6-Preparation

*…….* =thought

“…….” =dialogue

**********

Aaron's eyes widened so much that I thought they might pop out of their sockets. I actually agreed with him because, in fact, there was no other gang leader who had attacked another gang's territory alone. This was clearly suicidal.

"Tell me how the gang makes money," I said.

Aaron answered me without hesitation.

"Small-scale robberies and drug trafficking. The gang's main source of income is extorting protection money from others."

I was disappointed when I heard this. It seemed that this gang was being led by incompetent individuals.

I got up from my chair and walked outside, with Aaron following me.

When I stepped outside, there was a crowd of 55 people in front of me. Fifteen people in the crowd were injured, and I couldn't find the guy whose ribs I had broken anywhere.

It seemed he had either died or been taken to the hospital. When I examined the expressions on the faces of the crowd, I saw that four of them were looking at me with anger, probably the former assistant leaders.

"Is there something you want to say?" I asked, pointing my finger at them.

Their glares became even more furious, and they took a step forward.

"I don't know how you fooled so many people, but you can't fool us!" one of them said.

The faces of the other gang members had a curious expression. It seemed they didn't fully believe what had been told to them.

There was a five-meter distance between the four men and me. I saw a gun on one of them and decided to end this quickly.

The red tattoos on my arms lit up and turned into the 'Blades of Chaos.' Under the bewildered gazes of the people around me, I swung my knives and extended their chains.

After spinning the knives around me, I threw them down from above toward the four men.

The chains extended and quickly closed the five meters, the knives cut two of the men in half and hit the ground.

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When the knives touched the ground, there was a half-meter-radius explosion of fire that cracked the concrete and set the remaining two men on fire.

The flames of hell quickly engulfed the two men, turning them into ashes within five seconds. The gang members around me dared not even take a breath.

"Does anyone else here reject my leadership?" I asked, looking at the crowd.

I waited for about two minutes, and no one dared to say a word.

"Good," I said.

"For the next two days, don't enter other gang territories," I added.

I turned and looked at Aaron. He lowered his head in fear.

"While I'm not here, all gang members will exercise," I said.

"Tell me how much we'll earn in a month by raising the protection money we get from people," I added.

After saying these, I turned my back and left the center of the gang. It was already late, and my father had serious rules about not coming home late.

After a ten-minute walk, I arrived at the front of the house. Before entering, I checked my clothes for any bloodstains.

After confirming that there were no bloodstains on my clothes, I opened the door as quietly as possible and went inside.

Just as I was about to open the door to my room, I heard an annoyed voice from behind.

"Derek, do you know what time it is?" he asked.

"Yes, Dad," I replied, trying to look as innocent as possible.

After about five seconds of eye contact with my father, he gave in and sighed.

"You're already twenty-one; as long as you don't overdo it, you can come home late," he said.

"Thank you, Dad!" I said and went into my room.

As soon as I entered my room, I changed my clothes and lay down on my bed. I was mentally exhausted, if not physically. I put my phone under my pillow and drifted off to sleep.

.

.

Just as I was wandering through the realm of dreams, I was shaken awake. When I opened my eyes, I locked gazes with Gwen.

When Gwen saw my bewildered expression, she smiled and said, "It's already morning. We made breakfast when you didn't wake up."

I slowly got out of bed and headed to the kitchen. In the kitchen, my dad was sitting at the dining table, waiting for us.

"You finally woke up, huh?" he said with a chuckle.

"Did you stay out late last night? Are you keeping something from us?" he added with the same expression.

"Or do you have a girlfriend?" Gwen chimed in.

I shot Gwen an annoyed look to silence her. Then, I turned to my dad and said, "I was hanging out with friends from my old school."

Hearing my words, Gwen said, "Don't lie, Derek. You had no friends at school."

I got angry when I heard that and squeezed her left cheek firmly, a habit I had with her since we were kids. She used to beg me to stop every time.

What surprised me was how easily she got free from my grip. She saw the astonishment on my face, smiled, and said, "I'm turning 17 in two days, Derek. I'm not a child anymore, so stop squeezing my cheek!"

"You're turning 17?" I asked in surprise.

Seeing the expression on my face, Gwen got annoyed and said, "Come on, Derek, don't you even know your little sister's age?"

If she hadn't told me, I would have thought she was turning 16. After a bit more arguing with Gwen, our dad told us to stop, and we all had breakfast together.

In my past life, other than in the orphanage, I had never felt the warmth of a family's love. My little sister was the only one who showed me love. After my sister died, the gang took care of me and brought me into their families, but it could never replace the love of a real family.

I've always longed for that love, and finally, I have it in my life.

*I won't let anyone harm my family,* I thought.

After finishing the meal, I took a shower and got dressed. I had a lot of work to do today.