Vivian, who had been listening silently, finally spoke. "Master, if this... cleansing begins, there will be repercussions. Power abhors a vacuum. If you remove the existing structures, sothing will fill that space."
"Exactly," Su Ping said, a glint in his eyes that might have been approval. "And we will be what fills it. But first, we need to clear the rot."
He turned back to Ranger and the Wolf King. "I'll let the both of you discuss how you'll go about it. I expect results before I return to the city this evening."
' W-wait?! Hold on a minute! This evening?!' Ranger almost exclaid out loud.
The tifra was absurd, impossible by any conventional asure. Yet neither subordinate questioned it.
The sheer impossibility of the demand was itself a ssage, Su Ping was definitely one who operated on a different scale, with different expectations. What seed impossible to them might even better easy for him if he were to take action himself but, as his subordinates, where would their face go if they allowed their master to do such a thing?
"Vivian, co over here for a second," Su Ping said, already moving to a new spot in the bar to take a seat at a relatively isolated table.
"Alright," Vivian said, following after him with one last glance at Ranger and the Wolf King. The two unlikely partners were already assessing each other with the careful scrutiny of predators forced into an alliance.
The both of them were soon seated, facing each other across a scarred wooden table. Morning light filtered through the grimy window, casting dust motes dancing in the air between them.
"I have a different task for you," he said calmly, as if he hadn't just ordered the dismantling of Rose city's criminal underworld prior.
"What might it be, if I may ask, Master?" Vivian asked, her hands folded neatly on the table. She had recovered her composure completely, she acted like the perfect picture of professional readiness.
Su Ping reached into his clothes before pulling out a piece of parchnt. It was none other than a copy of the contract he'd used to go around getting people to sign their property to him.
a docunt that bound signatories to transfer ownership of specified assets under particular conditions, backed by the system itself.
"I've been postponing for too long now," he muttered beneath his breath before raising his eyes from the contract to her. The contracts represented another facet of his plans for Rose city, not just cleansing its streets, but acquiring its foundations. Properties, businesses, tracts of land, all quietly accumulating under his control through agreents made under duress, through desperation, or through more esoteric persuasions.
"I need you to go around today and finalize these contracts with those who might've changed their minds."
'I'm sure there isn't anyone who hasn't, though,' he said to himself. When people signed away their properties in monts of crisis or fear, they often experienced regret when the imdiate danger passed. Not to ntion now that he was views as the hero of the people, a dark horse in their ti of need.
Nevertheless, So might still try to renege, decline, or try to find loopholes in it, there was even a possibility of a few trying to appeal to the city's corrupt officials regarding it but that hadn't happened yet so he had nothing to worry about, besides, he was assured since the contract was legal no matter how absurd it sounded.
His task for Vivian was to ensure that didn't happen any way, to remind them of their commitnts, by whatever ans necessary. The more assets he had under him, the better.
' The dark dragon dynasty must continue to grow.'
After reading the contract, Vivian got the gist of what he wanted her to do. Her eyes had scanned the docunt quickly, taking in the list of nas, properties, and the particular clauses that made these agreents unusually binding.
"Consider it done, Master," she said without hesitation. If Su Ping noticed the slight tightening around her eyes as she contemplated what "finalizing" these contracts might entail, he gave no sign.
"Good," he said, but paused and glanced around the bar. "If you do leave though, who'll manage the bar?"
"There's nothing to worry about, Master." A genuine smile touched Vivian's lips this ti, one of quiet pride. "I've been aning to tell you that I already went ahead to recruit more staff for the establishnt."
Su Ping raised a brow and glanced around, only this ti, he really took in the bar. True to what she said, he noticed a few new faces going around attending to the custors.
a sharp-eyed woman efficiently cleaning glasses behind the bar, a muscular man with a surprisingly gentle touch carrying multiple tankards without spilling a drop, a younger woman with quick movents and a ready smile taking orders.
If he didn't know any better, he would've believed that this was a different establishnt. While it was currently early in the morning, the bar was actually 20% filled. a remarkable occupancy for an hour when most drinking establishnts stood empty.
'These people really need to quit their alcohol addiction,' he said to himself, pitying their poor souls.
But even as the thought crossed his mind, he recognized the strategic value of the bar.
Bars were natural centers of information, places where people spoke freely after a few drinks, where alliances were ford and betrayed, a place where the city's pulse could be taken with a careful ear. If he ever needed to gather information regarding the public m, he could just ask her.
"Since everything's already in order, I'll take my leave." Su Ping stood up from his seat and prepared to leave.
Vivian watched her master get up. She quietly bid him farewell, watching as he left the place.
Outside, Su Ping stood amongst the countless people on the streets walking around, going about their daily lives.
His eyes fixed on the south, specifically in the direction of the souther
n gate. Beyond that gate lay the wilderness and that was where he needed to go.
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