50 BILLION REASONS FOR REVENGE

CAPTURED

The journey to the camp of the Iron Raiders was long and brutal. Zeus walked in silence, his feet bleeding and his heart heavy. He was surrounded by men who had lost hope, but Zeus was different. He was a man who had already died inside, and that made him dangerous.

The Iron Raiders were the sworn enemies of the city. For years, they had raided the borders, led by a man named Toby. Toby was a giant of a man with a scarred face and eyes that saw through lies. He wasn't just a bandit; he was a warlord who hated Lord Mathew’s lineage with a passion.

When the slave caravan arrived at the hidden camp in the mountains, the captives were lined up. Toby walked past them, inspecting the "merchandise." When he reached Zeus, he stopped. He squinted, leaning in close to Zeus’s face.

"Wait a minute," Toby whispered, a grin spreading across his face. "I know those eyes. I’ve seen them behind a shield on the battlefield of the Red Plains."

Zeus kept his gaze on the ground. "I am nobody. Just a slave."

Toby laughed, a loud, booming sound. "Nobody? I saw you take down four of my best men five years ago when you were protecting Lord Mathew’s carriage. You fight like a demon, yet I heard you also spent your mornings scrubbing the palace floors. What a waste of talent."

"You have the wrong man," Zeus said firmly.

Toby’s grin vanished. He grabbed the chain around Zeus’s neck and pulled him close. "Don't play games with me. I know you are Zeus, the shadow of Lord Mathew. If you keep lying, I don't have to keep you. I can just send a message to the city. I’m sure the new Lord Gabriel would pay a lot of gold to have his 'father’s killer' delivered to him in a cage. Should I call him?"

At the mention of Gabriel’s name, Zeus’s hands clenched into fists. The memory of the nightmare—his wife and children waving goodbye—flashed in his mind. The air around him seemed to grow cold.

"Fine," Zeus spat. "I am Zeus."

Toby led Zeus away from the other slaves and into a large tent filled with maps and weapons. He poured two cups of strong ale and pushed one toward Zeus.

"I know what happened," Toby said. "My spies tell me Gabriel has turned the city into a playground for his cruelty. I heard about your family, Zeus. I am a violent man, but killing children... that is a coward’s work."

Zeus didn't touch the drink. "What do you want, Toby?"

"I want the city," Toby said bluntly. "But more than that, I want to see Gabriel’s head on a pole. My men are strong, but they lack a leader with your discipline and knowledge of the palace. Join me. I will make you my Gang Leader. You lead the charge, we destroy the city walls, and we burn everything to the ground."

Zeus looked up, his eyes burning with a dark fire. "I will help you kill Gabriel. I will snap his neck with my own hands for what he did to Maria and my babies. But I will not destroy the city."

Toby frowned. "Why not? The city stood by while he killed your family."

"The city is full of innocent people," Zeus said. "Good people like my wife was. Lord Mathew spent his life building that place. I will not burn his legacy because his son is a monster. I kill Gabriel. That is my only price."

Toby watched him for a long time, then slapped the table. "Deal! A man who protects his home even after it breaks him is a man I can trust. We will take the palace, kill the boy-king, and leave the houses standing."

Toby called his treasurer forward. "Zeus, you will need resources to build your own unit within my army. I will give you ten billion Naira right now as a signing bonus. You’ll never have to scrub a floor again."

Zeus shook his head. "No. I don't want your charity. I was a servant and a laborer all my life. I don't know how to be a king, but I know how to work. If I am to lead men, I must earn my way. Give me a task."

Toby looked confused. "You want to work? You’re a legendary warrior!"

"I need to sweat," Zeus said. "I need to feel the ground beneath me."

Toby shrugged. "Suit yourself. I have a massive plot of land in the valley below. It’s thick with ancient trees and boulders. It’s 50 hectares of impossible terrain. If you can clear that land for our new barracks, I will pay you one billion Naira. It usually takes a hundred men three months."

Zeus looked at the valley. "I’ll do it. But if I clear more, you pay more."

"Naturally," Toby laughed. "But don't kill yourself before the war starts."

The next morning, Zeus began. He didn't use a horse or a team of men. He took an axe, a sledgehammer, and a plow. He worked from before sunrise until the moon was high. He channeled all his grief, all his rage, and all his love for Maria into every swing of the axe.

When his hands bled, he wrapped them in cloth and kept swinging. When his muscles screamed, he thought of Gabriel’s face and pushed harder.

The bandits watched in awe. "He’s not a man," they whispered. "He’s a force of nature."

A month passed. Toby came down to the valley to check on the progress and stopped in his tracks. The 50 hectares were clear. But Zeus hadn't stopped there. He had cleared the entire valley. The forest was gone, the rocks were broken into neat piles for building, and the soil was turned and ready.

"Zeus..." Toby stammered, looking at his map. "You didn't just clear 50 hectares. You cleared 500! This is the entire basin!"

Zeus stood in the middle of the field, drenched in sweat, his body now lean and corded with muscle like iron bands. He looked like a god of the earth.

"I told you I would work," Zeus said simply.

Toby started to calculate the math. "At the rate we agreed... 50 hectares for a billion... Zeus, for 500 hectares, I owe you 10 billion dollars. But honestly, the speed and quality of this... it’s worth more to my empire than gold."

Toby pulled out a satellite phone and made a transfer.  “I’ve moved the equivalent of 50 billion Dollars into a private offshore account I set up for you. You are now richer than Gabriel. You are richer than most kings."

Zeus looked at the notification on the rugged tablet Toby handed him. The numbers were staggering. He had spent his life saving pennies to buy Maria a new shawl or the children a wooden toy. Now, he could buy the world.

"Does this satisfy you?" Toby asked.

"Money cannot bring them back," Zeus said, his voice cold. "But it can buy the steel I need to take their revenge."

"What is your first order, Commander Zeus?"

Zeus looked toward the horizon, where the spires of his old city poked through the clouds.

"We buy the best armor. We buy the fastest horses. We hire the mercenaries Gabriel turned away. I want an army that doesn't just fight; I want an army that looks like Justice itself coming for him."

Zeus walked toward the camp, the clink of his chains long gone, replaced by the heavy, purposeful step of a man who had nothing left to lose and everything to gain.

"Gabriel thinks he killed a servant," Zeus whispered to the wind. "But he only succeeded in waking up a giant."

In the following weeks, Zeus used his wealth to transform Toby’s ragtag gang into a professional leaf of death. He bought high-grade weapons and hired trainers. He sat with Toby every night, drawing the layout of the palace from memory.

"There is a secret passage here," Zeus said, pointing to the laundry room. "And another through the wine cellar. Gabriel won't expect us from below. He thinks he is safe behind his high walls."

Toby nodded, impressed. "And what about the city guards? Many of them were your friends."

"I will send word," Zeus said. "Any man who lays down his arms when I arrive will be spared. Any man who stands with the murderer of children will fall."

One night, as Zeus sat by his own fire, Toby approached him. "You’re a rich man now, Zeus. You could go anywhere. You could go to a different continent and live like a prince. Why stay for this blood?"

Zeus looked into the flames. "Because Maria and the kids are still waving at me in my dreams, Toby. And they won't stop waving until I close the eyes of the man who sent them away."

Toby nodded solemnly. "Then we march at dawn."

Zeus stood up. He was no longer wearing the rags of a servant or the chains of a slave. He wore black steel armor and a cloak the color of the midnight sky.

"Let him hear us coming," Zeus said. "I want him to spend his last night on earth trembling."