Chapter 178 - Rebuilding (Patreon)

A day of mourning was reserved for the funeral. No one did work on that day, including Kyle, who focused his attention on keeping the morale of his men alive. He talked and met with many new members, getting to know them better as much as he could, impressing himself as a focal point of the gang.

More importantly was the makeshift medical halls – repurposed stores in the hypermall now used to house patients and injured men from the war. It was the living who needed the most help, so Kyle too went there to check up on them.

His Necklace of Healing could heal many wounds, as could healing potions. But they could not restore missing limbs or digits, or significant chunks of flesh that had been removed. The medical halls were filled with the groans and pained whimpers of men unable to handle both the physical pain and mental fatigue of having lost their limbs or body parts.

Kyle took the time to talk with the patients, healing them slightly to make them feel better, increasing their loyalty by a bit. But Kyle still felt that this would be a heavy burden that the Seven Snakes will have to carry, trying to think of a way to get them up and running again. He needed as much manpower on the ground as far as possible.

In the Galactic Era, we would have them mechanized – implants or cybernetics to restore mobility. Kyle did not think he had the capability to do so just yet, but he did have the parts to attempt reverse engineering. The exosuit spines in the Culdao Peaks would serve as a great reference point.

However, Kyle was not an expert in nerval engineering : any slipup would cause irreversible damage to the patient in question. I’ll think about it later.

“Who would have thought an amnesiac kid from the slums would be able to become a leader of a major gang in Raktor?” An alchemist approached him, two employees trailing behind and checking up on the patients nearby.  “Certainly not me. And I certainly wasn’t expecting you to be able to take down Ares alone.”

“It wasn’t easy.”

“And so are these potions I’ve been giving out to the patients. Not easy to make them now, you know?” Haui hinted with his brows, obviously wanting something. For the past two months he had been the main producer of the potions. Of course, the ingredients all came from the Culdao Peaks, but he was not a member of the Seven Snakes then. Business was still business, and Haui had hedged his bets with Kyle.

“You will have discounted ingredients for the rest of the war.” Kyle relented, knowing he could not afford to lose Haui and his employees now, their alchemist skills far too vital to keeping his men alive. He did not have a potion factory in the Culdao Peaks now, but he was not planning to push out Haui just yet. There’s no reason to as well – this is simply delegation.

Kyle left the medical halls, moving around the hypermall to see the situation. Thousands of locals were queued up for one of the rare few soup kitchens still standing in the Seven Snakes district, many of whom were jobless, having lost their homes and belongings.

Damian and Niko were working hard, giving out the rations. While the day of mourning meant that they should not work, people still needed to eat and drink. The two of them worked tirelessly to feed the masses with others helping them, all of which held strong ties and attachment to the local districts. The rations provided was free for now, a temporary measure to tide the locals over for the time being.

Kyle did not begrudge having to give away food for free. He had more than enough thanks to the terrace farming at the Culdao Peaks, along with the hardy Galactic Era seeds that were genetically modified. Output was higher than ever, and the Seven Snakes logistics system made sure no one starved.

With this, the locals saw the Seven Snakes as a benign organization rather than an exploitative one, though some were still angry and furious for the Seven Snakes bringing the war to them. “If we never had gangs in the first place, this would not have happened!”

Those who did not want to stay under a gang-controlled district left immediately, especially those who were formerly under the Red Lions and the Wretches, now handed over to Kyle. Both gangs had been subjugated by the Ardent Cretins early in the war, the whereabouts of their leaders unknown.

In those districts, resistance to the Seven Snakes were much higher, some even refusing the free handouts, remaining loyal to the fallen gangs. New thug gangs rose up, exploiting the lack of economic opportunities to restore black markets, smuggling rings and prostitution once again, capitalizing on the destitution of their fellow citizens.

“We can’t let the districts under our control slip away.” Kyle began, with the Seven Snakes leaders under him meeting him at the top of the hypermall towards the end of the day. “The plan is simple – boost our economic output so high that no one else in the city can afford to wipe us out without tanking the Raktor economy.”

Having military strength was only one way of deterring Baron Namor from launching an assault: he needed to make it costly as well.

“We would have to sort the basic needs of the people first. Food, water and housing. Food is settled for now, but water and housing remains a terrible issue.” Damian remarked.

As a result of the non-stop battles, houses and apartments have been completely levelled on scale across the building. Damian was aware that in order to win over people’s heart, they would have to provide for their basic needs first.

“The problem is we can’t clear the buildings easily.” Keith shook his head. “Building on new ground is one thing, but clearing out another demolished building and replacing it with a functional apartment is going to take time. We need to establish temporary housing as soon as possible.”

“The Culdao Peaks might be a potential option.” Reese pointed out. “Perhaps those willing could be persuaded to stay there?”

“No, the Culdao Peaks is off-limits to outsiders and civilians.” Kyle did not want the goblin kingdom to have to deal with refugees from Raktor. He could already foresee plenty of possible social issues that would arise, as well as a problem with operational security, where civilian humans not under his control would be able to glimpse his production methods, forming a potential information leak.

