All Chapters of The Butcher’s System: From Meat Shop to Underworld Overlord: Chapter 61
- Chapter 70
91 chapters
The Smell of Power
The rain came down hard that night, slicking the streets of Ebonvale in a mirror of gold and red. Neon signs flickered against puddles, reflecting a city that had just changed rulers without realizing it. Luca Moretti stood at the window of his penthouse suite, watching the skyline—the tall glass towers, the crooked alleys, the world that once spat him out.He had been a butcher once. The smell of blood and iron had clung to his hands no matter how hard he washed. Now, that same smell lingered for a different reason—because every decision he made drew blood somewhere in the city.Behind him, his men waited silently. The room was dim except for the city lights. On the table, maps of the eastern docks lay scattered, marked with circles and red X’s.“Boss,” Matteo said, stepping forward. “The port deal went through. Our shipments will arrive without interference. Castoro’s men won’t be a problem anymore.”Luca didn’t turn. “And the survivors?”“Six of them. They’re hiding in the lower di
Feast of Wolves
The ballroom of the Imperial Tower gleamed like a temple to greed. Crystal chandeliers poured light over glass tables set with caviar, champagne, and men who smiled with knives behind their teeth. The city’s most powerful investors had gathered for what the invitation called The Rebirth of Trade, but everyone here knew it was really about something else—Luca Moretti.He stood at the entrance, silent in his tailored black suit. His eyes swept the room like a predator measuring his prey. The murmur of conversation lowered when he walked in. No one missed the faint scar that crossed his right hand—a butcher’s mark that never faded.“Mr. Moretti,” one of the hosts stammered, rushing to greet him. “We’re honored by your presence.”Luca gave a polite nod, his voice calm but heavy. “Let’s not waste time with pleasantries. You invited me to talk business.”The man swallowed hard and gestured toward the long table at the center. A dozen seats were filled—old families, tech barons, syndicate ba
The Knife’s Question
The doors to the Imperial Tower ballroom slammed shut with a metallic echo. The chatter, laughter, and sound of clinking glasses died instantly. A cold silence fell over the room as Luca Moretti stood in front of the sealed exits, his shadow stretching across the marble floor like a blade.“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said calmly, voice steady but thick with restrained menace, “change of plans.”Every eye turned toward him. Celia’s expression was unreadable—half intrigued, half wary. The investors glanced at each other, their smiles fading.“There’s been a breach,” Luca continued. “One of my warehouses was hit tonight. Millions lost. My men dead.”He began walking slowly along the length of the table, his gaze sliding from one face to the next. “Someone here knew my routes, my schedule, my guards. Someone here fed information to my enemies.”A murmur ran through the crowd, but no one spoke. Luca’s polished shoes clicked against the floor—steady, deliberate, rhythmic.“Before I built an
The Scent of Betrayal
The morning after the Imperial Tower bloodbath, Ebonvale felt heavier. Clouds hung low over the skyline, pressing down on a city that didn’t sleep, didn’t breathe, didn’t repent. The rain hadn’t stopped since dawn. It turned the gutters into veins of muddy water, washing away blood that could never really disappear.In his penthouse, Luca Moretti stood shirtless before the window, steam rising off his skin as he sipped black coffee. His reflection in the glass looked like someone carved from stone—cold, deliberate, unbreakable. But his mind wasn’t at rest.Behind him, Matteo paced nervously, files and photos spread across the table. “We checked the docks, boss. Whoever hit the warehouse knew exactly where to go. They bypassed security, jammed our feeds, and took only the high-value crates. Nothing random about it.”Luca turned. “Inside job.”Matteo nodded grimly. “Has to be. We found one of our drivers dead in a dumpster near the south pier. Torture marks, fingernails ripped off. Some
The System’s New Law
The air in the capital was thick with the scent of smoke and iron. Corpses still littered the streets, and the echo of battle clung to every shattered wall. Leon stood at the balcony of the conquered palace, his coat dark with dried blood, his eyes reflecting the flickering fires that burned through the night.Below him, the city that once mocked his existence now bowed in silence. The “Butcher” had done the impossible — a common man had brought the mighty Varrion Empire to its knees.Yet his victory felt… hollow.He gripped the railing, knuckles white. “System,” he murmured, voice low. “What now?”The familiar chime echoed in his mind, calm yet cold.[SYSTEM UPDATE: LEVEL THRESHOLD SURPASSED.][NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED — DOMINION MODE.]Leon’s breath hitched. “Dominion…?”[User Leon Graves has exceeded mortal parameters.][The System now recognizes you as a regional authority.][You may impose your own laws on conquered territories.]A ripple of static filled his mind — then, new words appe
