Dozens of gangs, large and small, operated across the favela’s dozen or so square kilometers.
The largest controlled nearly half the favela, while the smallest held only a single street.
Every gang guarded its territory closely and maintained a basic grasp of everything that happened within it.
Outsiders were only allowed in when accompanied by a local.
Without Camilla, someone like Rock would never have been allowed to settle in the favela.
Now, as Camilla’s man and a member of her family, Rock had become part of Slope 21.
Once Elena accepted the guns he was handing over, he would be free to come and go as he pleased.
Aguiar remained vigilant.
Holding his AK-47 in one hand, he pulled out his phone with the other and made a call.
Before long, two motorcycles shot out of a nearby alley and stopped in front of the guardhouse.
Three burly young men climbed off, their arms and necks covered in tattoos.
They first studied Rock and Camilla, along with the rifles they carried with the magazines removed.
This was a basic requirement.
Even their pistols had been placed inside their backpacks.
Rock had initially been uneasy about it.
Being left without a single usable gun made him feel exposed.
Only after Camilla repeatedly assured him that Elena’s people kept their word did some of his concern fade.
The men inspected the AR-15 and Glock that Rock had handed over and confirmed that both weapons were in working order.
One of them, a burly man with a goatee, pulled a badge from his pocket and tossed it to Rock.
“Hey, Asian kid.
This is your pass for Slope 21.
Konnichiwa?”
“No.
Chinese.”
“Whoa, Chinese kung fu.”
The goateed man struck a Bruce Lee pose, looking quite friendly.
Rock merely thought the man was a bit of a chatterbox.
He glanced at the badge and found an abstract rose design stamped into it.
It was made from sheet metal, and the workmanship was rather crude.
The man turned back to Camilla.
“Camilla, you little wildcat.
You actually found yourself an Asian man.
At least you and Fatima finally have a man in the house.
I’m almost jealous of this kid.”
He burst out laughing.
“Thank you, Carlos.
I think Fatima will be happy too,” Camilla replied with a smile.
“Kung Fu Kid, I hope your stamina is as good as your gear.”
Carlos left Rock with one last remark.
For the time being, Elena would assign people to keep a close watch on Camilla’s household.
Once they were fully convinced that Rock was not a spy sent by another gang, he would gradually begin participating in the gang’s activities as a man who owned a rifle.
In Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, gangs like Elena’s had to bring every man of fighting age in their territory into the gang.
Whenever necessary, everyone had to fight for the gang.
That was the only way they could hold on to their territory.
Now that she could finally take Rock home, Camilla seemed excited.
“Fatima is going to be shocked when she gets back from work.”
As they walked down the street, Rock’s Asian features drew plenty of attention.
Camilla, however, proudly led him home.
This was her man.
They crossed a wider street and entered a steep alley.
Camilla led Rock to a two-story brick house built into the slope.
The concrete and bricks were completely exposed, making the place look unfinished.
However, Rock had already noticed that most of the houses they passed looked much the same as Camilla’s.
This was a favela in Rio de Janeiro.
By local standards, having a place of their own already meant a great deal.
Camilla took the key from around her neck and unlocked the iron gate.
Although she had lost all her clothes at the nudist beach, she had carefully protected the house key hanging around her neck the entire time.
At first, Rock had thought it was merely a key-shaped ornament.
He had not expected it to be an actual working key.
Judging by Camilla’s attitude toward the place, this shabby little house was priceless to her.
The interior was rather dark.
There was no glass in the windows, which had been filled in with hollow bricks.
The only light came through the openings in the bricks and the doorway.
The front door opened directly into a small living room, where several worn-out sofas had been arranged in a circle.
Behind the living room were the kitchen and bathroom, with a bedroom beside them.
“My dear Locke, we’re home.
From now on, this will be our home together.
I think we’ll be very happy living here.
Would you like to taste happiness with me right now?”
Camilla once again made her passionate intentions clear.
The twenty-year-old Brazilian woman seemed remarkably determined to claim Rock for herself.
“Camilla, let’s put the gear away first, then take a warm shower.”
Now that they were alone, Rock saw no reason to keep holding back.
Camilla was clearly willing, and he felt the same.
Besides, the system’s antiviral protection had already removed one of the risks of sleeping with someone he had only just met.
They first unloaded the heavy weapons and ammunition in the bedroom, then placed their two bulging backpacks on the floor.
“Locke, we’re very poor here.
We don’t have a bathtub, and even the running water comes and goes.
I think we’ll have to rinse off with water from the tank.”
Rock’s request for a shower left Camilla looking a little embarrassed.
“Sorry.
I was asking for too much.
It’s fine.
We’ll just rinse off quickly.”
“Okay.
The bathroom is beside the kitchen.
Afterward, we can go to the bedroom next door.
It has better airflow and is much cooler.”
…
An hour later, Camilla lay slick with sweat in Rock’s arms.
“My dear Locke, do you know something?
The moment I saw you naked on Copacabana Beach, I was completely captivated.
You really are just as impressive as I imagined…”
Camilla truly deserved her nickname, Little Wildcat.
Taming her had cost Rock a tremendous amount of energy.
From his personal experience, she was no little wildcat.
She was practically a leopardess.
Still, his effort had paid off.
During the process of taming her, Rock’s Spirit stat had actually increased by 0.1.
When the system had previously raised him to the human limit, the value had been exactly 10.
Now, it read:
Name: Rock
Age: 25
Physical Constitution: 10
Spirit: 10.1
Skills:
Kung Fu: beginner (35/100)
Pistol Shooting: intermediate (92/400)
Rifle Shooting: intermediate (51/400)
Quick Draw: intermediate (35/400)
Danger Sense: introductory (8/50)
His Spirit stat had broken through the human limit.
During their exertions, Rock had also noticed something strange.
The stamina he had exhausted during the long walk was recovering as they exercised.
Even the minor scrapes he had suffered during the fight in the ruins near the beach had instantly scabbed over, healed, and vanished.
Fortunately, Camilla had not noticed.
Otherwise, she might have started screaming about the devil.
Thinking it over, Rock realized this had to be part of the Roses component of the system.
The Guns handled combat, while the Roses handled recovery.
His fuel consumption was one partner per hundred kilometers.
This kind of exercise could actually function like a power bank, replenishing his stamina, restoring his mental energy, and even increasing his Spirit stat.
What did that mean?
It meant that as long as he had a woman with him, Rock could become a tireless warrior.
Now that exercise had been given such a function, Rock did not know whether he should be happy or very happy.
After rinsing off, the two sat in the room and counted the cash they had taken from Jacaré and the gunmen.
Altogether, they had 5,735 reais.
“Locke, we’re rich!
This is almost three months of my income.”
Camilla was thrilled.
She had never seen so much money at once.
The average salary in Brazil was around 2,000 reais.
Anyone earning more than 3,000 a month was no longer considered poorly paid.
“Then how much are these worth?”
Rock picked up three gold necklaces, five gold rings, and two gold watches, examining them one by one.
“We can exchange them for cash at the shops down the hill.
I think we’ll get more than 5,000 reais for them.
My God, Locke, we’re really rich!
We won’t have to worry about food for at least six months.”
Camilla happily wrapped her arms around Rock’s neck and kissed him again and again.
She was so excited that she even began dancing the samba in the middle of the room.
The uninhibited movements showed off her toned figure and vibrant feminine charm.
“Camilla, is that you?
Are you back?”
A clear voice came from outside the door.