The entire universe crashed.
One second, there was a deafening roar of mockery and awe; the next, the entire arena—no, the entire galaxy—plunged into an eerie silence.
It was as if time itself had been struck by my wrench and frozen solid.
Inside my chest, I could hear my heart pounding like a runaway engine. The stench of blood and engine oil mingled, making me cough uncontrollably.
Through the shattered observation window of the *Wrench*, I saw Leon Valerius's handsome face.
His eyes were wide as saucers, his pupils reflecting the ugly industrial wrench hovering right in front of his nose. Every drop of color had drained from his face; his innate arrogance and elegance were shattered even more completely than the cockpit glass before him.
His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't force out a single word.
Fear.
Pure, naked fear—the same kind I felt.
I smiled.
To see a "god" wear the same expression as a scrap-heap rat like me... it felt fucking incredible.
My gaze swept over the red emergency distress button flashing in his cockpit. His white-gloved hand was drifting uncontrollably toward that button.
Want to call for help?
Not a chance.
I gave a cold laugh and reached out with my only remaining hand—my left—to swipe hard across my console.
*Zzzt—*
After a burst of static, I forcibly severed all of the *Archangel's* external communication channels.
Now, this high-and-mighty Crown Prince was my personal prisoner.
Inside the arena, the deathly silence persisted.
I could imagine the looks on the faces of the nobles, generals, and tycoons right now. They probably thought their holographic projections had glitched out.
Commentator Ron's mouth was likely still hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
As for the bookies of the underground gambling rings, they were probably already smashing things in their offices.
Good.
I like the quiet.
I maneuvered the *Wrench's* sole remaining arm—the right one with the wrench welded to it—and edged it closer. The cold metal was nearly touching Leon's skin.Terrified, he recoiled sharply, his back slamming hard against the pilot's seat.
"Your Highness," I said in a near-whisper over the pitifully short internal channel between us, "nice mech."
His eyes were filled with terror and rage, like a beast trapped in a cage.
"I like the engine," I continued, my gaze greedily sweeping over the "Heart of the Sun" reactor beneath him—the pinnacle of Imperial technology. "And the leg drive modules, and... that nano-shield generator."
Leon's breathing quickened as he finally realized my intention.
"You... how dare you?!" His voice grew shrill with rage and fear. "You filth—"
"Shh." I cut him off.
Then, I did something that drove the entire galaxy into a frenzy.
I switched on the public broadcast.
The very channel that had just been broadcasting Leon's humiliation of me to every corner of the Empire.
My voice—hoarse, weary, yet tinged with an irrepressible edge of madness and greed—rang out clearly across the universe.
"Hey, Your Highness," I paused for effect, letting everyone lean in. "Your engine is mine."
The silence shattered.
I could imagine countless people across countless planets leaping from their seats, disbelief written all over their faces.
Staring into Leon's ashen face, I continued, every word landing like a hammer blow to the face of the Imperial royalty.
"As for your life? That's going to cost extra."
Leon's eyes instantly became bloodshot. He thrashed like a rabid lion in the cramped cockpit, letting out a silent roar.
"You're insane! You're a lunatic!!"
Yes, I was insane.
I'd been insane from the moment I decided to challenge a god with a wrench.
"Listen up, Imperial family," my voice carried through the broadcast, reaching the Emperor's throne and the conference rooms of the military elite. "I'm going to read a list. I call it the 'Scrap Metal Shopping List.'"
I grinned, looking every bit like a bandit who had just knocked over a vault."First, the 'Heart of the Sun' engine from the 'Archangel'. I want it intact. Don't even think about stripping parts off it; I'll know the difference.
Second, a complete 'Hephaestus' alloy frame, specifically the drive units for the knee and ankle joints.
Third, a nano-shield generator, along with its matching energy conduits."
My voice echoed throughout the arena, every word landing like a resounding slap across the face of the Empire.
I saw Leon shaking his head frantically inside the cockpit, his eyes brimming with humiliation and despair.
He was the Crown Prince of the Empire! The future Emperor! Yet here he was, like a hostage tied to a chair by a kidnapper, forced to watch as I extorted his family before the eyes of the entire universe!
"Fourth, ten military-grade energy core stabilizers.
Fifth, five high-precision fire-control targeting modules.
Sixth, fifty liters of the latest model neural-link buffer gel."
...
In one breath, I rattled off more than twenty types of advanced components and materials accessible only to the most elite branches of the Imperial military.
If even one of these things hit the black market, it would be enough to trigger a bloodbath.
And yet here I was, listing them off one by one like I was buying groceries at the market.
"Finally," I paused, meeting Leon's eyes, which looked ready to spit fire. I enunciated every word: "One hundred million Imperial credits. Consider it compensation for His Highness's 'emotional distress.'
Transfer it to my account. You know the number."
The entire galaxy exploded.
This was no longer a competition.
This was an unprecedented act of public kidnapping and extortion against the Imperial family, broadcast live to the entire universe!
In the arena's VIP boxes, I saw the nobles in their fancy clothes falling into chaos. Some were roaring in fury, while others were desperately trying to contact anyone who could help.
The Imperial military channels were undoubtedly a scene of pure apocalypse.
Did they want to storm in and blast me into slag?
Of course they did.
They wanted it more than anything.
But they didn't dare.
Because their noble Crown Prince, Leon Valerius, was currently right under my wrench.
Whenever I wanted, I could just push this wrench forward another centimeter."Vex!" Leon growled from inside the cockpit, his voice carrying a tremor he hadn't even noticed. "You are declaring war on the entire Empire! You'll be torn to pieces!"
"Maybe." I shrugged indifferently. "But that's a problem for later. Right now, I'm the one calling the shots."
I switched back to the public channel and said impatiently, "My patience is limited. You have one hour to get everything I asked for ready and deliver it to the door of my shipping container on Planet 7."
"Oh, almost forgot," I added, as if suddenly remembering something. "Don't even think about tampering with the parts or sending in some special forces team. Believe me, my 'Engineer's Eye' can see through all your little tricks."
To prove my point, I briefly accessed the back-end system of the Archangel that I had smashed open.
Instantly, that segment of data in my personal terminal—the data I'd unintentionally downloaded and didn't belong to me—seemed to find its way home, transmitting faster and more completely.
At the same time, I pulled up the Archangel's weapon system self-destruct sequence. A bright red countdown appeared on the screen in front of Leon.
"Ten, nine, eight..."
"Stop!!" Leon let out a terrified scream.
I sneered and halted the countdown.
The public channel fell into a dead silence.
I knew they understood.
I hadn't just physically captured their Crown Prince; I had gained complete digital control over the Empire's strongest mecha.
I don't know how long passed—maybe a minute, maybe ten.
An authoritative, aged voice rang out over the public channel. It was a voice filled with suppressed rage and unmistakable humiliation.
"...Your terms... we accept."
I smiled.
I smiled like a child who had found gold in a trash heap.
I had won the match.
I had the prize money.
Most importantly, in front of the entire universe, I had snatched the core components for my first "official" mecha from the hands of the Imperial Royal Family.
They thought I was here to compete?
Wrong.
I was here to go shopping.