Recently, Zhang Heng experienced his tightest schedule ever. During the day, he had to deal with the expansion of his power. When they first took over the Iron Handcuff’s gang, they were just a small and inconspicuous force. But afterward, the newly appointed boss, Soap, discarded his cowardice and transformed himself into a mad dog. He began to provoke the nearby gangs and declared war on them. Once, he even provoked two more powerful gangs on the same day. Hence, Soap was supposed to be killed by his enemies when he headed for lunch. Fortunately, the patrol team that was waiting at the side managed to stop them in time, eventually saving him. Simulteneously, all the gangsters who attempted to kill Soap were taken down, and they were charged with attempted murder.
That night, someone came to attack the patrol station. If it were the old station, they would have been forced to release the captured gang members, and Aris might have had to apologize to the gang boss. But now, the patrol team had gathered their family members in a unit on the top floor. After that, the rest put on armor, took up weapons, and silently guarded behind the gate.
A short while later, Soap received news that another gang would attack the patrol station. So, he quickly rushed over with his men and greeted the gang boss with a grin. Before the enemies could figure out what was going on, Soap and his men had drawn their weapons, readied to attack. And on the other side, the patrol team opened the gate, and Aris led his men to charge at them. Soap and Aris attacked them from both sides. In a blink of an eye, they defeated the enemies. The enemies were then forced to drop their weapons, kneel, and surrender.
This scene was similar to the night they defeated Iron Handcuff’s gang. Although the enemy outnumbered them, they did not expect that they’d be working with the patrol team to mess them up. This was the second time Soap and the patrol team set a trap for them to step in. They had lost so thoroughly this time that getting back up again would be very hard.
…
In just two weeks, Soap’s gang had expanded six-fold, and they were almost at their limit. His gang hadn’t been built on a good foundation, much like a premature, deformed baby. Before he even learned to walk, he had started baring his fangs, attempting to chew at his enemies, hunting down all that stood in his path. Under the care of the patrol team, however, he prevailed.
Presently, they had now almost made all the money that they could make.
Now everyone knew that Soap’s gang was under the protection of the patrol team, naturally causing the other gangs to be more careful. They had to make sure that the two sides would not work together to attack them. Earlier, Iron Head had sent a team of people to attack Soap, but they failed miserably. After that, they sent another team of people to attack the patrol station but were yet defeated. Basically, a situation like this would not happen anymore.
On the other hand, Soap also needed some time to digest what he had swallowed recently. Whether it was the area he took over or the gang members he had, he could not even remember his men’s names. Naturally, there was no sense of unity among them. If he was not paying them, his men would have run away and joined other gangs. Besides, he just killed another gang boss and had no idea what the new members would think of him. When he learned that Zhang Heng had decided to give him a two-week leave to deal with his internal affairs, Soap was relieved.
Zhang Heng was also a little surprised by Soap’s performance. It was much better than he expected. Considering the latter’s background, Zhang Heng initially thought that he could expand his power by two or three times, but he did not expect that he would exceed the limit of growing further.
Nonetheless, Zhang Heng had no intention to change plans. He summoned the group of gangsters who helped him investigate Varo’s enemies, and he was preparing to create a new gang. For now, Zhang Heng had no plan to ask Soap to expand his gang. That was because his gang was close to growing into a medium-sized one. And they had also joined forces with the patrol team. It began to draw the public’s attention.
So Zhang Heng intended to create a new gang. This time the patrol team would not help them so blatantly. The new gang also had an advantage, however. At the same time, Zhang Heng just finished his first performance at the Victor Arena. That day, the stands were filled to the brim with spectators. Mark Reuss, the greedy gladiator school owner, sold 50% more tickets than the arena’s capacity, leaving the audience to worry if the stand would actually collapse.
Fortunately, the performance would undoubtedly be a huge success. Zhang Heng again proved his popularity as the number one gladiator in Rome, and according to the agreement between him and Mark Reuss, he also received a large sum of money.
Zhang Heng used half of his money to form the new gang. He also planned to use the threat posed by the patrol team and Soap, the Mad Dog, to force some small gangs to join his new gang. After that, he would turn his man into the boss of the new gang. And now, the embryonic form of this alliance had begun to take shape.
Zhang Heng had been very sensible. He chose to absorb the gangs at the bottom of the pyramid and avoid touching the powerful ones. When those big gangs realized what was happening, they would find that the bottom of the pyramid had gone through a huge change.
Other than that, the patrol team had also started recruiting more soldiers after their big windfall. Of course, the new recruits were not considered patrol members just yet. They could only be regarded as informants who assisted the patrol members in arresting criminals. However, these informants could also turn into thugs when necessary.
This place was full of poverty and sin. However, one good thing did come out of the poor conditions. As long as one was willing to spend the money, they could recruit as many as they liked to work for them. Zhang Heng’s plan to integrate large and small forces was steadily advancing. His real focus, however, was not here.
It took two weeks for Dadatis to finish all the lessons, and since he memorized everything that Dadatis told him, Zhang Heng gained a Lv1 assassin skill. After he had fully understood and mastered those things, his skill should be upgraded to Lv2. It would take him two months to do so, however.
The time to say goodbye had come.
Dadatis told Zhang Heng that he had taught him everything he knew. He had been procrastinating for quite some time, and it was time to hit the road to accomplish what the priestess entrusted him with. So when their last training session ended, the two said goodbye by the Tiber River. And Zhang Heng also brought a bottle of wine to bid him farewell.
Dadatis asked after he took over the wine, “How about Commodus? Did he visit you again? With the interest he has in you, shouldn’t he come to visit you once? After all, it has been a long time since you won the championship.”
Zhang Heng shook his head. “I think the people around him are stopping him from seeing me. When I resolve the matter here, I will return in Commodus’s sights. ”
“That’s good, get rid of Altrus as soon as possible, and you can be a Balance Blade core member sooner.” After Zhang Heng told him his plan, Dadatis no longer had any doubts about him. He then uncorked the wine bottle and took in a whiff. “This wine is not bad, worth at least three gold coins.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
Zhang Heng was not short of money now.
Dadatis then pushed the cork into the bottle again, and he sighed. “Do you remember what I said before, where the Hound killed one of us? They have not done anything for a long time, and that’s not a good sign. I’ve been a little nervous recently, and I feel that something big might happen soon.”
“Did your god not tell you the answer?” Zhang Heng asked rhetorically.
“Watch your mouth. The priestess often tells me that you are rude and disrespectful.”
Dadatis was displeased.
“Then, did she tell you that she planned to throw me into the river?”
“Anyway, you are going to be one of us soon. Try to get along well with your companions. Given the distrust that the other members have toward you, you can only talk to the priestess if you have any questions. I will tell you how to contact her later,” Dadatis said.
Zhang Heng shrugged. “You have the final say.”
“I thought I could stay with you a little longer and arrange everything for you, but it now seems that you can only rely on yourself.” Dadatis sighed again.
“Don’t worry. I can handle the tasks given to me. Don’t be long-winded. Hurry up and go your way. You are so old. It will take you much time to get to your destination,” Zhang Heng said.
“…”
“In that case, let’s say goodbye here.” Dadatis stopped walking. “I also left a gift for you. Due to your bad attitude, I decided not to tell you where I placed it. Figure it out yourself.”
Dadatis finished his last sentence and felt a lot more comfortable. He winked at Zhang Heng again before he jumped on the boat by the river.
