One young man swallowed hard. "There are so many of them..."
Nobody disagreed because it was true.
There were over a hundred Iron Vultures mob outside while on the inside, only around twenty members were currently present.
Even if every Shadow Reaper was here, their total numbers would barely exceed fifty. The difference was enormous.
A young lady nervously looked toward the gates. "What do we do?"
Nobody could come up with an answer because nobody knew the present way forward.
The walls around the compound were impressive and the defensive systems were very much active.
However, everyone understood a simple reality... if a full-scale battle began, those walls wouldn’t mean much.
Awakeners weren’t ordinary people... buildings, roads and even entire city blocks got destroyed in the face of a battle.
Walls certainly wouldn’t survive forever.
Jax stood near the center of the gathering with his hands resting casually in his pockets.
Oddly enough, he looked completely relaxed while everyone else looked ready to panic...
He looked mildly annoyed as one recruit pointed outside. "Why aren’t you worried?"
Jax shrugged. "Because West has never failed us before. Besides, panicking doesn’t solve anything."
Another recruit spoke. "They outnumber us five to one."
Jax nodded. "Yep."
"And you’re calm?"
"Yep."
The recruits stared while Jax stretched lazily. ’Trust me... or better still, trust in our gang leader."
"Everything will be fine."
The confidence in his voice felt strangely reassuring.
Nearby, Vanya folded her arms and unlike many of the others, she wasn’t particularly afraid either.
Mostly because she’d seen enough of Shadow Reapers already to understand one thing.
Nothing around here was normal... West definitely wasn’t normal and whenever things looked impossible... he somehow made them work.
Outside the walls, Bloodstain’s patience finally ran out.
His voice boomed across the compound. "WEST EINSTEIN!"
The sound echoed. "COME OUT HERE!"
His face twisted after waiting for seconds with no response. "You coward!"
The gathered Iron Vultures members began shouting insults, threats, challenges and everything they could think of.
Bloodstain pointed toward the compound. "Tell your precious gang leader to come out and answer for his crimes!"
The crowd roared again.
"He stole from us!"
"He attacked us!"
"He ruined our gang!"
"We’ll destroy them!"
Bloodstain raised his hand and silence slowly returned.
A dangerous smile appeared on his face as he spoke again. "Very well."
"If he won’t come out..."
His blood-red aura began spreading. "...we’ll go in."
The pressure around him intensified causing several nearby members to step back instinctively.
Bloodstain pointed at the gates. "I’ll give him ten seconds."
His voice echoed. "Ten."
Inside the base, nervous swallowing could be heard.
"Nine."
Several recruits tightened their grips on weapons.
"Eight."
The AI voice within the base continued monitoring external threats.
"Seven."
Some members began preparing abilities.
"Six."
The pressure outside increased further.
"Five."
One recruit looked like he might throw up.
"Four."
Jax sighed.
"Three."
The crowd outside began chanting again.
"Two."
Bloodstain’s bloodline activated fully causing a dark crimson energy to wrap around his body.
"One."
There was a brief silence before...
"ZERO!"
BOOOOOOM!
Bloodstain unleashed a massive blood-based strike directly into the main gate.
The attack exploded forward, distorting the air and filling it with crimson energy.
DHIIIINNNNN~
The moment the attack hit... it deflected instantly.
The entire blast reversed direction causing Bloodstain’s eyes to widen in disbelief.
"Oh shi—"
BOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion swallowed him completely as the shockwave blasted outward.
Iron Vultures members were sent flying like bowling pins.
"Kiaaarrrhhhh!"
Loud screams rang out as several people crashed through vehicles while others rolled across the ground.
When the dust settled, Bloodstain was lying in a crater.
The Iron Vultures members stared in astonishment as Bloodstain slowly sat up with an absolutely murderous look on his face.
Embarrassment practically radiated from him as he climbed out of the crater and brushed dust from his shoulders, pretending like nothing happened.
Nobody dared laugh... they could only stare.
How could a small gang like Shadow Reapers have such sophisticated piece of technology as a defense mechanism.
Bloodstain coughed before pointing toward the gate. "A simple trick."
His voice sounded forced as he added. "How long will such tricks survive against true power?"
His eye twitched as he grabbed the nearest member by the collar. "What are you waiting for?!"
The poor man nearly died of fright.
"Attack!"
Immediately abilities began flying.
Fire... Ice... Wind... Summons... Projectiles... Explosions...
Hundreds of attacks crashed toward the defensive barriers.
At first many reflected causing several Iron Vultures members to suffer injuries from their own attacks...
But eventually the sheer volume became overwhelming. The barrier began absorbing damage instead.
