Universal Sign-in: Ascending to Godhood With My 10x Rewards!-Chapter 25: Establishing Dominance

BANG––!

A gunshot echoed.

A rapidly engulfing silence surrounded both sides of the hostile parties.

My neck froze, and I paused immediately, surveying the halted thugs and the blood rushing out of the calf of one unfortunate thug.

It seemed the guy’s brain couldn’t speedily process what happened in rapid succession.

In fact, only when every single person in the station — me included — simultaneously turned our heads toward the direction of the gunshot, did the guy fall on the ground.

"Arrrggghh!!!" His pain-filled screams echoed, filling the station with a thick sense of dread.

I ignored the crybaby, ignored the boss and the other thugs, and I gazed at the source of the gunshot.

A bright smile colored my lips.

Jericho.

The black bangs of his hair swayed freely across his forehead, improperly hiding the gleam of his cold and narrowed blue eyes.

Jerry stood nearly 15 steps away from us with one hand raised, holding and pointing the gun directly at the forehead of the ’boss,’ while his other free hand clenched his second gun tightly.

My bright smile stretched wide.

That’s my guy.

Murmurs erupted amongst the gathered crowds of hundreds of people. Their trembling voices conveyed confusion and bubbling panic as the looks of dejection on their faces morphed into one of pure horror and uneasy fright.

I rolled my eyes.

Turned out shooting a gun in a crowded room full of monster-traumatized people wasn’t exactly a good idea.

But Jericho didn’t care.

"That was a warning shot." He said, not stepping forward. "You all better stand right where you are."

Heh.

"Argg–! H–he shot me! That... that bastard shot me!" The poor scapegoat still writhed on the ground, crying aloud.

"Someone grab him and tend to his wounds!" The boss yelled, distributing orders amid the Jericho-induced chaos.

One of the thugs made a slight move to help the scapegoat, but–

"Ah, ah, ah." Jericho pointed the gun at the thug immediately. And the thug froze in place, eyes widened. "No movement."

I turned to look at Marcus.

Unc’s widened grey eyes stared straight at Jericho, holding a depth that felt like the mixture of surprise and amusement.

Although with the small smile that tugged at his lips, I assumed it was amusement.

As if sensing my gaze, Marcus turned to look at me. And our eyes met.

Marcus raised his brows, his dry smile widening.

Yeah, this is entertaining.

The insanity that swam within my brain dissolved, returning to where it came from.

...I hoped.

I returned Marcus’s raised brows with a slight nod and a small smile of my own.

And I was sure Marcus had the same question that I did:

What the hell—

We both looked at Jericho.

—Is he going to do?

"Hey now," The boss’s voice chimed in, low with a hint of caution in his undertone. "You don’t want to go that far. Really? A gun? Just for this? What are you even trying to do?"

Well, whatever it is Jericho has in mind, it doesn’t matter to me. I just want to rest right now, so not entertaining this scuffle is a plus for me.

Let him handle it.

And the drama. Man, dramas are fun to watch. When YOU’re not part of the drama, of course.

I looked at the boss. I really wanted to see how his facial expression changed from that of amusement earlier.

The way his voice dropped low immediately was satisfying.

Hah.

Of course.

He wore a nervous smirk. A lone sweat slid down from his forehead, and the sides of his cracked lips twitched as he raised his arms in a surrendering position.

A good choice.

A gun was pointed at his forehead anyway.

Jericho chuckled slightly. "Don’t ask me any more questions." He said, cocking the Glock. "Now here’s what’s going to happen..."

I blinked. I could swear I clearly heard the old man gulp. But it might’ve been my imagination.

"We want no problems here. We, like the rest of you, just want a place to rest and hide from the monsters raging in the city. We’ll mind our business–"

"We?" The boss blurted out. "Who the hell is the ’we’?"

I genuinely frowned at that question, and I asked him. "Are you dumb?"

The old man gnashed his teeth, clenching and unclenching his fists as he stared at me. But he couldn’t say anything.

"Shouldn’t it be clear to you by now that he’s with us?" Marcus asked, his voice a bit high.

Exactly!

It seems like the old man’s common sense deteriorates as he grows older.

I nodded.

I’m glad Unc Marcus’s common sense still works fine.

The boss’s eyes scanned me, Marcus and Jericho as he said. "You’re all together, huh. Then how is it that you two are only coming now?"

Jericho was being oddly quiet.

"That’s what we were explaining to the..." Marcus pointed at the guard who still hid behind the old man, "Guard over there. We were already here. We just went out to get some fresh air."

I grinned.

I swear I never knew Marcus was capable of lying.

The boss — hands still raised — carried a hardened, almost furious facial expression as he turned to gaze at the guard who stood behind him.

"What?" He asked with a tone so dark that it almost seemed acidic. "You told me they were trying to force their way in!"

A lot of drama.

The guard shrank, shoulders dropping as he whimpered with his head down. "Th– they’re lying! Only that old guy was in h–"

"Shut up!" The old man spouted. "I’ll deal with you."

The old man cleared his throat and turned to us with a forced smile. "It seems there’d been a.. misunderstanding. You see, this facility is unstable. It’s barely conducive for all of us, so I wanted to avoid more crowds; that’s why I ordered him to lock the gates. I didn’t know you–"

My brows furrowed.

Really funny.

Sounding more reasonable when a gun is pointed at your forehead.

You didn’t even try to be reasonable with us earlier. Just violence.

And now?

I scoffed.

"Did you cut me off?" Jericho asked, his voice dripping with contempt.

The boss’s face twisted in confusion. "Huh?"

"I was speaking. And you. Interrupted. Me." Jericho said with a low voice.

"Uh.. I– I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to." The boss said. "Let’s try to be reasonable here. Please put the gun down."

Jericho sighed. "I’ll let that slide."

Although Jerry said that, he still didn’t lower the gun. And the old boss still didn’t lower his arms, but ease spread on his face.

"You cutting me off, I mean." Jerry completed.

The boss’s face hardened once more.

"Pffft." Marcus couldn’t hold it in anymore.

I struggled to hold back the laughter, though.

"As I was saying, don’t bother us, and we won’t bother you. We’ll practically stay away from you and everyone else here. We won’t be among any activities you all bring about." Jerry’s voice grew darker. "But if you do bother any of us in the slightest... then I’ll blow your brains."

The boss shivered as Jericho spoke.

Finally, he lowered the gun, putting the two glocks in the pocket of his trench coat as he looked at Marcus and me. "I hope you understand. No, you should understand, because no matter who you think you are, the one with the gun is the one with the highest say."

I nodded.

Very true.

Marcus nodded too. "Very true."

I looked at Marcus with widened eyes.

Is this guy in sync with me?

Marcus noticed my gaze and furrowed his brows. "What?"

I shook my head. "Nothing."

Anyway, technically, Jericho’s right. But not quite.

It’s the one with three systems that has the highest say.

Heh.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief, finally bringing his arms down as he chuckled roughly. "Got it. We won’t cross you guys, and you guys won’t bother us. Fine by me."

Jericho turned away from him, walking toward that one spot.

I followed behind him. Marcus followed suit.

But before going, I turned my neck, gazing at the boss one more time.

He, too, turned his neck before walking away. And his dark eyes locked onto mine.

The red veins swimming in his eyes bulged. And a nasty, satisfied grin spread on his lips.

I raised the top right corner of my lips in disgust.

"Tch." I faced front, walking toward Jericho.

Some people just want to die early.