The gang members woke up slowly after a few minutes of forced sleep.
However, they soon realized that their limbs were tied up. Lilith had used a special origin bidding ropes that kept their limbs immobile, making it impossible for them to move or use origin to break free.
Frightened, the gang members looked around with expressions of fear. They tried to find the monster that rendered them unconscious.
Soon, the three strongest gang members woke up.
When they realized that they could not move, their expressions changed. Comparatively, though, their reactions were much calmer than the other gang members.
“… What do you want?” The brown-haired woman, who was also the leader of the Black Snake gang, looked at Lilith with an ice-cold look.
Lilith was unfazed, smirking, she said. “I already told you, didn’t I? I want your gang for my master; you should become his tool.”
The woman’s eyes flashed with a sharp light. Despite being defeated and having her life and death in her hands, the woman remained arrogant and staunch. Lilith was slightly surprised by this; after all, she could feel that her staunchness was not faked and, instead, indeed came from her heart.
Lilith smiled; she had felt her master’s presence for a while. She had almost completed the mission which had been assigned to her, and now it was time for her master to step in.
”Master, I know you are here; why not come out?” Lilith said with her head lowered.
The boss and her two sisters were surprised; they were curious about the master of such a frightening girl, and at the same time, they were wary because even now, they couldn’t feel anyone’s presence; what meant whoever this master was he would be hella strong.
”Sigh! You did a good job, Lilith,” Orpheus said and appeared in the middle of them. The gang members were surprised, and soon their surprise was transformed into fear. By looking at this handsome man with crimson eyes, they felt fear.
Amber looked at the gang members before moving to Lilith.
Among the three strongest gang members, only the leader was still calm. She glared at Orpheus with her eyes filled with hatred.
”Hah! So you are the master. What do you think we are? Did you think that defeating us in battle would make us loyal to you? I bet you are thinking of making us your women and then taking the gang for yourself.” The woman spat on the ground with a mocking look.
Lilith and Amber’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and they were about to step forward, but Orpheus stopped them with his hand.
His face was still expressionless as he looked at the boss, whose body shivered for an unknown reason.
”To answer your first question, I’ll say you’re my tool, and depending on your performance, you can either become a useful tool, even more, or you become useless that can be discarded at any moment.”
The Black Snake gang shivered at Orpheus’s merciless words, and from his tone, they knew he was not joking.
”As for your second question, you will become loyal; if not, I’ll kill your sisters, and you know better than me that I can do that. I need you for a purpose; fulfill that purpose, and endless rewards await you. Do you think you can be my woman?”
At this question, the three, especially the boss, had nothing to say. She could see that, indeed, this young man wouldn’t try to make a move on them when he had such beautiful ladies beside him. Their beauties paled in comparison to those two. Lilith and Amber’s beauty overshadowed them by a large margin.
”So, little girl, you don’t have the choice. It was your bad to have been chosen by me. Well, it can be your good luck depending on your actions.” Orpheus said while calmly waiting for their reaction as he was sure they wouldn’t give up so easily; it would be boring otherwise.
And as expected, someone among the three reacted.
“Sister, don’t listen to him! I don’t mind dying with you!” The rapier-wielding woman yelled.
“… Mm.” The shadow-like girl looked at the leader with a determined expression.
On the other hand, the remaining gang members looked at their leader with expectant expressions. Although some of them seemed ready to die with their leader, most were pleading to her with their eyes.
The leader observed that scene with conflicted emotions. She seemed to be weighing on the options she had, but Orpheus would not let her take her time to decide as he was not here to play.
”Kill two people.” He coldly ordered.
”What?” The two women who talked earlier turned pale.
Lilith acted faster and moved toward a normal gang member and raised her dagger; Scarlett gleamed ominously and was about to claim the man’s life. Amber, who had hesitated first, also moved, ready to kill an old man.
”Stop!!!!” The leader shouted with all her might. If she were late by a millisecond, two of her subordinates she had nurtured would have died. This young man was really ruthless; there was no hesitation in his eyes when he gave that order; it was as if he had ordered something normal. This man was dangerous, the most dangerous person she had ever encountered.
The leader stared at Orpheus and heaved a sad sigh.
“… Despicable.” She spat.
“True. However, I can see that if you don’t surrender, your two sisters will not surrender either, and then this gang will become useless. If something happens, I prefer killing all of you and taking over another gang.”
The woman fell silent. She knew what would happen if she continued to be stubborn; this was not only about her, but the lives of the others were at risk; she didn’t really have the choice.
“… I have some conditions.”
“Sister!” The rapier-wielding woman disagreed, but a glare from the leader shut her up. She knew once her sister took a decision, it was almost impossible to change her mind. Especially not in the current situation.
“Do talk. I’ll consider them.” Orpheus said before sitting on a chair Amber brought from the bar. Lilith and Amber stood behind him like guards.
“First, we never bully the weak, the poor, or the sick. We only steal from the rich. Second, we don’t engage in kidnapping, slavery, or assassinations. Third, we don’t sell drugs.”
”Wow! Pretty clean for an underground gang.” Orpheus could not help but exclaim in surprise.
“But in fact, I like that. I hate most of these things. So do continue.”
Having lived in the slum, he knew what kind of consequences those things had, so naturally he wouldn’t want the force under him to commit any of these things. Besides, it would not be a good thing for his plan if this gang began to sell drugs or did slavery.
The woman heaved a sigh of relief. She then hesitated for a moment and opened her mouth again. “… There is one last condition.”
“Mm?”
“… We are not your properties. We will never become your sex toys.” She said, even though she knew he wouldn’t do anything to them. She must say these words; it was necessary.
Something must have happened to this woman or people closer to her for her to have such a strong reaction when she saw him; no wonder she said those words. Well, he was not going to ask about her trauma, nor did he ever has any plan of making any of them his sex toys.
”Don’t worry, I have never intended to do something like that, to begin with.”
The woman looked at Orpheus and nodded.
“Then from today, you are Black Snake’s leader.”
”That’s a good decision.” Orpheus declared after hearing the woman’s confirmation before ordering Lilith and Amber to release all the gang members from their bindings. Fortunately, none of them attempted to do something foolish, like attacking the group after being released.
One of the reasons was because of how easily Lilith took care of them, and the second reason, the most important one, was because of how scary he was; they were more afraid of him than Lilith and even their boss.
By the way, the brown-haired woman’s name was Katherina, the rapier-wielding woman was called Aileen, and the shadow-like girl was called Stella.
Stella had cat-like red ears and a short red tail; her hair was of the same hue. However, her body was very petite, around 1.55 (5ft) meters tall, and her face portrayed an expressionless look. She was the youngest of the three, the same age as Amber, and she was closer to level 4.
Orpheus had to admit it, she was really talented, and with his training, she would become more powerful. It was surprising how she became this strong with the gang’s limited resources.
“Young master, Let’s go inside to chat. It’s not good for business if we stay crowded here.” Because she didn’t know how to address Orpheus, she opted for a young master.
Orpheus nodded and followed Katherina into the bar using a secret passage. Lilith, Amber, and Stella followed them.