Chapter 144: Chapter 144: The Animal Gang
Lisa\'s subsequent words seemed to further illustrate the uniqueness of the Animal Gang.
"No one knows where the people of the Animal Gang come from. They don\'t seem to originate from the three major nations. Although the Animal Gang doesn\'t have many members, only a few hundred, each one of them, even the children, possesses innate monstrous strength."
"Monstrous strength?"
"Yes, children of the Animal Gang, only a few years old, can already lift stone blocks weighing thirty to forty kilograms. At first, I thought it was just a rumor, until one time when I visited them, I witnessed with my own eyes the children of the Animal Gang helping to move stone blocks for building houses. Only then did I believe it."
Lisa\'s eyes reflected her memories, as if she still found it unbelievable even now.
"With their immense strength, this monstrous power, the Animal Gang quickly became the fourth major force in the Syndicate in just a month or two. However, instead of stopping to expand their gang\'s numbers, they continued to actively engage in fights. That\'s why some people in the Syndicate call them the Crazy Gang, saying they\'re not right in the head."
"When other tribes and gangs fight, it\'s for resources, for oases, or for population. But when the Animal Gang fights, they don\'t want any of that. They seem to fight just for the sake of fighting."
"Moreover, they have a principle of only targeting the prominent ones. Whichever gang or tribe is currently the most prosperous in the Syndicate, they specifically choose to fight against them, even if there\'s no grudge between the two sides. As for the weak and powerless ones, the Animal Gang never attacks them.
Sometimes, they even do the opposite and help them resist invasions from other powerful tribes."
From Lisa\'s demeanor, it wasn\'t hard to see that the Animal Gang had likely helped their Ghost Town before. This also explained why Lisa mentioned earlier that she had the fortune to visit the Animal Gang, probably to express gratitude.
"Hmm. Thank you for the info."
After dismissing Lisa, Reji\'s eyes flickered with an interested expression.
This Animal Gang...
Quite intriguing.
From Lisa\'s description, he could summarize these key points:
Mysterious origins, not belonging to the three major nations.
Everyone possesses innate monstrous strength.
Not keen on expanding.
Only thinking about fighting all the time.
Additionally, whether it was due to their martial ethics or personal preferences, they specifically sought out the strong to fight.
Reji\'s initial impression of the Animal Gang was that they were muscle-brained hotheads.
This was great!
I love hotheads the most.
They were second only to the naive and innocent, the second easiest to deceive.
Vielsia: "..."
Ignoring the slightly resentful gaze of the elf girl, Reji immediately set off with Vielsia toward the location where the Animal Gang was stationed, as told by Lisa.
After leaving the oasis of Ghost Town, they were met with a vast expanse of sand sea. However, this was no challenge for Vielsia, the Flowers Apostle. In no time, a sand boat woven from plants appeared beneath the bare feet of the silver-haired elf, carrying the two of them, speeding through the sand sea.
Before long, according to the map\'s location, they arrived at the oasis where the Animal Gang was stationed - the Tribe Oasis.
Yes, they simply and bluntly named the oasis as "Tribe."
At the entrance of the oasis, two large totems could be seen from afar, standing upright. On the totems, various animals were depicted: wolves, lions, tigers, bulls, scorpions, crocodiles, and so on. Of course, there were also gentler ones. Reji also saw cats, rabbits, foxes, and others on the totems.
From this, it was evident that the totems were not only used to symbolize strength with powerful beasts but also that the people here seemed to revere and purely adore these creatures.
No wonder they were called the Animal Gang.
As soon as Reji and Vielsia approached the entrance, a group of Animal Gang members suddenly surrounded them from all directions. The leading man among them had an exaggerated hooked nose and was staring at them with sharp eyes.
The hook-nosed man gave his subordinates a look, and immediately, another member of the Animal Gang, with a completely black body and a face resembling a gorilla, stepped forward and questioned them.
"You two, what are you here for?"
Reji looked at the black gorilla-like man interrogating him, then at the hook-nosed man from before, and surveyed the surrounding Animal Gang members encircling them...
