For a second, Kai’s heart thudded loudly, hearing those words. Looking at Damion, he could tell that the gang leader was carefully staring at the remaining members of the Underdogs. His eyes looked as if he was staring right through everyone that was there at the meeting, and finally his eyes landed upon Kai, his very own son.
‘It can’t be that he suspects me, right?’ Kai started to worry. ‘He should have no way to prove I have done anything against him unless someone can link me to being part of the Howlers, and I did everything necessary to guarantee that there are no connections!’ The blonde teenager clenched his fists, forcing himself to not gulp down the saliva that was gathering in his mouth. He understood that to be the type of weakness, Damion was searching for among those present. If he really was found to be the person who had betrayed the Underdogs, he could see his life flashing before his eyes.
Although there had only been a few days between the Underdogs’ battle with the Grey Elephants, Kai had been working diligently with the Pincer gang.
At first, the members of the Pincer gang had naturally been upset when Olivia had informed them that they would be working for the Howlers. That might not have been all that bad, but once the Lady Boss had informed them about the changes the new leadership wanted to implement for the Burnham high street, many had left the small-time gang, not least because of the pay cuts all around.
It was pretty much a given considering the loss of their extra source of revenue. Nevertheless, there were enough who had chosen to stay, mostly due to their unwavering loyalty for Olivia. Seeing her somewhat trust the Howlers for whatever reason reassured them.
Since the Howlers had proven to be a considerable force, they too could see it, they could see a future in which the Howlers would take over the entire town. Once that happened, the gang members would no longer have to rely on those extra streams of revenue, as their wallets would practically fatten themselves!
Now, believing in the Howlers more, the Pincers followed not just Olivia's orders, and she herself seemed fine with this slight change.
The day under the bridge, after Kai had been given one of the red axes that Damion had used, the gang leader shared his plans for a future counterattack, how they would grow their business and expand it back to what it once was. He had done it once, so Damion knew he could do it again. Armed with that knowledge, Kai had ordered the Pincers to stop all those plans in their infancy.
‘I knew hitting all of those spots would cause him to be suspicious of someone in the Howlers, but the last person he would suspect to do something like that to him should be me.’ Kai reasoned.
The blonde teenager could have chosen to be cautious, ordering the members of the Pincers to slowly attack the Underdog forces and only stop a few of their plans to rebuild, yet there was a reason why he had them take down all possibilities of the Underdogs expanding again even from day one.
He wanted Damion to feel hopeless, defenceless, until he was backed into a corner, and he felt like there was nothing else he could do.
‘I want you to feel the same pain… no, I want you to feel true despair of losing EVERYTHING you worked so hard for!’
“Boss, according to what we found out, the men who have been disrupting our plans are all members of the original Pincers!” One of the other men in suits started to speak up, he was bruised all over and was one of the members of the Cheetah Squad. Kai recognised him since they had gone toe to toe with each other for a bit, but thanks to his mask, the same didn’t apply vice versa.
“From what we have found out, they are now under the new gang that appeared that day, the Howlers. However, the Pincers are the only ones on their side, the other small-time gangs haven't stepped in or claimed to be part of their side.
“We could try to bring them over and ask them to help us, offer them more territory in return for helping us through these tough times.”
‘What territory are you going to offer them?’ Kai thought after hearing this, making sure to hide the schadenfreude he was feeling. ‘As long as everything goes well, in a few days time, all of what was once yours will belong to the Howlers. The two big gangs who had been fighting for Slough for over a decade fell that day.
‘I’ve already told Olivia to leave the Grey Elephants area. Seeing that we have no interest in it, but only stopping the Underdogs from claiming it, the small-time gangs should move in and claim that territory for themselves.
‘With us just focusing on what the Underdogs used to own, there will be nothing you can use to bargain, and once they are under the Howlers’ territory, why would they go back to the Underdogs? We won't be as harsh with requests for protection money, and with Kirk gone and our very own Altered, only suicidal idiots would offer their help!
‘The gangs you treated poorly, the people you stumped for every penny, and even your own people you treated like trash… all of them will turn against you… time is on our side.’
Ultimately, Damion stopped looking over Kai and the others, and decided to continue on with the meeting. His attempt to flush out the rat had seemingly failed.
“Continue onward with the expansion. If we can't get our old territories, then go ahead and look for new ones. Step on the toes of the Lock gang, the Blood Triangle gang, whoever. We can’t afford to appear weak in front of them! We will hold out our hand for a collaboration if they refuse, then chop it off.”
Damion smiled, as he kicked one of the large crates and the large wooden panel fell down to the floor, revealing what was inside. Kai's eyes couldn't stop looking at what he was seeing, he then realised that there were countless crates all over the large apartment building. Most likely filled with the same thing.
‘How can this be…did he spend every single penny of the Underdogs’ money to get these?’ The teenager thought.
“Find out every little thing you can about the Howlers gang! As for that giant mutt Altered who did Kirk in, do whatever it takes to bring him in front of me!” Damion ordered coldly, murder in his eyes.
******
Top 10 in golden tickets = 5 chapter mass release
Instagram: jksmanga
Support the making of MWS webtoon P.a.t.r.e.o.n: jksmanga