They walked deeper in empty halls. Occasionally, some grunts in black suits passed by and nodded at Yu Mei. The two of them reached the second floor where the boss of the Golden Horde was located. They headed towards the door at the end of the corridor where two guards stood by, both being female.
To the right was Yoona, a woman with short, sun-kissed hair and eyes that were like smoke from wood fire. She wore a metallic respirator and baggy, grey clothes over black denim shorts.
Strapped to her waist were two bulky handguns, and she donned on knee length, high-tech armored boots that protected her legs.
To the left was Angie, a fun-sized cutie with faded purple hair, emerald eyes and wore black cat ear headphones. She was dressed as an ordinary middle school shut-in as far as Batu could tell. Well, she would be if she wasn't carrying an aluminum bat over her shoulders. However, the girl kept glancing over at Batu with vigilant eyes.
'Did Hue and Erlan build themselves a harem empire instead? Why the heck were the members here mostly hot chicks?' Batu thought to himself. Not that he hated it; rather, it was the complete opposite. Bless the both of them for leaving such an inheritance to Batu.
"Sup guys," Yu Mei waved at them.
Yoona simply nodded at her in acknowledgement. Batu figured that she was the silent type. She glanced at Batu with dull, unexpressive eyes then ignored him as if he was trash on the side of the road.
"Got in trouble again, Yu Mei?" Angie asked as if it was a regular occurrence. Her eyes were still focused on Batu. She did not trust this guy one bit.
"You know me so well, Angie," Yu Mei playfully rubbed her head, earning the ire of Angie.
Angie swatted her hand and pointed towards the elephant in the room, "Who's the snot-nosed brat next to you?"
"Snot-nosed brat?!" Batu couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this little girl blind or something? "Have ya taken a look in the mirror recently, little gi-"
"His name is Batu!" Yu Mei hastily covered his mouth before something bad was going to happen to him. She quickly pulled Batu down to her height level and whispered into his ear, "Angie doesn't like it when people call her a little girl. It's best if ya don't say anything related to her height, trust me."
"Why? She looks like a freakin' middle schooler."
"She's twenty-three," She whispered back.
"You're kiddin'..."
"You guys done chit-chatting?" Angie interrupted. "The Khanate is waiting for you."
"Right, then we'll be goin' then," Yu Mei walked into the room followed by Batu.
The room resembled a lounge with black leather couches lined neatly in the center. Japanese paintings decorated the walls while a grand chandelier hung from the ceiling.
At the far end of the room, where the moonlight shined dimly through the windows, laid a large wooden desk, fitting for a rich executive.
Leaning on it was a mature, bewitching vixen in a white suit and had pristine gold earrings. Her fiery red hair shined under the moonlight, flowing down to her shoulders like hot magma; and her gold eyes, seemingly blessed by the sun, were dangerously enchanting. Any man would fall into lust with a single look into her eyes. This woman was named Jin Mayleen.
"It's good to see you, Khanate," Yu Mei bowed in respect. Seeing that Batu wasn't doing the same, she nudged him in the ribs to get her silent message across.
"Oh, right..." He quickly caught on and bowed slightly.
Jin Mayleen pushed herself off of the desk with a tired sigh, "One of the underbosses from the BWs called me up - told me some certain underlings of mine had picked a fight with one of their men." Her enchanting eyes drew towards Batu who was trying to look everywhere else but her. "Care to explain, Yu Mei?"
"Those bastards started it first - came into Mama Ming's and wrecked the whole place up because they tried to force Kiki to pay up the protection fee. I hated what they were doing to my bestie, so we decided to stop them."
"We?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you referring to that boy next to you?"
"Yes, Khanate," Yu Mei nodded. "His name is Batu- he was a passerby that helped me out." She lied.
"Oh, a mere passerby?" Jin Mayleen crossed her arms as she walked gracefully towards him. "That's not what the BWs said; apparently there were two underlings of mine, one being a man. However, I don't remember having any man under me. So, who should I trust more?"
"I-it was ruse we used - too scare them away, y'know?" Yu Mei tried to wriggle her way out with more lies.
"Is that so? A passerby that's able to beat a squad of Black Wolves, how interesting," She tapped her chin in thought.
"I guess that's me," Batu scratched his cheek.
Yu Mei was sweating bullets right now. Did her boss managed to see through her lies? She honestly couldn't tell. If there was one person on the planet that Yu Mei was afraid of the most, it would be her. She was taking a huge risk for lying to Jin Mayleen.
"Hm, what's this?" An abnormality had peaked her interest.
