The entire alley had been dyed red. Human bodies laid scattered on the ground.
In front of me, a shivering man was seated on the floor. He was looking at me with an expression of terror while a stream of yellow liquid created a puddle on the ground.
"... Now, can you answer some questions?" I smiled brightly at the man. He was one of the weakest robbers, just at the third-layer of mana. The only reason he was alive was that I needed someone to guide me.
"W-What do you want to k-know?" The man asked in a trembling voice. I frowned in disgust, dammit, this man shat himself.
"What gang do you belong, how many members the gang has, the name of your boss. I need that kind of information."
The man paled in fear when he heard my questions. He was not an idiot, so he could understand my purpose based on my questions and means.
However, when he saw my smiling look, he knew that his only way to survive was answering my questions.
The man quickly told me all the information he knew. He even told me the name of the leader's mistress, and how many women he had slept with.
Once he finished speaking, I turned around and started walking away.
"Guide me to the hideout." I ordered coldly.
"O-Only if you p-promise me y-you will not kill me." The man forced himself to say those words despite his fear.
I gave him a brief glance before nodding. "Okay."
The man sighed in relief and stood up before taking me to the gang's base.
The gang he belonged was called Red Skull. It was a medium-sized gang that occupied part of the east of the capital. According to the man, its leader was an eight-layer warrior, and he had three seven-layer warriors as subordinates.
Moreover, he told me that the gang had some connections with the imperial guards and some noble families. That is pretty normal, though. No gang can survive in the capital without a strong enough backer.
As I said before, my best bet to start acquiring support so Dina ascends the throne is the commoners, and the best place to start is with the gangs.
Gangs have a certain level of influence in the capital, mainly among commoners. Even if they can't afford to offend the nobles and have to be careful with the imperial guards, their words have a strong power among commoners. No commoner dares to offend a member of the gangs unless he is strong enough or also has a strong backing.
Furthermore, gaining control of a gang is not hard. Unless the gang is a force belonging to a noble family, you only need to show a stronger punch to become its leader.
Of course, it does not guarantee the members' loyalty, and they will probably try to kill you a few times before accepting you as their leader. But with enough time and enough benefices, they'll become your arm and legs.
The Red Skull's base was located in a bar hidden in a dark alleyway. Even before reaching the bar, I could already feel dozen of gazes looking warily towards me. I got the feeling that they just needed an order to pounce like rabid dogs.
Even the prostitutes nearby had a sharp look on their eyes. I had to admit that this gang had a pretty good sense of unity.
When I reached the door of the bar, a sweet and imposing voice greeted me.
"Ara ara, we have a visitor. Victor, who is our guest?"
A woman walked out of the bar and looked at me with a sharp gaze. She then shot a frowning look to the man that brought me here.
I was a bit surprised. This woman was strong, moreover, she was pretty young, maybe younger than thirty. A younger-than-thirty eighth-layer practitioner is rare even among nobles.
"B-Boss, h-he k-killed Oscar and the others... I d-don't h-have more option b-but bring him here..." The man sobbed with a pleading tone. I put on an amused smile when I heard his answer.
The woman wrinkled her brows. "So, you brought here someone strong enough to kill a band of more than ten skilled men only to save your life?! Don't you care about the lives of your brothers?!"
In the next instant, the woman's belt transformed into a sharp sword. The sword then pierced straight into the man's neck.
The man opened his eyes wide. Until the last second, he could not believe that he had been killed.
"Trash!" The woman spat on the ground with a disgusted look.
I raised an eyebrow, but I did nothing to stop the woman. Even though I promised the man I would not kill him, I cared little about his life or death.
Instead, I was more interested in the woman before me.
I did not expect the leader to be a woman. In fact, when I heard about the leader's mistress and women, I thought he was a man.
It looks like I was too narrowminded in my views.
The woman looked at me after she killed her subordinate and narrowed her eyes. Her blood-red hair waved with the wind and her slender body had a heavy stench of blood. This woman was someone that had killed many people in her life.
However, I remained calm under her gaze.
"Who are you?! Why did you kill my men?!" The woman asked.
I grinned and removed my hood. My red hair shone under the moonlight and my red eyes let out a sharp gleam. I was sure that some of the women nearby let out short gasps.
"You can call me Clark. As for your men... Well, they attacked me first." I chuckled.
The woman's expression turned serious. I felt her body tensing up, ready to attack at any moment.
"I apologize for that. However, you already killed my men. What else do you want?!" She asked coldly.
"... You see, I just arrived at the capital today. And while I was wondering what to do, your men attacked me. At that moment, I had an idea, why not start by becoming an underground boss?"
The woman's eyes turned into slits. "So you want my gang, huh? You have guts."
"You bet."
"However, what does make you think that you will succeed? I advise you to leave now, or else, you will leave as a corpse."
"Is it so? Now I'm more eager to try."
The woman's expression turned cold. "Then, show me where your confidence comes from!"