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"From this moment onward, Aaron is the patrol captain of District D. Anyone have any objections?"
The next morning, at daybreak, Hoffman stood on the platform of the gang's base, looking down from above as he addressed the subordinates gathered below.
As soon as those words left his mouth, the once-noisy crowd instantly fell silent. Then, all eyes turned toward the young man standing beside Hoffman — their gazes filled with envy, jealousy, or awe.
The story of how Aaron had almost single-handedly driven back an entire Dar Gang patrol unit at the docks yesterday had already spread like wildfire, not only within the Frosthorn Gang but throughout all of Velia Port.
With such a feat, such strength — and the fact that Aaron was the disciple of Reggie — it was only natural for him to be qualified as a patrol captain.
Still, some of the veteran members weren't happy. After all, Aaron had only been with the Frosthorn Gang for just over two months, and yet he was already taking a captain's seat. For those who prided themselves on seniority, this stung.
But discontent meant nothing before absolute strength.
Aaron had already proven himself on the battlefield yesterday. He wasn't some poser who only looked tough when holding a gun but would crumble in a real life-and-death fight. On the contrary — once he was in his element, his kill rate was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
Twenty-five men in total — in just one minute, nine were dead, the remaining sixteen were all shot in the right leg, leaving no one able to escape.
There was no doubt: if Aaron hadn't deliberately avoided killing the entire Dar Gang patrol to prevent sparking an even larger conflict, he had more than enough power to wipe them all out by himself.
"Good. Congratulations, Aaron. From today on, District D is your responsibility."
Seeing that no one objected, Hoffman turned to Aaron, patted his shoulder with a smile, and handed him a ring — the emblem of a Frosthorn Gang patrol captain.
"Yes, sir! I'll make sure to guard District D well for you, Master Hoffman."
Aaron received the captain's ring with both hands, his face brimming with excitement. He then respectfully stepped back and stood alongside the other patrol captains.
After Hoffman went over a few more minor matters, he ordered Aaron and the other captains to lead their teams to work.
From the moment he became patrol captain, Aaron's status changed instantly. Members of his unit began currying favor with him, some even offering "gifts" — naturally, in the form of Berries.
And it wasn't just his men. Merchants at the docks also presented generous offerings whenever they saw him patrolling with his team.
Aaron accepted everything with a smile — but he didn't keep it all for himself. Half went to Hoffman as tribute, and the other half he shared with his team. By the end of the day, he even hosted a banquet to treat everyone.
With this careful balance of flattery upward and generosity downward, Aaron's new seat as patrol captain became much more secure.
That night — in the civilian district, inside Aaron's home.
"Cheers! To big bro's promotion to captain!"
Aaron, Shuma, and Williams clinked their bottles of rum together. Shuma and Williams each offered their congratulations before downing their drinks in one go.
"This is great, big bro! Now that you're a patrol captain, does this mean we can finally start building up our business?"
Williams asked excitedly, wiping his mouth after finishing his drink.
Born the son of a merchant and a former Celestial Dragon slave, Williams' greatest dream was to take revenge on the Celestial Dragons. His second was to restore the Glittering Gold Trading Company that his father had once founded. Revenge was still a distant goal — so for now, rebuilding the company took priority.
Over the past two months, he had managed to reestablish the Glittering Gold Trading Company. It was tiny for now, but he firmly believed he could one day grow it into the top trading company in the Drum Kingdom — perhaps even the greatest in the world.
"More or less. But we still need to move carefully. I climbed the ranks a bit too quickly, and there are some old-timers who might act friendly but are fuming inside. They might try something sooner or later… and when they do, I'll need to make an example out of one or two of them so my position stays solid."
Aaron understood exactly what Williams was thinking and gave a nod before warning him.
Williams had been a tremendous help these past two months. Since Aaron had joined the dock patrol, most of the burden of making money had fallen on Williams. Aaron had managed to line his own pockets through the patrol job, but compared to his expenses, it was nothing.
His rise to captain wasn't solely due to his display of strength the night before — it was also because he had spent a small fortune bribing Hoffman.
That "bribery" had been going on for over two months, costing millions of Berries — all painstakingly earned by Williams during that time.
Of course, Williams' ability to make that much money so quickly was thanks in large part to Aaron's position, which gave him easy access to trade at the docks, and Shuma's invaluable commercial intelligence.
Beyond the money, Aaron had also gone out of his way to keep Hoffman pleased, treating him almost like a Celestial Dragon. Over time, Hoffman's fondness for him had grown day by day.
Through constant displays of loyalty, steady financial offerings, and finally the show of raw power, Aaron had secured the captain's seat.
Others might think he got lucky or simply flattered his way up, but they had no idea how much effort and sacrifice had gone into it.
"I understand. I'll tread carefully."
Williams took Aaron's words to heart, knowing he was right.
"Big bro, here's my gift for you. Today's our lucky day — I caught a big fish."
Once the conversation ended, Shuma grinned and pulled a bounty poster from his coat, placing it on the table.
The poster featured a pirate named Douglas Rich, with a bounty of 20 million Berries.
"Interesting. Is the intel solid?"
Aaron immediately understood Shuma's intent and smiled.
In the past two months, Shuma's intelligence network had finally begun to bear fruit. He now commanded over ten operatives — all orphans from the slums, small and inconspicuous, trained personally by him in disguise, tracking, and counter-surveillance. Their main task: find wanted pirates who passed through the docks.
So far, they had already identified several wanted pirates, the highest being worth 50 million Berries. Shuma had sold that intel to bounty hunters for a cool 1 million Berries.
For those with smaller bounties, the trio handled the takedowns themselves, earning a tidy profit.
"Of course. I confirmed it myself — and I even overheard that he'll be staying here for three days. So, do we take him out ourselves, or sell the info to bounty hunters?"
Shuma replied confidently.
"No way we're giving this kind of prey to someone else. This time, we feast ourselves."
Aaron stabbed a dagger right into the poster's portrait, eyes gleaming with excitement.
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