Chapter 15: Rising Storm

This time, the progress bar did not move as fast as it did during the time that he was reading the information on the beginner level skills.

It seemed that he would require a lot of information in able to advance the beginner level unarmed combat skill to the intermediate level.

Well, Michael had already expected something like this. After all, by advancing the skill to the intermediate level would grant him 10 SP.

Judging by the number of SP that he would receive, it was pretty clear that the difficulty involved was higher. As for if it was 10 times that of acquiring a beginner level skill, he was not sure yet.

If it was actually 10 times more difficult, that implied that he would need 10 days in order to be able to advance to the intermediate level.

This was quite a considerable amount of time, but thinking about the benefits that would come with it, it was worth it.

If he had used those two years that he had wasted with the Shadow Assembly gang to read, he would have been able to acquire more skills.

And maybe, he might have even reached a higher level beyond the intermediate level.

Regardless of what he was thinking about, Michael spent an entire day reading, only taking a break during lunch time.

At lunchtime, he made food for himself, rather than going downstairs to the restaurant.

After the meal, he continued reading. Even though the progress was slow, it was still there, which was quite motivating.

Additionally, Michael was looking forward to the possibility of his body receiving more enhancements. If he could get stronger this way, that would be better.

Within the store, some of the items were available, but he could not access them. As for the reason, it was simply because the number of SP that was required was not something that he had the capability of raising at the moment.

But even then, it was only a matter of time before he unlocked those items.

What Michael was hoping at the moment was that, if it was impossible for him to be able to enhance his physique by a huge margin just by depending on the skills, maybe there was something that could enhance his physique directly.

Reading for an entire day, even though it was quite boring, having already endured 2 years where he was locked inside an office for an entire day for two consecutive years, Michael was kind of used to it.

So, before midnight, Michael slept, having already eaten the final meal of the day.

The following day, he woke up at 5:00 a.m., before he continued reading. By the time that it got to 7:00 a.m., he went to freshen up, before continuing reading after taking his breakfast.

By this time, the progress bar had already reached 28%. By estimation, Michael felt that at most, 5 days were required for him to be able to get an intermediate level skill.

Thinking about this, Michael got even more motivated, completely forgetting about anything else apart from reading.

…

While Michael was busy trying to grind the progress bar through reading, things were not as calm within the Shadow Assembly gang.

It was 5 days since the raid by the police, and 4 days since the gangsters had been released from the police station.

They had managed to return to their previous base, which was the gym. And in the basement, within one of the rooms, there was a conference room that currently had the core members of the gang.

The total number of core members of the gang was 8. These eight did not include Dante, who was the leader of the gang.

In any case, these eight people were only second to Dante, holding quite a considerable amount of power within the gang. Additionally, they also had quite some wealth, as compared to the other members of the gang.

At the moment, they were all sitting around a rectangular long table, and at the head of the table was Dante, who was wearing his usual attire, a gray vest this time, and black cargo pants.

Dante’s expression was gloomy as he faced the group of eight people, who were sitting four on each side of the conference table.

“Have there been any results on this issue?” Dante asked in a deep voice but reverberated in the entire conference room.

“Boss, you don’t need to worry so much about this. I should be able to get the results in a few days.” After Dante asked the question, the person that was sitting closest to him, on the left side of the table, suddenly spoke.

This person had purple-dyed hair and gray eyes. He had a tall and lean frame, with a scorpion tattoo on the left side of his neck.

“Steve, you understand that I don’t like delays. I want to see the results, because I can no longer continue tolerating the barks from some wimpy dogs.” Dante spoke with a solemn expression on his face.

The person referred to as Steve was none other than Dante’s second in command, holding the position of the deputy leader of the entire gang.

Despite the expression that was on Dante’s face, Steve was not intimidated in the least.

Instead, he simply revealed a vicious grin as he said, “Not a problem. Then, I will hasten things up, and I should be able to get the results by evening.”

Dante stood up after hearing those words. He said nothing, turning around and leaving the conference room.

With Dante departing, only the other 7 core members of the gang remained. But, none of them left, all of them looking at Steve, as if waiting for his instruction.

“You all heard it. The boss wants results. So, you better push everything forward, all the plans that we have made so far, push them ahead.

Tonight, we have to get the results. Those idiots think that by using the police, they will be able to deal with us? That’s just a childish thought.” Steve said in a cold voice as he gazed at the others around the table.

As they faced his gaze, the other seven core members of the gang felt their bodies tremble slightly. This was something that they had not experienced even when facing Dante, who was the gang leader.

Why was this the case? While it was true that Dante was extremely cruel, at least he had his own limits. He only targeted those that were his enemies, or stood in front of his road to gaining benefits.

But it was completely different for Steve. This guy, he was more vicious. But more than that, he was extremely petty.

He would torture someone to death at the slightest grievance, and his methods were even more cruel, almost demonic.

Most of the people referred to him as the smiling demon of the underworld, well known by several gang, even out of the district in which the shadow assembly gang was located.

At the moment, none of the other 7 people wanted to cross Steve’s interests. Despite them being core members of the gang and were quite valued by Dante, if they became enemies with Steve, even Dante would not protect them.

It was not that Dante did not have the ability, it was just that, he valued Steve’s abilities. While it was true that Steve was extremely cruel and petty at times, he had the ability of holding his position.

It was not only in terms of combat, but his mind was sharp as well, becoming the strategist of the entire gang.

Now, upon hearing the instructions from Steve, they all took them seriously. Steve had already made several plans to counter the Blood tiger gang, planning to make them suffer huge losses.

“We should be able to get things done by tonight. Tomorrow morning, I want results. If you mess things up, you should be ready to face the consequences, and I believe that you know what the consequences of messing such a crucial moment means.” When he saw everyone around him nodding, Steve spoke again.

“Okay, I’m off. Make sure to remember what I said.” Steve stood up before casually heading towards the exit of the conference room, leaving behind the other core members who were already sweating.

“Guys, I’m out. I better get going and do my part. Otherwise, if I delay, that demon will definitely not let me off.” One of the gangsters suddenly spoke.

“I’m off too. You can mess with anyone else, but absolutely not this smiling demon.” Another one commented.

One by one, everyone left the conference room, headed back to the surface, before they left the base of the gang.

This night was bound not to be calm, with chaos bound to erupt, and blood to be spilled. As for who was going to benefit in the end, that depended on who was stronger.

As the dark curtain was drawn, in a certain corner of the Dusk district, slowly, figures with metallic pipes and baseball bats began gathering outside a strip club that had its pink neon lights already turned on.

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