The freezing black water slammed into Silas's chest.Eighty thousand feet of ocean pressure crushed down on him instantly. Normal human bones would shatter into dust under this weight.Silas did not even blink. His Nirvanic Steel Body repelled the deep-sea pressure completely."Target acquired," Ghost's voice crackled over the internal comms.Bright blue plasma beams tore through the dark water. The superheated energy boiled the ocean, striking a massive mutated shark.The beast thrashed, leaving a thick trail of dark blood.Rex leaped from the secondary airlock. He wore a reinforced titanium diving suit. His bionic arm glowed with heavy kinetic chargers."I will hold the perimeter," Rex announced over the radio. "Do not let them bite the thrusters."Rex fired his grappling hook into the scales of a passing Leviathan. He reeled himself toward the monster and drove his metal fist into its gills.Silas ignored the chaos around the ship. He focused on the glowing biological dome resting

lSilas dragged Valerius by the collar of his pristine white uniform. The paralyzed Grand Duke's boots scraped loudly against the metal grating of the Aero-Cruiser's cargo bay."Secure him in the holding cell," Silas tossed the Duke toward Rex.Rex caught the man with his heavy bionic arm. He threw Valerius into a reinforced glass chamber at the back of the ship and locked the heavy magnetic seal."The extraction is complete," Silas checked the digital clock on the bulkhead. It read exactly 03:00 AM.Three thousand miles away, in the Central Continent Capital, a massive holographic screen shattered into pieces.The Supreme Leader of the Sovereign Council stood up from his obsidian throne. He crushed the stone armrests under his tight grip."The Primordial Collider is offline," a technician in a gray uniform reported, keeping his head bowed. "Grand Duke Valerius's bio-signature is captured."The Supreme Leader did not shout. He walked down the stone steps of the throne room."Silas Thor

Silas expanded his Golden Heart. The blinding light from his chest surged outward like a detonating sun, vaporizing the remaining shadows in the room.The Eclipse Domain shattered into tiny fragments of black mist."You cannot erase the dark!" Noctis roared. He lunged forward, swinging his blade of pure darkness in a wide, lethal arc aimed at Silas's neck.Silas did not step back. He did not raise his hand to block.He simply flicked his right wrist.A single silver needle, coated entirely in liquid gold Qi, shot through the air. The projectile moved faster than human synapses could process.The needle pierced straight through the center of Noctis's forehead before the assassin could even blink.Noctis froze instantly. The dark blade dissolved into nothingness inches from Silas's collar.The Golden Bio-Electricity carried by the needle detonated inside Noctis's skull. It fried his brain and severed every major neural pathway simultaneously.Noctis collapsed to the floor like a puppet

Ghost pulled the heavy titanium levers backward.The entire Aegis Alliance fleet halted their advance simultaneously. Thousands of black stealth ships hovered over the churning waters of The Crimson Gulf.A massive red dome blocked their flight path entirely. The barrier stretched across the horizon, separating the ocean from the Central Continent."Scanners indicate this is not a mechanical energy shield," Nova typed rapidly on the console."It is biological," Silas stared at the tactical monitor. "A living membrane.""The Sovereign Aegis," Seraphina gripped the hilt of her pistol. "They power it by draining the Life Force of millions of lower-tier citizens."A loud static hiss filled the command deck.The communication officer, Captain Ardy, tapped his headset immediately. "Master, we are receiving an incoming transmission. They are overriding our visual channels."The holographic projector flared to life in the center of the room.A giant, distorted face appeared in the air above t

Silas stood inside the pulsating stomach of the Abyssal Warden. The heavy, acidic air stung his eyes slightly.The fleshy walls around him contracted violently. Thick, greenish digestive fluids began to pool around his leather shoes."An isolated operating theater," Silas adjusted his damp cuffs. "Acceptable conditions."He raised his right hand. The Golden Bio-Electricity flared around his fingers, casting sharp shadows against the bio-luminescent tissue.The monster's internal sensors immediately detected the high-voltage energy spike.The stomach walls convulsed rapidly. Heavy streams of corrosive acid sprayed from hidden glands above him.Silas did not dodge. He expanded his golden energy into a thin, protective barrier around his body.The acid hissed loudly as it hit the bio-electric shield. It evaporated instantly into harmless white steam."Your immune response is aggressive," Silas stepped forward. "But poorly directed."He approached the thickest cluster of nerve endings pul