Kyle grabbed the head of yet another Ilysian Punk and punched it hard, his fist cratering the punk’s face in. While he had managed to clear out the Ilysian Punks from the Seven Snakes district, he was slightly surprised as to how easy the counterattack was on the following day after the initial assault.
Damian too was slightly wary, afraid of an imminent counterattack. However, the Ilysian Punks’ entire top hierarchy seemed to have crumbled in an instant. “Do you think it was the inquisitors that helped us?”
Kyle did not see Kitana in action, but had already heard from Damian about how she killed the second wave of Ilysian Punks, effectively saving the Seven Snakes. The description of how Kitana restrained the punks threw alarm bells into Kyle’s mind. A unique arctech equipment? Or another system user?
He was not that arrogant to believe he was the only system user in the world – there was a good chance that Kitana was one too, but he did not have evidence, especially since he had yet to meet another system user at all.
Whatever the reasons for the inquisitors help, he now was able to save most of his forces and get them back into fighting condition the very next day, enabling them to fight for control over the adjacent districts owned by the Ilysian Punks.
The Ilysian Punks tried to re-organize and fight back, but with their command hierarchy in shambles, they fell like dominos, easily overpowered by the highly organized associates led by Kyle, Sasha, Damian and Niko.
It was now a mad race against time, with the Seven Snakes, Red Lion and the Wretches trying to cut up the districts owned by the Ilysian Punks.
“Clear out this pub and move onto the next block. We need to reach the other district before the Red Lions get there.”
Kyle had the Seven Snakes spilt up into different squads, conquering and staking their claim on each urban block in sequence. The residents were slightly alarmed by the fighting, but the rival gangs only targeted each other as long as they stayed out of the way.
The enforcers were also going in at full force, raiding the main base of the Ilysian Punks immediately and arresting every Ilysian Punk in sight.
By the time night fell for a second time, the conflict was over as abruptly as it had just begun.
Kyle walked through the new district the next day, with the place springing back into life. No longer did the residents cower in fear, heading back to work as though nothing had change. For those who had lived in Raktor long enough, such gang conflicts were as common as the change in seasons. It did not matter to them who was in charge of them, as long as they could carry on with their ordinary lives.
“Keith, set up the same events we did for our previous district. We have to build some goodwill in the new district to properly assimilate it into us.” Kyle ordered Keith, who was walking behind him and taking notes of the damage to some of the businesses.
They both inspected one of the Ilysian Punks’ former pubs, the bar and tables smashed to smithereens by the brawl. A few Seven Snakes associates were already inside cleaning up, hauling the dead bodies outside. Keith noted that a few of the employees were dead, sighing as he saw two associates haul a dead bartender out. “It’s going to take twenty thousand rakels to fix up this mess, and then we need to hire more people to replace them.”
“How much cash do we have left?”
“After repaying the Crimson Swords, producing the arctech equipment, funding your pet railgun and building custom explosive liquids for a mortar? About four hundred thousand left. Do you have another exotic handgun to auction, by any chance?”
“You know the value will be deprecated.”
“Then you better hope the Violet Demons don’t try to attack the goblin den anytime soon. With both you and Sasha gone, our defences there are sorely lacking.”
“We’ll gather more recruits to defend that area.” Kyle replied, stepping out of the damaged pub back onto the street.
In the distance, he could see plenty of freshly recruited Seven Snakes associates cleaning up the streets of debris and broken weapons. Wagons of dead Ilysian Punks were carted off, to be dumped unceremoniously in the mass graves far beyond the city’s walls.
Alex was one of the newly recruited Seven Snakes associates, staring at some of the tied up punks who surrendered. If it was him from two days ago, he would have personally taken a knife and cut all of their heads off one by one. However, he had long lost the burning desire for revenge, now only torn with despair at what had happened to his wife.
While he was lost in his depression, staring blankly at the ground, a hand tapped his shoulder frantically. “Alex, alex. ALEX! Stand up straight, the boss is here!”
Alex jolted back to reality, straightening his back as the new recruits lined up straight. Kyle walked past them, inspecting each of them from head to toe.
Many of them were residents of the Seven Snakes district, caught up in the war. Some joined for fame and money, others joined for protection. But the vast majority were driven by hatred and a desire for revenge, Alex being one of them.
“Under the laws imposed by the Sanctum of Yual, murder is unacceptable. In normal circumstances, you will have immediately been arrested by the enforcers and hauled away to prison, potentially enslaved to mine arcite ore in Tryas. However, as long as you listen to me, this fate shall never befall you.” Kyle spoke as he stepped slowly, his voice as clear as day.
“Once you join the Seven Snakes, there is no turning back. If you wish to retract your membership, do so now. Walk away and live a normal life.”