Within the base, alarms sounded as the central AI system activated.
A calm female voice echoed throughout the compound.
"Warning."
"External attack detected."
"Defensive Shield Capacity: 91%."
Several recruits paled as another explosion shook the walls.
"Defensive Shield Capacity: 85%."
The atmosphere became more tense as the assault intensified.
The entire front section of the base glowed beneath continuous bombardment.
"Defensive Shield Capacity: 72%."
"We’re fucked!" Someone cursed while another recruit began pacing.
"Defensive Shield Capacity: 55%."
As the panic increased, one young recruit looked toward Jax. "Shouldn’t we do something?"
Jax scratched his cheek. "Probably."
"PROBABLY?"
"Relax."
"RELAX?!"
The recruit pointed toward the ceiling. "They’re trying to kill us!"
Another explosion shook the structure causing dust to fall from above.
The AI continued.
"Defensive Shield Capacity: 48%."
Several recruits visibly paled and even Vanya’s expression became serious.
Jax finally sighed while looking around. "Okay."
Everyone turned toward him while he turned towards Aria. "Where even is West?"
Aria frowned, about to dial West’s number again when a single glowing blue footprint appeared, right behind Jax.
Everyone stiffened as the footprint glowed brighter and then another appeared... until the room was filled with multiple glowing footprints.
The air warped and space twisted as blue light gathered.
Suddenly a figure materialized from nothing, right above one of the footprints.
Several recruits nearly screamed causing Jax to jump. "DAMN IT!"
Everyone turned and standing casually behind him was West with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a drink.
He looked completely calm and relaxed as though a hundred awakened weren’t currently trying to destroy his headquarters.
Jax glared. "You trying to give me a heart attack?"
West took a sip. "Possibly."
The recruits stared with looks of relief while others looked confused.
West glanced toward the status display.
"Defensive Shield Capacity: 43%."
He nodded. "Not bad."
Aria stared. "Not bad?!"
West smiled. "Bought us plenty of time. Didn’t even know it would work this effectively. Gotta thank Viktor properly next time I see him."
Outside another barrage struck causing the walls to shake again.
Bloodstain’s voice echoed across the compound. "WEST EINSTEIN!"
West cracked his neck before displaying a dangerous smile.
The kind his members had learned to recognize... the kind that usually meant someone else was about to have a terrible day.
He looked toward the gates and then toward his gathered members before shifting back to the display.
"Defensive Shield Capacity: 39%."
West’s smile widened. "Good."
Jax raised an eyebrow. "Good?"
West nodded. "Now they’re all gathered in one place."
A grin spread across West’s face. "Let’s go welcome our guests."
...
...
West stepped through the opened gates alone.
The massive reinforced doors behind him slowly rumbled shut again.
BOOOOOM!
The sound echoed throughout the surrounding and Immediately, all eyes landed on him.
Over a hundred awakened stared at the young man walking casually toward them with his hands in his pockets.
Many of them had never seen him before in person and their reactions showed his stunned they were.
"That’s him?"
"That’s West Einstein?"
"He’s a kid."
"That’s the Shadow Reapers leader?"
"He looks younger than my nephew."
Several Iron Vultures members exchanged confused glances.
This was the person who had supposedly run a top hundred gang into the ground?
This was the monster Bloodstain had spent weeks obsessing over?
The expressions on their faces only made him smile wider.
Bloodstain stepped forward with a face twisted in rage. "You finally decided to come out."
West tilted his head. "Funny."
"What?"
"I was about to ask what a big prestigious gang like Iron Vultures is doing outside the headquarters of a newly established gang."
Several nearby members shifted uncomfortably while Bloodstain’s eye twitched.
West continued. "Bullying the little guys?"
"Tsk."
"What a terrible look."
A few Iron Vultures members looked away because they couldn’t deny how ridiculous this looked.
A Misty High top hundred gang surrounding a rookie gang.
Bloodstain immediately pointed at him. "Stop pretending you don’t know why we’re here."
West blinked innocently. "Why are you here?"
The vein on Bloodstain’s forehead visibly bulged. "You know exactly what you did."
West shrugged. "I genuinely don’t."
The surrounding members began muttering.
Bloodstain growled. "You sabotaged my gang."
West laughed. "No."
"You robbed my facilities."
"No."
"You stole our resources."
"No."
"You attacked our teams."
"No."
"You ruined Iron Vultures."
"No."
"No."
"No."
"No."
Every denial came instantly without hesitation.
It was so shameless that several people almost admired it.
Bloodstain almost exploded seeing how West denied so casually.
West proceeced to point toward the gathered crowd. "Do you have proof?"
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