District 9. The Iron Fortress. This was the neutral negotiation table for the three major underground powers of the Outlands. Thick armored walls blocked outside eyes. Around a massive round table sat three terrifying figures.
"Crazy... That kid Cade is completely crazy!" The speaker was a bald giant, his body modified with heavy hydraulic cybernetics. He was Titan, leader of the Iron Arm Gang. "He destroyed the Black Market! He slapped the Cyan Tower in the face! The Arbiter will issue an 'Extermination Order' and flatten District 9!"
Opposite him sat a woman in a red cheongsam, smoking a thin pipe. She was the biggest intel broker in the Outlands, Madame Red. She exhaled a ring of smoke, eyes flickering. "But he killed the Manager. That man made even us bow. The kid's power... is unfathomable."
"Power means nothing!" The third person was a gloomy old man, the arms dealer Old Ghost. "Can one man fight an army? Can he fight a Blue Tier Arbiter? Our priority is to capture him and send his head to the Tower for forgiveness!"
Titan slammed the table, denting the alloy surface. "Right! I've gathered all 800 Iron Arm brothers! Heavy weapons ready! Even if he's made of iron, I'll melt him!"
"Oh?" Just then. A voice, calm and out of place, sounded from the corner of the room.
"Eight hundred?" "Sounds like enough for cannon fodder. Barely."
The three lords turned in shock. "Who?!"
From the shadows. Cade walked out. His black shirt still carried damp bloodstains. He dragged [Silence] casually, the tip scratching the marble floor with a piercing sound.
Scrape— Scrape—
"Cade... Cade?!" Titan's pupils shrank. Impossible! This was the Iron Fortress! Three layers of security outside! How did he get in?!
Cade didn't answer. He walked straight to the round table, looking at the empty seat at the head—reserved for the Black Market Manager. He pulled out the chair and sat down. Elegant as if attending a dinner party.
"Don't be nervous." Cade placed his sword on the table with a soft clang. "I'm here to give you a chance to live."
"Arrogant!" Titan roared. His hydraulic pipes burst with pressure. His massive mechanical arm smashed toward Cade with crushing force! "This is MY turf! Die!"
This punch could shatter a tank. Madame Red and Old Ghost stepped back, assuming Cade was dead meat.
However. Cade didn't even lift an eyelid.
[The 0th Law: Vector Stasis]
VMM! The massive iron fist stopped abruptly, one centimeter from Cade's forehead. Like it hit an invisible Wall of Sighs.
"W-What..." Titan's face turned red. He pushed his engines to the max, but the fist wouldn't move a millimeter.
Cade slowly looked up at the fleshy, cybernetic face. "I don't like people standing above me."
He extended one finger and tapped lightly on Titan's mechanical arm. "Kneel."
[The 0th Law: Gravity Multiplication (100x)]
CRUNCH!!! Terrifying gravity instantly focused on Titan. No suspense. With a sickening sound of shattering bones, the 2.5-meter giant's knees pulverized instantly. He was slammed into the floor by an invisible giant hand!
"AAAAHHH!" The scream was blood-curdling. Two deep craters formed in the marble floor. Titan's proud cybernetics twisted and disintegrated under the super-gravity, turning into scrap metal.
Cade retracted his finger. He turned to the petrified Madame Red and Old Ghost.
"Now, can we talk?" Cade's voice was calm, but to them, it sounded like the devil's whisper.
Red dropped her pipe. Old Ghost shook like a leaf. One move. Didn't even draw his sword. Titan, the strongest fighter in the Outlands, was crippled. This wasn't power from the same dimension!
"W-What do you want to talk about?" Red asked tremblingly, forcing a smile uglier than crying.
Cade tossed the bloody data drive onto the table. "Watch." "See what you get for wagging your tails at the Tower like dogs."
The hologram played. The truth about "Beacons", "Fodder", and the "Cleansing Plan" was laid bare.
Minutes later. Dead silence. Titan stopped screaming. Old Ghost slumped in his chair. Madame Red's face was pale as paper.
"Is... Is this real?" Old Ghost croaked. "We are... just pigs?" "No wonder... No wonder a plague hits the Outlands every ten years... It was a cleansing..." Red muttered, fear turning into despair.
Cade leaned back, fingers interlaced. "The Cyan Tower's Arbiter is already on his way." "If I hadn't come, by tomorrow morning, you and your men would be part of the 'Cleansing'." "The Tower doesn't need dogs who know the truth."
He stood up, looking down at the three former overlords. That gaze belonged to a true King.
"Now, you have two choices."
He held up one finger. "One. Take your money and run. Be hunted down by dogs in the wasteland until you die."
He held up a second finger. "Two. Submit to me." "Give me your men, your guns, your resources." "And I will take you to tear that Tower down."
No one spoke. It was insane. Fighting the Tower? No one had dared in centuries.
But looking at the drive, then at the crippled Titan on the floor. They realized Cade was right. They had no way out.
"I... I will follow you!" Madame Red was the first to kneel, forehead touching the floor. "The Red network is at your command, My Lord!"
"This old man... accepts!" Old Ghost gritted his teeth and knelt. "My arsenal is yours!"
Even Titan on the floor endured the pain and lowered his head. "Iron Arm... submits."
Cade looked at the three kneeling figures. He didn't smile. Because this was all calculated.
Fear + Despair + Only Hope = Absolute Loyalty.
"Good." Cade picked up [Silence].
"From today, there are no gangs in the Outlands." "There is only one name—"
"[ZERO]."
"Send the order." "Gather all heavy firepower. Blockade all entrances to District 9." "Collect all Star Energy fluid."
Cade walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the dark night. In the distance, the towering Cyan Tower lit up with a blinding red light—the signal for war.
"Jinx," Cade spoke into his comms. "Here, Boss," Jinx's excited voice came through. "These three old farts were more cowardly than I thought. My sniper is getting rusty."
"Get ready to work." Cade watched the heavy floating battleships approaching rapidly from the horizon. The real army. The arrival of the Arbiter.
"Our guest is here." Cade's lips curled into a wild grin.
"This time." "I'm going to make God bleed."