WASTELAND BORDERS — MORNING
The wind howled across the barren lands east of the city, kicking up dust and ash from forgotten wars. Cracked highways, long devoured by nature and fire, stretched like veins across the corpse of civilization. It was here, amid the silence, that the first signs of a new threat emerged.
Su Chen stood on the hood of a wrecked military truck, eyes scanning the horizon. His long coat snapped in the wind, bloodstains still fresh on its edges. Behind him, Li Wei and a small reconnaissance team waited silently.
A crimson banner fluttered in the distance, nailed to a burned-out signpost.
The insignia: a scythe wrapped in barbed wire. Under it, a crude message painted in blood:
"We reap what you leave behind."
INTEL GATHERING
Su Chen's system buzzed to life.
[Threat Classification: High. Faction: Crimson Reapers. Population: Unknown. Leader: Data insufficient.]
[Behavior: Ultra-aggressive. Reports indicate forced assimilation and live experimentation.]
He muttered, "So they're worse than the last ones. Good."
Li Wei knelt, studying the scorch marks on the nearby ground. "They're using plasma-grade weapons. Not standard tech. Someone is backing them—someone powerful."
Su Chen narrowed his eyes. "Then we find that someone and gut them."
FLASHBACK – NIGHT BEFORE
Alone, Su Chen had stood before the ruined server core — the very heart of the puppet masters' old control network. From its shattered carcass, he'd extracted a single black data shard — locked, encrypted, and humming with danger.
The system had warned him:
[Shard identified: Origin – Omega Authority. Do not interface without precautions.]
[Warning: Connection may trigger dormant global protocols.]
Naturally, Su Chen smiled and connected it anyway.
What he saw in that flash of light chilled even him — a digital nightmare of global sleeper factions, ancient AI warlords, and the ghost of a project named "Divinity Protocol."
"So I wasn't the endgame," Su Chen whispered. "I was just a warm-up."
BACK TO PRESENT – PLANS OF WAR
Back in the city ruins, Su Chen gathered the leaders of the factions who had pledged neutrality or alliance under his banner. They met in the Grand Hall — once a palace of government, now a fortress reborn under his rule.
He stood before them, commanding the room with silence alone.
"A new threat rises. The Crimson Reapers don't want peace. They want ash."
He pointed at the map. "They're organized. Armed. And they've already taken two outer sectors. If they reach the heart, our unity dies with it."
A grizzled ex-commander, Jiro, growled, "Then let's wipe them out now."
Su Chen shook his head. "No. First, we bleed them. Then, we show them what happens when they pick a fight with the wrong broken man."
THE BLACK WALL STRATEGY
The plan: lure the Reapers into Sector 13 — a collapsed subway system turned chokehold. Flood it with smog, limit their tech advantage, then deploy guerrilla ambush squads.
And Su Chen would be bait.
"If they want me," he said, "let them try."
ENDING SCENE
That night, standing at the entrance to the Black Wall Tunnels, Su Chen placed his hand against the cold stone.
His voice was quiet.
"Come for me. All of you. I'm not the same man you think I am."
The system whispered in sync:
[Adaptive Mode: Vengeance Protocol Active.]
End of Chapter 46