Michael decided that it would be better for him to first of all accumulate enough SP, before he decided on taking action on the acquisition of the shares.

That way, he would be able to acquire all the shares that he needed, getting full control over Vanguard Corporation.

As he abandoned the thoughts related to this, he simply focused on pushing the criminology skill to the expert level.

...

Near the outskirts of Brenton city...

No matter how well developed a city was, there was usually that particular part of the city that was not doing well.

The Eastern side of the city was where low class families could be found. This was where most people who did not do well financially and economically stayed.

And as expected of such an area, it was quite rampant with criminal activities. Even though the level here could not compare to Drenn city, still, this was considered to be the part of the city that was housing the most notorious criminals within the city.

Of course, this did not involve the big names of the gangs within the nation. It was just that the underlings of those big bosses usually stayed in this areas, and the supply of drugs and so on were usually occurring in this part of the city.

The slums sprawled along the city's Eastern edges, a dense maze of rusted roofs and narrow alleys where sunlight barely reached the ground.

Concrete walls were cracked and stained, patched with mismatched boards and corrugated metal, each structure leaning into the next as if held together by habit rather than design.

The air carried the mixed scents of smoke, damp earth, and refuse, while tangled wires hung low overhead, feeding power into places never meant to have it.

Voices echoed constantly, arguments, laughter, music played through broken speakers, all blending into a restless hum that never truly faded.

Here, life moved fast and rough, shaped by survival, where the city's wealth felt distant and unreal, like a story told by someone else.

Inside one of the alleyways, there was a small stream that flowed through. This stream was extremely dirty, with the contents of the stream being black water, which was obviously sewage from somewhere.

In one of the corners inside the alleyway, Kevin sat there, looking aimlessly at the sky.

It had only been one day, but things had changed for him so much that he found it difficult to accept.

Just the previous day, he was still enjoying the wealth from his family, and more than that, he had quite a number of underlings under him.

But just because of one thing that he did, he ended up losing it all. Previously, when he was not arrested, he was extremely excited.

At that time, despite knowing that his family had been arrested because of the dirt on them being exposed, he had not thought much about it. But, it turned out that most of the dirt that was revealed included things such as financial fraud and so on.

This resulted in all the wealth that his family had to be confiscated. His bank accounts had all been frozen, and the credit cards were not working either.

When he realized that he had no money, and could not pay the underlings that worked for him, he panicked. And when the underling that had decided to quit knew this, he actually woke the others up.

In the end, since he was not able to take out the money, and the group came to know that his family had been arrested, they ended up beating him up.

Lucky for him, because he had been quite good to them, apart from some small beatings, they did nothing major. Still, they left him feeling aggrieved.

Back then, he thought, he would first of all head back to his family residence, to make arrangements on what he was going to do next.

But just as he got to where his car was parked, he realized that a tow truck had just arrived, and they were actually towing his car away. This left him completely dumbfounded.

When he tried to stop them, he was told that the car was considered part of the green family property, and it had to be confiscated. If he tried to stop them, he would also get arrested.

Left with no other choice, he had to watch as the car was taken away.

Without any cash on him, and the money in his bank accounts frozen, he had no other choice but to walk back to where his family residence was.

After a long walk, he finally got back home, but was extremely tired. It was just that, as soon as he arrived at his family mansion, he could not even enter the compound.

The security guards that were previously working for his family had all disappeared. Replacing them was a group of police officers, who completely barred him from entering the compound.

Feeling completely helpless, he decided to contact a few of his friends. But it turned out that as soon as they realized that he was the one that was calling, they ended the call.

In the end, he decided to just loiter around the city while thinking about how to handle the situation.

Unexpectedly, just as he got to a deserted road, a van suddenly stopped beside him, and he was abducted. The group of men inside the van all had their faces covered, making it impossible for Kevin to be able to recognize them.

At first, he bought that maybe Michael was the one who had sent this group to abduct him. And as he tried to make a fuss and ask why they had kidnapped him, he was once again beaten up.

The van was driven from where his family mansion was located, to the slums located in the Eastern part of the city.

But it seemed that they had no intention of dropping him there, as they were actually heading for the outskirts of the city. Most probably, they wanted to take him to an abandoned factory or something like that.

He himself having done those things before, he was extremely familiar with them. It was just that he had never expected that there would come a day where he would be the one facing this.

Unexpectedly, just as the car was about to leave the slum area, another car suddenly blocked the road. And before they could react, a figure rushed out of the car, and opened the driver's door before anyone could react.

What followed was a beating for all the men that had abducted him, before the man gazed at him, and left.

Kevin was left dumbfounded, unsure about what was happening. He could not see the appearance of this person, because they were also wearing a mask. Still, he could tell that it was a man from the outfit that he was wearing and his physique.

After all the gangsters that had abducted him were knocked unconscious, Kevin decided to escape. As for taking the car, he decided against it. Nobody could tell if those guys would be able to find him by searching for the car.

In the end, he decided to stay within the slums, as at least here, due to the high population of people here, it would be incredibly difficult for those men to be able to find him.

But it was already getting late when he reached the slum area once again. And the last meal that he had was before he went to look for Michael. It was only after meeting Michael that everything spiraled out of control.

As he thought about that, he regretted going to look for Michael. If he had known, he would have completely avoided him. Instead, since he loved Kate, he would have just looked for other methods to get her.

Regrettably, there was no turning back. With his father and other family members arrested by the police, and the wealth that they had accumulated being confiscated by the government, he had to find a way of surviving.

For himself, despite not being sure why he was not arrested, he thought of a possibility. Maybe Michael wanted him to suffer, which was why he made him lose everything, but he was not arrested.

And as he thought about this, he hated Michael to the bone. If he had a chance, he thought that he would have to make sure that Michael died.

Regardless, he wondered in the slum area for quite a while. Unfortunately, as the dark setting, he was suddenly ambushed by a group of men.

It was clear that they wanted to rob him. The clothes that he was wearing, despite them getting a little dirty, they were still high and clothes.

Those guys thought that he was loaded. Unfortunately, he had nothing on him, not even a $5 bill.

In the end, after realizing that Kevin had no money, those guys ended up beating him up, before they stripped him naked, took the clothes and the shoes away, leaving him in his underwear.

With autumn already approaching, the nights had already begun getting slightly cold. Cooler air had started to creep in, and evenings would begin feeling noticeably milder for the next few days.

Thankfully, since it was night time, Kevin did not have to worry about his nakedness being exposed. Additionally, the alleyways were quite dark, as there was no street lights.

Due to the hunger that he was experiencing, and the need of finding something to cover himself with, Kevin had no other choice but to go through a pile of garbage in one of the corners inside an alleyway.

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