CHAPTER 54: AN ARRANGEMENT (3)

Ash ended up inside one of Grey Leash’s buildings. It was a large abandoned warehouse building that could fit the 100 members of Grey Leash.

Ash then began his hard work, spreading his gift to everyone present.

Of course, as much as he wanted to get the process done in a few seconds, it was currently impossible for him to do so.

Most of his diseases consisted of venoms and poisons that had to be directly injected into his victims.

There was no way he could poke 100 people one by one and expect to be done in an hour or two.

The best Ash could do with his current repertoire was to use his tier 3 disease, the Mirage Bloom.

But the chance of 100 people, relatively ordinary, with most of them being tier 1 or tier 2 awakened, to survive 1 minute of that.

Even Eben, a tier 3 awakened, could only survive being under the skill’s influence for half a minute.

And that was only the skill, not the actual disease that Ash had to go through himself to gain that ability.

If those people had to endure the disease, then Ash wouldn’t be getting 100 new family members, but he would have to manage the funeral of 100 corpses instead.

So, the second best thing he could do to accelerate the process was to use his hallucinogenic mushroom spores to infect as many people as possible.

The process still took Ash about 20 minutes to feel the connection between himself and the members of Grey Leash.

’I wish I had an airborne disease...’

If he had an airborne disease, then the process would be much more smoother and faster.

Though it would be even better if he could somehow add the verdant wolf venom, the bloodberry poison, and the hallucinogenic plague inside the airborne virus.

’I guess I need to do more experiments with the verdant seed...’

Everything was going well now.

Different from the moment when he needed to keep the dozen dying people alive from the spore’s alluring call to embrace eternal rest, these people were still far from death’s door.

The temptation wasn’t as strong.

And they could just brush off the call as long as they weren’t suicidal in the first place.

There were surprisingly a few people who Ash needed to wake up using his crimson vines, but most of the people were saved from the spore’s hallucination.

But the suicidal people weren’t what raised questions in Ash’s head.

What surprised him most was the type of connection that he felt with these 100 or so members.

It was different than the usual connections he felt after infecting the people before.

Even the half dying members before formed the same bond he had with the creatures from the forest.

With these 100 members, what Ash felt was just a strong connection.

Like as if he was seeing old friends that he had been playing with ever since he was a child.

There was a lot of trust involved, but it wasn’t the same thing as the trust you have with your blood related family members who were always there for you from the moment of your birth.

There was still a chance of betrayal, despite being minuscule.

Ash didn’t know why that was the case.

He needed to do more experiments and tests to see what caused such a connection to be born instead of the usual one.

But for now, it was sufficient for his goal.

He would try to deepen the bond later, but for now, it was an adequate insurance for his little secret that he needed to keep away from the masses.

He would continue administering other diseases for the members of Grey Leash, but he would do that over a period of time.

Just in case someone was too perceptive and noticed the sudden strength increase of a hundred individuals.

For now, Ash told Eben to tell his subordinates to continue whatever they were doing before, and a number of them would go to ex Strong Arm’s base for Ash to give them more ’gifts’.

After the members dispersed and there were only Eben and a few members left, Ash decided to ask Eben one last question before he went back to his home.

"How do I get people to come to the clinic I’m trying to open?"

Ash explained that he would open a clinic in Strong Arm’s hideout, a very affordable one that even a beggar could afford.

But he wasn’t sure how he could convince people to come to him.

A dirt-cheap clinic that actually helped you conquer your sickness was on everyone’s list of hope and dreams that might never happen.

It was along the lines of receiving first class healthcare from a government subsidized insurance plan.

It would never happen unless god himself came down to Earth and gave the decree.

People would actually be suspicious of his clinic and would avoid it instead.

"Um... Boss... I might have an idea..." Eben nervously said as his prior plan came up to mind.

The intention that he had planned for Ash before meeting Ash in person.

A plan where he could use Ash’s strength for himself.

"Go ahead, please explain what you have in mind." Ash encouraged his new family member.

Different from the other members, Eben’s connection with him was just as strong as the usual connection.

Eben was now another member of his family.

He could trust him.

And now, Ash could feel Eben’s nervousness and fear.

Fortunately, though, with his reassurance, Eben continued speaking.

"There’s the underground fighting ring.

Before, I thought of testing you myself and see how strong you actually are. If the rumors are true and you did defeat Strong Arm on your own, I planned to force you to fight there, carrying Grey Leash’s name.

Everyone and their mother in the slums knows about the fighting ring.

The strong fighters there are like celebrities to the people of the slums.

And for us, the gangs, the winning fighters carrying our name will boost our prestige and give us more say among the three main gangs here in the slums.

Boss, if you participate in the underground fighting ring and become a fighter ranked in the top 10, then everyone would trust almost anything you say.

Even your fart would be treated as gold by the masses."