6 Red Snake #6

'What the fuck am I turning into...' I couldn't help but sigh as I looked in the mirror, barely recognizing the chiseled face and the pair of cold-blues eyes staring back at me.

It's been since months since Kid caught me literally and figuratively red-handed. Since then, I continued running errands for our little gang, successfully finishing tens of jobs.

As one would expect, not every errand ended smoothly, and I had to kill three more people, which, as I suspected, never became easier with experience, and neither did what came after.

At the end of every day, my steadily rising strength was the only thing keeping me sane. I was already at a point where I'd bet on myself even if I had to go against someone like Mike Tyson in his prime, despite possessing only brute power and zero technique.

My physical strength wasn't the only upside to practicing The Method, as my muscles slowly grew in mass to match my newfound raw power. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure I set a world record for going through puberty as my facial features and height rapidly changed.

In the span of three months, I grew an entire foot, going from being 5.3 feet (roughly 150 cm) all the way up to 6.3 feet (192 cm), and my face didn't fail to reflect the sudden growth spurt, all thanks to practicing The Method.

It was all too much to keep up with, and I quickly found myself seeking comfort in the cheap hooch they served everywhere on the island and whoring, a shit ton of whoring.

As it turns out, killing a man and butchering his corpse would always be difficult. However, it made heading to the nearest brothel after the fact, fucking the sexiest prostitute I could afford, and drinking myself to sleep, that much easier. And I made do with that.

I knew it was a weakness on my part and a waste of money, but I could afford it without compromising my pans, and I needed to do something to vent, or I'd have gone insane, so I did.

I won't lie, part of me wanted to quit, to burn the booklet and live the rest of my life as a nameless scrub, but another part fiercely protested. Having lived a mediocre life in my past life, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be something more, but I digress.

I sighed again as I turned away from the mirror and glanced at the naked redhead blissfully drifting about the land of dreams before putting on my clothes and leaving the room.

Once outside the room, I merely nodded at the brothel's madam and made and headed for the exit, only to halt as I found Kid waiting for me in the street. "What's up...?" I asked as I noticed his urgent expression.

"We've got a meeting with Red Snake Nyoka... I need you with me..." Kid replied, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "He said I can only bring two people. That's you and Killer," He concluded.

It never ceased to amaze me how the little brat would causally boss me around despite knowing what I could do and having to look up to me whenever we spoke as I towered over him.

Still, the casual indifference to my stature and actions could have only come from acceptance. That simple sentiment was a significant contributor to helping me keep my sanity over the past few months.

'Red snake, huh?... why does that sound familiar...?' I mused, finding the name, rather the two words, familiar, but I couldn't for the life of me remember from where.

"Red Snake Nyoka? Who's that?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion, to which Kid merely shrugged. "And what does he want...?" I added, already feeling iffy about the situation.

"You don't know...?" Kid asked, giving me a weird look, which I returned with a blank one. "He's the leader of the gang running the town..." He added with an exasperated sigh.

"As for what he wants... your guess is as good as mine..." Kid continued with a shrug. "But we have to go either way. Come on, Killer is waiting for us," He impatiently concluded.

"Fine... lead the way..." I said after a brief pause as I gestured for him to start moving.

...

Five minutes later

The Grog Box bar

"You sure took your sweet time..." Killer calmly said, standing on the street in front of the bar as he noticed us approaching. "What happened?" He asked, alternating his gaze between Kid and me.

"Lover boy here was in the brothel again. I had to wait for him outside since that dumb bitch didn't let me in," Kid replied, scowling as he turned to me, giving me a dirty look. "Said I'm three years early to think about going in..." He grumbled, more to himself than us.

"Well, maybe if you weren't so short, she'd let you in..." I said with a grin as I rested my elbow over Kid's head, only to get an elbow to the kidney for my effort. "Geez, learn to take a joke, would you..." I said, messaging my side as I removed my hand from his hair.

"You might have gotten a bit tall and a bit bulky, but I bet I could still kick your ass," Kid said as he glared at me. "Now stop wasting time, and let's go in..." He added as he turned to the bar's entrance.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, short stuff..." I said, rolling my eyes as I watched Kid move ahead, grumbling obscenities likely directed at none other than me. "So... any idea what this red snake fella wants...?" I asked as I followed behind Kid, walking shoulder to shoulder beside Killer.

"No. But keep an eye out..." Killer calmly replied. "The guy is dangerous, and he has a lot of people with guns..." He added, his grip tightening over the two strange crescent blades attached to his belt.

Suddenly, we had to stop as a man stood in Kid's way, blocking the entrance as he gave him a once over. "This here is an establishment for adults, not snot-nosed children. Go play somewhere else," The man mockingly said, crossing his arms.

Kid's expression instantly darkened at those words, but he said nothing as he moved aside, giving me a brief glance. 'Cheeky brat...' I couldn't help but smile as I stepped forward and buried my fist into the man's face, instantly knocking him to the ground.

"Does this ugly mug looks like it belongs to a snot-nosed brat...?" I said, putting my foot over the man's head as I gestured toward Kid's already scarred face, prompting him to scowl.

"I don't know what kind of stunt you're trying to pull, but your boss asked to meet us..." I added, trailing off as I twisted my foot and increased the pressure over the man's cheek. "So if you could kindly show us the way, we'd appreciate it..." I concluded, keeping my foot in place even as he began grunting in pain and tabbing my calf.

It might seem like my actions were reckless or overboard, but the man was clearly trying to punk us, to put it in street terms. We'd risk appearing as pushovers if we didn't respond in kind, and pushovers were prey in these parts.

"Now I remember... Nyoka is waiting for you in the back..." The man said, struggling to speak, and I immediately smiled as I removed my foot from his face and helped him up.

"Nothing like a foot to the face to refresh your memory, am I right..." I said with a chuckle as I dusted the man's clothes. "Now show us the way, will you...?" I asked as I pushed the man towards the bar's entrance, and he could only oblige while gritting his teeth.

"Good work..." Killer said as we followed behind the man. "Now, let's go and see what this Nyoka guy wants..." He added, lightly caressing the handle of his lift crescent blade.

"I only hope this was just an attempt to intimidate us and nothing more..." Killer said in a grave tone, his expression turning grim. "Otherwise, things will turn ugly..." He muttered in a faint voice, almost to himself rather than us.

...

"Gentlemen..." Greeted a bulky middle-aged man in a fancy suit, smiling as he walked into the room, though we could detect unsubtle mockery in his voice. "Sorry for keeping you waiting..." He added, and the smile on his face heavily suggested he was not sorry at all.

The man was clearly trying to establish dominance over us by keeping us waiting for almost an hour. However, we couldn't retaliate as we weren't dealing with a mere footsoldier but a gang leader, and we were in his house.

Even if we weren't on his turf, surrounded by his heavily armed men, the guy probably only needed to say the world, and his grunts would drive us out of town at best or kill us all at worst.

"Now, I'm a busy man, and I'm sure you all have your own strict schedules to adhere to..." Nyoka said, his tone dripping with even more mockery. "So I'll make this brief..." He added, his voice turning business-like as he put on a blank expression.

"Your little gang has been rather busy, so busy, in fact, you infringed on my own business," Nyoka said, his expression darkening as he spoke. The atmosphere instantly turned tense as I prepared to attack, and Killer reached for his weapon.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd just have you killed and forget your little gang ever existed five minutes later, but..." Nyoka said, smiling as he noticed our subtle body language, but didn't seem to care for it.

"I must admit... I'm more than a little impressed, so I'll make you an offer instead..." He added as he turned to Kid. "Disband your little band and join my crew instead..."

...

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