The Twelve Handsome Kings
'Well fuck.'
Enzo jumped into the building, deciding he was going to get something for coming all this way.
He couldn't afford to waste time.
Some may wonder why Enzo couldn't simply level up until he possessed the strength to launch a direct assault on the Crimson Serpents' base, or better yet, the government's or Bayloff Family's strongholds directly.
Why go through all this trouble?
The answer was simple yet complex.
Enzo simply didn't have enough time.
In less than a year, Update 2.0 of Beast Evolution would launch, starting the integration process.
He might reach Tier-3 or, if a few more miracles happen, reach the heroic ranks of Tier-4 before then, but what would it matter if he only appeared at the last minute?
No one would trust him, and even if he might have superior combat power against one or even a few dozen opponents, what about a hundred of the same Tier?
A thousand?
Ten thousand?
Eight billion?
To gain the people's trust, he first had to win the loyalty of the three major powers in Country Z or turn them into his puppets.
He had to have enough time to infiltrate each and firmly establish his place as their leader in both might and spirit.
Enzo also had to plan for the rest of the world.
But that was far off in the future.
His first task was to figure out how the hell he had set off an alarm.
After examining the window frame for any trip wires or alarm devices, Enzo was stumped on how he had activated their security systems.
Deciding he wasn't in a position to figure it out now, he ran out of the room, figuring since his cover was blown, stealth was no longer necessary.
He ran into the hallway and looked left and right, finding it abandoned. He saw doors swung open and papers scattered throughout.
Enzo slowed to a jog as he scooped up the papers, figuring they might be useful in some way, and pocketed them into his inventory.
Not seeing anyone even after entering the stairway, he turned his attention toward his other senses and closed his eyes, sending some mana to enhance his hearing.
Hurried footsteps and muffled shouts came from above him, on a higher floor.
He opened his eyes, jumped through the gap in the middle of the stairway, and leaped from guardrail to guardrail, going higher and higher until he reached the last floor, but he frowned when he still heard the voices coming from higher up.
In fact, the voices sounded like they were directly above him.
'Well, I guess I've wasted enough time. If they think they can wait in there to ambush me when I use the elevator or whatever you normally use to get up to the actual top floor, they're mistaken.'
Enzo crouched down, pressing all his weight into his heels, and shot like a missile into the ceiling… head first.
The floor gave way like a knife through jello, and Enzo appeared on the floor above, covered head to toe in debris.
His face was covered in soot, and with his mad smile, the impression Enzo gave off was one of a mad homeless man with no fucks to give.
Whirling on the room full of people, Enzo expected to see a group of armed men with heavy weaponry.
Instead of the expected ambush, Enzo met face-to-face with a dozen acne-covered teenagers, none of whom were armed.
The door to the conference room, which Enzo now found himself in, was thrown open, and the goons with weapons came in.
Taking a casual step, Enzo appeared behind the first man who had stepped into the room and dispatched him with a swift slap to the cheek.
The man, holding his butt, was flung to the right side of the room, letting the next goon come in.
The line of thugs came until the sight of twenty men holding their asses appeared in the vision of the teenager's faces.
One of the teenagers, coincidently the one with the most acne, stepped forward.
"Is this a demonstration of the powers you've promised us if we work for you?" At the acne leader's words, the eyes of the group lit up.
"Ah, this must be it!"
"Silly, for a moment, I thought someone was daring enough to attack the Crimson Serpents."
"I will definitely be signing on after that display!"
Listening to the teenager's words, Enzo frowned and turned towards the acne leader.
"What does your acne squad mean?" Enzo accidentally let his nickname for this group slip but didn't correct himself.
"We are saying that we will agree to the contract for joining your Guild you offered us." The pimply leader said, totally ignoring Enzo's comments as he quickly reached for Enzo's hand to shake.
It didn't matter that his hand was also covered in soot from his leap through the floor, every single one of the teenagers eagerly shook his hand.
They seemed to be afraid Enzo would rescind the offer.
"What exactly did they tell you about the contract?" Enzo said slowly, letting his words drag out as he thought.
"We were told that Beast Evolution can give us real-world powers and that if we signed on with them, given our history as the top gaming guild in Fever World Online, we could become top prospects in no time!"
Enzo stood in silence for a minute then snapped his fingers, recognition lighting up in his eyes.
"You're the twelve handsome kings!" Enzo shouted, his early stoic demeanor changing to one of excitement and happiness.
"The infamous guild of twelve knights that slew-" Enzo cut off his ramblings as he realized he was talking about accomplishments that never happened.
"Never mind." Enzo flipped his hand, producing twelve sheets of paper.
He retrieved a wooden shard that had previously belonged to the room's table and pressed the paper against it, writing out a typical Guild contract he knew by heart.
The guild contracts had been ironed out by the multiverse and were fair to both parties, leaving no loopholes.
Once he was done, Enzo handed a copy to each of the teenagers.
He wasn't going to let the Crimson Serpants get their hands on this squad.
'Although,' Enzo thought. 'In my previous life, they worked for the Bayloff family. Did they turn down the Crimson Serpent's offer in my old life? Or is something else going on.'
"Oh, and why are you guys covered in pimples? I thought you were supposed to be handsome?"