Filed to story: A Bullied Boy Died: A Mafia King Woke Up In His Body
“Alcohol?”
“Yes, wine; moonshine mostly. There’s a city-wide ban on alcohol and many other things now, so the gangs have been fighting or negotiating for every inch of territory to cash in on potential customers. That was why we were fighting for that area, Alv… Kyl… Leader, sorry.”
Kyle’s eyes seemed to light up. It seemed that one of his first steps had already been accomplished. “How rich are we now relative to the rest of the city? Top five percent, I assume?”
“Pe-rc-ent? What’s that? Actually, we’ve been in debt to the Crimson Swords in the East Sector for about three months now,” Damian said with a sheepish smile.
Kyle’s eyes immediately lost their light, but he was unfazed. There was still a chance.
“You mentioned arctech-What’s that?”
“Arctech is equipment that relies on energy, specifically arcia energy that can be found stored in arcite ore.”
Kyle recalled seeing the term “arcia energy” in the intrusive purple window that had previously appeared for Ulon’s healing necklace. “Arcite?”
“A mineral that provides arcia energy, other than living beings like us and leylines. Something that powers weapons like your metal pipe.”
Kyle checked his still bloodied metal pipe, noticing the runes on it. It did not activate when he was swinging it for some reason.
“How big is our gang? This can’t be all the members, right? Where are the rest? I was told by a Red Lions member that we control an entire district.”
Damian was ashamed, seeing Kyle ask it with such confidence. “This is our full strength. Twenty men are all we have. We used to be bigger, but we barely have any money to recruit anymore.”
Damian watched Kyle grip the metal pipe even harder, causing him to tremble as Kyle’s face seemed to simmer with rage or disappointment.
Kyle pondered for a moment before realizing something was missing. “Are drugs banned? Psychedelics? Hallucinatory products?” Kyle tried every term he could think of that Damian would register.
“Ps-ki-eric-ks? Drugs? What? If you’re talking about hallucinations, an engraved arctech array or a potion would be able to inflict illusions. We have alchemists in the city, though such potions are ridiculously overpriced and hard to procure. Only the well-to-do use them on the regular for parties…”
A small smile appeared on Kyle’s face as he heard the keywords he wanted to hear, which only frightened Damian even more. It was the smile of a businessman who knew they had found a hole in the market.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Carving Out a Market
The next day…
Kyle’s entire body was aching. He had overexerted himself during the fight, and his muscles screamed for rest. He sat in an opulent red velvet chair, the bloodstains from yesterday long gone and replaced with a slightly worn formal suit appropriated from the stash of the gang. Ulon’s humongous suits clearly did not fit him.
He was in Ulon’s private room, now obviously his. It was filled with useless trinkets, trophies, and a gaudy stuffed head of a wildlife Kyle had never seen before. All extremely distracting and a waste of time, in his opinion.
It had been a bit more than a day since he arrived in the city of Raktor, somehow waking up in another person’s body, along with a holographic interface reminiscent of VR games.
It’s far too real to be a VR game
… Kyle pondered as he checked his face in the mirror, looking nothing like how he had in the past. His face no longer had the perfection of designer genes cultivated over centuries, and his auburn hair was a stark contrast from his previous pristine jet-black hair. Clear blemishes, pimples, and terrible skin all made for what Kyle could only refer to as “mediocre” and hardly attractive.
Not an issue now.
The first rule of thumb for Kyle when entering an unknown and potentially hostile environment was to ensure his safety. By instantaneously taking out Ulon, he had temporarily secured his position as a leader of a gang, albeit of a small one but easier to control and tweak to his preference.
Twenty weak members are hardly enough to serve as a buffer against enemies…
Efficiency was the name of the game when one wanted to be a galactic crime lord. Kyle did not beat around the bush, immediately coming up with a simple step-by-step plan.
Build a solid base or group of people to perform menial labor and reach a position preferably on the same level as his previous titles. Remain hidden from the big powers as much as possible.
Find a niche market to sell, preferably illegal, so as to exploit profit margins. Scale up and dominate the market, then establish a monopoly and maintain it.