“How about the Culdao Peaks’ Town? There’s plenty of empty spaces and forests that can be cleared, easier than Raktor itself. It could serve as a temporary lodging while we get the apartments here back up and running.” Gordon offered his suggestion.

The Culdao Peaks’ Town had been heavily depopulated after the occupation by the Violet Demons. Interesting suggestion. Perhaps this could be a way to boost their economy as well.

“It’s not going to be that easy.” Monica retorted. “You can’t just move people about and expect them to get along with everybody else there. It’s going to cause class disputes.”

“Then maybe we set up a new town, in-between Raktor and the Culdao Peaks. Perhaps along where the tunnel network should be?” Adrian gave his suggestion.

“That would take far too long – it’s not trivial to build a town from scratch. Utilities and supplies would have to be seriously taken into consideration. And when the new apartments in Raktor are built, everyone would want to stay in the city centre more than outside Raktor’s walls.” Reese countered.

The leaders offered a few more suggestions, but eventually it was shown that there was simply no other option but to rebuild the districts as fast as they could. “Moving people back and forth would take extra time that could be allocated to reconstruction. If anything, we should be employing hobgoblins to come in and help us work.” Monica explained.

“And with all the existing utilities in place, it would be less work to repair it and have it connected up again to our factories.” Keith nodded in agreement. “Building anew with our hypermall at the centre will consolidate our economic growth even more, and force people to accept that we are here to stay. Guang Hwa, get the construction company to begin offering jobs to clear debris. We’ll do each district at a time, with the main focus being getting an apartment up as soon as possible. Reese and Gordon, you two will – “

Keith suddenly stopped himself in his tracks, turning to look at Kyle who was simply smiling at him. “Sorry, boss, I got ahead of myself.” Keith had been working solo for so long that he and Damian had become the defacto leaders.

“Don’t worry about me, go on.” Kyle motioned with his hand, not interested in intervening. Kyle was glad to see that his leaders were becoming far more competent, not requiring him to have to do every small little thing. As the meeting went on, Kyle offered a few suggestion and changes to the plan using his Galactic Era knowledge, but for the most part, he let Keith and Damian handle the others.

To Kyle, Keith and Damian had more than earned his trust with the defense of the Seven Snakes district, something far more than he could have asked for. Kyle was thus content with letting things go, though he still remained involved to ensure things did not go astray.

The leaders had been battle-hardened and trained over the months since they’ve joined the Seven Snakes, learning the way Kyle operated. Now, the Seven Snakes was like an extension of Kyle himself, able to function independently.

“Good luck, everyone.” Keith concluded the meeting. “If everything goes to plan, the Seven Snakes would be even richer than the Baron himself, and we would begin cornering every major industry in Raktor within three weeks. Dismissed.”

The leaders left, heading back to get a good night’s rest. Only Damian, Keith and Kyle were in the office. “We’re not entirely in the clear yet – the ten districts negotiated to us are still not fully under our control. Too many remnants of Cretins, Red Lions and Wretches lingering about.” Damian explained, pointing out the problematic areas.

“Get Sasha and the elite squads to hunt them down: it would be good practice.”

“Do we execute all of them?”

“Live human bodies are always precious. Have them restrained and sent to the Culdao Peaks.” Kyle ordered.

With this, the restoration of the South Sector was set in motion, with every leader handling their respective departments in detail. Keith had also begun a recruitment campaign by using the priority system for new apartments. Many fathers and mothers signed up, hoping to provide a home for their kids.

Kyle soon returned to the Culdao Peaks, delegating the restoration to the others. With the tunnel network down, he returned by hovercraft, landing in the goblin kingdom once more with Adrian. “What’s the situation in Kregol now? I heard Victoria is asking for help?”

“It’s still developing – but the Violet Demons are clearly more aggressive. They have yet to directly confront the Ravens in a battle, though they are wiping out any remnants of the Ardent Cretins in the vicinity, capturing them before we can. There are also signs of the Veiled Angels trying to get in on the action.”

Kyle supported the Ravens in Kregol, allying with them to form a united front against the other significant gangs and cutting off the Ardent Cretins supply. However, with the Violet Demons and Veiled Angels all looking to scavenge what was left of the Ardent Cretins, Kyle needed to stop them to ensure they did not grow too strong.

There are not enough elite squads. We’ll need to recruit more. “For the time being, continue to do aerial observations only. We cannot afford to lose manpower without information. Share the information with the Ravens; let them prove their worth.”

As much as Kyle was allied with the Ravens, he was not about to babysit them all the way. In his opinion, giving them real-time aerial observations was already good enough assistance. If you can’t beat the enemy even with such an information asymmetry, it would be a clear shame.

But before Kyle could continue planning his next move for the following three weeks, Orisa’s clone suddenly spoke to him. “Sir, the girl you rescued is awake.”