Rego, excited by the thought of finally getting superhuman strength, quickly listened to Micah’s order and absorbed the pol he got from all the losing bets everyone made. Naturally, more than a few were upset to see their pol go up in smoke like that. But when Rego tested out his newfound strength by picking one of the most vocal protesters and throwing him a couple of meters, the others suddenly grew quiet.

Since neither Rego nor Micah had fully transcended the limits of a human, it might be possible to overpower them if they all worked together. However, the first few people who attacked would undoubtedly die.

And people in Hell generally weren’t selfless enough to sacrifice themselves in order to help others flee under the pretext of working together to bring Micah and Rego down. The people in Hell were more the kind of people who didn’t want to suffer alone. So, if a few of them were going to suffer, it wouldn’t be even better if all of them did.

Eventually, Rego barely had to do anything to stop people from leaving since the people closer to Micah and Rego started grabbing and holding onto the others who were at the edge of the gathering.

With the attitude of bringing others down with them, it was a done deal for Micah to begin collecting life-saving fees.

“Isn’t this great? You all get to enjoy both the pleasure of giving gifts to a friend while also donating some money to save lives.”

Of course, the lives they saved by donating were their own, so they didn’t really feel that great. And it wasn’t like they were giving to a charity that would save the planet and, in turn, the lives of the people who lived on it. They were paying ransom to the person who held their lives hostage.

But at least they weren’t alone!

It was a meager consolation, but the spectators and thugs held onto it as they lined up in front of Micah and handed him the pol they had left after betting on the fights. Rego offered to take a line as well to lighten Micah’s load, but he wasn’t as good at staring people in the eye until they coughed up all of their pol. So instead, Rego focused on making sure that no one tried to sneak away. He also entered the group’s house and dragged out two thugs.

It was an exaggeration to say that he dragged them out since they walked on their own. But the displeased faces they had made it more than obvious that they weren’t lining up willingly. But neither Micah nor Rego cared about the feelings of the people whose lives they were saving.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Eventually, Micah had already received pol from nearly everyone, and he began nearing the end of the line, where the final two potentially dangerous thugs of Rego’s crew were. Ernest and Bruder.

Maybe befitting of their reputation as possessing superhuman strength, neither of them had a lot of pol to give Micah. But it might have been that they absorbed it while they stayed inside the house where no one could see them.

If they tried to cheat Micah out of his pol by absorbing it in front of them, it was quite clear what Micah would do. Without pol to buy their lives back from him, Micah would obviously have to take their lives.

However, if they left just enough to appease Micah, Ernest and Bruder didn’t have to worry about dying and losing the pol that they had just absorbed. The gloomy-looking Ernest and the gentle giant-looking Bruder both shivered a little under Micah’s scrutinizing gaze. But Micah didn’t say anything even after accepting their pol and thanking them for saving a life.

The two sighed in relief and shared a glance before leaving to reenter the house.

With everything done, Micah patted his surprisingly flat pocket with a smile on his face.

“You’ve done well, Rego.”

“Thank you, boss.”

After witnessing Micah’s fights and subsequent success in cowing the thugs and spectators, Rego’s loyalty toward Micah soared. He didn’t even feel any embarrassment when he addressed Micah as his boss.

Micah handed a few coins to Rego as he spoke.

“Absorb some more and stay here and keep an eye on these guys. Tie them up if you need.”

“Yes, boss. May I ask what you’re going to do?”

“I’ve got stuff to do. Oh, and see if you can find a nicer place to stay. I don’t like this house.”

“Yes, boss!”

Rego saluted and watched as Micah left the yard and started walking through the town. He was curious about what Micah was going to do. But now that he had decided to become Micah’s underling, he had to stick with it. Besides, he had gained more in a few hours than he had gained during his entire stay in Hell as soon as he took the initiative to help Micah.

Rego couldn’t help but feel that he had made quite a splendid decision, and he resolved to make sure Bunt knew what was going on so that he could also share in the benefits that would surely come as they followed Micah.

The first item on his agenda as Micah’s number one underling was to wait for the three thugs to wake up before tying them down or guaranteeing that they knew who was in charge. Rego wasn’t sure he knew they would be subservient just because Micah killed them, especially when he used underhanded tricks, so he went to get some rope from the house.

Meanwhile, Micah was already reaching the outskirts of town on the way toward Pride’s Mansion, where Baldas waited for him. He had initially intended to find a way to get some tools or another method to use to pass through the thicket covering Pride’s Mansion. But things had gone as they did, and Micah didn’t regret it one bit.

He had gotten a little more than a silver coin of pol.