Underground Base. Inside the dim container.
"AAAAHHH—!!" A scream, mixing agony and extreme euphoria, nearly blew the roof off.
Jinx lay on the operating table, soaked in cold sweat. The high-purity Star Energy was being violently injected directly into her right eye socket via a crude tube.
Zzzzt! The red mechanical eye spun madly, venting scorching white steam from its heat sinks. Every electronic device in the room flickered under the energy surge.
Cade sat in the corner, reading an old book he found, not even lifting an eyelid. "Are you going to explode?" he asked flatly. "If so, spit out the data drive first."
"Shut up... you cold-blooded reptile!" Jinx gritted her teeth and sat up abruptly, wet silver hair sticking to her face.
She snapped her right eye open. VMM! A solid beam of crimson light scanned the room. Walls, instruments, even the clothes on Cade's body turned into semi-transparent wireframe structures in her vision.
"I see it..." Jinx panted, a wide, exaggerated grin stretching her lips. "Energy flow nodes, structural weaknesses, gaps... even the metal fatigue in that rusty knife in your pocket." "Is this 'Blue Tier' vision? It feels amazing!"
She hopped off the table, cracking her neck, and locked her eye on Cade. "Hey, Cade. You're a freak, but this was worth it." "With this eye, next time I see that Stormbringer dog, I can put a hole through his shield."
Cade closed his book and stood up. "Since the upgrade is done, get to work."
He walked over to a pile of scrap metal—remains of Enforcer armor and high-strength alloys looted from the hall.
"Can you modify weapons?" Cade asked.
Jinx raised an eyebrow, twirling a welding torch in her fingers. "The best mechanic in the Outlands is standing right in front of you. Pay me enough, and I can turn a tractor into a Gundam." She glanced at the scrap, then at Cade's empty hands.
"What? Does our 'God' need a weapon?" "True. Your ability is broken, but you can't tank alloy blades with your bare flesh forever."
Cade nodded. He had simulated it in his mind countless times. The core of the 0th Law was Rejection and Modification. If he applied this power to a weapon—for example, refusing "dullness," refusing "obstruction." It would create a blade that could cut through anything.
"Keep it simple." Cade pointed at a slab of high-density memory metal stripped from an Enforcer. "I want a sword." "Straight blade, single edge, 1.2 meters long." "No Star Energy conductivity needed. No fancy electronic targeting." "Just make it hard. And make it heavy."
Jinx looked at him like he was an idiot. "No conductivity? How will you channel your skills? You going to use it as a metal bat?" In this world, all weapons were designed to amplify Star Energy. Pure physical weapons? Those were toys for primitives.
Cade looked at her, a cold glint in his black eyes. "My power doesn't need a medium." "I just need it not to break."
Jinx stared at him for three seconds, then shrugged helplessly. "Fine. You're the boss. You logic-defying monster."
Three Hours Later.
"CLANG!" With the final quench, a pitch-black longsword was tossed at Cade's feet.
It was crude. No handguard. No glowing paint job. The blade was a rough, matte black, showing the dark grain of the forged metal. The hilt was simply wrapped in industrial anti-slip tape.
"It's ugly," Jinx blew on a burn on her finger. "But it's fused with Cyan Tower memory metal. Density is ten times that of steel. Weighs 15 kilos. No one but a freak like you could swing it."
Cade reached out and grabbed the hilt. Heavy. Cold. Like holding a dead snake.
But he liked it.
"Test it?" Jinx excitedly dragged over a scrap tank armor plate used for testing structural integrity. It was five centimeters thick. "This is side armor from a Heavy Rhino Tank. Even my hand cannon takes three shots to..."
Before she finished.
Cade moved. He didn't take a stance. He just held the sword one-handed and swung it casually.
In that instant. Golden code flashed deep in his pupils: [Target: Physical Entity.] [The 0th Law: I reject... its hardness.]
Shing.
No sparks. No ear-piercing screech of metal on metal. Like a hot knife through butter.
The five-centimeter tank armor, along with the iron frame behind it, slid apart silently. The cut was smooth as a mirror.
Jinx's smile froze. Her bubblegum fell out of her mouth.
"...What the f*ck?" She mechanically turned her head to look at the black blade in Cade's hand. Not even a chip on the edge. "You... you cheated, right? That's not scientific! That defies materials science!"
Cade sheathed the blade (wrapped in a dirty cloth). His expression remained calm. "In my Law..." "Hardness is not a concept."
He stroked the rough blade. He felt a wave of dizziness—nearly half his mental energy drained in that one strike. This kind of causality-level cut was expensive. Currently, he could swing it three times max. But those three swings could cut god.
"Give it a name?" Jinx swallowed hard, looking at him with newfound fear.
Cade looked at the black blade. This sword was made to cut chains. To silence the arrogant gods above.
"Let's call it—[Silence]." Cade said softly. "Because dead men... are very quiet."
Jinx shivered. "Fits your style."
Just then. The communicator on the table flashed red and emitted a frantic beeping sound. Not a Tower alarm. But the "Bounty Network" of the Outland Underground.
Jinx's face changed. She dove for the computer. A massive holographic wanted poster popped up. Blood-red letters burned their retinas.
[S-Class Kill Order] Target 1: Jinx (Hunter) — Bounty: 500,000 Credits. Target 2: Unknown Male (Code: 0) — Bounty: 5,000,000 Credits! Issuer: Cyan Tower High Council. Note: Dead or Alive. Reward includes "Residency Rights" — Direct Promotion to the Upper Sector!
Jinx sucked in a cold breath. "Five million... and Upper Sector Residency?" "Crazy... Every hitman, thug, and gang in the Outlands is probably sharpening their knives right now." "We are two walking piles of meat."
She turned to Cade, panic in her eyes. "Cade, we kicked the hornet's nest. We can't stay here. They'll track the network signal any minute."
Cade looked at his blurry profile on the screen, and the insane bounty. Five million. Enough to buy the lives of an entire district.
But he didn't panic. Instead, he tightened his grip on [Silence]. In his eyes, the fire of ambition burned brighter.
"Let them come." Cade turned and walked toward the container door. Outside, the night was pitch black. Engine roars rumbled in the distance.
"Instead of hiding like rats..." "Let's try a different way of living."
"Where are you going?" Jinx grabbed her sniper cannon instinctively.
Cade pushed the door open. Cold wind rushed in, flapping his clothes. "To turn this five million bounty..." "Into their funeral money."
"Jinx, dare to come with me and wipe out the city's Black Market?" "Since they won't let us live, let's make sure no one sleeps tonight."