Gai stepped in front of his little sister, shielding her from Kang's gaze.
"That's enough. The Neodancers are out of this. We want nothing to do with that breeder!"
Lesbie nodded frantically. She might be a gangster, but that man was a cold-blooded killer.
Kenzo spoke up next.
"The Senka too. If it wasn't for that bakayarou, we wouldn't even be here. Sorry about that, omae. And to you too, little breeder."
Kang felt a vein twitch in his temple. He growled.
"The next time I hear anyone call my sister a breeder, I'm gonna break their mouth so bad they'll be sipping nutrisoy for the rest of their life, which won't be that long either."
He swept his gaze across the gangsters. It wasn't a threat, simply a statement of fact.
His deadly serious eyes made every one of them shiver. They could tell he meant every word. The severed head still dripping blood in his hand only drove it home harder.
"Gomen, it's just a habit," Kenzo shrugged. "Anyway, I'm outta here. If you want information, come find us. The banchou would really like to meet you, omae. We'll be waiting."
Lena and Xiao Yun looked relieved to see that Kang had single handedly solved the problem. Appreciation shone in Xiao Yun's eyes. Being protected was such a strange and warm feeling of happiness.
Lena, however, was thinking about more eccentric things. Damn, her man had looked so cool just now, uber swag level. He had been confident and forceful last night too. It must be in his nature. Somehow she felt a little wet, even though she had not been in combat today.
There was still one small problem. The Senka had no problem with Kang because he helped them deal with their traitor. The Hell Riders were different. They left furious and full of threats. Although their threats would probably sound more believable if they had not forgotten to take their leader's remains with them, leaving both his corpse and his hoverbike behind.
Still, this could be problematic, Kang thought. He called out to the other gangs that had not left yet, the Bruisers, the Neodancers and the Institute.
"Wait, can we have a little talk?"
The Bruisers and the Institute looked at Kang questioningly. The Neodancers went fully alert. Lesbie trembled again. Kang hurriedly raised his hand to show he meant no harm.
"Eeekk!!!" Lesbie squealed in fear.
Oops. Wrong hand. Kang had accidentally raised the hand still holding the severed head.
"Sorry, my mistake~" he said and tossed the head away. It rolled and stopped near Lena.
"Hey, don't be wasteful. That's genuine creds you know" Lena snapped. She kicked the head back toward the red samurai's corpse and motioned for Pedro.
"Take both corpses for recycling, and grab that hoverbike too. I've always wanted to ride one~"
Lena then walked to where Henry, Zero Jack and Gai had gathered, leaving a fair distance between them and Kang. It looked like a meeting of gangleaders now.
"What's your deal, swag?"
Henry broke the silence. Zero Jack and Gai both watched Kang, waiting.
"Well, the thing is... I know I said this was a personal matter and no gang war. But apparently those Hell Riders don't see it that way, judging by how things went..." Kang said.
Everyone nodded. Those bikers were not the type to drop grudges. They would surely harass the Orphans and anyone inside their turf.
"We ain't afraid of them" Lena said, confident.
"Of course we aren't. But they are a pain in the ass." Kang shrugged. "So my proposal is, how about we make them disappear, like forever?"
"What do you mean?" Gai frowned.
"Literally, I said how about we recycle them?"
Kang said casually, like he was talking about killing mosquitoes.
"We?"
Zero Jack asked. This would be the first time he spoke up today.
"Well, I just don't want Lena to break any of your unwritten rules or something by eradicating another gang." Kang shrugged again.
The three gangleaders looked at one another. Henry asked, very seriously.
"Who the frag is Lena?"
Kang froze and looked at the other leaders. Apparently they all had the same question.
"He means Razorgirl, in other words, me!"
Lena rolled her eyes. Not everyone needed to know her name. The Orphans did not call her Lena outside their circle either.
Kang and the gangleaders exchanged awkward looks. He coughed to cover the slip. That tiny awkward moment somehow eased the leaders' wariness. They relaxed a bit.
After a moment, Henry spoke.
"Actually I have been annoyed by those fraggers for a long time."
Gai nodded.
"Their vulgar bikes mess up our musick!"
"Bad for meat-world business." Zero Jack added.
Kang was surprised to see things go better than he expected. Those Hell Riders must have been quite hated indeed.
"What about the Senka?" Kang asked.
"Those warmongers won't mind. They're busy playing warring states with the Slum 10 gangs," Henry waved his hand dismissively.
"Great then, let's say this is the start of an alliance!" Kang said cheerfully.
"Alliance?" Zero Jack looked surprised. The other leaders also seemed taken aback.
"Yeah, the alliance of Slum 9 gangs. How about something like... BISON for the name?" Kang stroked his chin in thought.
"BISON... I see, very clever," Zero Jack said, immediately catching the logic behind it.
"What?"
"Why BISON?"
Henry and Gai still didn't get it.
"It's the initials of our gangs," Lena sighed. "That's so obvious."
Bruisers, Institute, Senka, Orphans, Neodancers. BISON.
The two leaders also realized it after hearing Lena's words.
"BISON. Bison. I like it!" Henry's eyes lit up. What's not to like, especially when his gang came first in the name.
"Hmph... it sounds powerful and kool, with a wild feel to it. Not bad at all!" Gai nodded approvingly.
They all seemed to like Kang's idea. Now the only thing left was to clear out the Hell Riders, who didn't belong in BISON.
"What about territory division?" Gai raised the question.
"You guys decide that yourselves. Our current turf is enough for us~"
Lena said, waving it off. The Orphans didn't really want any more territory anyway.
"Even Big John's?" Henry asked, his eyes gleaming.
"Yup!" Lena nodded. "Oh, but no monopolizing the low-ways, though."
All the leaders agreed to the terms. The Hell Riders' and Big John's territories would be divided among the three gangs, with most of it going to the Bruisers. The Orphans and the Senka kept their old turf, not really caring about expansion.
Not to mention, the Senka didn't even know about what had happened here today.
The meeting ended with everyone in high spirits. The gangs of Slum 9 were now somewhat united under a temporary alliance — BISON.
And with that, Kang finally had more time for other, more important matters. He didn't want to get dragged into petty gang wars. Xiao Yun needed more training to cultivate her Qi. There was also that traitor Tian Long and his Neon Crucible thing, and the man who had hired the red samurai. Somehow Kang had a feeling they were all connected.
But that would have to wait. For now, what Kang needed most was a good bath.
Damn, all this blood really stinks.