Arya was about to enter something bigger than himself. His victory over Upendra had given him a seat among the warlords, but that seat was temporary if he didn't act fast. He had no network, no strong foundation. He wasn't foolish, he knew men like Sharvas and Dhanudanda were waiting for him to fail, waiting for the city to reject him so they could claim the businesses and the money.
This is where Raghav and Rudra would shine.
The twins had always been survivors, steering through the underbelly of society, slipping between the cracks where others got stuck. Now, Arya needed them to do more than survive—he needed them to infiltrate the very foundation of Bhuva Mandal.
"Find out everything," Arya had told them. "How did Upendra run things? Where did he fail? Where did he succeed? If I am to rule this land, I must know its disease before I can cure it."
With that, the twins vanished into the streets.
Rudra and Raghav began in the heart of the city, in the market. Merchants yelled over one another, bargaining, haggling and selling. The brothers moved like shadows through the crowd, listening, watching, catching the unspoken words between loud and hurried exchanges.
Upendra had ruled with an iron fist, but even he had enemies. Small shopkeepers resented his unpredictable tax collections. Distributors were worried about lost shipments. Merchants spoke with fear and a hushed tone of bribes to keep their goods safe. But the real problem? It wasn't corruption or the deadly rules imposed by Upendra; it was something very obvious.
Smugglers and thieves.
Bhuva Mandal had always been plagued by those who sought to take what wasn't theirs. The market was their playground, and Arya's new rule was just another opportunity to exploit. If he was to bring order, he had to take out the termites before they devoured the city from within.
That was when Rudra and Raghav made their decision. They wouldn't just gather information. They would take control of the markets.
Thus, Chorpatta was born.
Their network started with secrets, quiet conversations in the alleys and the small market stalls. They made allies with children and workers who carried messages for a few mudras, street vendors who had seen more than they could imagine. They traced stolen goods, uncovering supply routes the smugglers thought were invisible.
One by one, they hunted down the lone thieves and smugglers, cornering them in the dead of night. They didn't kill! No, that would be too simple. Fear was a better weapon. The message was clear: work for Chorpatta, or be cast into the fighting pit.
Some thieves bent the knee easily. Others needed persuasion.
One night, they found a name they hadn't expected.
Rohak.
He had been their friend once, a fellow street rat who had run alongside them in their early days. Rudra still remembered how they used to steal fruits from the same stalls, how they had fought side by side when a merchant caught them in the act. But things had changed. Rohak wasn't a petty thief anymore—he had climbed higher, running a smuggling operation that stretched across Bhuva Mandal. He wasn't just another street criminal.
He was competition.
Raghav was the first to speak. "You should've come to us first."
Rohak smirked, but there was no warmth in it. "Should I? Or should you have come to me? You're fighting an uphill battle, brothers. Do you really think you can control this city?"
Rudra stepped forward, his expression dark. "You know what happens if you refuse."
Rohak's smirk didn't fade. "Then do it."
For the first time since they had begun their mission, Rudra hesitated. Rohak wasn't a nameless thief. He wasn't some stranger. He was someone who had shared their hunger, their scars, their victories. And now, they were threatening to throw him into the pit.
But this wasn't about the past. It was about survival.
Raghav spoke before his brother could. "We're not asking, Rohak."
There was no need for further words. Rohak knew what refusal meant. He had seen the pit. He had seen the broken men who never left it.
And so, with a heavy sigh, he nodded. "Fine."
Chorpatta had gained another member. But Rudra knew it wasn't a victory.
With Rohak's help, they uncovered the smuggling ring piece by piece. They traced stolen shipments, followed whispers in the night, and found patterns where others saw chaos. But the deeper they dug, the stranger things became.
Some of the smugglers weren't just thieves - they were pawns. Funded, protected, and encouraged by forces beyond their control. The web stretched wider than they had anticipated, touching places they never thought it would.
There were names floating in the dark, names that carried weight.
But not yet. They needed more. They needed proof. They needed a way to strike when the time was right.
As they stood in the dark night of Bhuva Mandal, Rudra trying not to panic. "This is bigger than we thought."
Raghav nodded in agreement. "Then we keep going."
The war for Bhuva Mandal had only just begun.