Chapter 834: Red Hood (2)
The children of the Red Hood Gang, carrying various packages and dragging various boxes, departed from this place along the street corner.
Fortunately, the wasteland behind the warehouse had not been included in the redevelopnt area. There was still a small patch of forest at the edge, where they could make do for the night.
As soon as they reached the wasteland next to the forest, Jason saw another group of children approaching this place. The recently settled children of the Red Hood Gang imdiately beca alert. The two biggest children among them drew their guns, and the opposite group also appeared sowhat surprised.
"Jason? Are you guys here too? Were you also kicked out?" One tall African-Arican boy walked forward, speaking with surprise rather than mockery. "Aren't the Red Hood Gang the most formidable children's gang on that street?"
His tone lacked mockery and only held surprise. In front of them, this children's gang had only about a dozen mbers, a relatively small number, and they all appeared sowhat frail, belonging to the lower tier of children's gangs.
"John, you guys got kicked out too?" Jason approached and said, "If I'm not mistaken, your Birch Gang over there must have been driven out as well. They used to have two motorcycles."
John, the African-Arican boy, nodded. "Correct, we were all expelled. It seems there's so kind of resettlent project going on."
He shook his head and continued, "We got the slots, but the gang mbers don't want us to stay. They can rent out the empty houses for high rent and make money without doing anything."
Jason glanced at the children behind him and then said to John, "Co over here. We plan to set up tents here. If we stick together, our self-preservation abilities will be stronger."
John didn't say much. His gang was weak to begin with, and now being able to join forces with Jason was considered lucky. After all, everyone knew that Jason was the smartest child leader around.
While the other children went to set up tents, Jason pulled John and Six-Fingered Sister aside and went outside the forest. Jason looked around and said, "This won't work. We'll definitely die out here."
Before John could respond, Jason continued, "This is just the first phase of the project. The second phase may cover most of the East District, and the third phase might complete the transformation of both East District and the Pier area. Where will we go then?"
"The security in the South District and West District won't let us in. Not to ntion the North District, where all the Gang leaders are. So where can we go? The sea?"
"And the younger children need a stable life. They get hungry quickly. If we don't have a stable base, we can't work. If we don't work, they won't eat, and they'll starve. If they starve, we'll beco even weaker."
"But what else can we do?" John raised his voice. "The Gang won't let us go back. Every extra person going back ans taking up one more room, and that ans they lose forty to fifty US dollars in rent per month. That's a lot of money."
Jason took a deep breath and said, "There's another way."
"What way?" Six-Fingered Sister asked, seemingly having a premonition.
Jason turned his head to look at the children who were setting up tents. Though sadness was evident on their faces, they weren't hopeless. They had experienced similar situations many tis before.
The Red Hood Gang didn't originate in this neighborhood. Jason took over and brought them here. Their previous gang on that street was extrely brutal, and Jason had done everything he could to lead them out.
The street they had settled in later was too impoverished to find any work, and they couldn't support their gang mbers. It was only after several twists and turns that they ended up here, becoming one of the top children's gangs in just a year.
They felt a deep sense of sadness, but there was still hope as long as Jason was with them, leading them to find a new ho.
However, Jason knew they wouldn't find a new ho.
The news in the newspapers had made it clear to all the gangs that fewer people in their neighborhood ant more empty rooms and more rent.
Jason felt fear because he realized soone had made this rule, and he found that it was actually undermining the foundations of the gangs.
The fewer the people, the more resources each one could get. Would they unite? Would they ensure fairness for everyone? No, they wouldn't. They wanted more and knew that having fewer people here was the way to achieve that.
They wouldn't realize that without children's gangs, they would lose fresh blood. Without lower-tier mbers, their power would weaken. Without middle-tier mbers, their finances could beco problematic, and without top-tier mbers, their gang structure would fall apart.
They only thought about having one less person aning one more room and one more source of inco. If they owned all the houses themselves, they could move to the wealthy area soon.
Jason realized that soone had stabbed the gangs, but they had also been given a sedative. They only saw luxurious houses, convenient transportation, rising rents, and appreciating property values.
They didn't see that the people they had expelled were their future.
But Jason saw all of this. He understood that the humiliations and exploitation of the past could be endured, but in today's situation, there was no room for compromise.
Capital would devour anyone who went with the flow, kicking them out of the land they were born on, taking away their hos, their property, and everything.
And those who had it all wouldn't feel sha. They wouldn't pity anyone. They would simply believe that it was all their due.
It seed like they could still wander, still set off to find a new ho, but in reality, they had nowhere to go, and there was no way back.
The gangs here would drive them out, occupy more houses, and gangs elsewhere would do the sa. Eventually, the streets would be taken over by vendors to make money, the houses would be rented out by the gangs, the jobs would go to those with stable residences, and the food would go to the wealthy.
They would lose everything, and who could they bla?
By then, they could only bla themselves for not having money, jobs, or houses. They could bla themselves for not trying hard enough, for not being talented enough.
People who hadn't read those books, who didn't understand the reason, would only repeat these words and head towards their graves.
But Jason didn't accept this fate, and he didn't want these children to accept it either.
But now, it was too late for them to pursue education, and they didn't have the luxury for it anymore. Or, as Jason rembered what Schiller had once told him, education through experience was never too late.
