At eight in the morning, the buses heading toward Midtown and the West Side of Manhattan began to grow busy.
Residents in the southwest district of Hell's Kitchen rubbed their dark-circled eyes and dragged their weary bodies off to work.
Because of last night's battle and gunfire, they had not slept well. Yet none of them dared say anything. Everyone knew what kind of place this was and what sort of people had been fighting below. Loose talk could get them killed.
American news outlets were often seen criticizing politicians, presidents, police, the system, and even superheroes. But had anyone ever seen them criticize gangs?
Yet as they walked through the streets, they noticed that there seemed to be far fewer gloomy-looking thugs wandering around with nothing to do.
"Last night, we cleared out seven gangs with more than a hundred members, twenty-two gangs with between thirty and a hundred members, and some smaller groups that also took part in the fighting. We're still counting those!" Ryan Daling said, holding a report. "As for the gangs that did not participate, they are all small and have few members. We should be able to settle them with a written proclamation..."
"Wait, what did you say?" Bai Jing seemed to have heard an unfamiliar term.
"Settle them with a written proclamation..." Ryan said with a humble smile. "I hired a Mandarin teacher before. This is an idiom I learned!"
Bai Jing understood. The phrase was supposed to mean settling things through a written proclamation!
It meant that without sending out troops, one could subdue the enemy and stabilize the situation with a single official document.
And that character was not pronounced that way!
It seemed Ryan's teacher was only half-competent too!
"Why are you learning Mandarin?" Bai Jing asked.
"Well, isn't it so I can communicate with you more easily?" Ryan said shyly.
Bai Jing nodded. What those above favored, those below would imitate. Perhaps before long, he would not even need to give orders; the people of the Order Society would start learning Mandarin on their own.
Bai Jing asked again, "Where's Frank?"
"He's still confiscating weapons and arresting gang members!" Ryan Daling said. "What should we do next?"
"Do it the same way we did with the Viper Gang. Kill those with criminal records, recruit those without them, and go speak to every shop and company in the neighborhood." Bai Jing thought for a moment, then added, "Right. Drugs and guns are banned too. Notify every household and have them turn in the guns in their homes. If anyone is found possessing a gun, fine them thirty thousand. Anyone who reports someone else for having a gun gets ten thousand once it is confirmed!"
"Uh..." Ryan was stunned. "If we do that, the Rifle Association will definitely come after us!"
"It's fine. I already dealt with the biggest organization. Why should I be afraid of a small group like the Rifle Association?" Bai Jing said disdainfully.
The Rifle Association was certainly not a small organization. It had five million members, and even the current president was one of them.
But Bai Jing knew that political power grew out of the barrel of a gun. An organization with guns but no unified ideology was merely a scattered mob. They could interfere in politics and stop gun-control bills from passing, but they had no way to influence Hell's Kitchen.
As long as Bai Jing did not care about the government, the Rifle Association's little influence was nothing but bullshit.
That was what it meant for local power to outweigh distant authority!
If they had the nerve, they could send assassins. Bai Jing would kill however many they sent!
Ryan Daling fell silent. He did not know that Bai Jing had wiped out a Brotherhood training base by himself, nor did he know that Bai Jing had spoken with S.H.I.E.L.D.
He only felt that Bai Jing was playing with fire.
But if Hell's Kitchen truly had an area where guns and drugs were banned and no one committed crimes, then this place would practically be paradise!
"But we don't have legal authority to impose fines..." Ryan hesitated. "This money..."
"Use your brain. How did you usually squeeze money out of innocent people?" Bai Jing asked.
"Uh..." Ryan understood.
They were a gang. Since when had they started obeying the law?
Even the Order Society had never claimed to be a legitimate organization!
"By the way, where's Pigg Schultz? He's the president, isn't he? Why haven't I seen him at all? He didn't even attend yesterday's meeting!" Bai Jing had appointed this man president of the Order Society!
"Uh, he's still in the hospital..." Ryan said.
Bai Jing was speechless. "Why is he still in the hospital?"
"Well, the doctor said it was organ failure..." Ryan Daling said.
Bai Jing's method had been to consume thirty percent of the blood in a person's body. Though it was dangerous, it would only cause symptoms from oxygen deprivation, such as blurred vision, thirst, dizziness, confusion, fainting, soreness, and weakness.
As long as blood was transfused promptly and the patient rested for a while, they would recover.
But Pigg was fat. He already had somewhat insufficient blood supply, and then so much of his blood had been drained all at once!
"I see!" Bai Jing understood the reason and sighed. "How unfortunate!"
