"Brother…"
Angus suddenly turned around.
He seemed to have heard Ian calling him.
Angus shook his head. It must be his imagination, how could he hear Ian who was thousands of miles away from where he was.
"Boss, they're here." His subordinate came up to him and reported.
Angus nodded.
Turning back around to get to business, Angus saw the approaching cowering men who were the current leader and vice-leader of the Viper Gang.
The Viper Gang was a small gang that was subordinated under the Everett Mafia Group in the early days of when Angus Everett had newly taken over his position as the boss of the Everett Mafia Group after his parents' unfortunate deaths.
Angus furrowed his eyebrows deeply. 'Lately, all these small gangs under me have been acting up mysteriously one after another. They have discreetly violated a lot of the rules I have set down, but inevitably, their secretive actions were discovered by my men. If they weren't in on it together, I don't believe they would have the guts, or is another rival group targeting us again? If it's that, what could they gain from all these small, insignificant incidents? Don't tell me that like ants, they want to use quantity to overwhelm an elephant—How foolish they are in that case.'
"B-boss Everett," the leader of the Viper Gang tremblingly greeted Angus who stood domineeringly astride in the hall of the Viper Gang's base.
Wearing a suit of black and a long and wide coat jacket that made him look dashing, Angus was breathtakingly handsome and cold amongst the bumbling fools around him.
With a sweep of his cold gaze, the other party instantly shut up even without being told.
Right now, Angus has no patience to listen to their excuses, he's been out on this gang business trip for more than a month now, and it will soon be Ian's birthday. Angus was currently hurrying things along so that he can get back in time for his little brother's birthday celebration. As well as to make sure the birthday party would go swimmingly since he had invited all those slippery old foxes and flattering pigs.
It would be the first time for Angus to show the world who his little brother—who they should never mess with—was. A society debut, one would call it.
The party will serve as both a celebration and a warning.
But for some unknown reasons, things here were dragging out longer than he had anticipated before he came on this trip.
With Levi looking after Ian, Angus was reassured, but he still felt agitated when he thought he might end up missing Ian's 16th birthday because of all these complacent and trouble-making buffoons.
With visible impatience and anger written on his face, the Viper Gang's leader wanted to cry out in grievance. He really had no idea that some of his men were breaking the rules of the Everett Mafia Group.
Even if someone gave him ten guts he would never dare to go against Boss Everett! Even in his wildest imaginations! He would rather sooner off himself!
Angus Everett, the young boss of the Everett Mafia Group, wasn't someone to laugh at. His cold-blooded reputation was carved out by his own hands with the blood of many.
The days after he took over the throne as the king of the Everett Mafia Group were the bloodiest that the underworld has ever seen.
After the death of the Everett couple, tens of greedy gangs and organizations saw that the new boss of the huge cake that was Everett Mafia Group was young and inexperienced, parentless with no one to guide him, and with an apparent fatal weakness. With uncontrollable darkness and arrogance in their hearts, they coveted the Everett group and stretched out their dirty hands toward it.
None of them could help themselves from such a good opportunity they might never get again.
One by one, they plotted against the young Angus and tried to snatch from him what was his.
They even targeted Ian, his only remaining family. Attempted kidnappings, kidnappings, blackmails, and even assassinations.
As the world would have it, it was only through the great wash of blood that those attempts and plots gradually dwindled.
In that period of time, rivers of blood flowed through the streets and alleys, and mountains of corpses laid everywhere. They were the most horrifying days the citizens of the underworld had ever witnessed in their life, never to be forgotten even in their old age. Even dementia couldn't make them forget those crimson skies dyed in the blood that rose into the air.
That was how Angus grew to be so feared by everyone, and no one dared to provoke him. Not a soul in the underworld did not know to stay away from his bad side.
Angus is feared and continues to be feared by everyone in the underworld.
And the leader of the Viper Gang was no exception.
He was just the small head of a small gang, whose father died and was ushered onto the empty seat as the new head.
His father had been one of those who watched with green eyes at the Everett Mafia Group, with the ambition of taking down the "weakened" group after losing its leadership, in order to strengthen his own gang.
Sadly, his ambitions were but a mere daydream, never to come true. The Viper Gang's former leader had overestimated himself and underestimated the newly crowned heir.
With one shot and one kill, he died by the unshaking hands of the new head of the Everett Mafia Group.
In other words, the person in front of the current leader of the Viper Gang—Angus Everett, looking as icy cold as always to outsiders—was the killer of the leader's own father.
Hold a grudge, you ask? Utter nonsense! The Viper Gang's leader dares not even let out a peep in front of the other let alone hold a grudge that could easily lead to his own death just like his father. He was not so greedy and foolish. The leader of the small Viper Gang was sensible and he was content with his lot in life.
