The whistle cut through Lougetown's evening air like a blade.
Lieutenant Harren lowered the brass instrument slowly, eyes scanning the dockside chaos with a soldier's practiced calm. The scene before him didn't make sense. Barrels overturned without clear cause. Pirates restrained but babbling contradictions. Dockworkers shaken, swearing no one had touched them.
"No visible assailant," a Marine reported, scratching his head. "They just… fell apart."
Harren frowned.
He had served long enough to recognize patterns—and absences.
"Again?" he muttered.
This wasn't the first report. Or the second. Over the past week, minor disturbances had flared and vanished throughout Lougetown. No witnesses could describe the instigator clearly. Some spoke of a child. Others insisted it was impossible. A few whispered about shadows.
Coincidences don't repeat like this.
Harren crouched beside a snapped pulley rope, fingers brushing the frayed fibers. Clean tear. Deliberate stress point.
"Someone set this up," he said quietly. "And they knew exactly how much force to apply."
From above, Alpha watched.
He crouched beneath the overhang of a warehouse roof, iron reinforcement dampening even the subtle vibration of his breathing. His Haki pulsed outward in restrained waves, brushing against Marine intent without triggering alarms.
Observant, Alpha noted. Dangerous.
The lieutenant's movements were economical. No wasted steps. No shouting. He listened more than he spoke.
Alpha adjusted his internal threat ranking.
System Notice:
New Variable Detected: Marine Officer (Mid-Tier)
Threat Assessment: Caution Recommended
Harren stood, eyes lifting—not to Alpha's exact position, but close enough that Alpha felt the brush of intent slide past him.
For the first time since arriving in Lougetown, Alpha felt something unfamiliar.
Pressure.
Not power—awareness.
So this is how it begins, Alpha thought calmly. Observation versus observation.
He retreated without haste, moving not away but around—changing elevation, shifting angles, using crowd noise and wind to erase his trail. The Marines never saw him leave.
That night, Alpha moved deeper into the city.
He followed pirate conversations whispered in taverns, traced smuggling routes through sewer grates, and mapped Marine patrol rotations from bell towers and church roofs. Every scrap of information fed into his mental construct of Lougetown's living anatomy.
Near midnight, trouble found him.
A pirate captain—broad-shouldered, scarred, and sober—cornered a group of travelers near an alley entrance. His men formed a loose crescent, weapons low but ready. This wasn't desperation. It was confidence.
Alpha paused on a rooftop edge.
Multiple armed opponents. Tight formation. Leader experienced.
He considered disengagement.
Then the captain laughed, kicking one traveler to the ground.
Alpha inhaled.
Iron reinforcement surged—not explosively, but smoothly, distributing density through limbs and spine. Haki sharpened, narrowing from ambient sensing into focused intent-reading.
One intervention. Clean.
He dropped.
The first pirate never saw him. Alpha struck the man's knee from behind, iron-backed impact collapsing the joint without shattering it. The second pirate swung instinctively—Alpha twisted inside the arc, palm striking the wrist with calculated force.
Steel clattered.
The captain roared, blade flashing toward Alpha's head.
Alpha met it.
Metal rang.
The shockwave rippled outward as iron-reinforced forearm met hardened steel. Alpha's feet dug into the stone, muscles screaming—but holding. He felt the captain's strength. Adult. Seasoned.
Good, Alpha thought. Pressure refines technique.
He redirected the blade, stepped inside the captain's reach, and struck—not with brute force, but precision. Elbow to ribs. Heel to ankle. A sweep timed perfectly with the captain's overcommitment.
The man hit the ground hard.
The remaining pirates hesitated.
Alpha stood among them, small, silent, eyes cold.
"Monster—" one whispered.
Alpha vanished.
By the time Marine boots thundered into the alley, only groaning pirates remained.
Lieutenant Harren arrived moments later.
He surveyed the scene. The angles. The injuries.
Then he straightened.
"…This isn't random," he said quietly.
From a distant rooftop, Alpha watched the Marines secure the area, his expression unreadable.
They are learning, he acknowledged. So must I.
Lougetown's balance was shifting.
And the shadow moving within it was no longer invisible.