The Registry elites withdrew before dawn.
Not in defeat.
In calculation.
Alpha Phantom watched their vehicles disappear from the edge of Dockside, the city slowly waking beneath a bruised sky.
"They'll be back," Rex said, voice tight. His arm was bandaged, face pale but steady.
Alpha nodded. "Yes."
Nyx leaned against a crate, eyes closed, recovering. Using Null Weave had cost her more than she let on.
"They can't erase you quietly anymore," she said. "So they'll try something cleaner."
Alpha turned to her. "Meaning?"
"Starvation," Nyx replied. "Cut influence. Freeze movement. Turn the city against you."
Alpha smiled faintly.
"Then we stop borrowing space," he said. "We take it."
[Objective Updated: Establish Recognized Territory]
Rex straightened. "Dockside alone won't hold."
"It doesn't have to," Alpha said. "It has to spread."
By noon, Alpha moved openly.
No disguise.
No hiding.
He walked Dockside's spine—markets, gyms, warehouses, old fight venues.
People noticed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Shadow Sense brushed against hundreds of emotions—desperation, resentment, hope. Places abandoned by both the streets and the Registry.
Alpha stopped at the edge of a derelict complex.
Old shipping yards. Forgotten land.
"This," he said.
Rex blinked. "That's dead ground."
"Exactly."
[Territory Claim Initiated]
Alpha stepped forward.
He didn't shout.
He didn't announce.
He stood.
Shadow Sense expanded outward, threading through the yards, the buildings, the broken lights.
Not domination.
Alignment.
[Alpha Dominance: Territorial Anchor — Unlocked]
The air shifted.
People felt it without knowing why.
Nearby vendors stopped packing up. Workers hesitated before leaving. Word spread fast.
Something had changed.
Nyx watched him carefully. "That wasn't a technique."
Alpha nodded. "It's a rule."
By nightfall, activity returned to the yards.
Not chaos.
Order.
No drugs. No trafficking. No random violence.
Rex stared in disbelief. "They're listening."
Alpha's eyes were calm. "They were waiting."
[Power Base Progress: 45%]
[Territory Status: Alpha-Controlled Zone — Unofficial]
Nyx stepped beside him. "You're building something the Registry can't regulate."
Alpha met her gaze. "That's why they'll try to crush it."
She hesitated. "And if they succeed?"
Alpha looked out over the yards—lights flickering back to life, people moving with purpose.
"Then they prove me right," he said.
Above the city, Chairman Lu watched surveillance feeds in silence.
"He's not expanding," Lu said slowly.
An aide frowned. "Sir?"
"He's rooting," Lu continued. "And rooted power is harder to remove."
Lu's fingers tightened around his cup.
"Prepare the Accord Council," he said. "This is no longer an incident."