Discord: discord/ydnYFQynZ2[1]
Join the discord to make suggestions, hound me about the inconsistent update schedule (I'm working on it) and have nice discussion about why Supergirl is best girl, the economic model of the Hidden Leaf Village and whether or not it is illegal to do a Pokemon.
That, and it would be useful to know how many readers we really have, Webnovel enjoys giving huge numbers to boost the writers' ego, but it doesn't correctly reflect the writing quality.
As always, don't forget to leave a stone, comment if you liked it, comment if you didn't.
Love ya!
. . .
Vampire Rule N°30: If the author doesn't write the correct number, or any number at, just ignore it. You're getting a double release.
. . .
They were making a move.
John knew it would happen.
That was a rather common feat for a world hopping vampire, but it was true nonetheless, and for once it had nothing to do with any sort of foreknowledge one could achieve through months spent without touching grass or showering.
No, this required a bit more practical experience.
From the very moment he sent Copperhead to cut off the heads of the local drug lords, emasculating the main economic engine that drove Brideshead million dollar criminal world and leaving the smaller groups scrambling as their lives collapsed.
It was a bold action, perhaps too hasty, but one he did not regret.
The results it produced across every level were simply too great, the lack of organized channels of supplier paired with the loss of the respect and fear the criminal entrepreneurs of the land had carefully cultivated, had done so much to wean the citizens off their reliance on chemical relief, to convince them that change was not only an option, the objectivelysuperior option at that, but also the only one they truly had.
He gained over two thousand employees, both direct and indirect, and the means to provide and profit from them, invested in many more so that they might have a chance at realizing their projects.
Not to mention the massive step forward in making the local blood pool at least somewhat tolerable for his palate.
The conquest of Brideshead was in this sense a total success.
However, for every action, there had to be a reaction.
In the last two weeks, he had received an alarming amount of reports indicating increased criminal activity, operations and moves he had not approved, cappers he had expressly forbidden in his domain.
Kids giving out testers, free vials of dope and coke to prove their product was the hottest poison out there, sometimes literally….a bit of rat poison in the dope will drop even the hardiest junkie, and the rest will buy the 'strong' shit long before their friend's body cooled down, he wasn't hard like them after all.
Small-time gangbangers trying to move into the territory, peddling their own shit products in streets that are trying to get clean, intimidating shops to get pocket money when the business is lacking.
Breaks-ins, carjackings and excessive violence.
Nothing that required either him or Larissa to step in, the newly expanded independent neighborhood watch was strong and scary enough to intimidate most of the mischief out of the area, and break the kneecaps of those who didn't get the memo.
Nor was it big enough to alarm the population as a whole, a few dozen extra crews lost in nearly 120.000 more or less clean citizens wasn't exactly bad news, especially to Gothamites.
Few truly understood what was happening, but those who did see it, did not like it one bit.
It was partly for them that John doubled down on security initiatives, bleeding money to personally fund legal armed security for everything from mom and pops shops to housing blocks and parking lots, doing the same for the neighborhood watch.
Reginald had nearly lost his mind getting approval to install CCTV cameras in every possible corner they owned, and the lawyers they hired weren't doing much better, it took John's personal intervention to convince the local councilman that he should approve of his plans without making a fuss.
It involved a generous use of Dominate and Presence, some aphrodisiacs and a video of the gentleman and a pig having a nice time.
Needless to say that the good Mr. Jenkins was more than happy to sign anything and everything they put in front of him, from construction approvals to special grants for the rehab center, and much needed city funding for rec centers that were until now financing a lakeside property in Maine.
In any case, the cameras were installed and John's men were now safe from the angry arms of Uncle Sam and his boys in blue, he had the best lawyers he could find ready to insure that.
The expansion in his severely lacking intelligence collection capabilities was just the cherry on top of a morally dubious cake.
It did wonders for people's morale and sense of security, and was very efficient at keeping the scums out, or at identifying the more discreet bad actors and sending a very clear message.
Reginald sure appreciated the easier workload, but John wasn't nearly as happy.
It was obviously just the start, someone was sending these low budget crooks his way, and not knowing who was doing very nasty things to his not-at-all paranoid mind.
It's not paranoia if the world's really out to get you, after all.
Just good sense.
Many possibilities were on his mind, from remnants of Hungry's organization and allies looking for a comeback in this prime bit of real estate.
Rogue actors who did have their own developed organization like Sionis or the Penguin, both of whom had suffered some major setbacks lately, either to the bat or fellow outlaws.
Or perhaps he had a lancer's luck, and the worst case scenario was happening.
The Cosa Nostra or Carmine Falcone 'The Roman' and his criminal empire, the real big players in Gotham's Underworld.
Giant byzantine organizations that are hopefully much too big and sophisticated to act so soon on a relatively minor theater, for groups like them that deal with billions of dollars in hard drugs, weapons and other services, a single neighborhood that was worth at the most a couple hundred millions if cultivated correctly should be a non-factor.
They had dozens of strong meta-humans, many more skilled enforcers and hundreds if not thousands of more or less disciplined troops, with subordinate gangs being able to field their own numbers and their finances allowing them to hire the best of the best if push comes to shove.
Not to mention their powerful suction on politics, police and foreign organizations.
Devouring their best attack dogs was an appetizing prospect, one that made the beast within growl in approval, but he didn't even need to look at the system information to know he would be beaten.
If not in direct battle against stronger superhumans, weaker foes with better equipment, training and numbers.
Then a simple war of attrition would do it, it was hard to sustain an intense conflict when you could only move at night.
Even if his foes played by the same rules and didn't try to smoke him out during the day, a simple bad matchup, one enemy who manipulated sunlight or fire and John would be roasted into final death.
It hurt his pride to admit it, but you had to be realistic with these things.
This was however all conjecture for the time being.
John needed to know who was trying to ruin his work, and regardless of the answer, he needed to get stronger to take them down.
And that meant blood.
Lots and lots of blood.
[1] discord/ydnYFQynZ2