Winning chances X businesses X protection

Jiang Ye sat up in bed, his shadow flowing silently beneath his feet. He stared at the door for a moment before speaking.

"Come in."

With a creak, the door opened.

Iron Wall entered, his broad shoulders almost filling the doorframe.

He did not come straight in. He paused outside the threshold first, and only after confirming that Jiang Ye was not impatient did he turn sideways and step inside.

Jiang Ye leaned back against the headboard, his gaze falling on the sheet of paper in Iron Wall's hand.

"The bodies have all been dealt with."

Iron Wall spoke in a steady voice.

"Yes."

"The children have also been given a place to stay. This is the gang's latest roster."

With that, he handed the paper to Jiang Ye.

The edges were uneven, as though it had been torn from a notebook. Several lines of names and numbers were scrawled across it.

Jiang Ye took the paper and glanced over it.

Fifty-five people.

Forty adults and fifteen children.

Iron Wall, Gray Beak, and Shattered Eye were listed first, followed by a string of names he did not recognize.

Some names had small marks beside them, presumably indicating their respective duties.

"How many are willing to stay?"

Jiang Ye folded the roster and set it by the head of the bed, asking casually.

After all, Dodge had been the Rust Bone Gang's original leader. Now that he was dead, Jiang Ye would not stop them from staying or leaving.

Iron Wall answered without hesitation.

"Not a single person left."

He paused, then added,

"Everyone chose to stay."

A little surprised, Jiang Ye nodded.

But on closer thought, it was not so strange.

In a place like Meteor City, being able to join a group at all was a stroke of luck.

Ordinary people either waited to die in the garbage heaps or were seized by slavers and had their organs harvested. The Rust Bone Gang might have suffered a shake-up, but at least it had food, shelter, and territory.

Without that layer of protection, where could those forty or fifty people go?

Seek refuge with the Shattered Iron Group or the Gray Rat Squad?

End up on the streets and become scavengers again?

Nobody wanted to go back to that kind of life.

Besides... he had killed Dodge.

By the basic logic of Meteor City, that meant he was stronger than Dodge and more worthy of their loyalty.

Jiang Ye did not waste any more words on the matter.

His current situation did not allow him to discard his people once they had served their purpose.

He needed manpower. Every extra person meant another pair of eyes and another gun.

He set the roster on the table and lifted his chin.

"Go on."

Iron Wall's Adam's apple bobbed, and he lowered his voice.

"Our people found that members of the Shattered Iron Group and the Gray Rat Squad have already started hanging around outside."

He gestured to indicate the directions.

"There are people in the scrapyard to the east, and figures near the old shipping containers to the west."

"They haven't come close, but they've been watching the whole time."

Jiang Ye showed no surprise.

Last night's explosion had nearly flattened Dodge's mansion. Flames had shot into the sky, and the noise could be heard among the scrap metal for hundreds of meters around.

He could not say what hour of the early morning it had been, but the whole of District 13 had surely been alerted.

It was only a matter of time before the Shattered Iron Group and the Gray Rat Squad sent people to take a look.

"Do you think..."

After considering it for a moment, Jiang Ye tilted his head and asked,

"If we fought the Shattered Iron Group, could we win?"

He asked the question directly.

There was no use asking himself. He had no idea what the Rust Bone Gang's people were really capable of in a fight.

Iron Wall had been in the gang for years. He knew exactly who dared to fight, who was only there to look impressive, and who would run or be beaten to death once a fight broke out.

Specialized matters should be left to specialists.

Iron Wall fell silent for a few seconds.

He lowered his head and thought, going through every member of the gang one by one in his mind.

"One-on-one against the Shattered Iron Group..."

He raised his head, his tone certain.

"We have nothing to fear."

"The same goes for the Gray Rat Squad."

Having said that, he abruptly changed tack.

"But if those two joined forces..."

He left the rest unsaid, but his meaning was clear.

Jiang Ye naturally understood what that situation meant.

The three sides remained in a standoff precisely because whoever moved first would be swallowed up by the other two.

No matter how much the Rust Bone Gang prepared now, holding its own against one of them head-on would be good enough. If both came at once, it certainly could not hold out.

Jiang Ye did not press further on the subject.

He set the concern aside in his mind and turned to another matter.

"What are the gang's core businesses now?"

Iron Wall clearly had not expected the question. He stared blankly for a moment before responding.

He cleared his throat and began counting on his fingers.

"First, scrap metal."

"We have exclusive rights to dismantle the scrap steel and mechanical parts across the whole area."

"That's how the Rust Bone Gang got its start and its name."

"Second, clean water trading."

