Exiting the administrative building was mostly a matter of Yao Jing glaring at everyone until they got out of the way and a lot of hurried steps. Since no one wanted to physically accost them, it was a matter of simply ignoring the cultivators shouting for Arthur’s attention and favour. Which anyone walking through a night market had learned to do long ago. Especially if you had to play guide to the occasional white tourist with their overfilled pockets.
“Where to, boss?” Yao Jing said, once they managed to get half a block away from the building and cleared themselves of the majority of persistent cultivators. There were a few who hung around on the periphery, but none seemed ready to do anything but watch.
Arthur started to say something, only to fall silent when his least favorite party member appeared. Accompanied by a dozen others, including a few of the Malay thugs that had blocked their way earlier. “What the hell?”
“I got help,” Jan said, grinning wide. “These guys are from the Double Sixes.”
Yao Jing frowned. “The what?”
“Double Sixes. The gang, lah,” Jan said. “Not really a triad, just a gang.”
“Oi! We’re more than just a gang,” said a youngster, who looked barely twenty. He shoved Jan, only to be slapped on the back of his head by an older man, one who had a pair of tattoos crawling up his arms into his raggedy shirt. The older man was a little on the pudgier side, wide and broad like a former construction worker who had gone to seed.
“Diam!” he silenced the boy. Having finished, the older man turned to Arthur, the glare on his face fading slightly, and asked, “You registered your clan?”
Shooting a look at Jan who simply nodded, Arthur answered. “I did.”
“Then we will help you, and in the future, you will help us. Boleh?” the older man said, the frown still lingering on his face.
Again, Arthur looked at Jan, who nodded firmly. Feeling a little lost, but realizing he probably needed whatever help he could get—even if it was on the more notorious side.
“Boleh,” Arthur replied, nodding in agreement at the Double Sixes.
“Bagus!” said the old man loudly, pleased despite his grim expression. He stuck a hand out to shake and pumped Arthur’s hand so hard that Arthur nearly toppled over. “I am sending these three to guard you. I will call others to come. You plan to confront the Suey Ying?”
“Yeah. We need to get the Thorned Lotuses—” Arthur began, but Jan interrupted: “Uswah already gone to call them. She will come soon.”
Arthur let out a little sigh of relief. “That’s great. That’s good. Mel?” Of them all, he had hoped Mel had escaped. He could use her knowledge and competence.
Jan shook her head.
Disappointed, Arthur tried to rearrange plans in his mind. Having the Double Sixes with him and the Thorned Lotuses should add significant weight to his demands. Of course, people in grief could be irrational and Boss Choi was not the kind to step back.
“And who is this?” Jan barked, interrupting Arthur’s thoughts.
“Yao Jing. You can talk to me directly, if you want,” Yao Jing said with a snort.
“Ya, ya,” Jan said dismissively. “Why are you here?”
“I added him,” Arthur said.
“Why?”
“Because,” Yao Jing said, drawing that word out long and hard, drawing stares from Jan and everyone else . When he was certain he had their attention, he finished the sentence. “I. Am. Awesome!”
Arthur choked on his laughter. Jan began berating Arthur for adding another idiot to their group. Yao Jing talked over her, insisting on his awesomeness.
Arthur cleared his throat loudly and snapped his fingers. "Right, we've got people. Now we need information." He turned to the old man, who looked appreciative of Arthur's focus on the situation at hand. “Who are you, anyway? I’m Arthur. Arthur Chua. The Clan Head of the Benevolent Durians.”
“The what Durians?” the man said.
“Benevolent,” Arthur said. “It’s sort of like, um, charitable? Good-hearted at least.”
Silence greeted his explanation and for a moment, the man looked like he was regretting his choice of allies. Then he tapped his chest a moment later. “Mohammad Osman bin Awang. I lead the Double Sixes.”
Arthur chose not to comment on how common those names were. Real names or not, it was not something he cared to follow up on. Not when he had more important things to do.
“Scouts,” said Arthur. “Can you find out what the Suey Ying are up to?”
Mohammad Osman nodded, turning his head to the side and meeting the gaze of two Chinese members of his gang. Like some of the bigger gangs, the Sixes were not built along racial lines but drew from all across the board. In this case, the Sixes were dominated by Malays, but there were advantages to having other races.
Such as spying.
Arthur watched the Chinese pair part ways, heading off in different directions to learn what they could. In the meantime, he scratched his chin, considering what else he could do. Should do. He really wanted a weapon other than the cursed kris. And he needed to meet up with the Lotuses when they came looking for him, though he assumed they’d do what Jan did and come for the administrative building. Or perhaps . . .
“Can you lend me one more man?” Arthur said. When the older man gestured for him to continue, Arthur added, “Leave him here, or maybe even meet with the Lotuses as they come in. And lead them to my Clan building.”
“Boleh.” A slight pause, then Mohammad Osman asked, “Where is your building?”
“Shit. Right, right . . .” Arthur paused, about to offer an explanation before Jan walked over, smirking as she left Yao Jing clutching his arm and glaring at the woman.
“I stay and wait for the others. You bring Mr. Osman to the HQ,” Jan said.
“You know where it is?” Arthur said, surprised.
“Ya lah. In my head.” Jan tapped her temple. “So weird. But it’s here.”
Silence greeted her words, while Arthur contemplated how the Tower might engage in mind manipulation. Then, discarding that concern, because he just did not have time to worry about it, he waved for Mohammad Osman and the Sixes to join him.
As they walked through the streets, headed for his own Clan residence, Arthur could not help but glance over at his newest ally. Another niggling thought had crept in.
“What do you want, for being our allies?” Arthur asked, curiously. “What did Jan promise you?”
Mohammad Osman grinned at that, tapping the sheathed kris by his side. “What else? Money. Or cores. New clans make a lot of money, you know.” A slight pause before he added, “Eventually.”
Arthur had no answer for that. He really had no idea how they were going to end up with the money that Mohammad Osman thought they would generate. But he wasn’t going to say so.
That was a problem for the future. Right now, he would take what allies he could get. And hope they were true.
On that rather morbid thought, Arthur turned the corner to finally set eyes on his clan residence for the very first time. He could barely see the entrance, what with the sheer volume of rubberneckers in the way, but what he did see was enough to explain their interest.