Chapter 96: My Own Gang
School life had completely changed, and it wasn’t just true for Max, it was true for the entire school. After catching up with Aron, Max had learned what had happened to Dipter and a few of the others who had been with him.
The packages they’d been caught with were enough evidence to pin everything on them and land them behind bars. Because of their age, they’d been sent to a juvenile detention center. And it wasn’t just Dipter, many of the school’s class leaders had gone down with him.
Snide and Ko, to name a couple. The police hadn’t managed to catch everyone, but that was never Max’s intention anyway. He only wanted to take down those responsible for what had happened to Sam, and to the real Max. In a lot of ways, he’d done just that.
The ones who hadn’t ended up behind bars were back in school, but the atmosphere had shifted. The story of what happened that day had spread fast, one of the bullied kids had finally fought back. And somehow, he’d won.
Without Dipter backing them, and with some students finally facing consequences, no one was acting out anymore. The school had gone quiet.
As Max sat at his desk, half-focused on the day’s lesson, he glanced at the seat beside him, still empty, still untouched.
"I’m sorry, Sam," Max murmured. "That you didn’t get to experience this kind of life. I wish I’d done something sooner."
With that, he rested his head on his desk and closed his eyes, letting himself drift into a quiet nap.
There was a strange sense of accomplishment, his fists had actually done something good for once. It felt... nice.
When lunch break rolled around, Max was getting ready to grab something to eat when he saw Joe walking over. He was the only person in the class who knew the full truth about everything that had happened.
"Want to grab something together?" Joe asked.
"You’re... not gonna make me pay, are you?" Max replied, raising an eyebrow.
Joe immediately threw his hands up.
"No, no, of course not! Don’t be crazy. It’s just, you know... ah, forget it. If you don’t want to eat together, that’s cool."
"It’s fine. We can eat," Max said, cracking a faint smile. "But you’re paying this time."
Back when Max and Sam were getting bullied, they had been the ones forced to pay for Ko and his friends’ meals. So honestly, it felt like the least Joe could do now. And as they walked, Joe realized something else.
With Ko and the others gone, there was no one left for him to talk to, not in class, not in the whole school. He didn’t have any friends. And the person he was closest to now... was Mad Max.
The two of them walked side by side, heading down the hallway toward the exit, when they both froze. A tall figure was standing up ahead, waiting. And it was clear, it wasn’t a coincidence.
"Max, I’ve been looking for you," Jay said.
In Max’s mind, he still owed Jay a favor, for pulling him out of that mess with Snide. And since then, Jay had made quite an impression on him. So Max was willing to hear him out.
"There’s something I want to talk to you about," Jay said. "About this entire school. Will you come with me... to the Cage?"
"The Cage?" Joe repeated, surprised.
"If it’s a request from you, then sure," Max replied without hesitation.
The Cage was a location on school grounds, so Max didn’t think much of it at first. But the moment he stepped outside and saw what was waiting for him, he realized the situation might be a lot weirder than he’d expected.
Standing around in the Cage were a bunch of students, all talking among themselves. Some were playing dumb games and laughing loudly, while others were wearing slings and bandages, clearly part of the group that had attacked Max and the others not long ago.
Jay, Max, and Joe stepped into the Cage, and as soon as they did, the noise cut off. The students turned and stared at Max. No one said anything. They just waited, for Jay.
"Right here," Jay said, gesturing around them, "are all the school’s delinquents. At least, the ones who used to be under Dipter."
He paused, sweeping his hand toward the roughly thirty students surrounding them.
"They’re the ones willing to hear out my proposal."
"Our school, Max, it’s different from the others," Jay began, his voice steady but heavy. "And I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but it’s the kind of place where scum like us are free to run wild. A school where people like us... we don’t really have a future."
He paused, eyes scanning the crowd around them.
"Before Dipter showed up, a lot of the local street groups used to keep an eye on this place. They’d scout for potential fighters and recruit them straight into their gangs."
"These kids accepted it," he added with a shrug. "Because, truthfully, there wasn’t anything else for them. I was in the same spot myself."
Max understood exactly what Jay was talking about. He’d heard rumors of street-level gangs recruiting directly from schools, but it always sounded too extreme, too far removed from reality. That was before he’d experienced firsthand just how rough things really were for some of the students here.
"It wasn’t just this school either," Jay continued. "The local schools around here would constantly go after each other, starting fights to prove who was the best, who was the strongest. But it was all for show. Just a way to prove to the people on the streets that we were worth bringing in."
Jay’s hands clenched slightly as he spoke.
"But when Dipter came along, he changed everything. Instead of us fighting each other, or other schools, he wanted to build something right here. His own group. His own gang. Something that could protect us."
Jay glanced at Max, his expression serious.
"And I liked that idea... I really did. But in the end, there was still one thing the street gangs could offer that Dipter never could. Do you know what that is?"
There was a pause, but even Joe knew the answer.
"It was the money," Joe said. "Dipter had a wealthy client. He practically turned the school delinquents into a mercenary group for hire... and he paid them all."
Max already knew exactly how that client had the funds to hire them in the first place.
Jay took a step forward. "I’ve gathered everyone here because, Max, after seeing everything you did, we need someone to lead us. Someone to protect us from the other schools. With Dipter gone, things are already starting to stir up."
He hesitated, then added honestly, "But I’ll be real with you. Without some kind of payment... I don’t think we can stop them from walking away."
Jay’s eyes locked onto Max’s, his voice unwavering.
"If you can solve that problem, then every single person here will follow you, just like they followed Dipter. Including me."
A few voices rose from the group in support, chanting, hyping up what Jay had just said.
Now I get it, Max thought. It was never about blind loyalty to whoever was strongest. It was about survival, about choosing the best option they had. The best opportunity. If I can build this group from the ground up... this might be the weapon I need to go after the White Tiger. And it starts right here.
Max smiled and placed a firm hand on Jay’s shoulder.
"Don’t worry about the money," he said confidently. "Money’s not a problem. Whatever Dipter was paying you... I’ll match it."
With that, Max turned and looked out at the crowd of students, all eyes now fixed on him.
"Everyone here has a choice!" Max shouted, his voice ringing through the Cage. "You can choose whether to stay with me, stand by me, and live a better life starting tomorrow!"
He paused, letting the silence build before continuing.
"You’ll be rewarded for your loyalty. But if you stab me in the back... then I promise, a fate worse than death will wait for you. But if you stay, if you stay, you’ll achieve things beyond your imagination. This doesn’t have to stop at school or street gangs. That’s just the beginning!"
The students listened, stunned. No one had ever spoken to them like this before, not with this kind of power or confidence. And somehow, it was working. It was inspiring.
"If you leave now, I won’t remember you," Max said. "And no one else in this world will care what you do. But for everyone who stays... you’ll become part of something new. A new name. A new force."
He raised his voice, loud and clear.
"You’ll be part of the Billion Bloodline! "
If anyone else had said those words, it might’ve sounded like some cringey fantasy from a middle school kid trying too hard. But coming from Max, with the strength he’d shown, with everything he’d already done, it didn’t sound like a joke. It sounded real.
"Very well!" Max said, after seeing that no one had left. "You’re no longer just student delinquents. You’re no longer some stupid playground bullies."
His eyes swept across the group.
"Each one of you is now a member of the Billion Bloodline , and you’d better remember it."