Chapter 78 - Aching Heart
As they all knelt before Hal's malevolent gaze, they shivered and a vast majority wondered the same thing
'Who the fuck was this?'
From the moment this Dangerous young man arrived, he had not let out his cultivation base once. The pressure that now forced them to their knees and instilled tremendous fear into their very being, had absolutely nothing to do with Cosmic energy.
And if it had nothing to do with Cultivation, it could only be about something else.
Something that was more legend than true in this city.
It had to be the power of a bloodline. A dreadful one at that.
Meanwhile, Scarface shivered for slightly different reasons. He had faced such an overpowering presence before. That time he had the confidence of victory and even in defeat he still kept his life. Even though the souvenirs from the incident were now clear on his face.
However, before Hal's dreadful eyes and presence, he was sure that should he cross him, a swift death would be mercy.
The thought brought a lump to his throat.
Hal however smiles jovially again but with his Black eyes (Sclera and all) and the terrifying Devil presence he exuded, he looked, if possible. more dreadful.
"Now, isn't this nice?. I've come to realize that sometimes you just need to be harsh. Alas it's a shame that the first instinct of anyone who feels this pressure is to beg for their lives" Hal sighed with false melancholy
The fair lady suppressed a snort "Are you not going to kill us?"
"By my word! Why would I do that?" Hal asked in a shocked tone
This time, the fair lady struggled not to snort and roll her eyes at the same time "You said we were rude to you?"
"Of course you were rude but that does not warrant the death penalty" Hal sighed
"It doesn't?"
"Well, actually it does. But it mostly hinges on my mood and whether or not I planned to kill you in the first place. And I did not.
"I was serious when I said I had an opportunity of a lifetime for you"
"So there's money involved" Rickety perked up
"What is it with you and money?. You greedy, greedy man" Hal shook his head in apparent disappointment
"The opportunity is that you all get to serve me. This whole meeting was so you could pledge yourselves to me"
Hal then began to pace slowly as he addressed the kneeling men whose whole future was heading towards a significant change but were more preoccupied with the pressure that still bore down on them.
Hal lessened it enough to allow them some rest but they all remained on their knees.
"You want a sponsor? Well, you've got one in me but from now on you will no longer be gang members but my own private force to answer to no one but me. That's all.
"So now, I believe all that's left to do is have someone or some people with no interest in joining me stand up and say so now" And with that, he folded his arms.
His eyes were now once again their normal sapphire blue and his sclera once again white. His Devil Energy had been reined in, so they looked up at him and despite having just forced them all to their knees, they saw in him a savior.
In minds of those present, there was no way anyone would say no to this opportunity. A little shocking though was the first duo to rise and pledge
"We will pledge our service to you" said the two Ex-black vine gang members
Hal looked at the two of them closely. That they were first to 'pledge' was a tad bit suspicious bit Hal was not at all worried, after all, he never planned to take their word for it anyway.
His smile changed by a fraction into a fiendish one and in a mini-explosion of Devil energy, Hal drafted a long contract and held it out for the thousand of them. He let it go and the contract floated to the duo
"Then sign this" He told them
The two shared a resolute look and as one they signed the contract in their blood. The moment they signed, they felt the relinquishing of control over their soul and their eyes widened while Hal chuckled lightly at their stupidity.
Honestly, from how the contract was drafted, what else were they expecting?
Meanwhile. Their mind became an open book for Hal to peruse and in it, Hal could see their shallowly hatched plan. Which was to infiltrate and take him down from the inside.
Unfortunately for them, a deal with the Devil was a one-way train and a journey of no return.
The contract from the shocked and disoriented duo to Scarface who did not hesitate to sign, then it moved to Rickety who signed as well and then to the Fair lady who also signed.
And so it continued until all 1000+ men and women were all contracted into Hal's service.
"Wonderful" Hal smiled and turned towards Marla
"This is how we shall build up our forces. Unfortunately, most of them are worthless trash but they can be molded into something better"
With that said Hal went into his mind space to face Grimoire and exchanged over one million gold coins for unranked cultivation techniques for all of them.
His heart ached at losing such a large amount in one go. This really put a large dent in his wealth. What he had left from the Holger Estate would barely amount to 6 million gold Coins. He laughed at himself now for his shallow mind at jubilating over Salmon's measly wealth of 200000 gold coins.
Of course, at the time it had seemed enough.
'Sigh, you're going to milk me dry aren't you?' Hal lamented quietly
'Hehe. Sorry not sorry. You're going to thank me in the future when the benefits start pouring in' Grimoire laughed complacently
Hal narrowed his eyes in contemplation; Benefits pouring in?
He left the mind space and shook his head as though to clear it.
Before he passed the cultivation techniques to all of them through the contract.
The moment the information of the cultivation techniques appeared in their mind, the few who started to meditate on it could already feel a breakthrough on the horizon.
All the years of absorbing Cosmic energy without hope of breakthrough for lack of good cultivation techniques were finally showing their worth.
They had only one man to thank for this and as one they all bowed
"Thank you, Master" There was much more than subservient appreciation, their appreciation was genuine and born of their years of frustration at their stagnation.
For the first time since their meeting, Hal faced them with a stoic expression "You can thank me by cultivating dedicatedly. There's trouble coming to this city and I won't have any slackers when it arrives.
"Now, you will all return to your hideouts and cultivate these techniques. By the end of tomorrow, there will be a permanent residence for you to stay in"
And with that Hal opened a section of the dome to allow all of them to leave the entrapment and they all eagerly fled to their hideouts.
The 5 gang leaders were still the ones to have lost the most that day. Their gangs were now no more and the position of power that had stopped them from banding together was now gone.
But in it, they felt more alive, A new spark had been ignited in them and it was a spark that had been lit by one man in a domineering fashion.
When they were all gone, Hal called for his marked men and while he awaited their arrival, he turned towards Marla whose brows were raised in silent inquisition
"This 'trouble', are you by any chance the cause?" She asked with a slight smile
"Whoa. Of course not. This is just a civil war, plans of which have already been in motion long before I could participate. But since they started it, we might as well make use of this golden opportunity for our plans.
"Ahh, here they come. The marked brethren."
One by one, all of the marked men walked into the Array dome and bowed to Hal who smiled down at them.
The marked had never lost their free will. The Devil mark only ensured they would never betray him. As they had not really submitted to him, Hal had not paid them a lot of attention.
Despite those circumstances, they accomplished all tasks he gave them with diligence, steadfastness and joy, so much so that he could no longer keep them at arm's length.
It was to them he had entrusted the duty of spreading rumors of the 'something' that would happen tomorrow. It was done in such a perfect way that it soon spread all around Salmon city. Even to the slums.
"Just so you know, I have been quite impressed with your diligence, and I will reward you"
"We did not do it for a reward. Your praise is all we desire" said Goff who acted as their spokesman while the others nodded
"What's with the ass-kissing?. I will reward you so be quiet now"
He drafted a contract for them all and smiling widely with a little embarrassment, all one hundred of them signed the contract.
While they signed, Hal exchanged 100000 gold coins (While wincing due to his aching heart at another hefty sum down Grimiore's gluttonous throat) for unranked cultivation techniques which he gave each through the contract.
The Hundred became the first to receive both the mark and the contract and would go on to instill terror into the hearts of Hal's foes in the years to come.