The Forever Gang I

Ding.

The bell in front of the shop sounded as a customer walked into the shop.

"Welcome." Luke said politely from the counter.

The customer walked around, picking items that she wanted and when she finished, she walked to the counter, her hand carrying a plastic basket almost filled with different items.

When she got to Luke's front, she dropped the basket on the counter.

"Four bags of chips, two packs of sausage, a pack of biscuits, six cups of noodles…" Luke took out the items one after another, calling their names and inputting the prices into a calculator.

"Is that… all?" Luke almost bit his tongue when he raised his head to look at the lady who came to acquire the items. 'Woahh… She's pretty.' Luke screamed inside.

Her yellow hair fell over her shoulders, her dark eyes reminded Luke of the night sky with shining stars, and pink lips that looked like peaches, she had curves in appropriate places and proportions. Her yellow fitted gown matched her hair and made her curves even more obvious.

"Yes, that'll be all." She replied.

'Even her voice is beautiful.' Luke felt like he had just met an angel in human form.

"Sure." He placed the items one by one into a bag. "That's a gold and fifteen silver coins." He handed the bag to her and collected the payment for the items purchased.

"Thank you for your patronage." He dipped his head down for a bow. Courtesy of his job. He had to give a polite bow to every customer that came to the shop.

The bell sounded again as she exited the shop.

"Damn, she's beautiful." Luke started daydreaming.

Rumble.

"Damn I'm hungry." He rushed over and took a bag of chips and returned to the counter. He opened a book and wrote down what he had just collected. It would be deducted from his salary.

He opened the chips and started eating handfuls. He always had a flask filled with water with him whenever he came to the shop, so he opened the flask and drank from it.

Ding.

The door sounded again and a few people walked in.

"Please stop. I promise I'll pay the next time you come." Luke heard shouts coming from the shop next to his but he ignored them.

"Welcome." Luke greeted the people who just entered the shop but they ignored him till they arrived in front of the counter.

"Eat the greetings. We're here for the usual payments." A baritone voice came from the group of people.

"Ah, sure… Here it is." Luke dropped four gold coins on the counter.

"Hey, what's this?" The huge figure leading them asked.

"Isn't four gold the usual payment?" Luke asked. "I just paid the usual payment so please take it and leave."

"You know things got a bit expensive recently, so the boss of our gang, 'The Forever Gang' asked for five golds starting now." Their leader replied.

The Forever Gang, a gang that appeared in District H-Haug of Auburn city two years ago. They threatened and raided shops. The gang came every two weeks, extorting money from the shops and calling it "protection fees". They collected these protection fees but offered no protection to the shops. They even brought immense damages to shops that refused to pay and those owing a certain amount

They promised to stay in the district forever, extorting money and terrorizing shops which led to their name "The forever gang".

"My boss said I should give four gold coins to you guys whenever you come by. If there's a rise in the fee, you'll have to tell my boss. I can't just add an extra gold coin out of nowhere. If he asks me to repay it, would you pay it for me?" Luke asked in an annoying tone.

He had been happy a few minutes ago seeing the previous customer, but now these guys were here to ruin his happy mood.

"Listen here you little bas***d. Our boss doesn't care what happens if your boss asks for repayment and neither do we." The leader said to Luke.

"Hey, big bas***d. I'm saying it right now but I won't add a silver coin to these four golds." Luke replied.

"He's brave. Hehe… It'll be fun to break him." One of the five figures laughed.

"You'll be the one to break, you bald dimwit." Luke pointed and cussed at him. He was pissed off now.

"Think carefully about it. If you don't comply, we'll do awesome damage to the shop. I'm sure your boss wouldn't want that just because of an extra gold coin." The leader cut their battle of words.

'At least, one of them uses his brain.' Luke thought. 'I can talk with this one.'

"He's not present right now so I can stand as his representative but it doesn't change the fact that I won't add a single silver coin." Luke stated.

"Seems you only understand strength." Their leader sighed. "Y'all, make nice changes to the shop."

"Y'all better stay put. Let's take this outside. It's a battle between me and you guys. The shop has nothing to do with this." Luke advised.

The leader scoffed at Luke's word but agreed. "Fine, if you can take us on, we'll return without taking even a single silver coin from the shop."

"You better not go back on your words." Luke reminded him and walked out of the counter.

"I swear it on our boss's name." The leader promised Luke.

They walked out of the shop and arrived at an alley wide enough that all five could fit in side by side.

"How do we decide the winner of the battle?" Luke asked their leader who was standing four meters opposite Luke along with the rest.

"It'll end too quickly if we all fight at once, so we'll go one by one. If you defeat three out of five, we'll leave as promised." The leader explained.

"Cool. Who goes first? Anyone is fine." Luke smiled. He had been feeling stronger than usual since he woke and he was just about to test it out on these unfortunate gangsters.

"I'll go first. He's a rude bastard so I'll teach him manners." The one Luke had insulted walked forward.

He stood two feet apart from Luke.

"Begin." Their leader shouted and Luke's opponent threw a punch at Luke's face.

'Slow.' Luke thought as he dodged the blow and instinctively counterattacked.

Tap.

A light blow landed on his opponent's throat.

"That's too weak of a punch if you plan to defeat…" The leader was still speaking when…

Thud.

Luke's opponent collapsed to the ground gasping for air.

'Damn. That was epic.' Luke was overjoyed inside. He had taken down a powerful gangster with a simple punch to the throat.

He looked calm outside as he said. "Next."

"Hey, Draiz, you're up next." The leader called out to another one of them and he walked forward.

"Begin." He shouted and Draiz rushed in without giving him any chance.

He threw punch after punch and Luke dodged them continuously. Then he threw his left leg up to kick Luke's right arm to make him lose balance.

Luke bent his body leftward and avoided the kick and what happened next made everyone feel cold.

Luke threw a kick under Draiz's open leg and the kick landed on Draiz's proof as a male. His eyes rolled back and everyone felt cold between their legs.

"Let's end this." Luke pointed to their leader. "Me against you. If I defeat you, the battle ends right?" He asked.

"Yeah. I planned on going next anyway. I can't afford to give you an easy victory." The leader answered and walked toward Luke.

"Let's go then."

They rushed at each other and Luke did something he never knew he could do. He folded his fist tightly, planning to hit the opponent with all his might and something within him reacted. A trickle of mana rushed into the fist, amplifying the punch.

Their fists collided and then.

Bang.

The opponent flew out of the alley and landed on the opposite side of the street.

'Holy shit! What was that?' Luke screamed in his head.

"That's all for the day. Now please keep your promise." He acted calmly outside.

Even if they didn't plan to keep the promise previously, their leader had been knocked out. They rushed out, picked him up, and ran away.

Luke smiled as he walked back to the shop. He was stronger than normal.