Filed to story: A Bullied Boy Died: A Mafia King Woke Up In His Body
“All squads, retreat now!” Wrent ordered, aiming to conserve his forces.
I must cut my losses and reorganize before it’s too late!
The Red Lions were more than happy to comply, immediately retreating and limping away.
The Seven Snakes did not chase them, instead letting them retreat slowly. They themselves did not go unscathed, having suffered a few injuries and concussions far worse than the Red Lions. The potions helped them with the grit to stay standing after the brutal clash.
Should I call for reinforcements from the main base? The brief thought flashed through Wrent’s mind when he realized he was now on an even playing field with the Seven Snakes, and may have even lost. Even if half of them returned, he had no Stamina Potions left to give them.
He shuddered when he thought of how the boss of the Red Lions would react if he asked for help. The main base had problems of their own when fighting other gangs, and if Wrent admitted he couldn’t handle a small-time group like the Seven Snakes, he could forget about climbing the ranks.
My position as the Left Paw would be stripped regardless of victory. I’ll have to do this myself.
Eventually, the squads returned, including the one that had lost the radio. They had to leave three of their members behind while the other squads returned intact but still wounded.
“W-What happened to our potions?!” a returning squad member exclaimed upon seeing the mess of broken crates and liquid on the floor.
Wrent didn’t respond, inwardly cursing for not protecting it to the best of his ability. He took out a secret stash of Health Potions, distributing them to the squad leaders.
“One squad will keep guard and patrol the district lest the Seven Snakes try to attack while we’re weak. Rotate every eight hours. All other squads are to sleep.” Wrent knew they needed to rest if he wanted to have a shot at winning at all.
With the assault failing, they had now entered a protracted conflict stage.
Horizontal Merger
“Sir, how did you know they weren’t going to call in reinforcements? It seems stupid not to do so, seeing as they lost half a squad.” Damian was confused as he oversaw the associates dragging captured Red Lions members to their holding cells.
“Wrent is a showman through and through. Any action that could potentially damage his reputation wouldn’t be taken. Even then, us providing Strength Potions to many of the other smaller gangs around them has increased the number of issues their main base has to deal with, which means they can spare even fewer men to counter us,” Kyle explained.
“Then why didn’t we chase them down and defeat them in one single blow? Now they’ll have time to recover and retaliate in a few days.”
“A cornered star fleet is just as dangerous as a wounded one.”
“Fleet? As in naval battles?”
“Never mind. Either way, pushing them too hard would attract more attention from the major bases. The victory over them must be complete but not too flashy.”
Damian finally understood Kyle’s line of thinking. It wasn’t right to go all out and stomp the opposition in a domineering fashion, especially when the foundations of the gang weren’t solid enough. There were too many ‘big fishes’ in the district watching right now. Having the Seven Snakes come to a draw or a very minor victory was less alarming.
The two of them began checking on the injured members, with Kyle healing them with his Necklace of Healing. The Red Lions were still dominant when it came to weaponry, causing some of the Seven Snakes members to fall unconscious after fighting enemy squad leaders fitted with arctech equipment. A few even had mangled or severely bruised limbs.
I should reverse-engineer a Health Potion after this.
He soon returned to his office, tired from the intense running he had had to do. The plan had been executed perfectly, though he might have been forced to buy the Aero Shoes from the dealer to move faster. With this, the chances of the Red Lions attacking them would be much lower than expected; they were now even in numbers.
Kyle was well aware that the Red Lions still had the edge in terms of equipment, as evidenced by the damage inflicted on his gang members. Nevertheless, he wasn’t worried at all.
In a few days, they will crumble, and it’ll be an easy negotiation…
*****
Five days after the assault…
Wrent woke up groggy, his forehead sweating buckets as he struggled to get up from his bed.
Fuck. Have I been infected with a plague or something? He could feel his heart rate increasing, and there was a general sinking feeling in his stomach.
The nerves on his jaw and spine were especially tender, as though he could feel every millimeter of his gums going numb, causing him to try to dislodge the feeling constantly.
The other Red Lions members were not faring any better either; some were puking or reporting intense nausea. “What in the world is going on?” Wrent muttered as he watched the members stumble about, lacking strength. “Hey, you. Weren’t you supposed to be on patrol? What if the Seven Snakes attack?”
“H-Huh?” The Red Lions member could barely register what Wrent was saying, obviously hallucinating.