After the mass burial, a period of optimism came over the Berserk Gang.
The elaborate mass burial was both a strategy by Aragorn to honor the dead warriors who sacrificed their lives in the previous war, and also a way to form the foundation for a sense of camaraderie within the new Berserk Army.
Compared to when the Berserk Gang just started fielding less than 5,000 mystic warriors, now the gang was a behemoth with over 200,000 mystic warriors.
Though the gang already swallowed them all, digesting them all was difficult and was why Aragorn took advantage of the mass burial to subtly effect it.
During the war, they were parts of different gang armies, but after the war, they became one. Becoming one was just in an official sense, it was not easy for warriors who pledged to a certain banner to switch loyalty so easily.
But with the mass burial and the emotional power that it dragged with it, seeing their comrades buried and honored together alongside the dead heroes of the Berserk Gang, they felt for the first time that they were indeed one.
If their dead comrades who once fought against the Berserk Gang could be honored like this, then their future was bright, this brought optimism.
This was all that Aragorn sought to achieve, it was the foundation.
He had no hopes of a strong sense of camaraderie being built in the army immediately, but with this foundation, after overcoming the future challenges that would surely come, they would grow from the trials and become closer.
Under Aragorn's interim rule, the Northern region which was the most prosperous in the Red Zone became the new headquarters of the Berserk Gang. Of course, he was the one in charge in the headquarters with Elanor as his assistant.
He delegated Ben to be in charge of the Southern region with an army of 30,000 at his disposal. He delegated Erling and Jacob as the dual leaders of the Eastern region also with an army of 30,000 at their disposal.
As for the Western region, Aragorn left its leadership to its rightful owners. Under the Berserk Gang, Tosh, who was Walker's 2nd in command in the old Kong Gang became the leader of the Western region.
As for the Blood Market region, Aragorn gave its leadership to someone unexpected. He decided to reward a certain warrior for his efforts in the war.
Melkor played a huge role in the Berserk Gang emerging victorious from the inter-region war. With his Minotaur Pool and the water that it provided, the Berserk Gang was able to survive despite being pushed to the wall so many times.
For his efforts and his tireless determination to keep on producing water for the Berserk Gang Army, Melkor became the ruler of the Blood Market region despite being just a pinnacle Intermediate mystic warrior.
For the next week after the appointments, the Red Zone welcomed a strange period of peace. Yes, peace was strange since the Gundam Shelter was renowned for its chaos and constant wars.
This one week rewrote the narrative, for a whole week, peace reigned in the Red Zone as the leaders worked on recovering the various regions from the aftermath of the war, everything was moving in the right direction.
Once a week passed, while Aragorn went through the list of weekly report files from the delegated leaders of the various regions, he got a knock on his door.
"Come in".
Elanor walked in. "Max Fury just woke up".
Aragorn paused, then he turned to face her before standing up. "Lead the way, we're going to meet him".
"Yes".
The new Berserk Mansion which was the previous mansion of the Axe Gang was a massive one, it was built like a military fortress straight out of a sci-fi movie.
After walking through the grey metal-walled corridor downwards, both warriors with their entourage of guards went through different bends in the mansion until they finally arrived underground where the prison was.
"Good morning, Lord Aragorn".
"Good morning, Lord Elanor".
The guards were surprised on seeing the 2 Lords of the Berserk Gang, but they were fast to express their respect through greetings and a military salute.
Aragorn and Elanor smiled at the prison guards before moving deeper.
They went straight towards the prison where the notorious Max Fury was held. Unlike before, this warrior was no longer lying on the small bed unconscious, he was rather seated cross-legged with chains binding his legs and hands.
After just a week, Max's incredible constitution already enabled him to recover from all his external injuries, only some slight internal injuries lingered.
Once his visitors came, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Welcome".
Aragorn and Elanor stared at him without saying a word for seconds, then Max smiled even wider. "Where is Rex? I want to see him".
"What makes you think you can see our leader?" Aragorn asked.
Max no longer smiled as his face turned neutral. "Because he's the only one worthy of speaking to me, you lots are all not worthy".
Elanor tsked. "Says a war prisoner".
"Yes, I'm a war prisoner". Max smiled. "But that's because of Rex".
Max clenched his fists. "He is the first warrior that made me admit defeat to my inferiority, without him, my army would have won this war effortlessly".
"What do you want?" Aragorn asked.
"Nothing, I just want my superior to end my life". Max smiled creepily. "He was strong enough to beat me despite being an Advanced mystic warrior than me and being of a weaker tier, he is worthy to kill me".
Max's eyes narrowed the next moment as the atmosphere turned cold. "Do not disturb my personal space again, come before me when Rex wakes up".
"Even with these mystic energy shackles, when provoked, I can still bite, do not push my patience until Rex wakes up".
After saying his piece, Max closed his eyes and started meditating.
In the end, Aragorn and Elanor simply stood looking at him from afar. Like Max said, they were not confident in fully restraining him after witnessing the incredible strength that Max had at his disposal in the previous war.
It was pitiful but Max was right, without Rex, he would have won.
They both respected his wishes and left him to his personal space.
Aragorn and Elanor did not leave immediately though, they diverted and went towards the other part of the prison where Gandalf and Scorpion were kept.
On getting there, they met a doctor checking up on both warriors.
The middle-aged mystic warrior with a healing mystic ability stood up to greet the 2 leaders respectfully.
"How is their condition?"
"Scorpion is still in a critical state, but Gandalf woke up just a day ago only to fall back into unconsciousness, his body is still too weak".
"I see". Aragorn was not surprised. "Notify us when they wake up".
"Yes, Gang Leader".
With that, the 2 mystic warriors turned and left the prison.
A few minutes later after they left, the doctor finished his examination and finally left the 2 war prisoners. Immediately after he left, a pair of eyes that belonged to one of the 2 supposedly unconscious warriors shone in the darkness.
Gandalf turned to look at his friend. Seeing the struggling look on Scorpion's face despite being unconscious, he felt pity for his friend.
He knew exactly why Scorpion broke off his deadly partnership with him in their heyday, it was because of his daughter.
Now, after over a decade of searching and serving the orchestrators of his tragedy, learning that his daughter was actually dead probably dealt even more damage to him than any physical injury could ever deal.
"Life…, is cruel". He closed his eyes again.
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