And Angus understood this fact. How else do you think he would let the son of a man who plotted against him live and even take over the dead old man's gang?
It's precisely because Angus saw through on how cowardly and timid the middle-aged son of the former Viper Gang leader was that he spared the other's life and allowed him and his gang to be under his group. Although they were not competent enough nor could be trusted wholly, they can be useful when it comes to competing numbers with numbers.
Not just the Viper Gang, the situations of most of the gangs who attacked Angus in the early days were the same. They were subdued and brought under his group. Only those gangs who tried to kill Ian and who were rebellious beyond control were mercilessly eliminated at Angus's order.
In this way, under Angus, the Everett Mafia Group grew bigger and bigger and became uncontested among the rest of the underworld groups. Even their former rivals could hardly make a big impact on them nowadays.
No one in the underworld had a spare life they could throw away to Angus.
However, there will always be some courageous fools who don't learn their lessons around him.
Angus suspected that this was one of those occasions.
But a nagging feeling inside told him otherwise, and that he should be doubly careful. Something dark was at play here.
But what?
"Bring me the men who made trouble and went against my rules," Angus commanded. His authoritative demeanor made the Viper Gang leader sweat buckets, soaking his clothes, and nod quickly in compliance.
"Hurry, hurry! Bring those buffoons here this instant!" Turning to his right-hand man, the Viper Gang leader shouted at him with wide, urgent eyes.
"Y-yes, right away, boss!" The right-hand man ran away in a haste. He could not stand the cold, blood-thirsty aura coming from Angus that seemed to freeze his blood flow, so he simply escaped with the excuse of following his leader's order.
Before half an hour was up, the right-hand man and some Viper Gang members dragged twenty tied-up men up before the boss of the Viper Gang and Angus.
During the time of waiting, a subordinate of the Everett group had placed a chair in the middle of the hall for Angus to sit on.
With a sweep of his clothes, Angus seated himself, his movement swift and clear-cut, his posture elegant yet powerful. Crossing one leg over the other and giving off a mafia boss vibe, Angus stared wordlessly with invisible pressure at the uncontrollably sweating Viper Gang leader who stood before him, afraid to find a seat and sit down in Angus's presence.
Even while Angus was seated and his height dropped to cause his deadly orange eyes to look up at the Viper Gang's leader, the latter felt as though the former were looking down at him all the same, causing the small gang leader to lower his head into his chest.
Like that, a puddle of suspicious water formed underneath the other's feet while the wait lengthened.
Only with the new arrivals did Angus look away from the frightened and numb small gang leader.
Scanning those sweating and panicking faces of various ages, Angus felt his sense of impatience growing.
He almost laughed out of anger.
"What a complete waste of my time." Cold words linked with a cold tone that came out from a pair of cold, thin lips.
The Viper Gang leader shuddered as cold sweat broke out. With his logic and reason in shambles from fear, he didn't understand what was wrong. Why did the venerable leader of the Everett Mafia Group suddenly laugh and say those ominous sounding words?
But it wasn't long before the Viper Gang leader found out the consequences of that furious laugh. Although with his brains, he would never know the reason.
"Kill them all. Leave that one alive."
Putting on his leather gloves he had taken off, Angus stood up and strided out of the building with gunshots immediately ringing out behind him upon his orders.
He was too impatient to even torture them to get to the bottom of their calculations.
Anyways, he spared that leader guy of the Viper Gang since that guy really seemed clueless about what's happening lately. 'But he really is one incapable leader, ignorant of the plots transpiring in his own turf, well, at least he's obedient and fearful of me.' Angus thought.
The Viper Gang was one of the easier ones to deal with.
Some of the previous gangs Angus made a surprise, unscheduled visit to gave him a lot more trouble. All kinds of bugs and pests ran free and were squashed and killed by his men. While the men who were bitten and infected by those bugs were given the beating of their lives to make them come back to their senses.
In this way, those small gangs were again subdued by Angus's strength and power. Temporary peace was brought to the group and those restless small gangs, and the remaining pests that have yet to be exterminated, should quiet down for the time being, regardless of whether or not they hold rebellious thoughts in their hearts.
"Head to the next gang on the list," Angus calmly gave an order to the car driver before closing his tired eyes and leaning back into the chair rest. He hasn't had a good night's sleep in ages since he came on this godforsaken business trip. Just thinking about the rest of the gangs he has yet to visit gave him a headache.
How wonderful would it be if only Ian were here.
"Yes, boss!" The driver immediately started up the car and drove off to their next destination.
On the streets, behind and around an inconspicuous black car were dozens of similar black cars guarding the vehicle Angus was situated in.
