World's Best Protagonist [BL]

I ignored most of Noir’s rambles but I had to admit, he was capable. It didn’t take long for us to get someone on our side, forcefully.

After that unsolicited advice from him, we headed to JDT Logistics, staked outside the building, and waited for someone to exit. Someone whose face I remembered as one of them.

After a few hours of playing cards on the rooftop of the opposite building from JDT, some thug finally emerged, alone. Noir and I exchanged glances. We stood and followed him as soon as possible.

It was the person who asked if I was the mad dog’s lover, so I was holding a bit of a grudge toward him.

"Newbie, faster. Get closer. I need him inside my influence radius. The closer the stronger I can manipulate him."

I stepped on the accelerator and swerved to the side, trying to overtake the car before us. Once our wheels were opposite each other, I shouted back at Noir.

"Is this distance alright?"

"Yep. Keep at it until it’s activated."

"I thought you need to establish physical contact to manipulate someone."

"Not entirely. I can expand my area of effect without touching people. Anyone who stood within that range is my puppet."

"How much longer do you need?" I asked since we were getting the attention of the thug.

He kept looking at us, perhaps wondering why a car was trying to latch on his. He sped, so I did as well. He suddenly breaks, to my surprise. Thankfully, I immediately swerved the car to the outside lane. I slowed down, but the bastard accelerated as soon as I did.

"Fuck. Does he even know how to drive?!" I grumbled.

Noir snickered. I briefly glanced at him. He was covering his mouth with his hand, holding his laugh. His eyes crinkled, enjoying my frustration.

I frowned. The car before us stopped, but I continued driving. All of a sudden, the tables had turned. It was the thug who was following us. I grimaced.

"Do you need to maintain a certain distance with your puppet?"

"Oh, you caught on already?" He received a death glare from me. "Somehow. I told you the closer they are the stronger the bond is. If they stepped within my range or got stimulated strongly they snapped from my control, that’s the only way they can escape."

He opened the window on his side and breathed in the polluted air. What’s he doing acting like he was making a mellow music video?

"So, what’s next, newbie? Do we interrogate him, or do we follow him?"

"Follow him."

After I said that, the puppet thug drove straight to my father’s mansion. I tapped Noir on the shoulder and asked him to make the car stop on the highway. He looked at me, confused.

"It will be hard to infiltrate the mansion, so let’s hide inside the car."

"Bold of you to suggest that. What if we get caught?"

I shrugged my shoulders in response. I’m not really thinking about that. In fact, I don’t have a plan at all. I’ve only been following the plan the team created. I’m the type that plans my next step based on current events, so if we get caught, then my plan depends on it.

Noir grinned. He probably realized what the hell I was thinking. Sometimes, his perception really is scary.

"Ooh~. Alright. Sounds fun. Let’s go!"

I followed him, shaking my head. We squeezed ourselves in the back seat of the thug’s car, then Noir made him drive again. Not long after, the familiar scenery appeared. Tall iron gates lined with pine trees outside, and a long ass road to the main building.

It was fortunate the car was heavy-tinted. When it passed a brief inspection by the gates, and the puppet thug showed his pass, the guard did not further inspect the car’s interior and just waved his hand, letting the car enter.

I let out a sigh of relief. The whole ride, Noir was forcing the thug to talk. We found out that there was a separate building at the back of the mansion. A garage.

Once we saw it, we both knew it was another point of entry. The car entered the garage that could only fit one car, despite the huge mansion before it. Doesn’t make sense, right? A mansion with a tiny detached carport.

Only a stupid won’t question it.

As we expected, the ground beneath vibrated, and the car was lowered. It was a secret passage.

"What is this place for?" Noir asked.

The thug bit his lower lip, aware that once he freed those lips, his mouth would spill the answer on its own. Yet, despite his defiance, Noir’s control was already deep in his bones.

"It’s a passage leading to a tunnel."

"And where does the tunnel lead?"

"An underground bunker."

"What’s in it?"

"Mm...I...I can’t—ngh...p–please...just kill me...haa...haa..."

Noir held the thug’s shoulder and whispered something I didn’t hear. The thug paled, his mouth quivered, and soon his eyes turned duller and empty as if he was hypnotized. Just what did he say to him?

The movable platform reached the lower level. The thug drove the car further to the tunnel. Another gangster—at this point, I don’t think calling these people gangsters is it. They were more than that. This seems like a syndicate already.

Ha...my father entered the human trafficking business now. There’s no hope for him. If he gets executed, I guess I’d just clap.

"I didn’t know your father was rich. Do you perhaps come from a noble family?"

"The caste system in this country was demolished three hundred years ago. Why do you ask?"

Noir pointed at the doors we passed. Insignias are carved in each door, symbols that may have been signifying noble families.

My brows furrowed. There were seven large doors. There was no one standing guard, but the lock was modernized—a monitor that probably censors biometrics is connected on the wall next to the door.

At last, the car stopped before an arched gate. The three of us exited the car. Noir’s puppet walked to the gate and pressed his ID on a screen. Then, slowly, the gate opened.