A heart.

A heart is placed in front of Ethan.

To be more precise, it was no longer a heart. It should be some kind of flesh wrapped in metal.

But it was indeed taken from the position of someone's heart, and it was still faintly beating, so it could still be called a heart.

"The wounded have been settled, and the compensation has been sent to the families of the dead."

Vincent walked in covered in blood. He was also injured, but it didn't seem too serious, and his mental state was okay.

Still, he was not satisfied with the outcome of tonight's battle.

Because they hadn't been able to completely stop the members of the Steel Brotherhood who had smuggled in. Although they killed more than half, quite a few had managed to infiltrate Wenster.

The Bolita family also had ten or so casualties.

"Vincent, you shouldn't blame yourself. If anyone should be blamed, it's me for not fully understanding the situation with the enemy."

Ethan saw Vincent's condition and said something.

Vincent shook his head: "You've done well enough."

Initially, Vincent and the others thought that since Vito had bullied them, they had to retaliate.

The simplest and most discreet method was to directly attack Vito's hotel and kill him there, thus avenging everything.

But Ethan vetoed this approach. He reasoned that since the opponent dared to provoke so blatantly, there must be a backup plan.

Later, through a series of complex relationships, they discovered that tonight a long-unused dock belonging to City Hall would have a ship docking.

Since Vito hadn't brought many people, a suddenly incoming ship at a City Hall dock that hadn't been used in a long time was likely related to him.

Ethan set up an ambush.

Indeed, he hit the jackpot.

And after the ambush, news from the Holiday Sun Hotel where Vito was located also confirmed Ethan's earlier assumptions.

Because Governor Oswaldo actually came out from there.

If Ethan and the others had previously chosen Vito as their target, things would've been difficult to handle.

Ethan's arrangement was not wrong; it's just that none of them anticipated Vito's forces to be so formidable.

The intensity was almost eerie.

They seemed to be people assembled from mechanical metal; bullets barely affected them, and only decapitating them or destroying their hearts could kill them completely.

This was why Vincent brought back that heart.

Even separated from the body, the heart could still beat.

They were absolutely a group of monsters.

"One thing that can now be confirmed is that Vito's true name should not be among the top ten; it's likely the eleventh true name, the Steel Tyrant."

Ethan looked at the heart that was still pulsing.

This could not be mortal technology; if ordinary technological levels had reached this point, the entire Kingdom would change.

It could only be a result of someone high up in the Steel Brotherhood possessing a true name.

Metal, creation, yet not alchemical; it could only be the Steel Tyrant, which seemed the most fitting true name series.

Moreover, judging from the quality of the Steel Brotherhood members, his rank must be quite high—possibly fourth or... fifth?

"Vincent, you've had enough for tonight. Go rest for a bit."

Ethan glanced at Vincent.

He always felt that his elder brother placed himself in too important a position.

Sometimes, this could overwhelm you.

Once Vincent left, Ethan called Huoyan.

As expected, Huoyan, this research fanatic, hadn't slept even at midnight, and he seemed a bit excited when answering the call.

"Godfather, how did you know I was almost done? Indeed, we resonate on a spiritual level in research!"

"Did you finish that gun?" Ethan hadn't expected such a surprise.

He had indeed given Huoyan a design draft before and explained the general concept.

In fact, it was a variant of a sniper rifle. After designing the Wenster typewriter, he found that its power was insufficient against those with true names, so he thought of a sniper rifle.

However, his craftsmen were limited in skill and couldn't meet his requirements.

Fortunately, he later met Huoyan, who could not only complete his concept but could also enhance its power with alchemy to possibly reach that of the big snipers of his time.

But he had been so busy these days that he nearly forgot about it.

"Yes, as soon as you proposed the design concept, I started working overtime. Rest assured, it's entirely your concept, without any deviation..." As soon as research was mentioned, Huoyan began to ramble on.

"Very good, bring the gun over in these couple of days." Ethan interrupted him, decisively saying.

"Okay... wait, what do you mean by bringing it over?" Huoyan was initially nodding in agreement but then quickly realized something off.

"I need you, so come to Wenster immediately." Ethan repeated.

"But... I'm really busy here, and you also said you wouldn't insist..." Huoyan was still trying to refuse.

Ethan had already hung up the phone.

Initially, he intended to act a bit more gracious, but with Vito's sudden emergence, he urgently needed assistance.

To target and counter the true name of the Steel Tyrant, perhaps Huoyan, as an ancient creator, could offer some good advice.

Moreover, the weapon factory in Saint Kuanti was about to be established, and it needed a supervisor.

--------------------

Although they didn't achieve absolute victory.

Ethan's ambush at the dock did cause enough impact.

At the very least, everyone knew that even with a governor backing Vito, he couldn't gain any advantage over Ethan.

His forces had been mostly damaged by Ethan, and the loss of face at City Hall in the afternoon was recovered by Ethan himself.

The Wenster typewriters roaring at the midnight dock told everyone a fact: the underground king of this city was still Bolita.

Anyone who dared to provoke the Bolita Clan would have to pay the price.

The next day, while drinking some sobering tea at the hotel, Frank looked at the tabloid in his hand, feeling a bit more comfortable.

The tabloid, naturally, was adding fuel to the fire in reporting last night's melee in the dock area.

Although much of the content was inaccurate, the core wouldn't be wrong, which is that the Bolita family fiercely ambushed the outsiders.

Frank naturally knew who the outsiders referred to.

He suddenly broke into a cold sweat all over.

Because he recalled last night's events, where Oswaldo inexplicably kept him drinking and wouldn't let him leave late at night.

If last night, Ethan had attacked the Holiday Sun Hotel...

"Cousin, cousin, good news! Good news! Big cousin is here!"

Just as he was dreading, George's third son, William, excitedly rushed in from outside, shouting.

"How do you know?" Frank asked, quite puzzled.

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