Chapter 96: The Formalization of the Iron Fist Society
The Iron Fist Society headquarters gym.
Chris sat in his designated chair, addressing his three top lieutenants.
"Hanger, Joe's words earlier were way out of line. I don't expect you to completely forget about it, but I won't allow any conflict between you two because of it. Can you do that?"
Listening to Chris's firm tone, Hanger felt no resentment, because he had gained too many benefits through his association with Chris.
At least within the Iron Fist Society's sphere of influence, all Black members could be treated with respect and wouldn't be subjected to discriminatory looks from others.
So when Chris, whom he regarded as his leader, spoke, even though he was reluctant, he pushed the unpleasantness from his mind and smiled, saying, "It's fine, Boss. As long as we're members of the Iron Fist Society, we're all brothers. Hell, we're tight enough to use each other's slang."
"Besides, I actually want to learn proper boxing techniques from this instructor. I used to dream of becoming a boxer, but unfortunately, I never made it. Now I can finally fulfill that wish."
Sensing the sincerity in Hanger's emotions, Chris nodded with a neutral expression, but mentally he was already marking Hanger as someone capable of big things.
If Chris himself didn't want to run for president someday, he'd seriously consider backing Hanger for a future political campaign.
In stark contrast to Hanger was the hothead Marn. This guy still wore a cold expression and showed no intention of reconciling with Joe.
"Marn, you'll handle logistics from now on. Joe will take over membership assessment and member training."
Chris felt somewhat exasperated with his straightforward subordinate.
If it weren't for the fact that Marn had followed him the longest and had always been loyal, Chris would have demoted him long ago and certainly wouldn't have kept him as vice president.
Because this guy wasn't just impulsive—he also lacked strategic thinking. He was completely a small-town hothead.
Sometimes Chris even wondered how Marn could be his father's son, considering the man was a moderately successful lawyer while his son turned out to be such a knucklehead.
"Boss, why?"
Seeing that Marn still dared to question the decision, Hanger immediately tugged his sleeve, but the guy didn't take the hint at all.
Fortunately, Chris wouldn't lose his temper with a fool. Peter was a different story.
"Because Joe is more capable than you, and he's also my uncle. Is that reason enough?"
Both Marn and Hanger looked stunned, but Joe laughed heartily—Marn's expression was genuinely priceless.
The original confusion, frustration, and incomprehension all vanished after Chris gave his answer, replaced by a flushed face of embarrassment.
Then Marn said awkwardly, "That's enough for me, Boss. I'll help Mr. Joe with the handover right now."
"Hold on! I'm not finished laying out my plans yet!"
Chris glared at him. Ever since Marn had bulked up with all those muscles, he'd become even more impulsive and thoughtless.
"I only have two core requirements for the Iron Fist Society." Chris held up two fingers with a serious expression. "Physical fitness and community support."
"Up until now, you've barely achieved the physical fitness part, and you've completely ignored community support.
I don't care what the reasons were before, but from now on, I want all official members of the Iron Fist Society to embrace community support.
Not just helping each other out as members, but also being decent to regular people outside the organization. Understood?"
Chris had presidential ambitions, so his organization—the people carrying his brand—absolutely couldn't create bad blood with ordinary citizens. Otherwise, how would he get votes?
Listening to his boss establish this bottom line, Hanger realized this matter was extremely important to Chris. He cautiously glanced at Marn and noticed the guy nodding as if he understood, but clearly didn't.
In that moment, Hanger understood why Chris had brought Joe into the Iron Fist Society.
Previously, the Iron Fist Society's development guidelines and planning had all been handled by Marn.
But Hanger had never heard him mention Chris's requirements about community support. He only knew the general strategy was to expand influence, with membership standards focused on being strong and fit.
Things like mutual assistance and being kind to regular people? Never heard of them.
Realizing that Marn, this idiot, hadn't fully grasped Boss Chris's vision—which led to today's situation—Hanger couldn't help feeling some resentment toward his fellow vice president.
However, since Chris wasn't punishing Marn, Hanger just noted it mentally and let the matter go.
After hearing Chris's planning requirements, Joe, sensing the timing was right, prepared to demonstrate his value.
"Chris, now that the society's purpose is established, what about the organizational hierarchy? It won't just be president, vice president, and regular members, will it?
You know, even legitimate clubs have ranking systems. That's how members stay connected to the organization, rather than everything being too loose and informal."
As someone with experience in the government system, Joe instantly recognized the Iron Fist Society's structural problem—there were no hierarchical constraints among members, leading to the organization's influence being too dispersed.
So after using force to establish his position within the group, Joe was prepared to use his strategic thinking to increase his value to Chris.
He knew his eldest son was about to start high school, and he had another child on the way to support.
His whole family depended on him, so he was naturally eager to maximize his earnings from this promising side gig.
After listening to Joe's observations, Chris also recognized the issue, but he wasn't going to overthink it.
"Go ahead. If it's workable, your weekly salary can reach twenty thousand dollars."
Joe had raised the problem, so he must have solutions. Chris just needed to approve Joe's ideas and let him implement them.
That's what a leader does.
Seeing Chris being so generous, Joe smiled and continued, "Since it's a fitness society, let's divide the ranks by strength. But with the help of the dragon's blood supplement, increasing strength isn't particularly difficult, so we also need to add a merit point system."
"Merit points?" Hanger listened thoughtfully. He'd already guessed the general direction of the instructor's thinking.
Chris also had some understanding, but he wanted to hear Joe's specific operational plan.
"Exactly, merit points. Doesn't Chris also require community kindness and mutual assistance? So just reaching the strength requirement isn't enough—members also need to have helped a certain number of people and performed good deeds.
Only when both requirements are met can someone be promoted, and correspondingly, their benefits should increase as well."
After explaining his concept, Joe looked at Chris, wanting to gauge his nephew's reaction.
Following Joe's suggestion, Chris already had a framework forming. This was basically a ranking system similar to professional hero associations he'd seen in comics and manga. He could adapt it directly.
Though this world didn't have the same kind of monsters... Actually, no—this damn world seemed even more screwed up in some ways.
Thinking about the supernatural threats and demons that existed in this world, Chris felt relieved that they didn't really affect the lives of ordinary people.
Excluding those exceptional factors, Chris established the strength promotion standards: "The membership requirement stays the same—a 220-pound bench press. Then, those whose strength reaches 440 pounds will be C-rank members, and they'll receive one extra bottle of dragon's blood supplement each week. 880 pounds qualifies for B-rank membership, with two extra bottles weekly. 1,760 pounds achieves A-rank status, receiving four extra bottles. Once someone breaks through A-rank, we'll establish the levels above that."
"As for merit points, you set the standards yourselves. They don't have to be too difficult, but they must be realistic and achievable."
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