After Zhang Heng and the patrol team walked out of the tavern, a young patrol team member named Barbir could not help and shout in excitement,
“Wow! I can’t believe it! This is amazing!!! This is just one night. No, it’s less than that. We didn’t even do anything. All we did was stand in the tavern, and we earned six Aureus just like that. You should have seen Iron Handcuff’s face…”
This was probably his most memorable night since he joined the patrol, especially when Zhang Heng said to Iron Handcuff, “Thirty percent, no more, no less.” Everyone in the tavern could hear Zhang Heng’s unequivocal powerful statement.
It was as if hundreds of patrol members were waiting outside the tavern to ambush them. At Zhang Heng’s order, they would rush in and kill everyone. Iron Handcuff experienced the most pressure since he sat right opposite Zhang Heng. To him, they were no longer the ordinary patrol team. He felt like he was talking to the three most powerful bosses in this area. A man like that could decide his fate in just one sentence. During the negotiation, Iron Handcuff’s forehead was drenched in a cold sweat. And he found that he could not refuse Zhang Heng’s proposal.
It was not until Zhang Heng and the patrol members left the tavern that he woke up from his nightmare and noticed that his right hand under the table was shaking slightly.
…..
Zhang Heng did not walk far. He stopped shortly after leaving the tavern and opened the coin purse with six gold coins. He divided the money into fourteen shares and distributed it to twelve patrol members, each of whom would get about forty-two Sestertius.
To the patrol members living on a meager salary, forty-two Sestertius was a huge amount of money. And that was only a week’s income. According to Zhang Heng and Iron Handcuff’s agreement, Iron Handcuffs had to pay 30% of their income every week to the patrol team. The money was supposed to serve as a token of gratitude to the patrol team for maintaining law and order in this city.
And they did not mind that Zhang Heng took a double share. After all, Zhang Heng was the one that struck a deal with Iron Handcuff. No one thought that Zhang Heng could make so much money off the gang here. They even felt that Zhang Heng took too little for himself. Even if he took a little more, they wouldn’t have said anything about it.
Nonetheless, Zhang Heng did not need so much money for now. He was still receiving the performance income from the Victor Arena. He took one more share because he wanted to set the rules for the future division of money. Since he intended to take over the patrol team, he first established clear rules about dealing with monetary matters. Otherwise, the team would not be able to last long.
…
While they happily took the money from Zhang Heng, the way they looked at Zhang Heng had changed too. They no longer regarded him as a new member. Right now, they respected and admired him more. However, Aris looked at Zhang Heng in a slightly complicated way. He did not take his share right away.
Instead, he said, “I actually wanted to ask you something just now, but you were still negotiating with Iron Handcuff. Since you are one of the patrol members, I couldn’t embarrass you. I think I can ask you the question now.”
“Please ask,” replied Zhang Heng.
“What is the difference between those bastards and us?” Aris asked.
His words poured over the patrol members like a bucket of cold water. The lively and cheerful atmosphere was now gone. And now, all the patrol team members who took the money from Zhang Heng looked a little embarrassed.
Especially the two young people who just joined the patrol team. Since their hope for this place had not been consumed by the terrible reality here, they bowed their heads with shame. No matter how careful Zhang Heng chose his words or how grandiose they were, it could not change the fact that they had just blackmailed them.
They had used the fact that they were patrol members to extort Iron Handcuff and his men, which granted them a huge sum of money. This was no different from Iron Handcuff and his men collecting cash from those thieves. However, they recognized that they were the villains of the area and felt no guilt when they committed such crimes. The patrol members, on the other hand, were the law enforcers in this area.
They were supposedly different from the criminal organizations in this place. After the patrol members received the money from Zhang Heng, they had forgotten how he acquired that money. When Aris brought up this matter, everyone had to re-examine their role in this incident.
However, Zhang Heng’s expression did not change. He nodded when he heard what Aris said, “Good question. I’m going to ask you a question now. What do you think is the most important duty of the patrol team?”
“Maintaining law and order here and catching criminals,” Aris replied without hesitation. As the captain of the patrol, he was certainly no stranger to his duties.
“No offense, but before I came, how well did you do?”
Aris was silent when he heard the question. After a while, he spoke again. “We are not doing very well. That bastard Iron Handcuff is right about us. No one is afraid of us when we patrol this place.
“The residents here will not cooperate with us. This has caused the patrol team to carry out their duties ineffectively. We don’t have enough manpower and funds, and we can’t do anything. All we can do is watch the situation get worse and worse. As the captain of the patrol team, I carry the most responsibility. However, I have been telling the new members not to be nosy.” Aris laughed at himself, “I know I look like a coward in your eyes.”
After hearing what Aris said, the patrol members felt sad, reminiscing the state the patrol team was in during their early days. Aris wasn’t exaggerating.
“Although life is hard, we still cling on to it. And we haven’t done anything that breaks the law.”
“It’s admirable. I’m serious. Given the situation that you are in, it’s amazing that you can do that,” Zhang Heng said. “…but… if you really want to carry out your duties well, I’m afraid you need a sacrifice some of your self-esteem and pride. Maintaining your moral superiority will not make this a better place. You have been here for so long. I believe you should understand what I just said better than myself.”
“I know how to be flexible,” Aris frowned, “blackmailing Iron Handcuff can make us rich, but I don’t see how it can make this a better place. After losing so much money, Iron Handcuff will make his thieves work harder. In other words, the security of the three streets around here will further deteriorate.”
“For now, this is my plan. However, please don’t think that I’m only here to help the patrol members earn pocket money. This is just the beginning,” Zhang Heng said lightly, “When we unite all the big and small forces here, we can formulate a new set of orders and rules.”
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