Inside the compound, Kaden rented for his group.

Kaden sat on a table, facing Briar, while Clark and Vilhelm sat on the other sides of the table, playing cards inside the compound's shared room, with the other group members doing their own thing.

Arden was in a corner, cleaning his trusty axes with a clean rag, a creepy smile on his face. Billy, too was sitting in a corner, playing with his wooden toy train. Through his smile looked nothing like Arden's.

The other game survivors were there as well, except for several on guard duty. And they were having their own fun, sparring, playing cards, or just chatting.

Kaden had already recalled everyone back to the compound yesterday to prepare for the gangs' raid, except for a few of them on surveillance missions, like Link. So the base looked much livelier than usual as everyone went about their merry-making.

However, if you looked closely, you would notice everyone was geared and prepared for a fight, despite their seemingly, carless, nonchalant attitudes.

"It looks like I win again," Kaden said with a smile as he extended his hands, hugging the chips at the table and bringing them to his side of the table.

"You're obviously cheating," Briar said with a pout, reluctantly looking at the chips on Kaden's side of the table.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kaden lied through his teeth, still smiling as he waved his hand to the side.

"Besides, we're just betting on some miscellaneous chores," Kaden added with a shrug. "So there's really no need for me to cheat," he concluded with a shrug, still lying.

"Cheating or not, only an idiot would keep playing against you, Kaden," Vilhelm said with a grunt. "I'm done," he added, throwing away the cards in his hands and prompting Clark to do the same.

"Oh, well, it was good while it lasted," Kaden said with a chuckle, making the trio's eyes twitch in annoyance. "And just in time too, it seems," he added as he raised his hand, looking at the digital wristwatch he was wearing as it began peeping.

Kaden used his other hand to press a button on the watch, and it lit up, showing Link's smirking face. "It's happening, boss," Link said in a careless tone, smirking as he did.

"Marcus, five of his fellow gang leaders, and their respective goons should arrive at the compound in about fifteen minutes and surround it," he added, pausing and waiting for Kaden to reply.

"Roger that. Are their numbers as we expected?" Kaden asked with a nod as he gave Clark a signal, causing the latter to stand up and make his way towards the other group members.

"More or less," Link replied with a nod of his own. "There should be about 450 average gang members, along with one super-powered person," he concluded, raising a finger.

"Good, keep an eye on them, and tell me if anything comes up," Kaden said in a neutral tone. "And good job, Link," Kaden concluded, earning a salute from the man as he hung up the call.

"Alright, fellas," Kaden exclaimed in a loud tone as he stood up, getting everyone's attention. "Our guests will be here shortly, so prepare the welcome feast," he added with a chuckle as he materialized Snow white in its gun from in his hand.

Everyone in the rooms heard Kaden's words and strangely smiled as they began preparing their own firearms while making their way to their designated stations, prepared to defend the compound.

"Oh yes, it will be a fine feast indeed," Arden said with a maniacal smile, licking his lips in anticipation of the incoming fight.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but you really need to chill, Arden," Kaden said with a sigh as he turned to look at Arden with twitching eyes.

"You know me, boss...," Arden replied with a shrug, trailing at the end of his sentence. "I live to fight, and fight to live," he concluded, earning another sigh from Kaden, while Briar merely smiled with a nod, and Vilhelm merely grunted in annoyance, seemingly finding Arden too troublesome for him to care.

...

"They're two minutes early," Kaden said with a smile as he stood on the eastern compound wall, looking down at the gangsters gathered outside.

"And look at those faces," Briar said with a chuckle as she stood beside him. "They really mean business," she added in a mocking tone while looking at the gangsters' grim faces.

"You can say that again," Kaden remarked while scanning the crowd, his eyes settling on a particularly hate-filled face staring back at him with gritted teeth.

"Hey Marcus," Kaden said while looking at the face's owner. "That new arm of yours suits you," he added as Marcus began walking forwards with a wintry expression.

"It really brings out the murder in your eyes," he concluded in a mocking tone, laughing loudly.

"Laugh all you want while you still can, brat," Marcus said in a cold tone as he looked at Kaden. "Because I'll be cutting off that tongue of yours along with all of your limbs soon enough," he added, waving his new, shiny prosthetic arm to the side.

"Now, now, Marcus," said a handsome blonde man wearing a fancy white suit as he stepped forward, putting a hand on Marcus's shoulder.

"We're not here to do any of that," said the man as he moved past Marcus, smiling pleasantly while looking at Kaden. "Unless our young fried forces our hand, of course," he added while gesturing towards Kaden.

"Oh, then whatever reason would you have in coming here with such numbers?" Kaden asked with an amused tone as he looked at the blonde man.

"You know it's rude to talk about business when we don't even know each other's names, so why don't we introduce ourselves before that?" the blonde man said, his tone still pleasant.

"I'll even go first," the blonde man said while gesturing with his hand to the side. "I'm Anthony Accardo, a humble businessman doing business in this great town," he added, dramatically spreading his arms apart.

"My friends call me Tony, and I'm sure you'll be calling me that after we discuss things like the civilized men that we are," he concluded with a broad smile, showcasing his bright white teeth.

"Well, it's finally nice to meet you, Tony," Kaden said with an amused smile, earning a nod of satisfaction from the blonde man.

"Your mother already told me so much about you!" Kaden added, causing the blonde man's smile to freeze on his face as he struggled to keep his eyes from twitching as gangsters struggled to maintain even expression while the people on Kaden's side began laughing without restraint.

"I'm Kaden Solomon, but your mom calls me daddy, and I guess you would be calling me that soon as well," Kaden added, mimicking tony's pleasant demeanor.

"So let's get along, shall we, son?" Kaden asked with the same grin Tony had on his face a moment ago, his last word finally causing the latter's eyes to twitch as the gangsters lost it and began uproariously laughing.

"I see Marcus wasn't exaggerating when he said you were a funny man," Tony said after a second he used to gather his wits. "I can only admire a man who makes the time for joking around even in the face of death," he added with the same pleasant tone he had when he started talking.

However, the meaning behind his words was anything but pleasant; know your situation, and choose your words wisely, or I'll destroy you with the army of thugs behind me.

Kaden heard Tony's words and understood his meaning but didn't reply, merely maintaining a lazy smile as he waited for Tony To keep talking.

"With that said," Tony said as he turned around, glaring at the gangsters and causing the few of them who were laughing to cover their mouths with nervous expressions.

"We should cut the nonsense and talk business," Tony added as he turned to look at Kaden again. "You've gone against every unspoken rule and attacked my friend Marcus here," he remarked while gesturing towards the scowling Marcus.

"But you're new here and probably don't know said rules, and we can look the other way this time...," Marcus added, trailing at the end of his sentence. "As long as you provide Marcus here with suitable compensation for his losses and start giving everyone here the proper respect they deserve when doing work in their territories," he concluded with a dazzling smile.

'Proper respect, eh? He's probably talking about a share from whatever commission my guys do in their territory.' Kaden thought while listening to Tony's words.

'This guy isn't stupid. It's a good thing Marcus convinced him to go after me, or he'd be troublesome to deal with in the future.' Kaden smiled, pleased with his decision to hold back when fighting against Marcus's goons as Tony wouldn't have shown up if he thought Kaden was stronger.

"I refuse."