Episode 2 — The Cartel Slaughterhouse
The city of 9-Delta reeked like a rotting wound. The skyline flickered with dying neon, skyscrapers bleeding light into streets where gangs roamed like wolves. Smoke rose from burnt-out cars. Music thumped from strip clubs where half-naked dancers stumbled through haze, their faces painted with cocaine dust and tears.
Kairo Shin walked calm through the chaos, cigarette dangling from his lips. Blood already stained his uniform from the first dealer he'd gutted in an alley. The squad tried to move by the book—shouting warnings, cuffing suspects, writing little notes in their neat little digital pads.
Kairo didn't bother. His book was written in blood.
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Cartel Hideout
Intel in his head sharpened the moment he leveled up. He didn't need a map. He knew where the cartel was, how many soldiers, what weapons they had, which ones would run and which would beg.
He led the squad through alleyways until they reached a warehouse lit in pink neon. Women in shredded lingerie staggered outside, arms bruised, bodies wasted from injections of glittering alien heroin. Inside, music pounded—bass shaking windows, men laughing loud, lines of powder glowing across tables.
The commander raised his fist. "Breaching. Go quiet."
Kairo laughed under his breath. "Quiet's boring."
Before anyone could stop him, he walked straight through the front door.
The Bloodbath
The first guard looked up, mouth open.
Kairo's tentacle burst from his arm and speared the man through the throat. Blood sprayed the wall. Screams erupted inside as the music kept pounding.
Cartel soldiers grabbed rifles, firing wild. Bullets tore through strippers, through walls, through each other. Kairo ducked once, twice—smooth, casual—and the rest he didn't bother dodging. His immortal body stitched itself instantly as rounds slammed into him.
He exhaled smoke. "That all you got, putas?"
Tentacles exploded out like a nest of vipers. They sliced through torsos, cracked skulls, ripped arms from sockets. One tentacle morphed into a spike cannon, firing rapid steel bullets that shredded men into meat confetti.
A stripper, coked out of her mind, laughed hysterically while blood rained over her. "Fuuuck yeah! Kill those bastards!" she screamed before collapsing face-first into a table of drugs.
The squad stormed in behind him, stunned, trying to catch up.
"Shin, what the fuck are you doing?!" an officer barked.
Kairo looked back, calm as ice. "Working."
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The Boss
The warehouse doors at the back burst open. The cartel boss stepped out—fat, jeweled, draped in fur, holding a plasma shotgun glowing green. He had three women on leashes, collars locked around their necks, bodies covered in bruises.
"Who the fuck walks into my house?" he roared, shotgun raised.
Kairo flicked ash off his cigarette. "The guy who's about to piss in your grave."
The boss fired. Plasma lit the room, blasting a cop in half. The squad screamed, diving for cover. Kairo didn't move. The tentacles rose like shields, deflecting the glowing rounds. Sparks flew.
The boss screamed, veins bulging. "Do you know who I am? I own this planet!"
Kairo's voice stayed cold. "Congratulations. You're about to be the richest corpse in the galaxy."
The tentacles lashed forward. One ripped the shotgun from his hands. Another wrapped around his leg, yanking him to the floor with a crack. The third impaled him through the stomach, pinning him to the table stacked with heroin bricks.
Blood sprayed across the drugs, turning white powder pink.
The boss choked, coughing. "Wait—fuck—don't kill me! I'll give you money, girls, drugs, anything—"
Kairo leaned in, calm, whispering smoke into his ear. "Betrayal's the only thing I don't sell, fat boy."
The tentacle split into a dozen spikes, shredding his body like a blender. Gore splattered the walls. The women screamed, chains rattling as blood rained on them.
[Crime Resolved.]
[Assassination Confirmed.]
[Level Up: 4.]
[Intelligence Increased.]
Kairo's brain clicked again. Routes. Smuggling lanes. Who supplied the cartel. Which politicians they owned. The entire map of corruption laid itself in his mind like he'd written it himself.
Aftermath
The warehouse was silent except for the bass still thumping from broken speakers. Blood soaked the floor. Bodies hung from tentacles before sliding to the ground in wet slaps.
The squad crept out of hiding, eyes wide.
"Shin… what the fuck did you just do?" one officer whispered.
Kairo lit another cigarette off a burning corpse. "Solved the problem. You're welcome."
The commander didn't scold him. He just stared, jaw tight, eyes calculating.
Kairo didn't stick around for applause. He walked outside, stepping over corpses, breathing in the smoke and neon haze of 9-Delta. Prostitutes and dealers stared at him, terrified, whispering like he was some demon in uniform.
One strung-out dealer dropped to his knees. "Please, man—don't kill me—I'll give you product for free—"
Kairo exhaled smoke in his face. "I don't pay for shit."
The tentacle whipped once, snapping the man's neck.
[Assassination Confirmed.]
[Level Up: 5.]
[Intelligence Increased.]
His mind sharpened again. He felt it—colder, faster, better at seeing through lies, angles, betrayals. His eyes were knives now.
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The Squad's Reaction
Back at the ship, the squad was silent. No one dared sit near Kairo. Blood still dripped off his uniform. He looked calm, smoking in the corner.
Finally, one rookie whispered, "He's a fucking psycho…"
Kairo blew smoke and grinned. "Takes one to know one."
The commander walked past, pausing just long enough to murmur: "You're dangerous, Shin. The kind of dangerous I like."
Kairo chuckled. "Then buckle up, boss. I haven't even started."
The Anti-Hero's Path
The ship left 9-Delta behind, its skyline fading under smoke. The Multiverse Police would file their reports, clean the mess, declare the mission a success. Civilians would praise them as saviors.
Kairo didn't care. He didn't want praise. He wanted the next kill, the next puzzle, the next level.
Every crime solved, every body dropped—it all made him sharper, smarter, deadlier. His parents were dead. His humanity was gone. All that was left was the climb.
And he would climb forever.
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[Current Level: 5 | Intelligence Status: Razor sharp, analytical, colder, faster at solving crimes, deadlier in combat.]