Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

Cat Brother dragged White Night through two iron gates and a path paved with gravel, finally stopping in front of a heavy wooden door. There was no handle on the door, only an iron ring the size of a fist, and a coiled snake was carved on it, its scales painted a dark green that gleamed dimly in the afternoon light.

Cat Brother raised his hand and tapped three times. The taps were evenly spaced, with neither too much nor too little force.

"Come in."

Cat Brother pushed open the door, grabbed Bai Ye's arm, and shoved him forward with such force that it was as if he were throwing a bag of worthless goods.

Bai Ye stumbled into the room, landing on her knees first, her entire body kneeling on the cold marble floor.

Cat Brother stood behind him, bowed slightly towards the depths of the room, then stepped out and closed the door behind him.

The room was spacious, with a ceiling almost half again as high as a normal room. A complex chandelier hung overhead, its warm yellow light reflecting off the crystal shade and casting dappled patterns on the floor.

Viper leaned back on the sofa. He tilted his head slightly, sizing up the boy kneeling on the floor.

"Look up," he said.

Bai Ye slowly raised her head.

"Please, brother, take me in..." Bai Ye began, his voice still hoarse from the punch he'd just received, his tone laced with just the right amount of fear. "I have nowhere to go... I can do any kind of work... Please, brother, give me a bite to eat..."

Viper leaned back on the sofa, his right index finger resting on the armrest, tapping it lightly and intermittently.

"What makes you think I'd take you in?" The viper's voice held a hint of amusement, as if he were looking at a small animal that had strayed into a snake pit. "This isn't a shelter. I don't keep idle people here. Tell me, what use are you?"

Bai Ye swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. He lowered his head, his voice softer than before, but every word was clear: "I'm useful... I can do anything... physical labor... running errands... whatever my brother tells me to do, I'll do..."

"Anything is fine?" Viper's voice rose slightly at the end, carrying an arc of intrigue.

"Anything's fine..." Bai Ye's voice lowered, as if encouraging herself, "I...I'm not afraid of hardship..."

Viper sat up a little straighter on the sofa, tilting his head to look at the boy kneeling on the ground, too afraid to raise his head.

His gaze lingered on Bai Ye for a few seconds, as if assessing something. Then he smiled, a slight but chilling gentleness in his smile: "Murder is acceptable?"

Bai Ye's body stiffened abruptly. He remained kneeling on the ground, but his shoulders twitched slightly, as if struck by those two words. His breathing paused for a moment, then became shallower and more rapid, as if he had been frightened by those words.

"I..." His voice trembled genuinely, "I didn't...I didn't kill anyone..."

Seeing his reaction, the viper's gaze held an even deeper hint of amusement.

He leaned back on the sofa and gestured with his chin to the side. A lean man standing behind him nodded, turned, and left the room. A few minutes later, he returned, followed by two other men, with a man whose hands were tied behind his back being escorted by two others.

"Traitor." Viper pointed to the bound man, his tone as flat as if he were introducing a piece of furniture. "He ate my food, used my things, and then sold my shipping routes to his rivals."

Viper pulled a pistol from under the coffee table, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Bai Ye. The gun slid a short distance on the table, making a soft sound of metal scraping against wood, and stopped less than a foot in front of Bai Ye.

"Since you say you can do anything," Viper leaned forward slightly, placing his hands clasped on his knees, "then prove it to me. Kill him. Then you'll deserve to stay."

Bai Ye looked at the pistol in front of him.

He picked up the gun with trembling hands, his movements clumsy and awkward, as if he had never held a gun before. He pulled the slide to chamber a round, his finger on the trigger, the muzzle pointing towards the ground, but he hesitated to raise it.

Viper didn't urge him. He just leaned back on the sofa and watched, like a patient spectator waiting for a performance.

Bai Ye raised his head and looked at the bound traitor. The man was kneeling on the ground, also looking at him, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and a kind of resigned numbness.

Bai Ye's lips trembled, his hands trembled, and the muzzle of the gun drew a thin arc in the air. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then suddenly raised the gun, aimed it at the man's chest, and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot rang out in the room, causing the chandelier overhead to sway slightly. A spent cartridge ejected from the ejection port, clattered to the marble floor, rolled twice, and came to a stop.

The bullet struck the traitor squarely in the chest. Blood gushed from the bullet hole, spreading a large, dark red stain on the white marble floor, slowly diffusing outwards.

Bai Ye opened his eyes and saw the expanding pool of blood in front of him, and the traitor's still-open eyes. His hand loosened, and the gun slipped from his grasp, smashing to the ground.

He suddenly bent over, bracing himself on the ground with his hands. The acid churning in his stomach rushed up from his throat, and he gagged several times, his entire back convulsing. In the end, there was nothing left to vomit, only physiological dry heaving, one after another, tears streaming down his face.

He knelt between the acidic fluid he had vomited and the pool of blood spreading in front of him, curled up in a ball, his shoulders heaving violently, as if he had been completely crushed by the gunshot.

Viper sat on the sofa, looking at the boy curled up in a ball on the floor, a smile slowly deepening at the corners of his mouth. He hadn't seen a rookie who dared to fire a gun on his very first day in a long time. This kid was interesting. Useful, and worth raising.

"Take him to the dormitory," Viper said, turning his head to the man standing in the shadows behind him. "Teach him the rules. And tell him what the rules are for surviving here."

The man in the shadows, Scorpion, responded.

He didn't look at the corpse on the ground, nor at the pool of blood that had spread. He simply took two steps toward Bai Ye, bent down, and stretched out his hand.

"Get up," he said.

Bai Ye raised her head from the ground, her face still bearing traces of tears and reddened eyelids from gagging.

The scorpion turned and walked towards the door, saying without looking back, "Follow me."

Bai Ye, head down, staggered behind him as they walked out of Viper's room and into the dim light of the corridor. The sound of the iron door closing behind them was dull and heavy, shutting out the stench of blood and the light from the room.