"What exactly are you planning?" Six-Fingered Sister asked. "Don't do anything foolish. My injury, it was caused by Gang mbers from the street my boyfriend's in. He abandoned , and I don't want to rely on him..."
"Yes, we shouldn't rely on anyone," Jason's tone grew colder. He looked at John and Six-Fingered Sister and said, "What we want, we should take for ourselves."
As night fell, the starry sky grew deeper. Gotham, exceptionally, didn't have rain today. It was as though the storms from the past few days had carried away the rain clouds, or perhaps it was leaving a tranquil backdrop for the cries of so vulnerable souls.
On the rooftop of a low building, a Gang leader in a suit and leather shoes was reading a newspaper. He took a puff from his cigar and said, "Those kids are gone, right? How many of them were there?"
"Twenty-six in total, boss. That's twenty-six rooms we've got."
The Gang leader chuckled and said, "Thanks to those little brats, who've been sucking our blood for so long. They finally scramd and left us with quite a reward."
"Look at how popular Living Hell is right now. Houses in a place like this won't have any trouble getting rented. When the ti cos, 10 US dollars will be the minimum. I've already talked to the big boss from the street to the west. We're going to raise the rent together, and the third street won't be left behind..."
Gang mbers quickly flattered him. They were just a small Gang, with only a dozen or so mbers, earning a few hundred US dollars a month. But after the transformation, they could potentially earn over a thousand US dollars from rent alone. Maybe their salaries would increase as well.
"By the way," the Gang leader waved his finger, "since we'll have rental inco in the future, we won't need that line leading to the Pier anymore. Repairing cars is like throwing money into a bottomless pit. Why bother?"
"Who's in charge of that line? Tell them to scram, but I'll take half of their salary and distribute it among you..."
"Also, I heard that the security in Living Hell is jointly managed by the big Gangs. In that case, cut the number of those four guys who were guarding us in half..."
mbers in the room glanced at each other and nodded in agreent. "Indeed, I heard that the small Gangs in Living Hell don't need so many people. Fewer people an fewer troubles..."
As he finished speaking, a commotion could be heard downstairs. The Gang leader's expression turned serious, and a few mbers rushed out to see what was happening.
Soon, the room was empty except for the Gang leader. At that mont, a noise ca from the balcony, and the Gang leader cautiously took out his handgun. However, the one who had arrived was Six-Fingered Sister.
"Don't shoot! Boss, I need to talk to you!" Six-Fingered Sister appeared extrely anxious. "Sothing happened to the Gang next door, and I ca to deliver a ssage. It's urgent!"
Seeing a young girl with bandages on her arm, soone he had encountered on the street, likely a mber of the children's gang here, the Gang leader's alertness relaxed a bit. He asked, "What happened? Why did you rush over here?"
Six-Fingered Sister looked around cautiously and lowered her voice, saying, "When we left this street today, we happened to pass by the territory of the Gang next door. We overheard soone from their finance departnt talking about changes in the resettlent houses..."
The Gang leader imdiately furrowed his brows. "Changes? What kind of changes?"
But at this mont, Six-Fingered Sister hesitated and said, "Boss, you kicked us out, and we have nowhere to stay. The young children are going hungry. We urgently need so money..."
The Gang leader snorted and said, "You want to negotiate with ? You brats have been leeching off us for so long, and we've only just let you go. We've been more than generous!"
"I know you all fantasize about having your own house, but let tell you, you're dreaming in broad daylight. All the houses here belong to . Starve to death, freeze to death? Who cares about you! It would be better if you died sooner, annoying brats!"
Six-Fingered Sister's expression grew colder as she said, "We worked for you for over a year, passed countless ssages to you. If it weren't for Jason, could you have secured that line leading to the Pier?"
"Jason?" The Gang leader sat back in his chair, mocking. He loaded his handgun and said, "That kid thinks he's so clever, but hasn't he been kicked out too? Does he really believe he can beco soone important and live in a big house? Dream on!"
"You bunch of bottom-feeders will never have a house, always hungry, always struggling. That's the only way to keep you from causing trouble. If we let you eat and live comfortably, how could I continue doing what I do?"
Six-Fingered Sister stared at him in silence, and this surprised the Gang leader a bit. He realized that the young girl in front of him, looking into his eyes, was like soone looking at a dead man.
Just as the Gang leader was about to stand up, he felt a shadow fall over him from behind, and a rope crossed his face, tightly gripping his neck.
In the shadows appeared Jason, his expression cold.
His face was calm, not a word spoken, but his hand gripping the Umbrella strap had visible bulging veins.
Gang leader kept scratching at his neck, kicking his legs, waving his limbs, but soon his eyeballs bulged out, his tongue stuck out, and his chest gradually stopped heaving. Six-Fingered Sister covered her mouth with her hand.
Jason held onto the Umbrella strap tightly, never once thinking about letting go. In this mont, the passing of life failed to move him, and he bore the weight of the cri of killing for the first ti, forever losing his innocence.
As his fingers slightly loosened, the Umbrella strap fell to the ground, its buckle hitting the floor with a crisp sound, deafening in its intensity.
With a loud rumble, the night rain finally arrived in Gotham. In a modest building, a seemingly inconspicuous window illuminated a red hood, just like Gotham's sunset.
"Why do you wear this hood?" Six-Fingered Sister asked.
And Jason's answer, transmitted through the glass, pierced through Gotham's rainy night like the late arrival of spring thunder.
"Because I like the color of the hood."
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