Chapter 52: Black Serpent Gang members

As soon as his cold voice echoed through the area, the seven members of the gang felt a chill run down their spines. It was the instinctive reaction of people who had suddenly found themselves being watched by a terrifying existence, one they could not afford to provoke.

Python slowly looked ahead. The moment his eyes landed on the owner of that voice, his entire body froze. Standing before them was a man wearing a demonic mask and dark trench coat-like armor, his height exceeding six feet and his presence radiating a bone-chilling aura.

Python was not foolish enough to fail to recognize him. There was only one person in the entire Genesis Realm who possessed such an overwhelming presence while wearing that mask.

Darklord.

The world’s strongest player.

"Did you attack him?" Arthur asked calmly, his gaze falling upon the seven men.

"Mr. Darklord, we didn’t know this old man was your man. Please forgive us. We were in the wrong. I am willing to pay compensation," Python said cautiously, keeping his head slightly lowered.

Arthur raised an eyebrow in surprise. The leaders of powerful gangs were usually extremely arrogant and rarely bowed their heads so easily, especially before someone outside their own organization.

Yet this man had immediately admitted his mistake and offered compensation without even attempting to argue.

Arthur was not sure whether Python was simply a coward or whether he was smart enough to understand the difference between pride and survival.

He had never heard of anyone prominent named Python in his previous life. That meant this gang was probably nothing more than a minor force that had never managed to rise to the upper echelons.

"Compensation?" Arthur asked calmly. "How?"

"I have the location of another shelter," Python replied through gritted teeth.

"Not interested."

Arthur shook his head without the slightest hesitation.

"What?"

Python’s mouth fell open in disbelief. He had obtained the locations of those two shelters only after going through considerable trouble. One of them had already been conquered by Darklord, and now even the second location seemed completely useless.

Could it be that Darklord already knew the locations of other shelters?

The possibility was actually quite high. If they had managed to discover these shelters, there was no reason to assume that Darklord could not do the same.

"Then what do you want us to do?" Python asked cautiously.

"Become my subordinates," Arthur said calmly. "Become my hand in the underworld."

He had expected them to refuse. If they rejected his offer, he would simply kill them and move on. He had no intention of wasting time with people who could not recognize an opportunity when it was placed directly in front of them.

Thud!

Python suddenly dropped to his knees.

"Big Boss, are you serious? Can I really become your subordinate?"

His eyes immediately filled with excitement, and tears began streaming down his face. A moment later, he started crying openly as though he had just received the greatest blessing of his life.

"Uuuuu! I am so happy!"

He suddenly turned toward his subordinates and barked, "What are you standing there for, you bastards? Can’t you see Big Boss is standing right there?"

The other six men immediately dropped to their knees as well.

"Big Boss!"

Their voices rang out together with surprising enthusiasm.

Arthur and Sebas both felt the corners of their mouths twitch violently. Neither of them had expected the situation to develop in this direction.

This team was actually quite strong. Even though Sebas now possessed a Legendary Grade class, he still could not gain the upper hand against the seven men when they fought together.

One had to remember that Sebas was an experienced master of combat. For seven people to force him into such a position meant that their combined strength was certainly not ordinary.

Arthur had only been trying to test the waters. He never expected these bastards would be so shameless and would accept his offer almost instantly, throwing away every trace of dignity without hesitation.

"Stand up," Arthur said calmly, despite the surprise in his heart.

The seven men immediately stood up.

"How many members are there in your gang?" Arthur asked.

Python’s face suddenly turned red with embarrassment when he heard the question. He lowered his head awkwardly before answering.

"Umm, Big Boss, actually, only the seven of us are left in the gang now. Those bastards launched a sneak attack on us and almost wiped out every member," Python said indignantly.

Arthur’s expression darkened.

"So you are basically a group of paupers that I just took in?"

For a moment, Arthur seriously considered smashing his head against the ground.

No wonder these bastards had been so eager to become his subordinates. They were practically homeless in the underworld.

Python stared down, not daring to raise his head and meet Arthur’s eyes.

Arthur waved his hand, and seven complete sets of Legendary Grade armor, weapons, and boots appeared on the ground.

"Equip these and give me your Player IDs. I will transfer enough money for you to extract thembfrom the game and return to reality," Arthur ordered calmly.

"Then log out and rebuild your gang. I want you to turn it into an international-grade organization. Do you understand?"

Python and his six subordinates stared at the equipment lying on the ground.

Their eyes widened when they sensed the terrifying aura radiating from the Legendary Grade items. To Arthur, they were nothing more than equipment he had no use for, but to these seven men, they were priceless treasures.

They immediately rushed toward the equipment like hungry wolves and began claiming their respective sets.

"Big Boss, don’t worry!" Python said excitedly. "We were already considered a relatively powerful national-grade gang, although we weren’t as strong as the major organizations."

"But with you as our backer, I can definitely establish an international-grade gang within a month!"

Arthur nodded.

He then transferred 10,000 Divine Gold to each of the seven men.

The moment they heard the system notification, all seven swallowed hard. Their eyes practically lit up as they felt an intense urge to spend the Divine Gold and increase their levels immediately.

"Don’t level up yet," Arthur said, stopping them before they could act. "I’ll tell you when to level up."

Arthur wanted every one of his subordinates to test the cultivation technique first. Only after they understood its benefits would he allow them to level up and attempt to reach Level 11.

The seven men immediately logged out from the Genesis Realm.

"Sebas, come with me," Arthur said.

The old man had already consumed a HP potion to replenish his depleted health. He immediately nodded and followed Arthur toward the Nightfall Sanctuary.

"Okay, Young Master."

The two of them soon entered the sanctuary.

The moment Sebas stepped inside, his eyes widened.

Thousands upon thousands of monster corpses were scattered throughout the enormous shelter. Even after death, each corpse continued to radiate a powerful aura, creating an overwhelming atmosphere within the sanctuary.

"Bind yourself to this shelter," Arthur ordered.

Sebas did not question him. He immediately stepped forward and completed the binding process.

A few moments later, the shelter officially became connected to Sebas.

"Young Master, it is done," Sebas said respectfully.

"Good. Now log out and bring all ten of my cousins to this shelter."

Arthur waved his hand, dismissing him.

Sebas immediately logged out from the Genesis Realm.

Arthur then turned his attention toward the mountain of monster corpses. There were around five thousand Boss-grade corpses scattered throughout the shelter, each containing a considerable amount of energy.

Without hesitation, Arthur activated his extraction ability.

The corpses rapidly disappeared one after another as streams of energy flowed into his body.

A notification appeared before his eyes.

[Extraction successful.]

[Obtained 9,500 Attribute Points.]

Arthur immediately invested 9,000 of the newly acquired points into his Spirit attribute.

His Spirit increased by nine points in an instant.

Arthur looked toward the vast shelter around him, his eyes gleaming beneath the demonic mask.

"Let’s clear another shelter."

He paused for a moment before continuing in a calm voice.

"I’ll give this one to the government."

With that, Arthur stepped out of the Nightfall Sanctuary and began moving toward his next target.