I smiled as I opened my closet, retrieving the black suit I had bought yesterday, as I began dressing myself. 

It wasn't anything fancy or expensive, just a black suit, red shirt, and leather shoes, but it looked good enough for me to maintain my appearance as the leader of a new group. 

And the best part about it is that it didn't restrict my movement in the least, as it was made from a unique synthetic fiber that some egg head invented after the unveiling.  

"Not bad, if I do say so myself," I murmured with a smirk as I looked in the mirror, trying my long black hair in a man pun. 

Once done, I quickly made my way outside my room and sighed at the sight of Briar standing right in front of the door. "Where are you going dressed like that, handsome?" Briar asked while looking me up and down with a playful smile. 

"I'm going to take of some business," I replied, my eyes twitching at Briar's expression, which showed she was waiting for me to elaborate. 

"A gang in the northern part is holding up one of my guys, and I'm going to take care of it," I added with a shrug as I walked past her. 

"Oh, some action already? Let me tag along then!" she said in an eager tone as she caught up to me and began walking beside me. 

"Suit yourself," I replied with a shrug, not bothering to deny her request, as she'll likely follow me, anyway, earning a satisfied nod from the blonde.

I quickly reached the compound's exit and flicked a lever, opening the door as I walked out. 

"Boss," Clark greeted as he began walking towards me, stopping as he spotted Briar next to me. "Briar," he greeted again as he nodded in Briar's direction. 

I chuckled at Clark's cautious stance as he greeted Briar. 

The crazy blonde had already earned a reputation amongst my subordinate because some random guy tried hitting on her near the base when she was coming back from the bar nearby, and she proceeded to beat the living crap out of him. 

She didn't hold back either, knocking most of the guy's teeth out of his mouth and breaking two of his limbs, so suffice to say, most of my subordinates either feared or respected the blonde for her brutality and strength. 

And that's wasn't really surprising as the only thing keeping these bunch of cutthroats and outcasts together was the fear and respect they had for me, along with a scant hope for a better future.

There were exceptions, of course, like Vilhelm, as I doubt the humanoid bear really fears anything, and Arden, who just in it to satisfy his battle lust as he didn't miss any chance to spar with anyone on the compound every day, but I digress.

"Hey there, four-eyes," Briar greeted back, waving her hand with a cheery smile, and I could swear I saw the faintest of twitches on Clark's face at Briar's choice of words. 

"This way, boss," Clark said as he gestured for me to follow, intending to take towards the gang's location. 

"No need. I already know where I'm going," I said, dismissively waving my hand as I walked past Clark. 

"I know this town like the back of my hand. And there's only one gang in the northern part with a leader dumb enough to attack a new unknown group so soon," I added with a smirk as I increased my pace while gazing at the recognizable yet not familiar scenery. 

It was a strange feeling, really. 

I already knew everything there was to know about Fallout town, and the layout of its streets and alleys was ingrained in the back of my hand, but the knowledge and memory of it weren't rightly my own.

It was almost like watching a movie and then visiting where it was filmed, but it wasn't bad in any way, just strange...,

At any rate, we kept walking towards the northern side, and scenery steadily deteriorated as we did, with more and more garbage in the streets. 

The building themselves differed as we marched, as we spotted more and more tattered buildings the further we walked north. 

The compound I rented was in the center of Fallout town, which wasn't the best area regarding services and security, but it was nowhere as bad enough for anyone to call it a slum.

However, I could not say the same about the northern parts of Fallout town as everyone knew it as the slums, and rightly so as it was a gathering of every shady and seedy individual in Fallout town. 

Said shady individuals had their own groups and gangs, running many different operations, like drugs, prostitution, gambling, and every other assorted illegal activity.

This situation, of course, resulted in endless conflicts of interest between the numerous gangs inhabiting the area, which ignited many conflicts for many years, bringing the northern part of Fallout town to its current state.

Fallout town's higher-ups were, of course, less than pleased about it, but despite their many attempts to clean the slums and bring order back into it, a new gang would pop up whenever they eradicated anyone of the old groups and take its place.

So they finally had no choice but to give up on the slums, deeming it as not worth the effort after pouring too much resources into it with little result. 

"This should be the place," I remarked in a neutral tone as I stood in front of the entrance of a loud, shady-looking nightclub with two buff dudes standing guard in front of it.

"What a shit hole!" Briar said from the side while gazing at the exterior of the nightclub. "Lt's hurry up and go inside!" she added, earning a confused side glance from Clark as I merely chuckled. 

"It is the place, nonetheless." Clark nodded in confirmation as he adjusted his glasses, and I took that as my cue. I put on a lazy smile and began walking towards the nightclub, only for one of the guards to stop me. 

"Whoa, whoa, not so fast, kid," the guard said as he lowered his cheap pair of sunglasses, giving me a once over. "I've never seen you around," he added while giving me an appraising look.

"I'm here to see Marcus," I remarked in a careless tone, still lazily smiling as Clark smelled the incoming trouble and took a step back.

"Hey, did you hear that the new guy is a real comedian!" The guard said with a laugh as he turned to look at his friend, the other guard. 

"And I want to become the president of OWR," the other guard sarcastically said while giving me a contemptuous look. "I don't know what you're trying to do, kid, but hurry up and beat it while I', still in the mood to let you go," he added while gesturing for me to leave with his hand as shooing a stray dog.

"Maybe you did not hear me clearly," I said with the same lazy smile as I quickly grasped the second guard's throat and lifted him off the ground.

"I'm here to see Marcus," I stated, my smile becoming several degrees colder as I turned to look at the other guard, ignoring the choking and struggling of the one in my hand as he clawed at my hand, his feet dangling in the air. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" the first guard exclaimed in shock, but he reacted quickly, retrieving a pistol from one of his pockets. 

I sighed, quickly materializing Snowwhite in my hand in its gun form. It took me even less time to aim and shoot the first guard before he even had time to point his gun at me. 

The shot went through the guard's head, creating a bloody hole in the middle of his forehead and another one on the wall behind him.

I pointed Snowwhite at the other guard's head as I let him go, giving him a second to catch his breath as he clutched his neck, greedily swallowing as much air as he could into his lungs.

"Now, I believe you were about to take to Marcus, no?" I remarked as I pushed my gun's barrel against the guard's forehead, causing him to freeze as he raised his head to look at me.

"Yes, yes, of course," the guard said in a hurried tone as he slowly got up with his hands in the air. "This way," he added, turning around and walking towards the entrance with his hands still in the air. 

We quickly went inside, and I frowned at the loud music playing in the background with many people dancing, drinking, injecting themselves with shady-looking syringes, or even downright fucking on the dance floor for all to see. 

I quickly took aim, shooting the two gigantic speakers in the nightclub to get everyone's attention. "Party is over, everyone out!" I stated, taking several more shots into the air. 

There was silence for a second, but panicked shouts and the loud sounds of nightclub customers all stampeding towards the exit replaced it. 

"Marcus! I know you have my guy!" I exclaimed in a neutral tone, unbothered by the dozen or so armed gangsters trying to surround us. 

"Get your ass out here before I burn down this shit hole you call a nightclub!" I stated, firing several flaming aura bullets into the surroundings. 

...

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