However, no one budged, all standing straight and firm. Alex too did not budge, despite having lost the original reason why he fought back against the Ilysian Punks in the first place. His two daughters were counting on him to survive, and with his house in ruins, he needed all the extra money he could get.
Many of the other fresh recruits were of the same mindset. With their homes and lifestyles now in ruins, it was unimaginable how long they would have to toil away as a construction worker, a chef or a factory worker to make back what they originally had. Being under the Seven Snakes was a different story altogether – the fame and fortune came easily as long as you were a part of it.
None of them were frightened by pain any longer, having fought side by side against the Ilysian Punks to defend their families.
“Good, then you are now all associates of the Seven Snakes. Work hard, and you will received in equal amounts. Carry on.” Kyle dismissed them, letting them resume their work.
Kyle continued through the two districts that they captured, repeating the same speech to different groups of fresh recruits. What the recruits did not know was that he had deliberately delayed the response time of the Seven Snakes to the attacks of the Ilysian Punks, in order to create more chaos and drive up the desperation of the people. He needed more tragedies to happen to break the normal lifestyle of the citizen, making them flock towards him for security. Just like a protection racket.
And unsurprisingly, it worked like a charm. The Seven Snakes had now more than fifty fresh recruits, doubling their numbers in just a short three days. More work would have to be done over the next few days to properly integrate them into the gang, but for now Kyle was happy with how the gang was growing. We will need to make the gang more hierarchical to prevent leaks and betrayals. I must add another intermediate rank.
He soon came across Damian who was helping give out food to those affected by the conflict, setting up a soup kitchen similar to how they’ve done it before.
More than a hundred residents were gathered, covered in a haphazard manner of clothing to protect them from the environment, as their hands shakily accepted the bowl of soup. Damian smiled as he gave out each bowl, trying to make small talk with the residents.
From behind Damian, a young man eyed him and the Seven Snakes emblem on his shoulder angrily, retrieving a knife from his pocket and slowly closing the gap from behind, planning to stab him in the back.
As the young man lunged without a word, the knife stabbed into the flesh and caused Damian to scream. However, the blade did not push as far as the young man would have hoped. Immediately two of the Seven Snakes associates grabbed the young man, pinning him down on the ground.
“FUCK YOU SEVEN SNAKES! YOU KILLED MY FATHER!” The young man roared in anger as he thrashed on the ground, fighting against the associates. He used his mouth to bite deep into the arm of an associate, forcing the arm to let go of him as he tried to scamper away.
Instead, he ran headfirst into Kyle, knocking into his leg and bouncing backwards. “YOU! I’LL KILL YOU!” The young man recognized Kyle as the leader of the Seven Snakes, throwing a fist. Kyle dodged the attack, causing the young man to stumble forward and trip onto the floor.
“This weak, and you want to avenge your father? Pathetic.” Kyle motioned for the two associates to grab him. “Drag him out.”
The young man was dragged out to the front of the soup kitchen stall, kicking and screaming while Damian pulled the knife out of his back. “Fellow residents. We are working hard to clean up and provide you with new housing as well as food.” Kyle spoke to the crowd of residents as he walked behind the young man.
“But you all seem to not understand something. So let me make this clear.”
Kyle grabbed the arctech handgun out from his suit’s inner holster and aimed it at the back of the young man’s head, pulling the trigger. The brains and flesh splattered in a spray onto the floor, coating the ground with blood and gore. A few of the residents shrieked in panic, but many were simply frightened and rooted to the ground.
“Anyone. ANYONE. Who tries to go against me and hurt my people: You know what’s coming. THE SEVEN SNAKES RULES THIS PLACE NOW!”
The young man’s body was dropped onto the ground, limp as his head lolled to the side. “Clean this up.” Kyle ordered the two associates as he adjusted his suit, putting the handgun back in its holster.
Damian nodded, unfazed by how Kyle had reacted. He had long known that Kyle would fully retaliate against anyone who tried to go against him, or hurt the Seven Snakes. He felt a bit of sympathy for the young man, but he also felt a increase in loyalty, knowing that Kyle was willing to go that far to get revenge for him.
Kyle continued walking down the street, meeting up with Keith again. “Did you see the enforcers?” Kyle asked.
“No, why? Are we not in a temporary alliance?”
Just as soon as he asked, three arctech wagons turned the corner and drove towards them, bearing the insignia of the enforcers and the Sanctum of Yual. The wagons came to a halt right in front of Kyle, with fifteen armoured enforcers jumping out and surrounding him, aiming their rifles at him.
Mason stepped out of the first wagon, smoking a pipe as he grinned at Kyle. “Alvin Tersa. Under the powers vested into me by the Inquisition of the Sanctum of Yual, you’re under arrest.”