Then he looked at Ryan Daling again. "From now on, you'll be the president of the Order Society. You are its second-generation leader!"
"Huh?"
After making a few simple arrangements for Hell's Kitchen, Bai Jing realized it was really just gangs fighting over territory. He had little experience and nothing much to advise them on.
Nor did he need to provide detailed guidance. As long as he controlled the general direction of the Order Society, that was enough.
There was no need to worry that the Order Society would slip beyond his control either. As long as his strength remained, the Order Society would forever remain under his control.
So reading was the most important thing!
Bai Jing returned to Kamar-Taj through a portal.
He did not see Banner or Ancient One on the way. He wondered how their studies were going!
He jogged all the way to the library. Just as he was about to look through the books containing the coordinates of dimensional universes, Bai Jing discovered that the space where that book should have been on the shelf was empty.
And someone was already reading at the desk.
Bai Jing turned his head and glanced at the book's contents, only to find that it was exactly the book he had been looking for.
Someone had taken it first!
The person was White, with no particularly distinctive features. He had an ordinary face, and Bai Jing did not recognize him.
Since he did not know him, it would be awkward to start a conversation.
Bai Jing simply sat down with one chair between them and began using gravity to investigate.
Gravity could penetrate matter, and books were no exception. With this method, he could read a book without even opening it.
Still, he was used to holding a book in his hands while reading.
But as soon as he sat down, the man handed the book over.
"You want to read this book too?" he asked.
"Uh, yes!" Bai Jing nodded. "You're done with it?"
"I am. This book doesn't have what I'm looking for!" The man shook his head, then asked, "By the way, I haven't seen you before. Are you new here?"
"Yes. My name is Bai Kunlun! You can call me Bai!" Bai Jing said.
"Kaecilius!" the White man said with a smile.
Huh?
Bai Jing turned to look at him in surprise.
His appearance was utterly unremarkable, but his smile was warm and sincere. He looked nothing like the later Kaecilius, burdened with hatred and betrayal, who would betray Ancient One!
But Kamar-Taj was so small that the chance of another person with the same name was too low!
"What, do you know me?" Seeing Bai Jing's surprised expression, Kaecilius smiled inwardly.
"Yes, they all say you're the most talented mage at Kamar-Taj!" Bai Jing thought, Before I came!
Kaecilius smiled and nodded. "My talent may be strong, but effort is the most important thing in magic. Talent alone cannot make someone a powerful mage. You're already here reading at this hour, so you seem diligent. Keep working hard!"
"Oh..." Bai Jing nodded speechlessly.
"Also, I think this book is still too advanced for you. You should read something more basic!" Kaecilius continued.
"Are you telling me what to do?" Bai Jing was speechless. He had only offered a polite compliment, yet this guy had started lecturing him!
Not to mention him, even Banner and Strange later on—whose talent would be worse than Kaecilius's?
"You!" Kaecilius's smile immediately turned cold. "What did you say?"
"I said, are you telling me what to do?" Bai Jing rolled his eyes at Kaecilius. "I came here to read, not to listen to you show off!"
"You, you!" Kaecilius was practically exploding with rage. "Whose disciple are you? How could he accept a student like you? Didn't he teach you the proper conduct a mage should have?"
A traitor who killed his fellow disciples and his master—what right did he have to lecture Bai Jing about conduct?
"No shouting in the library!" A stern voice rang out. Manila, the librarian Bai Jing had never seen during his previous visits, finally appeared.
Generally speaking, librarians were very powerful, but Manila was not among them because he did not like reading.
That was why, when Kaecilius betrayed Kamar-Taj and came to steal books, Manila had been completely unable to resist and was beheaded directly.
"Hmph!" Kaecilius glanced at Bai Jing before turning and leaving.
"Although everyone is equal while studying magic here, he did arrive earlier than you. You should show him some respect!" Manila came to Bai Jing's side and said softly.
Bai Jing looked up. He was of Indian descent. No wonder he did not like reading.
If he had been from the Middle Kingdom, he would probably have become a hidden master sweeping the floors within ten years.
Bai Jing gave him a pitying look. If Manila knew Kaecilius would cut off his head in a few years, Bai Jing wondered whether he would still speak up for him.
Ignoring him, Bai Jing lowered his head and continued reading.
Manila sighed. There was no point in lecturing him. He could not exactly beat Bai Jing up, and he was afraid he might not be able to win anyway. After all, he had heard Bai Jing was a genius too.
Forget it. He would not bother arguing with him.
Before you continue