'Oh no, did she found out about his tats?' Yu Mei's mind grew into a frenzy as Jin Mayleen narrowed her eyes.
Jin Mayleen suddenly moved closer to Batu and took a quick whiff of his body scent, "You have her smell on you, boy."
"Yeah, about that, chief..." Batu rubbed his neck in embarrassment. Why is this woman so sharp?
"As long as you're not hurting her, I don't care what you do," She replied. "But for now, I will let this matter slide, but I don't want to hear any unnecessary trouble from you, Yu Mei, do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes, Khanate," Yu Mei bowed, sighing in relief.
"You are very lucky that I was able to resolve this matter without a hitch," She held her hips. "As long as you understand, you may leave. Be back tomorrow because I have some work you need to do," Jin Mayleen walked towards her desk.
"Ah, thank you," Yu Mei said. "Then we'll be leaving."
"No, wait," Batu suddenly said. "I have something I want to ask you."
"Hm?" Jin Mayleen stopped and turned around. "What is it?"
"Let me join the Golden Horde," Batu bowed his head to show his sincerity.
"Oh? And why should I?" She asked with a sly smile.
"Because you need someone like me."
The room had turned cold to the point it could send a chill down someone's spine. In an instant, Jin Mayleen threw a kick towards Batu at breakneck speed. It was unexpected, and no one would be able to see glimpse of it until it was too late.
However, Batu remained unflinching as her foot stopped just under his chin. Just a little more, and she would have probably knocked him unconscious, or worse, send him to the hospital on a stretcher.
Yu Mei nearly gasped in shock. For a moment there, she thought Jin Mayleen would have killed Batu on the spot. Thank god she didn't. Moreover, Yu Mei couldn't see her Khanate's kick at all. It was a testament to Jin Mayleen's incredible speed, strength and control.
"You need someone like me who doesn't back away no matter what," Batu said again; his determination remained unwavering. "Believe me, I'm your man."
"No wonder Yu Mei had taken a liking to you," Jin Mayleen gradually pulled her foot away. "I like your bravery, boy. However, just bravery alone won't be enough; I need to see what you're made of."
"And that is?"
"A test," She replied. "How about this: two weeks from now, you'll be facing against three of my best underlings; if you can manage to survive against each of them for one minute, I'll let you join. How does that sound?"
"One minute? You're really lookin' down on me," Batu grinned. "But, I'll take this dumb, little test of yours, and I'm gonna smash it."
"Then, I hope you don't disappoint me, Batu."
* * * * *
"You really are crazy, Batu," Yu Mei said, nudging him on the arm.
"What can I say?" He replied, folding his hands behind his head as he walked. "I sometimes like to live dangerously."
"How'd ya know that she wasn't going to kick you," She asked.
"Honestly, I didn't. I just took my chances with her and whamo," Batu answered. However, he nearly shat bricks when her foot came that close to his face. That woman was definitely strong, no doubt about it.
"I found it really weird that she gave you a test, though."
"What do you mean?"
"When I first joined, I never had to fight anyone, especially the three best members of our gang. I don't understand why the boss gave you such a difficult initiation."
"Beats me," Batu shrugged. "But, one thing for sure is that I'm definitely gonna beat it."
"Now you're just bein' an overconfident jackass," Yu Mei giggled.
They exited the Golden Horde base of operations. Standing outside was Emiko, taking a smoke break and paying attention to nothing else but her phone. She glanced up to see Yu Mei, and a smile quickly grew on her face.
"Baby sis, you're okay! I hope the boss didn't punish you too hard!" She ran towards her for another hug.
Yu Mei deadpanned as she threw a stiff arm out, blocking Emiko from moving any further.
"Why is baby sis still so mean to me?" Emiko whined out, flailing her arms towards Yu Mei.
"Because you're annoying."
"So blunt!"
Batu couldn't agree more. Hot? Yeah. A pain in the ass? Without a doubt. 'I guess hot girls always have thorns hidden underneath," Batu sighed to himself.
"Anyways, let's roll, Batu, It's gettin' pretty late."
"Coming," Shoving his hands in his pockets, Batu followed after Yu Mei.
"Wait, hold it right there, you ogre," Emiko said as she tossed her cigarette away. Batu stopped in place and glanced at her with a grimace.
"You better not lay a hand on my baby sis or I'll cut your dick off, you hear me?"
Batu simply smirked at her, "Oh, you don't even know." He hopped onto the bike as its engine roared to life. The tire screeched before Yu Mei and Batu took off into the distance.
"Bastard," Emiko clicked her tongue.