Umbradrake froze the moment he heard that—he could tell Big Ears wasn't just talking. That was a threat, plain and simple.
This guy with the giant ears… sure knows how to hit where it hurts.
"Big Ears, I'm begging you, man. We can't keep doing this. If we push it any further, something bad's gonna happen!" Umbradrake pleaded, his face twisted in frustration.
"Oh? Now you're begging me? I told you ages ago to be my right-hand man, but you turned me down. And now look at you," Big Ears sneered.
He leaned in, voice low and firm. "I don't care. We're getting more pigs, period. You want trouble now, or trouble later? Your call."
"I…" Umbradrake was speechless. At this point, he didn't really have a choice. If he kept shaking down the other corpse nests for livestock, he risked pushing them into a full-blown fight. But if he stopped… Big Ears and his crew would turn on him right now.
