Rego started walking as soon as he counted to ten. Now that he was in Micah's good books, he had to make sure he stayed there and continued raising Micah's opinion of him. Besides, it was a perfect opportunity to settle some old grudges.
And coincidentally enough, one of the thugs Rego didn't quite get along with was one of the closest of those who refused to line up in front of Micah. After absorbing the pol he got from taking everyone's bets, Rego was about as strong as Dennis had been, which meant that the ordinary thugs who couldn't beat Dennis also couldn't beat Rego.
Rego walked toward the first victim with a menacing grin as he cracked his knuckles.
"What an obedient dog you've become, Rego. It suits you."
Rego didn't bother listening to the thug's taunt and reached out with a hand to grab him by the collar before lifting him up and slamming him down on the ground. And then, inspired by Micah, Rego wrapped his hands around the thug's jaw and the back of his head before twisting and snapping the thug's neck.
The sudden brutality startled the other thugs into either trying to slip away or lining up.
"Don't stop them. Let them run. They can't leave the town anyway."
Micah stopped Rego and the other thugs from chasing after those who tried to flee. People who fled when given a second chance to show their allegiance weren't people Micah wanted as his subordinates. He had already given them a chance to come under his wings when he benevolently let them save their lives in exchange for pol.
At that time, the thugs had claimed to recognize Micah as the shot caller since they were afraid of death and losing their pol. But now they had already lost their pol, and Rego's brutality and Micah's order to kill were obvious signs that they would die if they hung around for too long.
Thankfully, it didn't look like Micah had any intentions of stopping them from fleeing this time.
Eventually, all the thugs left lined up in front of Micah. And the ones with strengthened bodies stood diagonally behind him, with Rego and Artholomew on either side and Dennis slightly behind Artholomew.
"So. I'm planning to buy two buildings where we will take care of our future operations. But for that. I need pol. Any suggestions?"
"..."
"Just raise your hand and say whatever's on your mind."
"..."
None of the thugs seemed overly eager to share their ideas. But eventually, one brave soul raised their hand.
"Yes?"
"How about stealing it?"
"Good idea. From who?"
"..."
The person who asked the question was silent, but someone else raised their hand to answer.
"Why not do it like we usually do and take a couple of coins from everyone else?"
"Rego, how much do we need for the two buildings?"
"A little more than five silver."
"And how long would it take us to gather that much by taking a few coins from all the residents of Vanitapolis?"
"If we could do that, it would only take us a day or two."
"Oho? And why can't we do that?"
"The other gangs would stop us or get to the slackers before us."
"Great. Do you all know what that means?"
"..."
"Our target is the other groups of lowlife bastards who just go around stealing from the poor people who can hardly feed themselves."
A few of the thugs looked around in confusion since they couldn't understand how they were different, but no one said anything except Artholomew.
"Sorry, sir. But the demons of Vanitapolis will probably stop us."
"Hmm? Why?"
"To prevent a monopoly. They don't care if several groups go around taking pol from each other and the ordinary slackers. But if one group takes pol from everyone else or manages to unite Vanitapolis, the person at the top of the pyramid will become too strong for the demons to handle, even the ones with abilities."
But in response to Artholomew's concerned warning, Micah just smiled.
"Let me handle that."
Micah turned to face the thugs again.
"Great. Our objective for the moment is set. We're going to go around and take over the other groups before taking over the city. Any objections?"
Micah's newly recruited subordinates couldn't help but be worried, especially after hearing what Artholomew said. There was also the fact that none of the other groups would willingly give in to Micah, so there would probably be a lot of fighting and killing.
But it was too late to back down now. Micah didn't look like the kind of person that would give up. And if they weren't on the same side as him, they would inevitably end up against him sooner or later. And in that case, it would obviously be better to stay on the same side as him. Rego was a great example of how well one could flourish if one followed Micah.
The thugs held onto the hopes of rising to the top like Rego had as they followed Micah to the group closest to them. It had taken Rego one opportunity to rise from an ordinary thug with nothing special about him to the new gang leader's second-in-command. And considering what they were about to attempt, there would probably be a lot of opportunities for them to rise to a level close to Rego.
The thugs used that kind of hope to delude and motivate themselves as they marched through the streets toward their first target. While the slackers and ordinary residents on the streets hurried away and out of their way, there was no way the group of thugs could do the same and abandoned their hangout, which was the only way they had to defend themselves.
Since they had the home-ground advantage and the estate on their side, Micah's targeted group of thugs naturally didn't have anything to fear, even if they were outnumbered.
When they arrived, Micah and the others saw that the members of their first target group had already lined up and grabbed whatever they could to use as weapons.