Chapter 154: Setting the Rules

"You're the one in charge here?"

Baimu grabbed the squad leader of the Hound Squad, glanced at the others around him whose faces were full of panic, and hadn't expected there to be far more survivors in this building than he'd anticipated.

"... I am."

The squad leader said with difficulty; he was Luo Qi's devoted admirer, the least likely person to surrender on his own initiative.

But facing such a guaranteed-loss situation, he really couldn't muster the will to resist.

He fixed his gaze on Baimu's face, then started in sudden fright, "It's actually you! The Demon Wood of Quicksand Squad!"

"My name is Baimu, stop shouting all that nonsense."

The latter frowned, not expecting his nickname to have spread this far, to the point where people could link his face to his name. "Sing."

Chansey walked out from the smoke, stepping on the wet floor, and began singing her song to the terrified Hound Squad members.

They tried to flee, only to see Blastoise slowly walking toward them, and immediately stood rooted to the spot, not daring to move.

Soon, these people all collapsed to the ground and fell fast asleep.

"Otsuka, go up and set up the device."

Baimu directed Otsuka to the top floor, while he himself pulled rope from his backpack to tie all these people up, and removed every Poké Ball, placing them into his bag.

Then he rode Blastoise back down the building.

What was unexpected was that no one had left, despite the building being attacked; they remained right where they were, and upon seeing Baimu come down they hurriedly raised both hands.

"I surrender! I surrender!"

"We've surrendered! Don't kill us!"

These people screamed miserably, and quite a few of them dropped to their knees on the ground, kowtowing nonstop.

Baimu looked at their faces and realized these people must be the family members of some official members; no wonder they hadn't been kept outside as human shields.

"Sing."

He said to Chansey, who was standing on Blastoise's back.

The Hound Squad members in the crowd changed expression; they could surrender, but they didn't dare sleep—who knew if they'd ever wake up once they slept.

Some tried to resist, but they were utterly unable to withstand Chansey's singing, and their Pokémon were also intercepted one after another by Blastoise.

Once the temporary signal tower was established, Baimu also obtained authorization to communicate with the outside.

"Suppression complete, you can come in and clean up."

He went up to the rooftop, looked down from the high vantage point, and found the view terrifyingly wide; any large movements of people in the surroundings were very clearly visible. With so many people, it was inevitable some would stick out.

Only one or two would actually be easier to conceal.

No wonder they were told to come in alone, the two of them.

——

With Baimu's guidance from his commanding height, Quicksand Squad soon advanced to the current position.

With the high ground taken, this block was practically in Quicksand Squad's pocket.

But this was only the beginning.

Everyone understood very well that the real battlefield was the dungeon; the surface was just a place for small fry. As long as they carried out the tactics prescribed by the higher-ups, taking a block was still very easy.

Sure enough.

Just as Baimu had thought.

In less than three hours, the entire block was thoroughly suppressed; nearly a hundred official members of the Hound Squad surrendered, five squad leaders in total, and the cadres were nowhere to be seen.

Thanks to this, the outer members could sweep through without any scruples, investigating whether there were any secret passages or hidden enemies.

The other two blocks seemed to still be in full swing with fighting, but since they were the blocks assigned to the Stone Group and the Crystal Group, Baimu's side couldn't rashly go over to support them—besides, they still had plenty to do.

"Anyone found wantonly bullying prisoners or looting money?"

Baimu asked Narihiro beside him in a low voice.

Narihiro's expression twisted for a moment, then he nodded and said: "Yes... quite a lot, actually. How should we handle it?"

"Go and Jiao Sect them some rules—the rule that says don't do what you're not allowed to do. Make them spit out what they've swallowed, and treat them exactly the way they treated others."

He said softly.

Narihiro hesitated. "Is it really okay to do this?"

According to everyone's assumption, after taking a block, letting the underlings quietly take some loot was fine; everyone would turn a blind eye, get rich together, and everyone would be happy.

"Don't you understand? It's not that I won't let them take anything—it's that they've taken too much." Baimu looked at him calmly. "Also, I don't like seeing those boring things; you should know that. Since my strength is the greatest here, then my rules should be followed."

"... Understood!"

Narihiro nodded and took people to deal with those who had overstepped.

After they left, the squad leaders under Master Liu Ge gathered around. "Sorry about that, having to step forward and resist this kind of thing, but it's really not convenient for us to show up."

"You've worked hard."

"With your help, sure enough, a lot of things are much easier."

They said one after another.

Baimu returned a faint smile. "It should be so. Besides, I've always hated those guys who are told things and still don't listen. You can't change a person's way of thinking all at once, so for now we can only let them remember through pain."

The squad leaders nodded one after another.

For some people in Quicksand Squad, their plain values clashed with those from other regions. For instance, bullying others with one's power is wrong; for instance, burning, killing, and looting is not right; for instance, the victor does not get to decide everything about the loser.

There was no way to move them with emotion or reason in a short time to change their thinking, so they had to use pain—use "discipline" and "rules," things they could understand—to make them remember.

Of course.

This easily earns hatred.

Blocking other people's path to wealth, of course you'd be hated.

Then at this point Baimu only needed to do one thing, and he could turn that hatred into a twisted form of "love."

Taking some of the confiscated property, and with the approval of the other squad leaders, he distributed it to those peripheral members who had worked hard and stayed within bounds.

And made them a promise.

"If you can pass the formal member examination, I'm willing to take you in. As for my reputation, surely you must have heard of it."

All Baimu said to the crowd of peripheral members below, their eyes ablaze: "Very soon, I'll be promoted to an officer. When that time comes, I'll be short on members under me, and the squad might well lower the requirements for advancement. When that happens, you'll have a chance to become one of my subordinates."

The news that over these past few months he had rarely accepted tribute from his underlings had long since spread along with his fame. Some said he was a fool; some said his future prospects were boundless and he looked down on such petty cash.

But no matter who one was, coming under a big brother like this was absolutely a very comfortable thing.

No one wanted the money they earned risking their lives to be split off another share.

What's more, this big brother wasn't stingy — his rules were just a bit strange, not quite like ordinary people.

That's right.

When All Baimu finished playing the role of a wealth-dispensing boy, he transformed from the original tyrant into a good big brother with somewhat strange rules. The people of Quicksand Squad were just this real.

For a moment.

All the peripheral members began to converse heatedly.

Until—

A terrifying tremor descended!

All Baimu found it hard to describe the feeling in words. He only knew that his whole body was as if standing on a biscuit, and in an instant the earth split open with countless enormous fissures, causing many people to fall in through carelessness.

"Rescue them!"

He shouted, yet couldn't even walk steadily. He could only borrow Chansey's power to rise into the air, watching the entire land shake violently.

He understood this was an earth dragon turning over.

It was an earthquake!

Rumble rumble rumble rumble—!