Chapter 193 Loyalty is Only for The Dog (V)
"Why do you look sad? I'm not gonna die," Klaus said.
Sheila smiled. "Lately, I've lost a lot of precious things."
Klaus nodded in response. He knew Sheila had been through a lot in the past year. Failing to protect the orphanage kids, losing her partner, and now her old friends had turned against her.
"We managed to save her. Now, what are we going to do with them?" Klaus rolled his eyes at the gangsters.
Sheila grimaced, her mood shifting after seeing the sorry state of her old friends.
"You're worrying about the wrong people. Your boss is a monster. I'd rather deal with them than him," Zee interjected.
Sheila squinted at her. As she looked away, the boss walked away, drawing closer to the unconscious Izzy.
"You wait here! Don't go!" Sheila ordered the hooded girl.
"Okay, okay. Do you think I can escape from someone like him?"
"Good if you realize that."
Sheila immediately ran towards her boss before he could do something bad to her friend. She still remembered what happened to the Black Bull gang when Klaus came to their hideout.
"Boss! Please—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Klaus stretched out his hand. Sheila furrowed her brow in response.
"Look at this, she's still alive," Klaus said. "I didn't hold back when I hit her. Her will to live is surprisingly strong."
Naturally, Sheila shifted her gaze to Izzy. The woman was truly badly injured, covered in debris with blood flowing down her face. Seeing her pitiful condition, Sheila felt sorry for her.
Raising her head, Izzy looked at Klaus. Her gaze was still deep despite the wounds all over her body.
"What are you waiting for? Kill me," Izzy said, coughing up blood.
Klaus sighed. "I was just about to praise you, and now you want me to kill you? Honestly, I'm a little disappointed."
Sheila grabbed his hand. "Boss, save her. I know you have a spatial ring. Please, give her a potion."
"After what she did to you. Are you sure about that?" Klaus raised an eyebrow.
Sheila nodded, her eyes filled with hope.
Seeing his secretary's sincerity, Klaus couldn't help but furrow his brow. He could never understand the thinking of ordinary humans. Normally, he would kill anyone who dared to threaten him.
But it was Sheila's choice. Klaus felt the need to honor it. Besides, he had used them for his own purposes. It wouldn't hurt to grant them forgiveness as a token of gratitude.
"Well, if that's what you wish," he said.
Klaus stroked the ring on his finger. Soon after, a dozen bottles filled with red liquid appeared on the ground. Sheila's face lit up with a broad smile.
"These are for them too."
"Thank you, boss," Sheila said.
"Do it quickly. We don't have much time."
After nodding, Sheila took one [Potion] bottle and gave it to Izzy. The battered woman looked reluctant as the bottle touched her lips.
"Why?" Izzy asked, her breath heavy.
"I've already lost enough people. I don't want to lose anyone again," Sheila replied.
Izzy chuckled. "Idiot."
While Sheila and Zee helped the injured gangsters drink the potion one by one, Zee remained motionless in her place. Her eyes glared at the people who had wanted to kill her.
Klaus noticed this and called her over. The girl lowered her head as she walked towards him.
"Help Sheila," he said.
Zee snorted. "What nonsense is this? You're helping people who wanted to kill you? Naive."
Bam!
"Ouch!"
A spank landed on her head, and Zee winced as she rubbed her head.
"Do you know why you're still alive? You forget that you once kidnapped my friend and wanted to kill me, and I'm still kind enough to save you from them. Stop talking shit and do what I say."
"Okay, okay," Zee replied, slightly annoyed.
Klaus shook his head.
While Sheila and Zee helped the injured gangsters, Klaus waited near the alley's entrance. He kept an eye on the surroundings, staying alert in case someone approached. They had just had a fight in the middle of the city, and he was sure the commotion had been heard. Sooner or later, the police would arrive.
And his prediction was correct. Shortly after all the gangsters had fully recovered, Klaus heard the sound of sirens in the distance. In less than two minutes, they would arrive at the scene.
"Are you done with your business?" Klaus asked.
"Yeah," Izzy replied shortly. She didn't dare to look into his eyes.
