Ocean's Abyss

Swordfish and Dora both agreed on Finn becoming the leader when they were asked on the balcony, but once they got back to their bar, they started to think about it a little bit more.

Finn was strong, but they didn't know if he had the leadership skills that were required to lead their gang.

For all they know, he might even drag them into a worse situation than they were currently in. Nevertheless, they didn't really have a choice but to pray and wait.

Once they got back and announced Finn as their leader, all the gang members started complaining.

But luckily for Finn, Swordfish and Dora, used their influence to shut them up.

This would only work for a little bit, though, because if he really wanted them to accept him, he would need to show them that he was capable.

Finn's guild was mainly managed by Sophie, and he didn't do almost anything there, but it wasn't because he couldn't.

It was because he would rather spend his time teasing Sophie than looking through documents.

So, when Finn entered the office that was on the second floor of the Drowned Fish bar, he told Dora to bring him all the information about their gang.

Financial situation, how many members they had, information about their businesses, and everything else that might help Finn turn their situation around.

Dora tasked some members to help her gather all the needed documents, and Finn used this opportunity to wash himself and his clothes in the bathroom that was next to the office.

The people in the city were used to having their clothes stained with blood, so they had a special cleaning product made by an alchemist that made washing off blood really easy.

After washing his clothes, Finn placed them around a stone that radiated heat and was used for drying clothes.

He then used the time he had while waiting for the clothes to dry to text Sophie about everything that had happened and to tell her that he was okay.

Finn ended his message with a kiss emoji and smiled to himself while imagining her blushing face.

Soon, the clothes became dry, so he put them on and went to the office, where Dora was already waiting for him with all the documents.

Looking through them Finn found out that there were a lot of people who owed them money.

Their business was mainly lending other people money, but since the gang was poor, they had no money to lend.

Finn ordered the gang members to visit the people on the list and demand their money back.

After an hour, they returned with the money, and Finn didn't really care how they had gotten it.

'If someone lends you money and you don't pay it back in time, then that's basically stealing, and you deserve to be beaten up.'

Is what he thought as he counted the money on the office table.

He then designed a contract that would ensure that they would get their money back if they were to lend it to somebody.

With the contract and the money, he ordered some gang members to go around the city, lending it to everyone.

The gang members had a slight problem working together because they had been rivals for so long, but they had already heard the rumors about their new gang leader, and not wanting to anger him, they did as he ordered them to do without complaining.

Finn started paying his gang members for their work, and he also created a system where the person who managed to get more customers would get a bonus at the end of each week.

This motivated all of them to start working harder, and the city slowly became indebted to Finn.

But he wasn't an evil person that would just take and take because that would make him the same as the other gangs were, so instead he used the money to repair buildings and create new jobs, and he slowly became a feared but respected person at the same time.

The people he lent money to were also never forced to sign the contract, and Finn made that the number one rule for the gang, so anyone who borrowed money from him knew what they were getting themselves into.

Another problem he faced was that the gang needed a new name, and with the gang merging, Finn decided to honor his predecessor Shark by calling the gang Ocean's Abyss again.

The word soon spread, and the old members that had previously left came back to join the gang again.

Finn needed all the manpower he could get, so he accepted them and ordered them to work.

He also decided to cancel his reservation for the room in the casino and stay in the Drowned Fish bar, which had a room on its second floor.

---

Finn spent the next five days doing his best to spread his influence and make more people join his gang.

It wouldn't have been possible to create a powerful gang in only five days, but because the gang Finn had taken over used to be the strongest in the entire city, it had a strong foundation that he had just built upon.

It was pretty slow in the beginning, but the more influence he gained, the more people joined him, and the more his influence spread, slowly but surely, he was taking over the city.

This cycle continued, and five days after Finn had taken over the guild, people started to realize that a new powerful gang had emerged.

Ocean's Abyss, the gang that was believed to be destroyed, was now back with a new gang leader, Black Skull.

Dora and Swordfish decided to stay with Finn because they saw how smartly he was giving orders and getting people to work.

Finn also invested some of the gang's money to buy buildings around the city, which spread their influence even further and helped them begin making more money.

But Finn wasn't the only one working hard, Swordfish and Dora were helping him a lot too.

They were both not that good at leading a gang, but they each had something they were very skilled at, and with Finn's leadership, their talents began to shine.

Swordfish used to be Shark's right-hand man because he was loyal. He did lust for the leadership position back then, but he never once betrayed Shark, and that was why Finn also liked him.

When it came to Dora, Finn made her the gang's vice leader because she was pretty smart for someone who grew up in that shithole called Leviathan City.

Swordfish became Finn's left-hand man because he was charismatic and the gang members listened to him.

He also started to respect Finn a lot because the gang becoming rich meant that all the gang members became rich, him included.

With more and more people joining Finn's new gang, he was sure that they would be alright once he left for the Elvish continent.

In the beginning, it was mainly his reputation and rumors that protected the gang, but now that it was starting to grow bigger, a lot of strong people had also joined.

So with the money and influence he now had, he could finally join the slave auction that would be held the next day without any worries.

---

But the day before the auction, a fight broke out.

"Sir! Black Mambas and Red Buffaloes are attacking one of our bars!"

Dora rushed inside Finn's office with a worried expression.

Finn knew that the four powerful gangs wouldn't just sit back and watch, so he already expected them to attack.

"Let's go there. Lead the way."

He got up and gestured for Dora to go.

On the way there, Finn also ordered ten more gang members to join him, just to be sure that nothing would go wrong.

