Chapter 46 - Rain Of Needles
Looking at the mess the Fortune Soaring Hall had become, it would take a few days of renovation before business could be resumed.
"Tend to your wounds and clean up the place." Leon ordered his men.
"Yes, boss!"
It was fortunate that the Red Salamander gang had gone easy on them and only light beating, and minor cuts were suffered. If the Red Salamander gang didn't have the intention to recruit them then they would have already been dead by the time Leon arrived.
"What do we do about Red Salamander gang members outside?" Beckett asked.
"Leave them be. They will scatter on their own when news of their boss being defeated are spread by the traitors that left." Leon said as he made his way over to Alroy.
"Just give me a quick death." Alroy had already resigned himself to his fate the moment he was immobilized. The loser falls while the winner takes all.
Leon gave him a silent look before crushing all the bones in his limbs, effectively crippling him.
"AHHHHH!!!" Alroy wailed like a pig being slaughtered. He was already suffered severe burns and Leon's action was like pouring salt on his wounds. Even someone durable to pain could not help but wail in pain. "Just kill me!! Why the need to humiliate me!?"
Beckett and the gang members felt a chill up their spine. The boss was ruthless to hit someone when they're already down. They thanked their lucky stars their boss was not their enemy.
Leon knocked Alroy unconscious to silence him and handed him over to Beckett and the others. "Send him over to manager Doug at the Deadly Nightclub to manage after you guys are done here. You will all receive an awakening pill when this is all over."
"Yes, boss." They weren't sure what the boss's intentions were for keeping the Red Salamander alive, but they complied, while feeling excited about the awakening pill.
The fiery scythe was reduced to the size of a baton in his hands. Seeing that it had no further use, Leon tighten his grip and dispersed the compressed fire into the air before leaving the Fortune Soaring Hall.
The gang members heaved a sigh of relief after Leon was gone. They felt both fortunate and fearful to follow such a boss, one who is good to his own people and ruthless to his enemies. If he was not ruthless towards his enemy, then he would be ruthless to himself. Being merciful to one's enemies was the same as giving them a chance to bite back.
The Golden Lion gang's territory was being attacked on two fronts. Leon had only just resolved one of them. The opposite side was attacked by the Azure Wolf gang. Leon had no time to waste as he utilized his best movement techniques to rush over at his quickest speed.
Since Leon had taken over the Golden Lion gang and became their boss, he was responsible for their lives. However, he was the only one capable of stopping the advances of the other gangs. Even if he was powerful, he could only handle the problems one step at a time. He was only one person.
The Azure Wolf gang had chosen to attack their Grand Serenity Hotel. Unlike other business owned by the original Black Snake gang, the Grand Serenity Hotel was the only legitimate business that did not involve dirty money.
Leon wasn't sure if the people there were still alive or if they have defected into the Azure Wolf gang, but he swears to avenge them if they were killed. The inside situation was unclear to Leon as, Arlo was defeated at the entrance and forced to retreat before the situation inside was known.
…
Over at the Grand Serenity Hotel, a pile of dead bodies was seen stacked in one corner. The blood dripping from their body was still fresh, indicating that they have been killed not long ago. These bodies all belong to members of the Golden Lion gang. 4 were ordinary, while 1 was a core member. The core member was also the manager of the Grand Serenity Hotel.
In another corner, a bunch of normal workers were seen shivering in fear. They were spared because weren't part of the Golden Lion gang and they were needed to continue the hotel's operations.
"Boss, why did we kill all the Black Snake gang members? Wasn't it better to recruit them?" One of the core Azure Wolf gang members asked.
The Azure Wolf, Osmond, lit up a cigarette, while he was surrounded by 20 core members of his gang, who were waiting for his answer. Like the Red Salamander, the Azure Wolf had mobilized the same amount of men for the same cautiousness he had against the White Ferret gang.
Osmond did not reply immediately but took a deep puff of his cigarette before exhaling.
"There was no need to. If they can betray their own gang then they can also betray us. They can't be trusted. It was better to just kill them off and rid ourselves of future worries."
"What the boss said makes sense." The core members all agreed with Osmond's logic.
"Besides… recruiting them would just mean more mouths to feed and less resource to be shared among ourselves." Osmond added. The men all felt an illusionary cold breeze at his words and kept quiet. Their gang was much smaller than the Red Salamander because everyone in their gang was a core member. They minimized their numbers to maximize their earnings. They did not need weaklings and only the capable at allowed to join their gang.
Finishing the rest his cigarettes, Osmond flicked the cigarette butt to the side and stood up. "Ready yourselves. We are going to kill our way through the rest of the Black Snake gang."
Osmond did not plant spies in the Black Snake gang like the Red Salamander did and naturally did not know that it has been renamed to Golden Lion gang. He also did not know that they had a new powerful boss either. He had only received word from his backers that the Black Snake gang had lost the support of their backers and it was golden opportunity to take over their territory.
"We are just going to abandon the Grand Serenity Hotel after taking over it?" The core members were taken aback by Osmond's decision.
"We will come back and settle down our new territory after the Black Snake gang is eliminated." Osmond turn his gaze towards the normal staff members. "You better all behave yourselves and not go anywhere until we return, got it?"
Osmond's words were threatening, and the staff members were terrified. They nodded their heads vigorously in understanding. They did not dare to escape in case their faces were remembered by these horrible people.
"Let's go." Osmond signaled his men as he heads towards the entrance. He had only taken a few steps before he stopped in his tracks.
"No need. You can all stay here." A cold voice was heard from the person in black walking towards them with a dangerous aura. Leon had took the liberty to enter through the front entrance seeing that no one was guarding it.
He allowed his killing intent to spill wantonly when he saw the dead bodies by the corner.
"Who the hell are you?"
"There no need to know who I am. You only need to remember that you will all die by my hands." Leon said menacingly but his voice sounded young due to his age.
"Hah… so it's just a kid trying to play hero." Osmond was able to identify the approximate age of the person and concluded that the person shouldn't be his opponent based on age. "Kid, why don't you go play somewh-"
Osmond halted his words abruptly and ducked quickly.
*Swish* *Swish* *Swish*
Leon had fire out his acupuncture needles at the Azure Wolf gang without warning. None of the Azure Wolf gang members were able to react in time and had an acupuncture needle planted into their heads each. Their bodies became slowly dropped to the ground lifelessly with their eyes open. Even in death, they did not know how they died.
Osmond glanced at his fallen brothers before looking back at Leon with some lingering fear. If he had reacted just a bit slower, he would have been killed as well. How was this a kid? This is obviously a master-level assassin! Was his young voice used to throw me off guard?
"Who paid you to come after my life!? I'll pay you back double!"
Osmond's question bewildered him for a slight moment, but Leon dashed forward without answering. Several more needles appear in his hands, but they started to glow red. Leon was instilling fire elements into his needles, making it red hot. The only thing on Leon's mind to was to kill all his enemies swiftly with the best of his abilities.
It wasn't strange for Osmond to think that Leon was a hired assassin. His core members were killed very swiftly and cleanly.
The other party didn't leave him any room for negotiation. Osmond's face turned ugly as he retreated, trying to distance himself. He barely managed to avoid Leon's needles. It was impossible to dodge at such close distance. Since he could not dodge it, he will stop the person's needle by forcing him into close combat!
He made his decision in a split second and charged forward instead of retreating!