Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Shepherd, Part Two

“Let’s go. We’ll find the next target,” Mu Yang said after glancing at the lizard.

“The next target?” Lizard hesitated for a moment, then asked.

“Of course. Otherwise, how much power could an organization made up of only you possibly have? How much influence? What I need is a force that can, in a very short time, grow strong enough to stand against Bronze Tree—or even crush it.”

When Mu Yang finished speaking, he was already sprinting toward the next target.

“A force to oppose Bronze Tree...” Lizard muttered in a daze. He thought about Bronze Tree’s power, then about Mu Yang’s eerie strength, and swallowed hard. “It really might be possible.”

By the time he came to his senses, Mu Yang had already become nothing more than a shadow. Lizard hurried after him.

...

That night, Mu Yang brought four ghouls under his command. Every one of them was S-class, and the strongest among them could already fight an SS-class opponent. That was only because the SS-class ghouls either had already joined some organization or simply had no intention of joining one.

Mu Yang could, of course, force them to submit. But if they were unwilling, what would stop them from turning on each other the moment he left? S-class ghouls could not restrain them, and SS-class ghouls who were coerced into joining generally had the same attitude.

Naturally, Mu Yang would not let those SS-class ghouls slip away. During the day, he visited each of them in turn—only those ghouls whose locations he had managed to uncover. He gave them a taste of reward first, then used force to warn them not to provoke him, and after that he left. With such strength, his name was gradually recognized in ghoul circles. He became known as the Lord of the Shepherds, or simply the Shepherd.

During this period, the Shepherd continued to expand. Mu Yang no longer needed to search for ghouls alone; now, most of the time, his subordinates recommended them, or the ghouls came to join on their own. Mu Yang was still not satisfied with the current situation, however. He also visited several SS-class ghouls, or had Sota recommend a few of them so he could strengthen his forces. But Sota was not a man to trust too deeply, so Mu Yang generally remained wary of any ghoul recommended by him.

By then, the Shepherd already consisted of three SS-class ghouls, seventeen S-class ghouls, more than fifty A-class ghouls, and a number of lower-ranked ghouls. Mu Yang gave his own flesh to the ghouls above S-class, providing a little each week. That was enough to satisfy their appetites. There were often internal conflicts within the organization, but Mu Yang did not care. As long as no ghoul died, he let them fight as they pleased. If internal strife did lead to death, then the side that lost would keep vigil with the dead for seven days. And this was no ordinary vigil: the bereaved side would be placed inside the deceased’s coffin and buried beneath the Shepherd’s headquarters for seven days. If they were still alive afterward, Mu Yang would give them one of his own knuckle bones so the mourner could recover.

Only then could they continue staying in the organization. If they died during the vigil, then they were simply dead. If, on the other hand, their minds warped during the ordeal and they grew stronger, so much the better—it would only increase the Shepherd’s overall strength.

Of course, peaceful development alone was far from enough. The force Mu Yang intended to surpass, Bronze Tree, was no minor faction. And so the Shepherd’s first assault on another organization began.

As expected, the Shepherd won. After all, without an SSS-class ghoul among its ranks, the Shepherd could already crush the vast majority of organizations. But if an SSS-class ghoul did appear, then without Mu Yang, any assault on the Shepherd would basically be doomed...

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