Loyalty Had a Price

" The governor wants to see you. Come with me."

Ronan froze for two seconds before realizing the messenger was talking to him.

He followed the messenger into a vehicle, which drove all the way to the control tower at the top of the Promethium Factory. It had been converted into a temporary command center.

"Governor, I've brought him."

Fu Haoran turned around, glanced at Ronan, then picked up a neatly folded uniform and a metal shoulder badge from the table.

"Ronan, formerly a third-grade technician at the Promethium Factory, later forcibly conscripted by the Iron Hand Gang."

"Two days ago, he surrendered with seventeen men. Yesterday, he persuaded another thirty-one to defect."

Fu Haoran read the records on the Data Pad.

"Now, I'm appointing you commander of the First Penal Company."

"Technically, the men you brought with you don't meet the standard company strength. But you're a factory technician by trade, you know the terrain, and you can keep your men in line. So I've decided to make an exception and promote you."

As he spoke, Fu Haoran handed over the uniform and shoulder badge.

Ronan accepted them with both hands.

"The Penal Company will be responsible for clearing out the factory. Do a good job, and once you've earned enough military merit, a promotion will be just around the corner."

"Yes!" Ronan gripped the uniform tightly.

Fu Haoran nodded. "All right, Company Commander Ronan, you may go."

Ronan saluted and left.

Once he was gone, Yuri couldn't help making a sarcastic remark. "Well, well, you handed it over just like that?"

"Why not? He recruited the men himself, and I happen to be short on manpower. I give him some old equipment and a batch of food in exchange for a subordinate with ambition. I can't think of a reason to turn him down."

Fu Haoran spoke as if it were obvious. Yuri remembered the indignities he'd suffered under the nobles and thought that if he'd joined Fu Haoran sooner, perhaps he wouldn't have had it so bad back then.

"Ah, I missed my chance."

[Finance Officer Yuri Razumov Loyalty Updated: -30 → -20]

When Ronan returned to camp, the forty-eight men under his command had already gathered together.

They stared at the new uniform and shoulder badge Ronan was wearing.

Ronan pinned the badge to his chest and grinned. "Starting today, I'm the commander of the First Penal Company. Follow me, and you'll all have a chance to rise."

At lunchtime, Ronan led his men into the cafeteria.

It was called a cafeteria, but it was really just a large shed furnished with dozens of folding tables.

Is the army this stingy, too? Ronan felt a little disappointed.

In his imagination, military officers were people of importance. At the very least, he'd expected the dining hall to be decent.

Were they just using the food they gave us before to lure us in?

Ronan joined the line and collected his food with the others. The moment the stainless-steel tray was handed to him, he froze. All his disappointment vanished, replaced by shock.

Turns out I was the one with a narrow outlook!

The tray was piled high. There was no Corpse Starch, no mysterious mixtures—only natural food. There were even a few leaves of greens and half a piece of fruit.

These were things only nobles could afford to eat. Not even the gangs had them. When he'd worked as a technician, he'd only ever seen them from a distance during a noble's inspection.

One of Ronan's men, a short fellow, stared at his tray, hands trembling. He asked in disbelief:

"Boss, is... is this really for us?"

"Quit talking and eat. We've got work this afternoon." Ronan grabbed a fork and dug in first.

The whole group wolfed down their food.

As he ate, the short fellow suddenly took a few Throne Coins from his pocket. They were the allowance he'd received that morning.

He clutched them in his hand, rubbing them over and over. His eyes grew a little red.

"Boss," he said softly, "back when I was in the gang, one of Jack's lackeys slapped me just for half a piece of Corpse Starch."

"Now... now I can eat my fill and even get paid."

He looked up, his voice turning fierce. "From now on, even if we have to risk our lives fighting the nobles, I'll follow the governor!"

Several people beside him nodded along.

Ronan said nothing, but ate with even greater gusto.

After lunch, he led his men back inside the factory.

This time, he would persuade even more people to defect.

Or... pull off something even bigger!

At that moment, Ronan realized that loyalty had a price.

The atmosphere inside the factory had completely changed.

At first, no one believed what they heard over the broadcast.

But as more and more people, driven mad by hunger and thirst, left the factory and came back, everything changed.

The area controlled by the Iron Hand Gang shrank every day.

Large numbers of peripheral members went missing. Worse still, some gang lieutenants and core members disappeared as well!

In the central control room, Jack Norton slammed his fist against the monitoring console.

"Bastards! Bastards! How could this happen?!"

Jack realized there were fewer and fewer people he could contact. He couldn't even get through to the nobles outside!

Bang!

Jack hurled the communicator to the floor. Only two trusted men remained in the room, both of them deathly pale.

"Boss, what do we do now?"

Jack didn't answer.

He went to the innermost side of the control panel and lifted a cover, revealing a mechanical keyboard beneath.

Cam stood behind him, his eyes shifting as he watched Jack's back from the corner of his eye. No one noticed the coldness in his gaze.

This was the factory's bottom-level control interface, connected to an old emergency overload system.

In theory, overloading the core reactor could blow up half the factory.

Even if it didn't, it could make the Promethium refining tanks leak and turn the place into a gas chamber.

But Jack hesitated. When it came down to risking everything, he was afraid.

"Boss, look out!"

At the sudden shout behind him, Jack rolled to the side without thinking.

Jack had seen too many assassinations and betrayals to have reached his position.

His nerves were always on edge.

At the warning, Jack dodged, drew his gun, and fired with practiced ease.

His movements flowed together seamlessly.

The trusted man who had raised his gun was shot full of holes.

"Boss, are you all right?" Cam rushed over to shield Jack. He was the one who had just shouted the warning.

"Damn it, you're still a long way from sneaking up on me!" Jack got up and replaced the battery in his lasgun.

Squish!

The leader of the Iron Hand Gang, the underworld king who'd thrown his weight around for years, looked down in disbelief at the switchblade stabbed clean through his body.

"You... dare... betray me!"

Cam didn't turn around. Instead, he twisted the blade hard and said coldly, "Boss, don't blame me. Every man for himself."

"The gang's finished, and I don't want to go down with you."

"Besides, the governor's offering ten thousand Throne Coins for your head, along with a new identity and a ticket off-world. That's more than enough for me to disappear and start over."

"Oh, and those high-ranking members who've gone missing lately? I turned them in for the reward. You're next."

Jack couldn't believe his ears. With the strength he had left, he said, "Cam, I treated you well... Cough, cough."

"Heh. Jack, you only ever treated me like a dog. You tossed me your leftover meat bones and thought I should be grateful?"

"You got exactly what you deserved."

"Enough talk. Time to go."

Cam pulled out the switchblade and watched Jack fall into a pool of blood. Not a flicker of emotion crossed his eyes.

"Your head is my ticket off the Hive City."