Well, it seemed that the name "Animal Gang" had another meaning.
These members indeed... Some had faces like pig heads and were still "grunting," some had nervous dog-like faces, and some even had nose rings like bulls.
The most exaggerated one had incredibly thick hair, even sporting a golden afro hairstyle. At first glance, it looked exactly like a lion\'s mane.
The members of the Animal Gang not only had different skin colors but also varied hair colors. No wonder no one could discern where they came from.
Their only common feature seemed to be...
Each one of them looked somewhat human, yet not quite human. One could always find the corresponding characteristics of "certain" animals on their bodies.
And...
On their necks, they all had a black iron ring.
"I have important information I want to convey to your boss," Reji said concisely.
Although these Animal Gang members were unsightly, their hearts seemed to be very pure and simple.
Upon hearing Reji\'s words, they didn\'t even ask further questions. The leading hook-nosed man immediately waved his hand and said to Reji, "Then you\'ve come at the wrong time. Our big sister went out to fight. Come back another day."
"Fight? Who is it this time?"
"Hmph, of course it\'s those bastards from the Bloody Hand Gang. Big sister said she can\'t stand them bullying the weak. The Ghost Tribe was minding their own business and did nothing wrong, yet they want to annex them. Big sis has already rushed to the rescue."
Rescue?
Hearing that the big sister of the Animal Gang had gone to cause trouble for the Bloody Hand Gang, Reji was quite surprised. But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Lisa had mentioned before that the Animal Gang targeted the prominent and powerful forces.
The news of the Bloody Hand Gang annexing Ghost Town must have been a big deal in the Syndicate.
But then, as Reji listened further, he found it strange. He didn\'t see any rescue from the Animal Gang in Ghost Town.
"Did your big sister go to Ghost Town?"
"Ghost Town? Hehe, you underestimate the wisdom of our Big Sister Kitsune. She said that this time, she will surround, surround..." The hook-nosed man seemed to be at a loss for words after holding back for a while.
He hurriedly nudged another female companion beside him, who had whiskers like a cat, as if asking what they were surrounding.
"It\'s surrounding the blood to save the ghosts," the cat-whiskered female member added.
"Right! Surrounding the blood to save the ghosts. The meaning of this phrase is that Boss Kitsune is going to surround and attack the headquarters of the Bloody Hand Gang, forcing those Bloody Hand Gang members who went to bully Ghost Town to return and defend their base. This way, the crisis in Ghost Town will be resolved in an incomparably ingenious manner!"
The hook-nosed man held his head high, though it was unclear whether he was proud of his "Boss Kitsune\'s " strategy or showing off his own level of education.
However, by the time he came back to his senses, Reji and Vielsia had long disappeared, already on their way to the Bloody Hand Gang\'s lair.
Reji now discovered another thing: the people of the Animal Gang indeed didn\'t seem to be very smart.
...
The area occupied by the Bloody Hand Gang was vast, but even at the entrance, obvious signs of intense battles could be seen. Many Bloody Hand Gang members were curled up on the ground, wailing in pain. Their bodies were hunched over, as if each of them had suffered some heavy impact.
Reji and Vielsia entered the Bloody Hand Gang\'s stronghold without any obstruction, following the trail of battle traces along the way. Soon, the chaotic sounds ahead grew louder and louder.
Vielsia summoned a giant plant to lift the two of them into the air. Reji looked down and finally spotted the few dozen Animal Gang members who had already penetrated deep into the lair, surrounded by countless Bloody Hand Gang members.
However, even though they had entered the heart of the Bloody Hand Gang\'s territory and were besieged from all sides, these Animal Gang members seemed completely unafraid. Instead, they fought more and more bravely, one by one.
Especially the white-haired woman leading them, who was slaughtering the Bloody Hand Gang members left and right.
Unlike the elf\'s silver hair beside her, it was truly snow-white short hair, like fresh snow. However, upon closer inspection, at the tips of her white hair, one could see a few touches of vermilion.
Just from her appearance, one could instantly recognize her identity: Kitsune.
....
(Kitsune mean fox in japanese)