Once something happens, it is impossible to keep it completely hidden.
Dozens of people had vanished after entering Yuki's factory. There were massive bloodstains on the ground, yet the factory—which had purchased no raw materials—had begun operations, and its product happened to be corpse-starch. The nearby residents didn't need much intelligence to guess what had transpired.
Early in the morning, several residents arrived at the factory gates. The conjoined twins opened the door, and both parties were startled.
"Um, we are here to visit Mr. Yuki."
In the meeting hall—more accurately, a slightly larger space in the factory that used to house machinery but was now derelict—the air was thick with tension. Yuno was still asleep; she never woke up early. Yuki assumed she was busy commanding other swarms at this time; even the Great Devourer needed time to manage the other parts of her collective body.
He looked at the paupers. They were frail, their hands covered in thick calluses—capable of labor, but unarmed.
"How can I help you?" Yuki asked.
"We heard that, uh, this place has a new master. We weren't sure a few days ago, so we didn't come to pay our respects."
"Well, I heard this was a no-man's-land, so I took the liberty of moving in. You don't have an objection, do you?"
"No, none at all. This place was originally the border between two gang territories. Usually, their enforcers would come here to cause trouble, but we reckon they won't be showing up again for a while."
They were referring to the men Yuki had killed the previous day.
Yuki continued, "So, what are you here for?"
"This... we... hope to maintain our previous way of life."
Yuki almost couldn't keep a straight face. They spoke as if their previous life had been something worth preserving.
"You mean, you want me to protect you?"
"We wouldn't dare! How could we ever dream of such a thing!"
Yuki knew exactly what they meant. In the Underhive, "protection" meant paying fees, establishing territory, and then facing endless cycles of trouble. He wasn't afraid of trouble; in fact, the more people who came, the better. That way, he would have enough raw materials for his work.
"I have an idea. Are you interested in working for me? I don't have money right now, but I can provide plenty of corpse-starch."
"Wh-What?"
A full stomach?
The residents looked at each other in disbelief. Was Mr. Yuki lying to them? To be honest, when was the last time any of them had eaten their fill? Was Yuki trying to lure them in only to eat them?
God-Emperor above, surely this isn't a scam?
At this moment, Yuki's image in their eyes grew increasingly eerie, carrying an even more dangerous aura. But they couldn't escape; things had gone this far, so they could only agree.
Yuki smiled faintly and retracted his psychic pressure.
The district where the abandoned factory was located was a small area with fewer than ten thousand residents. Resources and labor were limited, and even transportation was inconvenient. Although conditions across the Underhive were universally terrible, the nature of that misery varied; some places had underground mines, others controlled water sources, and some connected the Underhive to the Mid-Hive. Consequently, the population was distributed extremely unevenly.
Currently, the only resource Yuki could utilize was corpses—biomass. The culture vat allowed his production efficiency and resource utilization to reach levels far beyond anyone else's. But raw materials were hard to come by.
"Tell me, Ade, do you have a way to get me some corpses?"
Yuki shared some of his difficulties with Ade. The man, who looked somewhat like an Ogryn, seemed troubled. His boss's orders were to monitor and intimidate Yuki. Now Yuki had secured his own territory and was asking for precious resources—Ade didn't know what to do.
After a moment's hesitation, he replied, "Perhaps there are plenty of idle resources on another planet. After all, as you know, there's a war going on over there."
"Do you have a way to bring those things back?"
"Someone does," Ade added. "But that would require going through Ecclesiarchy channels, which is difficult for us. Currently, the best method would be for you to take over a larger area and control a 'Recovery Team'."
Corpse Recovery Teams operated constantly in the Underhive, taking away the dead. The vast majority were sold to corpse-starch factories or similar industries. Not every gang owned their own processing plant, but people died on every gang's turf, making the recovery convoys vital.
"Of course, if you don't have the strength for that right now, you could try talking to a Recovery Team. They'd probably be happy to make a stop here."
"Do you have a Recovery Team?" Yuki asked.
"Well, that... we don't even have enough for ourselves."
"Then doesn't my corpse-starch business conflict with yours?"
"Not at all. The Underhive is big enough for both of us."
Ade felt his scalp tingle. He wasn't a coward, but why did the man in front of him inspire such dread? He had always been a smart man; Raziel's mental state was deteriorating, and if that drug-addled idiot suddenly went mad and picked a fight with Yuki, it would end poorly for everyone.
Yuki leaned back and sighed. "Fine, I'll solve it myself."
"Appreciate the understanding."
"However, those channels you mentioned for making contact with the people 'above'—can you introduce me?"
Yuki knew the Underhive was essentially in a state of anarchy, relying on gangs to maintain basic order. But his ambition wasn't to be a local warlord; to help the Hive Fleet take this system quickly, he had to deal with the upper echelons.
"That... when the time is right, they will come looking for you naturally." Suddenly, Ade thought of something. "You could check out the Schola Progenium. Other than the main transit tubes, that's the place with the most contact with the Mid and Upper Hives."
The Schola Progenium? If Yuki were discovered there, he'd be turned into mincemeat.
"Forget it, let's not talk about that. Does Raziel have any opinions on my actions?"
"No, I haven't told him yet."
"You'd go that far for me?"
Ade didn't hide his motives. "Yuki, I won't lie for you. It's just that you've hidden yourself too well."
"Fair enough."
"If you need corpses, I could send some live ones to you instead. After all, they're just one 'processing step' away from being corpses."
"Your enemies?"
"To be precise, the useless people in our district—the disabled, the mentally deficient, that sort of thing. For some reason, Raziel won't let us 'dispose' of them."
Did I really want to do this?
As someone who had received nine years of compulsory education, three years of high school, and several years of higher education, the fact that Yuki could even sit here was a miracle of modern schooling. He set his cup down and replied, "Let's not consider that for now."
"Actually, I don't think you need to worry too much," Ade said. "The boys from the Ray Gang will definitely come looking for you. If you can just hold out against them, won't your raw materials be infinite?"
Just then, one of Ade's subordinates rushed in and whispered in his ear. Ade's expression became subtle as he delivered the news to Yuki.
"Look at that. The Ray Gang has already arrived on your turf."
Yuki was incensed. He rose to leave, while Ade instructed his men: "Follow him closely. Let's see what he's truly capable of."