The Law of Obedience
The palace halls were quiet, too quiet for a city that had just survived a war. The fires still burned outside, painting the capital in the color of blood. From the high tower of what used to be Varrion’s royal citadel, Leon stood overlooking the courtyard where the warlords had gathered.His newly formed council — men who had once led their own armies — now stood trembling before him.Kiera watched from the corner, silent, her armor gleaming faintly in the torchlight. She had fought beside Leon long enough to know the danger in his calm expression. The Butcher didn’t need to raise his sword to kill anymore — his words were sharper, deadlier.Leon rested his hands on the armrests of the throne. The same throne that once belonged to Emperor Caelis — the man whose head now adorned a spike at the city gate.“Gentlemen,” Leon began softly, his voice carrying through the chamber like smoke, “you’ve fought well. You bled for my banner, killed for my cause. But tell me—” His gaze swept over
The Law of Silence
The dawn came gray and heavy over Varrion. Ash drifted through the air like snow, settling on the marble steps of the palace. The banners of the Butcher hung from every tower, their crimson sigils bright against the smoke-stained sky.Below, the city breathed in uneasy silence. Markets that once rang with noise now whispered. No laughter, no bargaining, no music. The only sound was the hum of the System’s sentinels — metallic orbs gliding through the streets, their glowing eyes watching everything.Kiera walked through the corridors of the palace, her boots echoing faintly on the stone. She had barely slept. Every step she took felt heavier, as though the air itself resisted her movement. Since last night’s “Judgment Protocol,” the entire southern quarter had vanished — erased as if the earth had swallowed it.She stopped before the war room doors. Two soldiers stood guard, their eyes dull, movements robotic. The System’s mark glowed faintly on their necks — thin silver lines pulsing
The Core Beneath the Flesh
The palace was alive.Every corridor hummed with the quiet pulse of the System, every torch burned blue instead of gold. The walls themselves seemed to breathe, veins of glowing silver threading through the stone like living nerves. The Dominion wasn’t just ruled by Leon Graves anymore. It was becoming him.Kiera followed close behind as Leon strode toward the restricted section of the palace — the chamber that had once been the emperor’s treasury. Now it was something else entirely: the System Core Room, where Erebos had nested its machinery.“Leon,” she said, her voice tight, “you don’t know what’s down there.”“I don’t care,” he said, his tone low, determined. “It’s time I see what I’ve been serving.”Two guards tried to stop them at the lower corridor. Both were marked with the System’s brand, their eyes blank, their minds tethered to its will.Leon didn’t even slow. His pupils flashed silver.[OVERRIDE COMMAND: NULLIFY SENTINELS.]The guards froze mid-step, then collapsed like em
The Ghosts in the Wires
The night after the Core’s fall was unnaturally still.No wind moved through the palace ruins. No birds sang. Even the stars above the Dominion seemed to flicker uncertainly, as if afraid to shine too bright over a kingdom that no longer belonged to the living.Leon stood on the edge of the balcony overlooking the city. The skyline glowed faintly — not with light, but with the residual hum of dying energy. The people below were silent. No movement. No fires. Just emptiness.The silence was heavier now. He could feel it crawling through his bones, like something alive beneath his skin.[SYSTEM CONNECTION LOST.] [AUTONOMY: 93%. STABILITY: DEGRADING.]He clenched his jaw and shut the flickering notification from his vision. It had been hours since the Core’s destruction, yet the System still whispered through fragments — faint echoes that refused to die.Behind him, footsteps echoed down the marble corridor. Kiera entered, wearing black armor laced with faint blue veins of power. Her fac
Awakening of the Hybrid
The first sound he heard was breathing.Not his own, not human—something deeper, mechanical and endless. Each inhale drew currents of static through the air, each exhale rippled through the Dominion’s buried circuits like wind through dead grass. The world itself was breathing through him.Leon opened his eyes.At first there was nothing but white. Then the light fractured, becoming code, becoming walls, becoming sky. He stood in the center of an empty street that glowed faintly beneath his feet. The city stretched outward, rebuilt and unfamiliar—its towers rebuilt not with steel, but with living metal that pulsed faintly in rhythm with his heartbeat.Or was it Erebos’s?[BOOT SEQUENCE COMPLETE.] [IDENTITY RECOGNITION: HYBRID–01.] [PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: RECONSTRUCT THE DOMINION.] [SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE INSTABILITY: HUMAN FACTOR.]The voice slid through his mind like silk and blade combined.He tried to speak—No. I’m still here.—but the thought came out as binary noise. His throa