And many more subordinates hid in the dark and in the light to protect Angus from any possible threats or accidents.
*****
"…In this way, Angus Everett has managed to settle the unrest within all those small gangs under him we've infiltrated, with many of our men killed in action." A calm and orderly report was made to an old middle-aged man who sat behind a desk looking at unknown documents.
His face couldn't be made out in the looming darkness except for a marred spot on his face which was a natural birthmark.
The birthmark looked vague and twisted. But upon closer inspection, it faintly resembled a dark skull.
"Never mind that. He was bound to figure out the existence of those disturbances with how clever and meticulous he is."
"What do you mean, boss?"
"If he was stupid and careless, it would be impossible for him to raise his group to be as powerful and influential as they are now. Nevermind survive those days where he was targeted by everyone on the block because of his young age. Isn't that why we set our target to them? Destroying them would mean an empty spot on the underworld throne, just right for me to sit on."
"Yes, you are right, boss. It was me who was short-sighted."
The man behind the desk chuckled in a deep voice full of appreciation as well as the desire to crush. "Angus Everett… he is a talented man, a natural born leader and ruler. If only he worked for me… but how could that be possible? Ultimately, his only ending is death."
The subordinate remained silent.
The man behind the desk continued to inquire of the state of his operations.
"And how's EVL Wald, Inc. doing?"
"Reporting to the boss, thanks to your wise instatement of the young master, our face corporation has been doing 10 times better than before. However, as you know, the damage to the capital last time was too great, resulting in an unfillable deficiency. The corporation is currently in the midst of recovery and its progress naturally stagnated."
"…Humph!" The man's nostrils flared as his eyes glared forward. "Those idiots, easily deceived by the naked lies of a swindler! I should've gutted them instead of giving them an easy death!" The man on the boss chair humphed coldly and heartlessly, as though he wasn't the one who had given the order to tear apart those two former CEO and CFO of the corporation to his men previously.
Then as if having a change of heart, the man relaxed his tone and said, "Well, I suppose it matters not now. Our corporation succeeding is only a matter of time and, for our gang, there's a more important goal in sight as of present: the destruction of the Everett Mafia Group. Once they are gone, we can go unhindered—it will be the day we rise to the surface and unveil ourselves to the rest of the underworld!
"They will all know that I am the king! I am one they should look at the face of to determine their life and death!"
"I don't understand." The dense subordinate showed his confusion. "How can we take down such a behemoth as the Everett Mafia Group? Their roots go deep down, back to many generations and centuries ago. Although our group also has a long history, it is not as rich or deep as theirs. Not to mention their capable head, who even you speak so highly of."
The man laughed mockingly at the slowness of his subordinate's brain. "The crack in their defense is already clear as day, it's just that with the might and fearsomeness of that boy Angus himself and his group, it's been well guarded and protected.
"But not for long, a weakness will always be a weakness. It's a flaw, it's a crack in their wall of defense. And no matter how tightly guarded something is, it's not completely impenetrable."
The subordinate stood listening to his boss's grand evil plans. Calm and unaffected, emotions flat and almost nonexistent, like a puppet conditioned to make normal responses.
The boss started talking to himself.
"It's almost the day of the second Everett's 16th birthday.
"I wonder how Angus would react once I have his precious little brother in the palm of my hand. I would love to see the reaction on his face when he finds out that his and his men's deaths were sealed by the very hands of his innocent and naive little brother whom he pampered and spoiled into a fool!"
An evil glint flashed in his dark eyes enshrouded in the darkness.
Turning to a dark corner of the office, the hidden boss behind the massacre of the Everett Mafia Group, the one who was behind the deaths of Ian's family in the last life, asked with a sickening grin.
"Right, my son?"
Out from the dark shadows stepped out a young man in his early 20s, dressed in all sorts of colors from head to toe. Even his hair was dyed in many different bright colors, vivid and shining even in the dark. Yet his style did not make him look like a walking fashion disaster nor did he appear gaudy with the combination of seven vibrant colors, instead, it emphasized his quirky eccentricity and highlighted the flamboyant air about him.
"Father."
The way the young man carried himself was leagues different from the way the man behind the desk carried himself. Not to mention their appearance—one was dressed in black and white, while the other was dressed in every other color under the sun besides black and white.
If it weren't for their call of "father" and "son", no one would think that someone as eerie and dark as that middle-aged man would be the father of a young man as flamboyant and bright as him.
"What do you think, son? Are you up for the task of handling that spoiled young master of the Everett group?"
"Sounds interesting, father, count me in."
A wicked, playful smirk slipped onto the young man's vibrant and confident face.