Chapter 88

Elliot had only ordered a bowl of creamy mushroom soup, a warm basket of buttered dinner rolls, and two small sides—roasted root vegetables and a simple garden salad. The food at this rehab center was top-tier—the soup was made with wild mushrooms and slow-simmered in a rich broth, velvety and aromatic. He ate unhurriedly, a wireless earbud hooked in his left ear. Clayton's voice came through clearly, "I'm getting this shipment no matter what. There's no way we're letting Vermilion Hand take it!" His feud with Vermilion Hand in Whitestone Province had already escalated to a peak. If they got their hands on this gear, it'd be real bad news for him. Another voice chimed in, "Goldstone Bank got robbed last month—definitely Vermilion Hand's doing! That Rowan Fletcher guy is just asking for it; he's outright provoking us now." Rowan Fletcher, current boss of Vermilion Hand, was infamous. The guy even named himself 'Rowan'—better-than-dragon—just to challenge Victor, the country's most feare