Rise of The Demon General

"Thank you," Madam Lin said while walking beside Amon.

"I am happy to be able to be of use to mother," Amon lied. If it was not because Madam Lin might lose her power, Amon wouldn't have bothered. He still needed her as a powerful backer within this clan. Otherwise, his freedom would be affected. There was only half a year left, but he was not someone that let his guard down just because the objective was close. If anything else, he should be more vigilant.

"How do you know so much about torture?" Madam Lin asked. "I don't see the Hei clan as a clan that toils in this field."

"It's not that I know so much about torture, I just have a better understanding of the human's minds," Amon answered. "All thanks to the books that mother allowed me to read."

"Since you like books so much, you should build your own library. I know the monthly wages the clan provided as a reward for you winning the White Cloud tournament is not much. I will add my aer stones into those wages. You can use them to buy any books you like in town."

"Thank you, mother," Amon said politely. Any additional income was welcome. Although in reality, he already had a different avenue of acquiring aer stones in large quantities.

*

Amon was back to his routine.

Even though Amon was no longer required to complete missions, didn't mean he coop up inside Lin's estate all the time. He still went out from time to time. He always wore a disguise when he went out though. It would be careless to just wander around in the open. He knew he had enemies. Especially that hag, Wei Sui. Amon knew that the woman would continue to seek vengeance on him until one of them died. Unfortunately, he had no opportunity to deal with her yet. So, all he could do was just hide.

*

During one night, in a secluded warehouse. A bunch of people was working to unload boxes from several carts onto the racks that filled up the warehouse.

Their chief, who was counting and recording the boxes that were put on the rack, looked at his workers and uttered, "Where is Wu Lao?"

"He went to the restroom, sir," One of the workers answered.

"Restroom? How long ago?"

"Um… Since we arrived."

"That's a long time already! Go find him! Lazy ass punk! Tell him if he doesn't return now, I'll dock his pay!" The chief bellowed.

"Ye–Yes, sir!" The worker replied and immediately went in direction of the restroom.

After that worker left, the chief returned to counting the boxes. "Hey! Handle it carefully! These goods are more precious than you!"

After a while, when only one cart remained to be unloaded, the chief looked around. The worker who he had sent to find Wu Lao had not returned yet. Now, he had two people abandoning their duties.

"Motherfucking useless dickheads. You two! Go and drag them back here. Give them a beating first. The more black and blue they are, the more bonus I will give you."

The two who had received the order were ecstatic. They were at the peak mortal stage, while the ones they were supposed to bring back were at the intermediate mortal stage. This task was easy money.

After the two scurried off, there were only two workers left. But since only one cart was left, these two were sufficient.

The chief was sullen. He was supposed to attend a feast in the Wei clan's house, but because many of his associates had gone missing, he had to do all the things himself. He was worried about these missing associates. Something about their disappearance didn't feel right. He had asked the Wei clan for additional funding and manpower, but it didn't seem like he was being taken seriously.

His operation had been growing after receiving the Wei clan's backing, but how come the people he worked with ran off? It was good money. Everyone was so excited when they joined this operation, but where are they now? Things were becoming difficult because he was lacking manpower. He couldn't handle everything himself. He might need to go recruit new people soon.

The last of the boxes were finally finished being unloaded. The two workers were now pushing the empty carts back out. The chief went to a nearby desk. He sat on the chair behind this desk and log in the inventory record. He then reviewed all the records of today's works.

It took him a while to finish his task. When he finally closed his book, he stood up and was ready to call it a day, but then he felt strange. Where was everyone? The two who pushed the carts out should return after finishing their tasks. Why were they not back yet? Also, where were those two buffoons who he sent to drag the other two buffoons back?

"God! It's so difficult to find good help these days!" He muttered and decided to go and find these people himself. He hoped they were ready for a beating. This would teach them not to mess with someone like him who was at the intermediate Strength stage.

As he walked past the racks, he didn't see a shadow behind one of these racks. This warehouse's lightings were rather dim. This shadow moved once the chief's back was to it.

The chief continued to walk unaware. He suddenly felt a prick on his back. He looked down and saw the tip of a blade protruding out from his belly. The blade was retracted. He felt it leaving his body. Before he could react, he felt cold on his neck.

*

In the basement underneath Impure Desire, a clothing store owned by San Guo, San Guo was scribbling something on his desk.

He was startled by something that was suddenly placed on his desk. He looked at the person who had put the sack. It was Amon. The boy then sat opposite him.

San Guo opened the sack. Inside the sack was a head.

"Ma Tie," San Guo said after seeing the head.

"His warehouse is empty now, I've put all the goods there into our warehouse. You can have people started distributing the products," Amon said.

"I am wondering, how are you able to transport that many goods? Even the best space ring I know doesn't have enough space for a whole warehouse."

"I brought many rings," Amon replied.

"Well, as long as it gets the jobs done, it doesn't matter."

"That's the spirit. Now, how is the arrangement with our personnel? Have you organized them following my instruction?"

"I do. I must admit the success rate on their tasks has increased greatly. How do you do that? You have never met these people. All you do is read their information that I provided you."

"I have experience with managing people," Amon replied simply.

"Managing people? How old are you?" San Guo asked.

"You won't believe me even if I tell you," Amon said, and then added, "As long as it gets the job done, ain't it?"

San Guo nodded with a chuckle. He then looked at Ma Tie's head. He put it back inside the sack.

"Now that another of our competitors was gone, our hold on this city's underworld had expanded," San Guo said.

"Remember, don't get too greedy. This city has an overlord, after all," Amon said. "If we grow unchecked. White Cloud Sect will come knocking sooner or later."

"Actually… They have," San Guo said.

"And…?"

"They demanded tax. Thirty percent from all incomes."

"Very greedy of them. What is your answer to them?"

"I said I will need to discuss with my associates first."

Amon nodded. "Agree with them."

"Thirty percent? I have a feeling that I can negotiate for a lower fee."

"Too troublesome. They might decide to teach us a lesson about who is the boss. We don't need that heat. No need to bother with them. As long as they didn't bother our operation, our profit is enough to pay them. I have a long-term plan. This city is just the start. As long as you follow me, I can guarantee you that this world will be ours. At that time, it is us who will demand tax from the likes of White Cloud sect."

San Guo stared at the boy in front of him unblinking. If any other kid uttered these words, he would have laughed it off as a little kid who enjoyed daydreaming and didn't know about reality. But after working with Amon all this time, he somehow believed that this boy might have the ability to realize that dream.

He was just glad that he didn't decide to take revenge on what Amon had done to him and his family. When Amon approached him again after their incident, he was hesitant to associate with the boy. Amon asked for some missions. He was tempted to send Amon on a suicide mission. But he had learned that crossing this boy was not a wise move. So, he gave Amon some easy missions for a start. The boy continued to impress him. So much that he ended up consulting him on many management affairs. Before he knew it, he listened more to Amon's instructions than Amon to his. Yet, he didn't feel that it was inappropriate.

"All right, I will agree to them," San Guo said.