Gang leader

"Let's return to our previous talk." Nie Li took out five interspatial rings and slid them towards his friends.

"Each of them has 50 thousand spirit coins inside. Ten thousand of it is yours," he said shocking them. "The rest of it you must spend to create your own force."

"No, we can't take it" his friends tried to refuse.

"This will be the monthly payment." Nie Li said interrupting them. "I imagine that creating a serious force from zero will not be a cheap endeavor. I can provide more if it will be necessary. In the future, we will put in place some payment plan, but for now, it will do."

They stared at him silently. Since when has Nie Li become so rich? Only a month ago he was poor like them. In the end, they decided to accept it, because they already considered Nie Li as their leader. And Nie Li usually knew what he was doing.

"What kind of force do you want us to establish?" Du Ze asked.

"You have seen Shen Yue's gang. All of them are commoners. He pays them a small amount of money, a couple hundred at most, and also gives them hope for a better future. They expect that if they follow his orders diligently they will be accepted into the Sacred family's warrior forces. I want you to hire your own followers like that. At least ten or twenty of them."

"What we will do with them?" Lu Piao asked, "We are not Shen Yue, so we don't need anyone to wipe our a** in the privy."

"Hunting orders. It's not very dangerous near the city walls. It will also help you gain fighting experience in the field. You can also evaluate your followers. We will invite the most trustworthy and talented ones into our forces. They will be provided with better cultivation techniques and elixirs to speed up their advancement."

Nie Li sighed. If he had access to the resources of some big clan it would have been much easier. But his own clan was on its last legs and he also wasn't in a position to order them around yet.

The boys became excited. They wanted to go hunting for some time. But small groups weren't allowed if their cultivation wasn't high enough. But with a large group, they could get a hunting license. Hunting was the most common method to make money for commoner cultivators. City Lord's Mansion paid to clear out the dangerous demons from nearby lands. There were also resources they could get during the hunt.

Of course, with Nie Li paying them so much, the monetary incentive may not be as prudent. But still, money was money. And gaining experience in a relatively safe environment was also important.

"But it will take time," Du Ze voiced the most glaring problem.

"It can't be avoided. That's why we are starting now," Nie Li reminded him.

"Let's drink for that," said Lu Piao and began pouring the wine into glasses. With them reaching the Bronze rank alcohol couldn't affect them strongly anymore. So teenage drinking wasn't a problem in this world. So they turned their attention to the meal and the drinks and talked about other topics.

"You said something about spies as well," Du Ze asked after some time.

"Yes, but that's much more difficult. It will take some time to create a competent intelligence organization. We can't rush it. And creating an armed force will help with that too."

"Oh, how?" Du Ze was curious. He had never imagined himself creating any kind of organization. Be it military or intelligence. But he hoped one day to turn his family's fate for the better making them nobles. And with Nie Li's help, his dreams became closer than ever. So he wanted to learn as much as possible from his friend.

"First of all, not all your followers would be talented in cultivation. We can entice those who can't be accepted into our army into our intelligence organization. Second, we have no reputation right now. But with time we will be known as trustworthy employers and many would flock to us. Some of them would be desperate for any kind of job. We can help them open businesses like restaurants, bars, etc. Slowly our network will grow and we will have informers everywhere." 'from noble families to underground criminals,' he finished inside his mind.

"That's a very ambitious plan," said Wei Nan voicing the thoughts of everyone around the table.

"I know, but someone has to do it." His plans were even bigger. He is going to create a real intelligence organization covering entire worlds.

After that their talk turned into less serious topics and friends had fun over the meal and wine. When it became too late Du Ze, the most responsible among them, thanked him and told others they should return to their rooms.

He dragged the groaning Lu Piao out of the door. Others were leaving as well.

Nie Li remembering something he almost forgot, asked Zhang Ming, "Zhang Ming can I have a minute of your time. I have something to talk about."

"Sure," Zhang Ming shrugged and returned to the room. Others left leaving them alone.

"Zang Ming, I want you to get me in contact with your uncle." This was one of the main reasons he organized today's meeting.

"'That' uncle?" Zhang Ming asked.

"Yes"

"Ugh, I don't even want to know how you learned about him. Is this for your spy organization?"

"Yes," again replied Nie Li.

"You know my mother forbade me from meeting him?"

"Yes, and you still do."

"I don't, he does," Zhang Ming refuted. "Okay, I'll organize a meeting. But I have to warn you, he is dangerous."

"I know. Thank you."

"Okay, I'll tell you when I contact my uncle. Good night" and Zang Ming left.

The reason he wanted to contact Zhang Ming's uncle was his profession. He was the leader of a criminal organization dealing with smuggling. In his previous life, he had helped Nie Li, Du Ze, and Lu Piao to get out of some sticky situations a couple of times because of his nephew's connection to them.

He was a retired criminal by then, taking care of his bar and still keeping in contact with his gang. But now he wasn't retired yet. He didn't have any children so was very fond of his sister's children. On the other hand, his sister didn't like his occupation and forbade her children from having any contact with him. But he still secretly helped them.

And he was not a bad person. Nie Li actually considered smugglers better sort of criminals. They weren't cold-blooded murderers or thieves. And considering the limitations imposed by the nobles in the City, it could be said that he was doing a good thing. But that did not mean he was a soft-hearted nice person. He had enough blood in his hands. But he loved his nephew and money. So Nie Li can find a common cause with him.