Iron Wall X Gray Beak X Shattered Eye

A deathly silence held over the ruins for five full seconds.

The next second, someone moved.

The bearded thug at the front threw his gun to the ground, dropped to his knees, and pressed his forehead against the rubble.

He was the first. Then came a second, a third, and a fourth.

Metal clattered against the ground as thirty or forty people dropped to their knees around the ruins, falling in a wave like dominoes.

But just as they were about to finish kneeling-

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

A bullet flew from the back row of the kneeling crowd, straight at Jiang Ye's face.

Everyone tensed and turned in unison toward the shooter.

When they looked back at Jiang Ye, their taut nerves snapped.

The bullet had struck a wall of pitch-black aura that appeared out of thin air three inches from Jiang Ye's face, stopping it cold.

The metal slug crumpled, scraping a spray of sparks from the surface of the shadow armor before clattering to the ground.

Jiang Ye's expression didn't change. He didn't even blink.

The shooter's pupils contracted, his finger frozen on the trigger. Before he could even figure out why the bullet hadn't hit, a huge black-and-white shadow landed in front of him.

Divine Dog: Totality opened his enormous jaws, his fangs flashing coldly.

Crunch!

There was no wasted movement.

Totality caught the shooter and his gun in one bite, then tore him apart with a toss of his head. Shredded flesh and the broken gun barrel fell onto the rubble with a wet sound.

Divine Dog: Totality released his jaws, licked the blood from his fangs, and returned to Jiang Ye's side. His massive body was like a small moving mountain as he slowly sat down.

Jiang Ye stood on the debris, the remains still bleeding at his feet.

He lowered his head and glanced at the thugs kneeling on the ground.

This time, no one dared look up.

"I'll say it again."

Jiang Ye repeated himself in a calm voice.

"I'm the leader of the Rust Bone Gang."

"Who's in favor, and who's against?"

The response was an even more uniform show of submission.

The last few people still standing scrambled onto their knees, pressing their foreheads hard against the ground, not daring to make a sound.

At the sight, Jiang Ye nodded in satisfaction.

He sat down against Divine Dog: Totality. The giant dog's thick, warm fur made a huge seat behind him.

He crossed his legs and swept his gaze over the three people kneeling at the front.

Those three were clearly different from the other thugs.

They knelt farther forward, and their clothes were neater, with fewer holes in the cuffs and collars.

And unlike the others, they hadn't panicked and trembled at any point. They had simply kept their heads down, silent, waiting for judgment.

"Who's a cadre?"

Jiang Ye asked.

The three men in the front row moved at once.

The man in the middle was the first to raise his head. He had a broad face and a square forehead, and his thick arms stretched his sleeves tight. His physique looked as though it had been built through years of heavy labor.

He stood up and bowed slightly.

"Leader, you can call me Iron Arm."

Iron Wall's voice was steady. There wasn't much fear in his words, only caution.

"I was mainly responsible for suppressing vagrant riots."

Jiang Ye nodded and turned his gaze to the man behind and to Iron Arm's right.

The man was thin, with high cheekbones and thin lips, like someone who rarely spoke.

When he saw Jiang Ye looking at him, he stood up as well.

"I'm Gray Beak."

Gray Beak's voice was low and hoarse.

"I'm responsible for sorting the captured children and guarding the captives."

The last man stepped forward without waiting for Jiang Ye to call on him.

He was the shortest, but he stood firmly. His eyes were very pale, with a light gray sheen in the dim light.

"Shattered Eye."

"I'm responsible for patrols."

His two statements were brief, but he spoke every word clearly.

"I specialize in distant scouting and tracking footprints and other traces."

Jiang Ye didn't rush to speak after hearing them out.

Leaning against Totality, he swept his gaze back and forth across the three faces.

Iron Arm was steady, Gray Beak was cautious, and Shattered Eye was efficient.

Dodge had shown decent judgment in choosing those three as cadres.

"How many members does the Rust Bone Gang have in total now?"

Iron Arm answered immediately.

"Leader, there are currently forty registered members in the gang."

