Bago X Intimidation X Loyalty
Iron Wall strode ahead.
Broken rubble crunched under his feet, and his thick arms swung slightly as he walked, like two cast-iron bars hanging at his sides.
Jiang Ye followed behind him at an unhurried pace.
Soon, the row of shacks in the distance, built from scrap metal sheets and old cloth, drew closer and closer.
Gray Beak stood with his back to them in an open space in front of the shacks, his back ramrod straight.
Facing him was an equally burly man, bare-chested, with an old scar running from his collarbone to his waist.
The two stood face-to-face, neither making the first move.
But anyone with eyes could see that the atmosphere was utterly tense.
It was as if all it would take was a lit fuse to set everything off!
As Jiang Ye approached, Gray Beak caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye, and his tense face relaxed for an instant.
His savior was here!
But he neither turned his head nor called out to his leader, merely maintaining his confrontational stance.
Bago saw Jiang Ye as well.
His gaze passed over Gray Beak's shoulder and landed on the small, skinny child.
His expression first showed surprise, then the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily into an arrogant smile.
He had heard that the Rust Bone Gang had changed leaders, and that the new one was just a twelve-year-old drifter.
But hearing about it and seeing it for himself were two different things.
When he actually saw the child standing before him, a good deal shorter and thinner than himself, the instinctive wariness he had developed fighting his way through the bottom of Meteor City eased a fraction instead.
To Bago, no matter how capable a child was, he couldn't possibly be all that strong and wasn't worth much attention.
Jiang Ye walked between the two men, glanced at Bago, then looked at Gray Beak.
"Gray Beak, step back."
Without asking any questions, Gray Beak immediately relaxed his confrontational stance and stepped sideways to a position half a step behind Jiang Ye on his left.
At the same moment, Iron Wall took up a position behind Jiang Ye on his right.
The three stood in a triangle.
Jiang Ye was at the front and was the smallest of the three, but once Iron Wall and Gray Beak took positions to either side to protect him, the small figure suddenly looked different to Bago.
Iron Wall and Gray Beak were both tough characters with a name for themselves in District 13. Now they stood on either side behind a child, leaning slightly forward, plainly ready to take his orders at any moment.
At the sight, Bago frowned.
"You're the leader?"
Jiang Ye didn't answer.
He swept his gaze over the nine people behind Bago.
Some held iron rods, some stood with their hands on their hips, and some squatted in the shack doorways, watching.
Every one of them looked ready for a fight.
There was curiosity and probing in their eyes, but most of all, they looked as though they were waiting for a show.
Jiang Ye drew back his gaze and fixed it on Bago's face again.
"Do you know what your position is now?"
Bago's frown deepened.
"My position?"
"Even though I'm a subordinate force of yours..."
Jiang Ye raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Looks like you do."
His tone was calm as he continued.
"But you don't seem to know your place."
Bago opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But before he could get the words out, the surrounding shadows suddenly moved without warning.
The dark gray shadow beneath Jiang Ye's feet expanded without warning, surging silently to either side like shallow water into which a basin of ink had been poured.
The next moment, two shapes rose from the darkness at once.
On the left, a huge black-and-white shape nearly two meters tall at the shoulder emerged low from the shadow. Its four paws touched the ground, its fangs jutted out, and a low rumble of thunder rolled from deep in its throat.
On the right, a grayish-brown figure with thick, powerful limbs followed close behind. Its bulging frog eyes gleamed wetly and coldly in the dim light.
Divine Dog: Totality and Toad!
One on either side, they caught Bago between them.
They were like two giant beasts watching the prey they were about to devour!
In an instant, Bago's body went rigid.
His back was as straight as if an iron plate had been nailed to it, and even his Adam's apple forgot to move.
Two waves of killing intent pressed down on him: one from the giant dog's claws and fangs, the other from Toad's long tongue, ready to shoot out at any moment.
In the space of two seconds, his pupils contracted and widened, then widened and contracted again, and his chest began heaving noticeably faster.
At that moment, Bago felt as though an invisible hand had gripped his heart.
The nine people behind him fell silent too, all staring open-mouthed at the two giant beasts that had suddenly appeared.
Those holding iron rods loosened their fingers, and the people squatting in the doorways rose to their feet without thinking.
Jiang Ye stood between Divine Dog: Totality and Toad, his voice neither loud nor soft, too steady for a twelve-year-old.
"I don't need people standing here."
He looked down at Bago, his voice cold.
"I only need obedient dogs."
Bago swallowed reflexively.
He could feel the weight of the killing intent on either side. Toad's gaze and the sound of Divine Dog: Totality breathing silently told him:
The ground beneath his feet belonged to Jiang Ye!
The scene instantly fell into a seemingly endless standstill.
Iron Wall and Gray Beak stood behind Jiang Ye, both staring at Bago.
But their expressions were changing too.
Iron Wall's mouth was drawn tight, while Gray Beak's eyes held undisguisable shock as well as caution.
They had thought Divine Dog: Totality was Jiang Ye's only Shikigami.
But now a second one had appeared.
Two giant beasts, one on either side, loomed over Bago like mountains!
Even from where they stood, they could still feel the pressure bearing down on them.
The same question rose in both their minds almost simultaneously.
Just how much more was Jiang Ye still holding back?
Bago's body began to tremble involuntarily.
He could hear his heart pounding harder and harder in his ears.
The subordinates watching were all looking at him, waiting to see what he would choose.
Live on his knees?
Or die on his feet!
He barely hesitated for three seconds before decisively dropping his right knee to the ground, his left knee following close behind.
His forehead pressed against his folded hands, his entire back bent into a taut bow as he knelt heavily on the ground.
"I, Bago Yiluo, swear to follow the leader to the death and never betray him!"
His voice squeezed out through the gap between his forehead and arms, cracking slightly from the force.
"If I break my oath, may I suffer the pain of ten thousand arrows piercing my heart!!"
The breathing of the nine subordinates changed in unison.
Their leader had knelt, swiftly and decisively, without the slightest hesitation.
Looking at his broad back bowed at the front, they suddenly realized they had no other choice either, and all followed him to their knees.
Ten people knelt before him, Divine Dog: Totality and Toad guarded either side, and Iron Wall and Gray Beak stood behind him to the left and right, unmoving as mountains.
For a moment, the scene was spectacular.
Faced with their submission, Jiang Ye was in no hurry to speak.
Amid the silence, Bago remained motionless on his knees, his forehead pressed against the backs of his hands. A fine layer of sweat seeped from his back, glimmering faintly in the gloomy daylight.
Only a few breaths had passed, but those few breaths felt as long as centuries.
Just then, Jiang Ye raised a hand and placed it on top of Bago's head.
The hand was small, its fingers slender, and the warmth of its palm reached Bago's scalp through his hair.
As the hand rested there, Bago could feel a faint chill seeping down from the top of his head, as though boundless pressure were bearing down on him.
"I, the leader of the Rust Bone Gang,"
Jiang Ye's voice came down from above.
"Grant you the chance to be loyal..."
He tightened his fingers slightly.
"Until you die."