Chapter 30 - New Rules
Leon release his grip on Snake's hair, as the body dropped on the floor and he made his way over to Thorpe.
He had already calculated that the resolver only had 6 rounds. All sorts of knowledge could be found on campus. Knowledge of guns weren't an exception. It just surprised him that one of the latest models could be found in the gang's hand.
"T-This is... Please give me another chance!" Thorpe pleaded. He was rooted into the ground and did not dare to run as he imagined the moment, he ran would also be the moment of his death. He stood in his spot as he clings to the slightest hope that Leon would still spare him. Unfortunately, Leon's soft whisper to his ear extinguished the last of his hopes.
"No more chances." Leon snapped Thorpe's neck and ended his life.
Leon had purposely sent the gun in Thorpe's location as a test. He wasn't used to killing without a proper reason and wanted some peace of heart. Fortunately, Thorpe didn't fail his expectations and gave him a reason to kill him.
Leon had been enlightened after Thorpe's death. The purpose of a doctor was to save lives through medicine, but it was not the only way to save lives. He could save even more lives by killing all the evil and sinful people he come across. These types of people would have harmed a lot of lives. Killing them would save future people from being harmed by them. He did not picture himself a hero, but he did wish to create a cleaner and safer place for those close to him.
"Anyone else object to my leadership?"
"None!" The 19 remaining members answered in unison, while shaking their head vehemently as if fearing that if their actions and words were not seen and heard, Leon would kill them next.
"Alright, since you all acknowledge me as leader, I will now give you my first order. Go wake up those two idiots." Leon nodded and said. The two idiots he was referring to was naturally Arlo and Gower stuck in the walls. The unconscious Snake was also an idiot, but he is already dead in his eyes. It's just that Snake still had some uses alive before he gets rid of him too. What kind of lousy awakeners not make full use of their greatest ability, their bloodline ability in a fight?
Arlo and Gower were roused awake and dragged in front of Leon. Their minds were still hazy and couldn't make sense of the immediate situation like they were still suffering from a concussion.
"What is going on? What happened?"
They rubbed the sore spots on their head. They weren't knocked out for long and could still feel the pain.
"Everyone here has acknowledged me as the gang leader except for you two. Will you submit to me or will you resist?"
Their eyes roamed the surrounding freely, checking everyone's expression to verify the matter before stopping on Snake's mangled body on the floor and shuddered. His arms and legs were all bent in weird angles. They didn't want to be like that.
"We choose to submit." They said in unison.
"Very good." Leon clapped his hands. "Now that everyone has acknowledged me, there are some new rules I'll be instating.
You will no longer be involving yourselves in illegal and dirty businesses. Any businesses involved in harming or forcing the people are to be stopped.
You are to conduct yourselves properly to be respected, not feared by the public. The weak and innocent in need are to be helped, not oppressed. Those who fail to comply and continue to do evil will only have one result, death! My words are to be effective immediately. Are my words clear!?"
Leon was basically telling then to stop doing bad and do good instead or he will kill them. But even if they comply, their profitable businesses will plummet drastically. Would they even earn enough money to cover the cost of living for all their people?
The men discussed problems and concerns among themselves.
"Are my words clear!?" Leon repeated.
"Yes!!" The crowd was jolted.
"I am aware of your concerns. I will invest money from my own pockets if the funds are lacking until the establishment is in order. I'm also not afraid to inform you all that I am an alchemist. Those who do well might be rewarded with an Awakening Pill by me." Leon showed them the stick and the carrot.
Leon had taken over as leader and it wasn't appropriate to continue calling their gang the Black Snake gang.
"From henceforth, the gang shall be called the Golden Lion gang instead. You may refer to me as boss, while I am here. However, outside you are to pretend you don't know me. I do not wish to be publicly known. You know what will happen otherwise." Leon let a bit of murderous aura leaked out to scare the gang members.
"We understand boss!"
"Good. You can all go and inform the outer members under you. You know what to do if they don't comply with the new rules. Report back to me, if any problems you cannot solve crops up."
"Yes!" They acknowledged and left one by one.
"You two can stay back. I have something to talk to you two about." Leon stopped Arlo and Gower.
"What do you need from us, boss?" The two was tensed, not sure what Leon wanted.
"No need to be tensed. I just wanted to know why you two didn't use your bloodline abilities in the fight."
The two smiled awkwardly at such a simple question. They thought the answer was obvious but perhaps the boss weren't aware of their element.
"Including Snake, all of us are earth element users, boss. As much as we would like to use our abilities in the fight, we must think of the time and place for such occasion. We wouldn't want to tear down our own headquarters. What if we also accidentally cause the whole building to collapse and crush all of us underneath? We aren't tired of living yet." The duo cleared his doubt.
Leon broke out in sweat at the revelation. He had been too careless. He was lucky these people valued their lives very much and didn't want to die. If they went crazy, they could drag him down to hell with them. The only earth element they could use in the underground floor was the building materials themselves. He would definitely die under the crushing weight if the building collapse as a result of its structural integrity being compromised.
"Cough* Never mind. Tell me about the operating businesses of the night club." Leon felt a bit awkward for asking a stupid question, but he couldn't be blamed.
While he could roughly estimate a person's strength through his acute observation skill as a doctor, he could not tell their elemental alignment until they use their ability.
"Yes, the ground floor is divide two section. A bar section to provide liquor and beverages and an entertainment section to liven up the place.
The second floor has special rooms for rent, while the third floor is reserved for high ranking gang members."
Arlo explained. There is a night club manager who was more familiar and could have explained the details better but since Leon ask them, they had to answer instead.
"Special rooms for rent?" Leon frowned. He didn't think it was that simple.
"Uhh... Well… we provide special service to the guests by providing young ladies to accompany them. Our regular guests are usually young nobles." Since Leon asked for the more specifics, Arlo didn't dare hide the details.
"Prostitution? Is this a brothel? Were the ladies doing the job willingly?" Leon frowned. He didn't look down on women who sell their bodies to survive but he was reminded of when his teacher was almost raped on the streets.
"W-we capture the ladies the young nobles caught an interest to and send them to their rooms to enjoy. The young nobles pay a lot of money." Arlo broke out into sweat as he explained. Gower similarly sweated as well.
Leon's expression darkened immediately.
"Did any young nobles came with special requests tonight?"
"I-I'm not sure. The night club manager should know."
"Take me to him then."
"Y-Yes."
Leon glanced at the unconscious Snake and went up to hit a few of his acupoints to immobilize him before they left. He didn't want Snake to escape, while they're gone. His limbs were disabled, but he doesn't necessarily need working limbs to escape. Leon still needed Snake alive to be a lab rat for him to do further research on awakeners.
Lynne had already reacted strongly when he thoughtlessly inspected her glabella and gained a fiancée as a result.
He could have asked Dwight instead, but he doesn't dare to. The thought of the old man asking him to take responsibility makes him shudder violently. It seemed like something the shameless old fox would definitely do.
....