Jiang Ye frowned slightly.

Forty.

A gang that size was medium-sized at best in the middle city. It was nothing compared to the large gangs that regularly had more than a hundred members.

Noticing the change in Jiang Ye's expression, Iron Arm cautiously added an explanation.

"Because... the former leader ordered us to capture a child. More than a dozen men all died there, and the child still hasn't been found."

The air fell silent for a moment.

Jiang Ye coughed lightly and pressed his fist against his lips.

"..."

He was that child.

In other words, he had killed the entire team Dodge had sent to capture him, and then he had killed Dodge with his own hands.

Altogether, the Rust Bone Gang had lost nearly half its manpower, at the very least.

He bore at least some indirect responsibility for the current situation.

But he quickly suppressed that bit of awkwardness.

They could recruit more people to replace the ones they'd lost, as long as they still had their territory.

Jiang Ye changed the subject.

"How many vagrants have you captured?"

Gray Beak answered at once.

"Fifteen."

"They've already been loaded onto a vehicle and are ready to be sent to the Nostrade Family."

Jiang Ye tapped his fingertips against his knee twice.

"Don't send them yet."

Gray Beak froze and asked instinctively, "What do you mean, leader...?"

"Keep them and train them."

"The good ones can become members of the Rust Bone Gang."

Jiang Ye spoke decisively.

"The Rust Bone Gang is too small right now. If we can't recruit adults, we'll raise our own."

"Starting today, those fifteen children are the gang's responsibility. Give them food and somewhere to live, and assign them work."

"By the time they're old enough to carry guns, the Rust Bone Gang won't have just forty members."

"Keep looking for more after this and gradually expand."

Gray Beak hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he steeled himself and said what was on his mind.

"But, leader... we won't be able to explain it to the Nostrade Family."

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

He could clearly see that Jiang Ye's expression had changed.

There was no anger or rebuke. His eyes had simply grown deep all of a sudden, like a well whose bottom couldn't be seen.

Jiang Ye said nothing, staring at Gray Beak with an expressionless face.

His gaze wasn't heavy, but it made cold sweat seep out in layers down Gray Beak's back. Gray Beak felt as if he'd plunged into an icy cavern, his whole body freezing.

An even deeper deathly silence fell over the ruins.

Everyone else even softened their breathing, terrified that the slightest sound would make them the next target.

At last, Jiang Ye spoke.

"Right now, I'm the leader of the Rust Bone Gang."

His voice was calm.

"And you are cadres of the Rust Bone Gang."

Divine Dog: Totality slowly rose at his side. His massive frame, nearly two meters at the shoulder, cast a heavy shadow that swallowed Gray Beak whole.

Those black-and-white slit pupils stared at Gray Beak, and traces of the man's blood still clung between his fangs.

The smell of blood hit Gray Beak in the face.

Gray Beak felt as if his heart were about to leap out of his throat.

Jiang Ye leaned forward slightly, his tone calm.

"Do you think you should listen to the Nostrade Family..."

"Or should you listen to me?"

Gray Beak's Adam's apple bobbed.

He could clearly feel death moving against his skin. Divine Dog: Totality's breathing sounded just above his head, the warm, foul-smelling air brushing over his hair like a blade that could fall at any moment.

If I answer wrong, I'll definitely die!

At that thought, Gray Beak hurriedly spoke. Though his voice shook, every word came through clearly.

"In everything... the leader comes first!"

When he finished speaking, Divine Dog: Totality's breathing moved away from above his head.

Gray Beak's legs went weak, and he nearly fell to his knees.

But he managed to remain standing, because Jiang Ye was still watching him.

I absolutely can't behave disrespectfully in front of the leader!

Jiang Ye withdrew his gaze, sat back beside Divine Dog: Totality, and waved a hand casually in the air.

"Dispose of the corpses."

"Arrange accommodations and get those children off the vehicle."

"I want to see the gang's new roster tomorrow morning."

"Besides that..."

Jiang Ye thought for a moment before speaking.

"What other forces are there in District Thirteen?"