Chapter 337: Preparation
Jack let out a sigh. Leaning his elbows against the table he watched the cup of juice in front of him shake and vibrate under the movement and heavy steps of the lumberjacks heading out to clear more of the forest and lug them back to the warehouses.
With the addition of the new personnel, Jack no longer needed to worry about the young guild members, there were plenty of freed slaves who treated them like their own family, and now, the young guild members were frequently making patrols into the forest clearing out the occasional monster and gathering herbs. Perseus had placed a rule that nobody was allowed past the dungeon or abandoned mine since nobody knew what lay deeper in the forest.
But Jack was sure that someday they would be able to traverse into it and uncover its secrets.
Jack could already see some of the young guild members' talents blossom, some were enraptured by the quick agile movements of the friendly mercenary couple that came over to teach them fighting skills. Others were much more interested in spearmanship and swordsmanship. Some were more focused on how to hunt better with the wolves.
And finally, a few loved to wander into the brand new smithy in the guild house. It was finished a while ago, but with no blacksmiths to operate it, it was left empty, that was until some curious young boys entered in and started to play around with the complementary materials left there by the builders.
Jack was satisfied with how the guild was going, but now he needed to turn his attention somewhere else. The cause of his exhaustion, Jack ran his hands through his hair
"he wants me to take over the entire rippers gang in 5 weeks? I just became an executive!"
Jacks' friends tried to console him, but they could only offer him kind words and a bit of food. It felt like an impossible task for Jack. How could he take over the authority of the rest of the ripper executives and their leader?
But if there was anyone Jack believed in. It was his master, he believed that he had a plan and that he knew what was possible for him, and even if it wasn't possible, Jack would gladly be the first to volunteer. A nostalgic smile spread over his face as he thought about the good old days when he would wander around the countryside with Perseus.
How they would sprint through the forest running away from giant horned rabbits, or how they leapt from tree to tree learning new skills. Or maybe plotting to take down an entire bandit camp.
A small laugh escaped from Jack's lips, catching his friends off guard.
Jack reached out with his hand and grasped the cup of juice with one hand, throwing it back and emptying it in a flash. As he slammed the cup on the table, he got up looking at all of his friends, who were now looking at him with alert and ready expressions.
"begin preparations for operation rip and tear, we will execute the operation tomorrow"
Jack's friends nodded their heads and immediately headed off towards the city where their respective territories were. Jack had allocated the territory he had gained as a ripper executive to many of his trusted companions that included his friends who, just a few months before were starving on the streets.
Jack watched them leave, left alone on an empty table.
"well, might as well head to the city myself"
Saying that Jack rose from the table passing Jason who was walking over to the Parthenon party with a grin on his face.
He spotted one of the guild wagons setting out for the city, the riders offered him a ride, but Jack declined. He could go faster on his feet.
And so, with a push to the ground, Jack set off through the path in the woods that John Bunyan and his team had generously made. He let the wind rush up to his face, and the warm sunlight beam down. It was something he would always enjoy, it was still hard to believe that just a few months ago, he could never enjoy something as simple as that.
Jack's speed increased, and soon he burst out of the forest like a black shadowy blur to most passerbys.
Jack paused for a moment, to look at the wide fields around Herdita, the glistening ocean sat behind it, along with the distant cry of seagulls and salty sea breeze.
Each breeze made the grassy fields wave around just like the ocean waves. And Herdita stood right in the middle, its towering walls along with the grand ships that sailed in and out from the ocean along with the bright and colorful flags that hung from across all the ramparts.
For once, Jack could see how beautiful the city really was.
And so, he lowered his head again and took off. Straight to his home, his destiny.
A few hours later, in a spacious wooden room lit by candles.
Jack along with his close associates stood around a table with a map on it. It was a worn map, its brown crinkles covering it showing off its age. But lots of money was paid for this map, for it was not a regular city map, it was the map of the underworld of the city along with all of the territories and even headquarters of each place.
Heheegabo who had now been promoted to Jack's second in command pointed with his finger to the third of the city highlighted with a red outline and a blood-covered axe. The insignia of the ripper gang, That third of the city was on the back part of it, where all of the ports and market places were. This was the reason why the ripper gang was so rich compared to the other gangs, their location had enabled them to gain ludicrous amounts of money. It was one of the main reasons why Perseus chose this gang to infiltrate, not only was it the strongest gang in the city, it was also the richest one that had access to the city's ports.
Perseus still stressed that the ocean had boundless treasures just waiting to be taken, tons of money just sitting at the bottom and he wasn't going to let anyone take it from him.
Heheegabo's finger outlined lighter red lines that bisected the territories of the ripper gang in portions of 12 with a small golden outlined one placed near where the biggest ports of Herdita were.
Heheegabo looked at all of the people around the table
"we are looking at the territories of the ripper gang currently, more specifically the 12 executives and the leader's territories. This territory over here"
Heheegabo said bringing his hand over to one of the outermost territories of the ripper gang which was shaped in the form of a dagger.
"is ours but soon what we call ours, will be the entire territory of the rippers guild, and perhaps even the city itself"
Heheegabo placed his three fingers on the three territories that bordered Jack's.
"We will launch a three-pronged attack against these three executives, one of them is Jezebel a notorious slave trader, the other Marcus an expert in the merchant business, and the last one is only known as Cal we suspect him to be well versed in information."
Heheegabo looked throughout the group, they all had nervous but excited jitters thinking about what they were about to do.
"We have easily infiltrated Marcus's territory most of his subordinates are easily bribed, a few spies will attempt to poison him tomorrow during lunch. Jezebel always has a large number of bodyguards slaves around her, so direct confrontation is needed. Master Jack, and sir swordsman, we will need your assistance for that"
Jack nodded his head.
"and as for Cal, little is known about him, but we are confident that our forces can overwhelm him in direct battle"
Heheegabo lifted his fingers off of the three territories and looked at the people around the table with serious eyes
"This is only the beginning, once we assimilate these territories we will immediately strike out against the next 8 and then finally, her. "
Heheegabo looked at Jack nervously, he had thought that Jack was insane when he had brought this idea to him previously. But Jack had shown him the impossible, what was stopping him from doing it again.
Besides, it wasn't like they lacked support either.
His eyes shifted to a figure who was leaning against the wall in the very back, a blond-haired swordsman with shining blue eyes and a beautiful sword on his back. He seemed so out of place from the tattoos and bloodied weapons that everyone else was holding.
But everyone knew better than to question him.
Perseus watched the people around the table hurriedly talk about their future plans, as a mischievous grin slowly spread over his face.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone