Chapter 51: Recruiting The Milten Gang
Milten gang had about thirty members, so Klaus could make great use of them, but for now he had nothing for them to do, or even if he did, he couldn’t think of it at the moment, not when he was already busy thinking about ways to save Ryan, or at least obtain concrete evidence of him being kidnapped by the Scorpio gang.
He stared at their kneeling figures for a long while and asked, "What value can the Milten gang offer me?"
Mercy, who had convinced himself that the masked monster was going to refuse him, breathed a sigh of relief and raised his head to answer, "We will do anything you want us to."
Klaus’s gaze shifted between Eddie and Jose, and he asked after placing a hand on his chin, "You are the Boss of the Milten gang. Are you sure you can make such statements on a whim?"
Mercy’s expression turned conflicted as he once again began to brood over his decision before finalising.
As the Boss of the gang, Mercy had to put his gang members above everything else, or at least that’s what a responsible gang leader would do.
Klaus was aware that Mercy was competent enough to have created the Milten gang without anyone’s help, but that competency ended right there.
The only thing they had to show for themselves was the territory the Bruma Syndicate had allowed them to manage.
’If they can fight and follow orders, I can teach them everything else,’ Klaus remarked inwardly.
He didn’t need them to be strategically competent; he could simply train them to become a battle force for the future.
’I have to start from somewhere,’ Klaus mumbled in his head and asked the system, ’System, can you check whether it is still possible for them to awaken or not?’
[I cannot.]
’Can you be useful for once?’ Klaus clicked his tongue.
[Host seems to believe that I am some kind of miracle doer. Has your mental illness finally taken over?]
’I have no mental illness,’ he grumbled.
[That is exactly what a mentally ill person would say. If Host is that confident, why are you stopping me from initiating a checkup?]
’Heh. Are you trying to wound my pride? Try again. I am the most shameless person alive. I don’t need your checkup to know that I am alright.’
[I can conclude that much by witnessing how you have been bullying these people.]
He furrowed his brows. ’I am not bullying them.’
[If that makes Host feel better, then sure.]
’Ugh! This bastard system!’ Klaus clenched his fist and noted, ’So I have no choice but to hope that they will be the few awakened humans... That doesn’t feel good at all.’
[Host does not have to worry about that.]
A surprised look appeared on his face, and he asked, ’Why is that?’
[It is possible for non-awakened humans who have managed to survive the mana uprising to awaken by consuming a mana crystal.]
’What’s a mana crystal?’
[If a high amount of mana is contained in a small area, it starts to crystallise into mana crystals.]
’Oh?’
Two minutes passed in their chat, and at the same time, Mercy made his decision.
"If... if you promise our safety, we are ready to do anything for you," Mercy muttered with a determined look on his face.
Klaus walked over to him and said, "I want you to find concrete proof about the Scorpio gang or the Corals gang kidnapping a kid named Ryan."
Mercy nodded, but the very moment his expression turned troubled, he mumbled, "B-But how?"
"Huh?" Klaus frowned behind his mask. "You are asking me how you are going to do that? What need do I have of you if I have to think of everything myself?"
Eddie and Jose looked at Mercy as though they were looking at a dead person.
"N-No!" Mercy waved his hands in refusal and shook his head before he added, "I mean, do you want us to go there and ask for that kid? What’s a name alone gonna do? At least give me an image."
’Heh,’ Klaus smirked behind the mask and noted inwardly, ’Even while being in such a difficult situation, he can think clearly. It wasn’t a bad decision to test him.’
Klaus turned around and walked toward the warehouse’s back.
"Don’t worry about that. I will send it to you. For now, continue to act like Bruma’s dogs, like always."
"What are we to call you?" Jose asked.
Eddie and Mercy turned to him and inwardly facepalmed themselves. ’Why didn’t I ask that?’
Klaus grinned behind the mask and added in a deep voice, "The Maker."
The three repeated the name in their heads and burned it into their memories.
Mercy and the other two gang members stared at his departing back till he vanished behind the heap of broken-down machines and cars and breathed a sigh of relief.
"My legs have gone numb from kneeling," Eddie grumbled with a pained look as he pushed himself to stand up.
"Same," Jose added as he did the same.
Meanwhile, Mercy’s face was blanketed in darkness, and he muttered, "Oye."
Eddie and Jose turned to him with annoyed expressions and muttered at the same time, "Wha—"
The words died down in their throats, and they gulped audibly, seeing the furious look on Mercy’s face.
Veins throbbed all over his forehead and face, and he said while cracking his knuckles, "Seems like you bastards forgot who the Boss is. Let me remind you."
Jose waved his hands in defeat and stammered, "W-Wait, Boss! We didn’t mean to! We were just scared and stressed—"
"Die!" Mercy slammed his fist into his face.
After leaving the warehouse, Klaus rushed away from there.
"Bruma Syndicate mustn’t have treated them well. Otherwise, Mercy wouldn’t have decided to betray them so easily."
[What if he is just acting?]
"Even if he is, I don’t lose anything."
A few minutes later, he reached the main busy street and took a taxi to leave the area.