Some people stopped believing in the rumor that Finn had managed to kill the Hounds gang alone, and some even started calling him lucky.

So he was waiting for an opportunity like this to happen where he could show his strength again.

Finn didn't just spend his time managing the gang. He had also trained his sword and dagger skills whenever he had the chance, so he was looking forward to showing them off.

Walking through the city, everyone who saw Finn wearing the black skull mask bowed their heads and remained quiet.

They also heard the rumors and weren't sure if they were true, but they weren't crazy enough to act proud around him when he had eleven of his gang members with him.

Soon, they arrived at the bar that Dora had talked about, and they could hear a commotion coming from the inside of the bar.

Walking inside, Finn could see a skinny man with black hair holding the bartender by his collar.

"Call Black Skull and tell him that I am here! Call him already!"

The skinny man shouted while shaking the bartender.

"I did! I did! Please! He should be here any moment now!"

The bartender was just doing his job, and he wasn't strong enough to defend himself, so he just kept begging for his life.

"You called?"

Finn walked inside and looked at the skinny man holding the bartender.

It was N'zayo, the leader of the Black Mambas. His strongest point was his agility, which made him fast, and his body was flexible, just like a snake.

Next to him was a buff man whose height was around 190 cm. He had short red hair, and with his arms crossed, his veiny muscles looked like they were about to pop out.

That was the leader of the Red Buffaloes, Efon.

He was known for his strength and explosive power. Rumors around him said that he once destroyed a one-ton rock with only a single punch.

"Finally! You fucking bastard, you think that you can just start spreading your influence without any consequences?!"

N'zayo let go of the bartender and went towards Finn.

But before he could get any closer, Finn pulled out his daggers and jumped at N'zayo.

CLANG

The strike was blocked by N'zayo's dagger, but Finn didn't let that stop him and kept attacking.

CLANG CLANG CLANG

The people around them were unable to see the fight, and they only saw blurry images because both of them were just too fast.

N'zayo might have been surprised by Finn's sudden attack, but he had grown up surrounded by gangs, so he always lived his life like it was going to be his last.

Suddenly both of them jumped away from each other, and the onlookers wondered who had won.

"*Cough* I- Impossible…"

A line appeared on N'zayo's neck, and a single blood drop appeared on it, then two, then three.

Soon, his entire neck was bleeding, and he fell to his knees with his eyes wide in shock.

The onlookers were all shocked to see that there was someone faster than N'zayo, who was known to be the fastest, but Finn only sheathed his daggers and rushed towards Efon.

Efon was scared that Finn might use his speed against him, but seeing him sheathe his weapons gave him confidence.

Finn then punched, and Efon received it by also punching.

Strength was actually Finn's biggest stat, and with his Vital hit and Limit break, his punch had the same amount of strength as a wrecking ball in full swing.

BANG CRACK

Their fists met each other, and the sound it made resembled a gunshot. Then there was the sound of bones cracking, and Efon's confident smile turned into a terrified expression.

All of his fingers were busted, and his entire hand was bleeding with pieces of bones sticking out.

"WA-"

He tried to talk, but there was no way Finn was going to let him talk his way out of it.

SHING

Quickly unsheathing his sword, Finn swung it and cut Efon's head off.

THUD SPLURT

The head flew for a bit and then fell to the ground. Efon's now headless body first spewed blood, and then it fell to its side.

To everyone watching, it appeared as if Finn had won in terms of strength, but that wasn't true at all.

Finn could feel that his hand was fucked.

He wanted to beat two strong people by using their strongest suit, but he underestimated Efon's strength.

To others, it might have looked like he had easily won, but he knew that if he didn't have a glove that was holding his hand somewhat together and was hiding the blood and bones, everyone would notice that it was more like a tie.

Basically, he won against N'zayo because he used his Shadow jump at the right moment of their fight, which caught N'zayo off guard, and he also won against Efon because he used two of his power-enhancing skills.

Finn realized that he had been overconfident, but if he could turn back time, he would do it again because he needed to show others that he wasn't to be messed with.

Placing a pouch of fifty gold coins on the bar counter, Finn told the bartender to clean up the bar and repair it by tomorrow morning, to which the bartender bowed his head while profusely thanking him.

The gang members that belonged to the Black Mambas and the Red Buffaloes were either too scared to fight or were taken care of by Dora and Finn's gang members.

"Let's go back."

So Finn turned around and walked out of the bar.

"YES SIR!"

All of his gang members shouted at the top of their lungs to show him respect and followed right behind him.

Once they got back to their bar, Finn drank three health potions that healed his right hand back to its perfect state, and he could finally relax, knowing that after today's incident, nobody would attack him or his gang for a long time.

---

When Finn killed the two gang leaders, there were a lot of civilians in the bar, and they spread what they had seen.

It was no longer just a rumor, and everyone realized the true power of Black Skull.

Defeating two of the most powerful gang members in the city was a feat to behold by itself, but using their specialty to defeat them was an entirely different thing.

Not only was Finn strong enough to beat Efon in a fist clash, but he was also faster than N'zayo.

The two gangs that once stood on the pinnacle of the underworld fell apart in one day, and the other two gangs that didn't join their attack against Finn realized that it was too late to stop him now.

Everyone agreed that after 7 long years there was finally a gang that was the strongest and nobody was its match.

With that, Finn had achieved his goal of making his new gang, Ocean's Abyss, number one, and tomorrow he could finally join the auction, not as Finn the traveler but as Black Skull, the boss of the most powerful gang in the entire city.