
"Currently, apart from me only six more people have stayed," she informed.
Hearing this, Ather's eyes twitched. 'Mafia gang to inherit,' he had thought. 7 members were all that was left of it.
"My father's funeral?" Ather asked and Alice's face fell and no answer left her mouth.
Ather raised an eyebrow to which Alice answered in hesitation, "The leader of Red Rose group had vowed that he would dissect the body of your father."
"Their men and running all around looking for any place where any funerals are being held," she added and Ather could feel the rage and helplessness inside Alice.
"Right now, we have stored his body in ice," she continued. "Once we evacuate you to safety, we will conduct his funeral."
"That is the last thing we will do even if we die," she added with a determined face.
A trace of rage flashed in Ather as he shook his head, "No."
"Keep his body stored in ice," he said. "We will conduct his funeral when I wipe out the Red Rose group."
Hearing this Alice's eyes widened in shock.
"Wipe out the Red Rose group?" She repeated, her mind could not comprehend the absurdity of the situation. Had Ather gone mad?
"Alice," he chuckled. "I still have a lot of questions to ask, but I will hold them for now."
"Do you know the base of Red Rose group?" he asked.
Alice still not out of the state of her shock nodded like a wooden chicken.
"Good," he said.
"We will talk in the evening," he said and dismissed a shocked Alice.
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