"We have an old pipeline that still works. It produces about three barrels of clean water a day, which we sell to people in Central City for canned food, weapon scrap, cloth, and things like that."

"Third, tolls in our territory."

"Scavengers entering the scrapyard to look for things have to hand over a portion of their supplies to us."

"Fourth, holding back antiques."

"Every so often, the air-dropped garbage contains artifacts from the old days-wristwatches, pocket watches, electronic parts. We claim them first, then resell them on the black market for a good amount of Jenny."

At that point, his voice paused for an instant, then dropped slightly.

"And... human trafficking."

Jiang Ye's fingers stopped tapping against his knee.

"We capture children of the right age and strong drifters, and sell them to slavers every month."

"Dodge started it back when he was working with the Nostrade Family. The profits are high, but it also offends the most people."

With those words, the room fell silent.

Jiang Ye did not rush to declare his position.

He quickly went over the businesses in his head.

The scrap monopoly was the foundation, clean water was the lifeline, and the tolls and antiques provided a steady cash flow.

None of those could be touched. If they were, the Rust Bone Gang would lose its food supply.

But... the last one could go.

"Keep everything else as usual."

Jiang Ye spoke in a tone that brooked no argument.

"End the human trafficking."

"The children we capture won't be sold anymore."

"Take them directly into the gang as members."

"As for the Nostrade Family..."

He paused, the corner of his mouth curving slightly.

"There's no need to worry about them for now."

"Their reach doesn't extend this far into District 13."

"If they want to reach in, they'll have to get past Grey Elder first."

Iron Wall nodded without raising any objections.

Jiang Ye did not stop there.

He was silent for a moment, waiting for Iron Wall to absorb what he had just said.

Then he shifted his position, lowered his feet from the edge of the bed onto the floor, and looked up at Iron Wall.

"District 13... there should be other gangs besides the three major powers, right?"

Iron Wall's brow twitched. He did not understand why Jiang Ye was asking, but answered truthfully anyway.

"Yes."

"They're all small outfits, three or five people banding together and picking through garbage to earn a meal."

"They're not worth mentioning."

"How many exactly?"

"Altogether, scattered as they are... at least seven or eight groups, maybe more than a dozen."

After hearing this, Jiang Ye leaned against the bedframe and glanced at Iron Wall with a faint smile.

"Perfect."

He rose from the bed, placed his bare feet on the cold iron floor, and walked to the window.

The sky outside was still gray and hazy, as though it never saw the light of day.

There was no sunrise in Meteor City, only the subtle difference between daylight and darkness.

Gray-white light fell through the glass onto the side of his face. His twelve-year-old eyes reflected no discernible emotion, yet there was something in them that made people afraid to look directly at him.

"Starting now, announce to the outside..."

He turned and looked at Iron Wall.

"The Rust Bone Gang is accepting applications for protection."

"Anyone willing to become a subordinate force and follow our orders can join the Rust Bone Gang's supply chain."

"They'll get food and lodging, work to do, and territory of their own."

At those words, Iron Wall's pupils abruptly contracted.

He knew exactly how much of a stir this decision would cause. He opened his mouth to ask whether it was too risky, but the words circled in his throat before he swallowed them back down.

He suddenly realized that Jiang Ye had never intended to proceed cautiously, one step at a time.

"Once we announce it... all the small gangs will come rushing over."

Iron Wall's voice was a little dry.

"They can't get by on their own, and suddenly someone's willing to take them in and let them have a share of the businesses... those people will come flooding in like mad."

"I know."

Jiang Ye's tone was calm.

"The smaller and weaker a group is, the more it needs someone to back it."

"The Rust Bone Gang will back them now, and they'll work for the Rust Bone Gang."

"They may be small individually, but gathered together, they'll be the fourth force in District 13."

He turned his head toward Iron Wall.

"Do you think the Shattered Iron Group and the Gray Rat Squad will still dare to move against us lightly once they number fifty, or a hundred?"

Iron Wall did not answer.

He simply lowered his head and, after several seconds of silence, quietly spoke one word.

"Yes."

At that moment, his attitude toward Jiang Ye had changed.

He had gone from merely obeying orders to acknowledging Jiang Ye as his leader.

He had originally still harbored a trace of reservation because of Jiang Ye's age.

Now, age no longer carried any weight in the mind of this man who had grown up in Meteor City.

Jiang Ye stood by the window, his gaze shifting from Iron Wall to the gray wasteland outside.

He was silent for a long time, then suddenly asked a question unrelated to any of their earlier topics.

"Iron Wall..."

Iron Wall looked up, somewhat puzzled.

"Do you know... Nen?"