The gangsters trembled as Klaus approached them. Their conditions had improved. Their wounds and bruises had fully healed, but exhaustion was written all over their faces. Their energy had been drained from the previous fight. It couldn't be helped, considering they had fought against Klaus.
Even though these people could make amends with Klaus, they still held a grudge against Zee. The most obvious one was Dax. He couldn't take his eyes off the girl. His gaze was filled with deep hatred.
And Zee was aware of it. She chose to remain silent because she knew they wouldn't dare to touch her as long as Klaus was here.
Seeing the tension among them, Klaus grinned.
"Well, they can restrain themselves pretty well," Klaus thought.
The main reason Klaus didn't kill them wasn't just out of pity or kindness to Sheila, but because he wanted them all to work for him. Everything had been planned from the beginning.
During his encounter with Zee, he saw great potential in this girl. Unfortunately, she had many issues that made Klaus hesitant to recruit her.
She had a psycho side, deriving pleasure from the suffering of others. This was what caused Zee to mess up all her tasks. For example, when she kidnapped Alexa. Instead of returning promptly, she played around with Klaus, leading him to failure. And when she was assigned to track down the imaginary man named Morgan, after obtaining information about him, instead of eliminating all the gangsters to cover her tracks, she left them and put herself as the target.
Despite all of her shortcomings, Klaus still wanted to invest in her. Therefore, he needed to ensure whether Zee possessed the most important aspect: loyalty.
To find out if Zee could really be trusted, he gave her two options. To spill her boss's secrets first but be allowed to live, or to remain silent but be tortured to death.
From this, Klaus could see if Zee was worthy of being a subordinate or not. If Zee chose the first option, he wouldn't recruit her and would hand her over to Izzy. He might forgive the worst evil being in the world, but not traitors. A killer would always kill, and a traitor would always betray.
No matter how long a traitor served someone, they would wait for the right time to stab them in the back. Time never proved loyalty.
And it turned out, Zee met his expectations.
"I can still forge her."
However, Klaus still needed Izzy and her subordinates.
He already had a company to mine wealth and a guild to build power. But he didn't have people working behind the scenes. Over the past year, Klaus realized that there were many people obstructing his path, and he couldn't get rid of them for fear of tarnishing his image.
Therefore, he needed people to do his dirty work for him, and Izzy and her crew were the best option.
However, Klaus couldn't have the gangsters because of Zee. They truly harbored hatred for this girl. So, he devised a plan.
Klaus knew that Sheila was very weak when it came to kids. Using Zee's age, Klaus tried to gain Sheila's sympathy by making her see Zee as a victim, which was the opposite of the truth. At the same time, Izzy and her crew still saw Sheila as a friend. They felt guilty for not informing Sheila about Roach selling monsters to Miranda.
With their inner conflicts, Klaus tried to create a scenario where they would demand each other. They would argue until one of them gave in. However, his plan went a little awry.
Klaus wanted the conflict to end with Izzy forgiving Zee because of Sheila. But Izzy ordered her crew to attack him instead. Klaus thought his plan had failed.
When Klaus was about to kill Izzy, Sheila suddenly stopped him. He saw this as an opportunity. There was no sweeter word than forgiveness, but at the same time, it was the hardest thing to do in the world. It forced someone to compromise on their hurt feelings, to let go of the hatred stored in their hearts.
Sheila was forced to compromise by forgiving Izzy, and Izzy had to compromise by forgiving Zee for the sake of Sheila.
It was the most complex manipulation tactic Klaus had ever used. He didn't expect it to work.
"I'm really lucky," he muttered.
As Klaus was in deep thought, the sound of sirens suddenly echoed in the air.
"The police have arrived," Klaus said. "It's time for us to part ways."
Izzy nodded. "Damn. I didn't expect this fight to be in vain."
"It's not in vain," Sheila replied.
The two women looked at each other as if they were communicating through their eyes. The tension between them eased. It made Klaus happy.
Then, Izzy and her crew left.
"All right, nice meeting you all. See you later," Zee piped up.
Before she could leave, Klaus stopped her.
"Where are you going? You're coming with me," hesaid.
Zee sighed. Her face said she knew this would happen. Resigned, she allowed Klaus to pull her away with Sheila.
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