Chapter 10: How am I supposed to lead my crew now?

Words : 1892 Updated : Oct 17th, 2025

"Holy hell!" Darius shuddered. That massive bronze door had to weigh over a thousand pounds; if it really slammed into him, he would have skipped the wheelchair and gone straight to the funeral home. Luckily, as one of the Glory Gang's eight guardians, Darius had some skill to fall back on. With the door nearly on top of him, he twisted hard at the last possible second. The slab grazed the tip of his nose, then crashed onto the wooden floor, sending up a spray of splinters. When the dust settled, Otto Nicholson's tall figure emerged. "That's him!" To hunt Otto, the Glory Gang had rewatched the clip of Bryson Lawson getting pummeled again and again. In a single heartbeat, they confirmed he was the target. Ordinarily, Darius would've gone in to take him down. Instead, he hesitated. Anyone with half a brain could tell that kick had been Otto's; one kick had blown a door weighing over a thousand pounds off its hinges. That kind of force was terrifying. No wonder Maximus had been mopped across the floor by Otto earlier. "What are you standing around for? Get him!" Suddenly deciding a one-on-one would end badly, Darius pulled back and waved his men forward in a tight pack. The goons Maximus had brought earlier were actually security guards from the Lawson Group; Darius's men were Glory Gang elites, drilled and seasoned. They surged as one, yet kept precise order. Front, back, left, right, they closed in, covered each other, and attacked together, like an ancient battle formation. But faced with absolute strength, even perfect coordination was just window dressing. "Bang, bang, bang!" "Crash, clatter!" In a single exchange, more than twenty men lay sprawled on the floor, while the living room furniture was knocked every which way. Darius and Reginald traded a look, and each read raw fear in the other's eyes. It was plain as day that Otto's power far outstripped anything they had imagined. Still, there was no backing out now. They had boxed Otto inside the house, and walking away wasn't an option. "Together!" Darius and Reginald clenched their teeth, stomped forward, and charged shoulder to shoulder. To Otto, Darius and Reginald were no different from the small fry. A punch and a kick sent both men crouching in agony. He flattened everyone in under five seconds. Nala Jameson and Reid Jameson gaped open-mouthed. They knew Otto could fight, but they had not known he could fight like this; it was more over-the-top than an action movie. Even so, father and daughter still looked grim. They had lived in Nykomar for years; they knew the Glory Gang all too well. Drop twenty men, they could send two hundred; drop two hundred, they could send two thousand. And Otto was just one man. Was he planning to take on the entire Glory Gang? "What happened to your face?" Otto suddenly noticed the handprint on Nala's cheek. "It's nothing." Nala bit her lip. "What do you mean, nothing? You're my fiancée. You don't have to put up with this. Tell me, who hit you?" Otto's voice carried a hard edge. "Him." Nala pointed at Darius. "Which hand?" Otto asked. "Right hand, I think." Nala answered. Darius was crouching, both palms braced on the floor. Otto walked over, planted his boot on Darius's right hand, and ground down. He crushed it in an instant. "We should run!" Nala tugged at Otto's sleeve. "Run? Why?" Otto looked at her. "The Glory Gang is too powerful. Don't think that beating a few of them will make them back down. All we can expect is a fiercer response. We can't stay in Nykomar. Our only chance is to move to another city, change our names, and hope to survive." She explained helplessly. She did not want to abandon everything in Nykomar, but reality was forcing her hand. "You give the Glory Gang too much credit. Don't worry. With me here, they won't be able to do a thing." Otto tried to reassure her. "With you here? Can you be here twenty-four hours a day? Do you know that if you had come a little later, I would have been disfigured? Rather than live in fear every single day, I'd rather we just leave." Nala shot back, furious. "You're right; it's a problem. I'll fix it right now." Otto turned to the Glory Gang men. "Quit playing dead. Tell your boss to get his ass over here-I'm settling old scores and new." The moment they heard they could leave, the Glory Gang's dozens of men scrambled to their feet and fled the Jameson residence. "You're practically committing suicide!" Nala's vision dimmed; she almost fainted. The Glory Gang's fiercest was their leader, Tyler, reputed to be unbeatable in Nykomar. By naming Tyler and asking to settle accounts, Otto was putting himself on the chopping block. "Heh…" Some things, explaining to Nala felt like talking to a brick wall, so Otto did not bother wasting words. "Dad, you talk to him!" Finding Otto as stubborn as a mule and herself unable to sway him, Nala turned to her father for help. Her father had saved Otto's father; at least he would be heard. Reid fixed Otto with a long stare for a full ten seconds, then turned to his daughter. "Nala, if Otto is confident he can solve it, then let him solve it." "I…" The vote was two to one. Nala plopped onto the sofa. She resigned herself. These days, Darius and Reginald did not need to return to Glory Gang headquarters. Once they left the western suburbs, they dialed Tyler directly. Half an hour later, Tyler showed up at the edge of the western suburbs. He had not brought many people, only six of the eight guardians, including Maximus, whose face was wrecked. Seeing Darius, with his right hand a mangled mess, and Reginald, clutching his belly and unable to straighten up, Tyler immediately grasped what had happened. "I told you to find him and notify me at once. You dared to act on your own!" Tyler's voice snapped like a whip. "We wanted to give you a surprise," Darius said, swallowing pain. "A surprise? From you lot?" Tyler scoffed. His men were bullies by habit, strutting as if they were invincible. The moment they faced a true master, they were knocked back down to size. "We did underestimate the opponent." "That beggar is scary strong." "Not just strong, he's brazen too!" "He told you to get your ass over here." "And said he would settle old and new scores with you!" Terrified of further punishment and adding injury to injury, Darius and Reginald hurried to shift the blame. It worked. Tyler's face darkened. "He really said that?" "Absolutely." They swore up and down. "Courting death!" Tyler's fist clenched until the knuckles cracked. He had been considering that the opponent might have come out of the Valley of Villains; he had intended to lead with negotiation and avoid a head-on clash. He had not expected the other party to leave no room at all and boast in front of his men. If he didn't teach Otto a lesson, how was he supposed to lead his gang after this?

Chapter 10: How am I supposed to lead my crew now?

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