Scar from the Lone Wolves, though displeased, understood that if he continued to provoke Charlotte, the young man might really shoot him. Scar knew he had no chance of surviving an armor-piercing explosive round, so he shot a glare at the person from the Night Beasts who had just spoken, coldly saying, "And who made you the spokesperson for the Night Beasts?"
Yellow Bear, without a word, stepped forward to show his support for the person who had spoken. Scar, though unafraid of Yellow Bear, didn't want to clash with the demon hunter, but inwardly, he was fuming, thinking, "Hmph, once the Lone Wolves are part of the city guard, we'll make the guard answer to us. This naive kid has no idea how the world works—does he really think our people will obey him once they're in the guard? How childish."
Seeing no opposition, Charlotte allocated most of the expansion quotas to the gangs according to their size, the status of the participants in the meeting, and other factors.
After distributing the quotas, Charlotte watched with a smile as the gang members bickered, argued, and occasionally even scuffled over the spots. It took an entire day of back-and-forth before the final distribution was more or less settled, with each gang agreeing to send a certain number of members to join the Lucavaro District city guard.
Charlotte had one requirement: these gang members had to report to Yansun Street No. 1 and participate in the daily training of the city guard. Those who didn't show up would lose their spots.
None of the gang representatives objected; after all, they would be sending their low-level thugs, and a bit of extra work didn't concern the leaders.
What these gang members didn't know was that the Lucavaro District city guard was already being reorganized into a Free Knights Regiment, which could be deployed to the front lines in Behemoth at any moment.
Charlotte only needed an excuse to take them all away, and once they were on the battlefield, getting them back would be nearly impossible.
The battlefield is the ultimate proving ground; after a few battles, these men would only listen to their commanding officers and not their original gang leaders.
Moreover, being part of the city guard meant they were now regular imperial soldiers, with decent pay—much better prospects than the dead-end life of a gang thug.
After finalizing the arrangements for the thirteen gangs to join the city guard, Charlotte dismissed them, instructing them to send their men first thing in the morning.
Early the next day, Charlotte uncharacteristically arrived at work in a carriage, marking one of the rare occasions he showed up for consecutive workdays.
True to his word, Warden Anthony was a man of his promises.
Starting from early morning, the six major prisons of Strasbourg began sending batches of prisoners, mostly young and robust, with about 70% of them being men.
The thirteen gangs of the Lucavaro District also began sending their members to report in. To Charlotte's surprise, there were quite a few young female gang members among them, sporting various styles—from short skirts to maple leaf-patterned dresses to men's clothing—creating a rather eclectic and unusual sight.
By the afternoon, Charlotte's forces had swelled to nearly 3,000 men, with about 1,200 from the prisons and the rest from the thirteen gangs.
Charlotte promoted his "old subordinates," including those adventurers he had tricked into joining and the city guards brought in by Dobin, to captains and lieutenants. He mixed the prisoners and gang members, forming around 70 to 80 squads, each ideally consisting of 50 men, although many were still understrength.
After the reorganization was complete, it was already evening.
Charlotte assembled his mixed and motley city guard, now swollen with numbers, and energized them by using Bloodflame Aura, making his entire body glow with red light. He shouted, "I bet you're all hungry. Let's go get something to eat!"
In the Old Continent, local militias like the city guard typically didn't provide meals—everyone had to fend for themselves. These new recruits, whether prisoners or gang members, were already tired and hungry after spending the whole day checking in and being organized into squads. There had been numerous clashes throughout the day, and they were all exhausted and starving.
When they heard that Charlotte was going to "treat them to a good meal," everyone cheered up and eagerly followed him out of Yansun Street No. 1.
Charlotte called over Masson and Hermonsa, quietly instructing them, "Take your squads and go purchase a large amount of food. Deliver it to the Black Scorpion Gang's territory."
Neither knew what Charlotte was planning, but they obediently took their men to buy the food.
It wasn't long before someone realized something was off. Charlotte wasn't leading them to the commercial district of Lucavaro; he was heading straight for the headquarters of the Black Scorpion Gang, one of the five largest gangs in the district.
As a 34th-ranked, fourth-level official, Charlotte was considered a minor noble in the Empire and was also a transcendent being. His recent battles had made him a respected figure, and he held the position of district city guard commander with considerable authority. Although some of the smarter individuals among this ragtag group began to suspect something, no one dared openly question him. The prisoners were too afraid, and the gang members, being mostly low-level thugs, lacked the initiative to object.
Seeing the Black Scorpion Gang's headquarters coming into view, Dobin, unable to suppress his anxiety, approached Charlotte and asked, "Boss, what are we doing?"
Charlotte didn't answer directly. Instead, he took out his long-range spatial rifle and shouted, "The thirteen gangs have formed an alliance, so why should we share the spoils with those who didn't join?"
"I now declare: we will take down the Black Scorpion Gang, and all their wealth will be divided among us."
With one hand, he skillfully aimed the extraordinary rifle at the front gate and fired, obliterating it with a single shot.
Lady Karen had not only allowed Charlotte to keep the Silver Rhino for an extended period but had also provided him with a case of 120 magic-piercing explosive rounds, so he no longer needed to worry about running out of firepower.
Charlotte's core city guard members, those adventurers who had been lured into joining, were immediately energized by the prospect of looting and quickly rallied their squads for an assault.
The prisoners, who had nothing to lose, cared even less about the Black Scorpion Gang.
Although the thirteen gangs felt something was off, they were swept along with the momentum and joined the assault on the Black Scorpion Gang's headquarters.
As one of the five largest gangs in Lucavaro District, the Black Scorpion Gang had around 700 to 800 members and was a powerful force. Although they had no transcendent members, their leader, Black Scorpion, was a seasoned mercenary with exceptional combat skills and rich battlefield experience. The gang controlled several streets in Lucavaro District, and no one dared challenge them.
When Dobin came to invite them in the morning, Black Scorpion had refused to meet him and sent him away rudely. Dobin, not wanting to cause trouble on Black Scorpion's turf, had to leave quietly.
Black Scorpion hadn't thought much of it—being a local powerhouse, he knew the Lucavaro city guard had fewer than a third of his own numbers. Even if it came to a fight, he wasn't afraid of them. He certainly hadn't anticipated that within a single day, Charlotte would swell the ranks of his city guard to nearly 3,000.