[PREVIEW] Great Sage Above Brockton Ch 16

“Hurry up, you fucks!”

Kei ushered his friends into the room while he kept an eye out behind them. Once the last of them passed the door, he slammed it shut. His heart hammered against his ribcage as he leaned against the worn door and glanced at the ceiling. The windows were shut, boarded up even, but he didn’t dare to tell anyone to remove them. Not even the barely functioning lightbulb was on, and he wanted it to stay that way. The others shuffled around in the darkness, their labored breaths echoing in the room.

Too loud, too loud. 

“Um-”

A dull smack cut off whatever the idiot was about to spew. Kei gritted his teeth and felt his blood kick into high gear as it rushed down his veins. They couldn’t afford one screw-up.

He pressed his ear to the door, and he felt everyone take a collective breath. No sound came. A minute passed and he allowed himself to speak again. “How much did we grab?”

Someone unzipped the bag - god, why did it sound like a chainsaw!? - and dug inside it. “We got the emeralds and the jade - wait, I think it’s the sapphire.”

Fucker, we needed to grab the jade! Kei almost roared, but swallowed down his rage and nodded, despite knowing no one could properly see him, or anyone else in the room. “And the cash?”

“...maybe? Let me get the flashlight-”

“No!” he hissed, in tandem with the collective inhale of his associates. “No, just…leave it. Once we’re back home, we’ll do a proper count. At least we’ll have something to show Lee.”

“You think he’ll accept it?” one whispered. Kei bit his lip, unwilling and unable to provide an answer. Since Lung got his ass whooped and his beatdown was spread across the internet, the ABB was running around like headless chickens trying to retain their turf from the Empire and every gang looking to profit off their shame. If that wasn’t bad enough, dissension was quick to follow, with one captain splitting from the ABB and forming his own gang. 

It didn’t take a professor to know their days were numbered. Lung’s presence protected the ABB from itself as much as the other gangs. With him gone, it was only a matter of time before the gang would break into factions and devour itself.

They were on the verge of losing everything when the captains were summoned via text to one of the older hideouts, including Kei, the youngest among them. Much to their surprise, Oni Lee stood in the middle of the room, holding a burlap sack. Everyone thought he hightailed out of the city.

Whatever questions the captains had were silenced when Lee tossed a severed head out of the sack: the traitor captain’s. His rictus was forever frozen, with eyes wide and a hanging jaw. His left side was completely melted, exposing the skull underneath. As the captains gazed in terror, Lee said one thing:

“The dragon lives. He will return to reclaim his kingdom. His army must wait and persevere. All traitors will perish by his hand or mine.”

Needless to say, anyone with funny ideas got the message.