From Bullets To Billions novel Chapter 320

Chapter 320: The Rich Life

Graduation wasn’t just a ceremony; it was a turnstile everyone had to pass through, one by one, into a world that didn’t hand out timetables anymore. After the caps were tossed and the photos were taken, life split into a dozen different roads that didn’t always have clear signs.

Some classmates jumped straight into apprenticeships, trading textbooks for tool belts and learning from people who’d done the job for twenty years. Others booked hostels and one-way tickets, swearing they’d "find themselves" on a gap year that might stretch into two. A handful marched right into college lecture halls, some because their goals needed higher qualifications, some because their parents said it was the "smart move," and some because it sounded safer than admitting they had no idea what came next.

And then there were the ones who sprinted into the workforce. No safety net. No more excuses. Just a paycheck, a schedule, and the quiet pride of making money that was actually theirs.

It was exciting. It was terrifying. It was the start of the biggest changes any of them had faced.

It was the same for Joe.

He loved being around his friends, loud voices, louder laughter, the easy way they leaned on each other. At the barbecue, smoke curled into the evening air, grease hissed on the grill, and plates made a constant circuit between hands. Someone always asked the same question that hung over all their conversations like a banner: "So... what are you doing now?"

The Bloodline Group had made the decision easier for a lot of them. The offer was clear: join up and get a base salary that beat minimum wage. The requirements weren’t brutal either. Most would work as guards, train several times a week, and occasionally get asked to deliver something or move to a different area. It wasn’t glamorous, but compared to drifting, it felt steady. It felt like a plan.

And there were perks, real ones.

First, loyalty pay. Stick around and every year your salary went up by a guaranteed percentage, higher than what most companies promised on glossy recruitment posters. Second, the evaluation system. Once a month, anyone in the group could test their fighting skills and earn a rank, F through A. Rumors whispered about ranks above A, but no one had ever cracked them. The pay packets shifted with the ranks, too. The stronger you were, the more you earned.

It created a loop that made sense: train, improve, get paid more. Even the ones who started off at the bottom didn’t mind. Loyalty stacked with rank, so time and effort both counted. If you weren’t strong yet, you could still grow into it. And if you were already talented, the system rewarded you right away and then some.

Because of all that, almost everyone who’d been a delinquent and found their way into the Bloodline stayed. The high-ranking leaders from other schools stayed too. It was strange and simple at the same time, this new life was safer when they faced it together.

Naturally, the question swung around to Joe.

"Haha, of course I’ll stay!" Joe said, laughing with his whole chest as he swiped a slab of meat off the platter before anyone else could. "There’s something you guys don’t know. We Rangers? We get paid the most out of all of you."

And facts were facts: Joe’s starting wage was ten thousand a month. One hundred and twenty thousand a year, if nothing else happened. The way things usually went, there were bonuses too. When the group walked into something dangerous, Max had a way of making sure his people felt it in their wallets as well as their pride. Joe knew there was every chance his earnings could climb higher. He figured the same applied to the other Rangers, whether they bragged about it or not.

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