2026-06-01 17:06:11Clara pressed her ear to Ares's chest. Her husband's heartbeat now sounded normal, stable, and as strong as the pounding of a war machine. Suddenly, the harsh screech of car brakes was heard outside the apartment, followed by the sound of doors slamming. Ares's sharp hearing immediately locked onto the arrival of the uninvited guests.
Ares stared at the front door. He took an iron needle from his collar—an emergency weapon he had intentionally hidden.
"Clara, get in the bedroom and lock the door," Ares ordered quickly with a tone that accepted no refusal.
"What is it, Ares?"
"Julian has come to collect his money. He thinks he can beat up a crippled man."
Clara, sensing the strong authority from her husband, immediately went into the bedroom. The next second, the front door of the apartment was smashed into pieces.
Five armed men barged into the living room, led by Julian Valerius behind them. Julian's face was flushed with ferocious anger. He immediately pointed a silenced pistol at Ares's head.
Amateur. At that distance, you'll only waste bullets, Ares judged coldly in his mind.
"Give me my money back!" Julian screamed hysterically. "Give me back my money and my company, or I'll shoot your head right now!"
Ares didn't flinch at all. He stared at Julian with terrifying calmness, while his fingers were ready to throw the iron needle to pierce his wife's cousin's throat.
"You're in the wrong place, Julian," Ares said flatly. "Look at the balcony."
Julian turned spontaneously. CRASH! The apartment's balcony glass shattered into pieces, kicked in from the outside. Three men in all-black tactical gear leaped in with the movement of a storm. The red laser dots from their weapons immediately locked onto the foreheads of Julian's five subordinates. The supreme reinforcements had arrived.
"Drop your weapons!" snapped the commander of the black troops.
Julian instantly froze in terror. He stared at the elite troops, then shifted his gaze to Ares sitting upright in front of him. "Who are you people?! Ares, who are you really?!"
Ares glanced at the commander. "Kill his men. Spare Julian. Let this bastard live to watch his company fall apart. Death is too easy for him."
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
A volley of silenced gunshots echoed softly. Julian's five subordinates died instantly, collapsing to the floor without having the chance to pull the triggers of their weapons.
"Clean this place up," Ares ordered coldly. "Don't leave a single drop of blood or the smell of gunpowder behind." Ares did not want his wife to see this dirty sight.
"Yes, General!" reported Elias, the CEO of Starlight Global who also doubled as Ares's shadow commander. He immediately signaled his troops to carry out the bodies and mop the floor with military speed.
In the middle of the room, Julian crawled in fear until his nose hit the floor and bled. "Tony..." Julian pleaded, crying hysterically. "Don't kill me! I'll return everything! Clara can take her position back! Please let me go!"
Ares ignored the whining. "Take his phone, Elias."
Elias snatched the phone from Julian's pocket. "I will copy all the data from this phone, General. Shall we destroy the Valerius Group directly tomorrow morning?"
"Not yet," Ares answered with a cynical smirk. "Let Julian go home. Let his grandfather think they still have control. After that, we'll destroy them slowly. Playing with the enemy's mind is much more satisfying."
Elias nodded in understanding. He kicked Julian's body toward the exit. "Get the hell out of here. Tell your grandfather our business is not finished."
Julian immediately got up and sprinted out of the apartment without daring to look back.
Click. The bedroom door opened. Clara stood there with trembling legs. "Ares... what happened? Who are these people?"
Ares immediately leaned his body back against the wheelchair, putting his disguise mask back on. His voice was made hoarse and weak. "Clara... the bad men are gone."
Clara immediately ran and knelt down hugging Ares's legs while crying. "I heard gunshots... I heard Julian screaming..."
Elias stepped forward. His ferocious military demeanor instantly changed to become very polite and elegant. Ares secretly praised his subordinate's very natural charade.
"I apologize for startling you, Madam," Elias said, bowing respectfully. "I am Elias, the Head of the Security Division of Oakhaven First Bank."
"Bank?" Clara was confused, staring at Elias's expensive suit and his troops' long-barreled weapons. "Why is bank security carrying military weapons?"
"General Ares Thorne is a special VIP client with the highest protection status at our bank," Elias explained without blinking. "This morning, our system detected Julian Valerius trying to steal money from your account. Our emergency alarm went off, so we were immediately deployed here to protect our client."
"You guys... are protecting my husband?" Clara asked in disbelief. "But Julian was yelling about money. He said his money was gone and he owed 1.2 billion dollars?"
"This is purely an automatic security procedure from our system, Madam," Elias said, polishing his lie very calmly. Ares observed how neatly his subordinate manipulated the information.
"Our system detected a hack from Julian's account to cover his losses. So, the bank immediately blocked all his access. The main account of the Valerius Group will be strictly audited for the next 48 hours. They won't be able to withdraw a single penny without written permission from the bank."
"Oh my God..." Clara cried in relief, then leaned her head against Ares's chest. Her tears broke out, pouring out all the mental pressure she had held back for a full eighteen months. "I thought we were going to be thrown out onto the streets today. I thought Julian was going to kill us."
"No one will dare to touch you, Mrs. Thorne," Elias said, bowing respectfully. "We will secure the outside area. Please get some rest."
Elias gave a secret military salute to Ares—unseen by Clara—then retreated toward the balcony. Tactical rope pulleys immediately pulled their bodies upward, and within five seconds, the troops vanished silently, swallowed by the darkness of the night. Heavy rain began to fall, coming in through the broken balcony window.
"Ares..." muttered Clara, still in shock. "Did you hear? They said they were bank officials, but their weapons and uniforms were like special forces. Like the soldiers I used to see on the news when you were still on duty at the border."
Ares looked at his wife. He stroked Clara's hair with a gentle movement but full of absolute protection. "Ares is still Ares. Clara is my wife." The only precious thing in this world full of betrayal, he thought.
"I know," Clara sobbed, holding her husband's hand tightly. "But Grandpa will definitely go berserk when Julian reports back. They'll surely find other ways to harm us. I don't care about the company anymore, Ares. I just want to protect you."
"We are safe," Ares whispered with a tone full of certainty. "They won't be able to touch us anymore. Go to sleep."
After Clara finally fell asleep from emotional exhaustion, Ares did not sleep. He sat cross-legged on the dark living room floor, letting the cold night wind blow against his face from the broken balcony.
Ares focused his mind, reactivating his internal military breathing technique to break down the remaining Viper-7 poison in his body.
Inhale... hold in the chest for eight seconds... flow the blood pressure through the thigh arteries... exhale...
ZRAASH!
An extremely sharp pain instantly pierced his spine. Ares gritted his teeth, enduring the torture without making a single sound. Sweat mixed with residual poison liquid began to seep out from his pores. His paralyzed nerves were forced to light back up.
"Only ten percent..." Ares muttered softly, staring at his fingers that began to move flexibly. "Too slow."
Click.
Suddenly, the sound of a radio frequency was heard in his ear. The micro communication device implanted under his scalp during a past military mission reactivated.
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CHAPTER 9: Operation Target
A long static sound was heard before Saphira replied with a broken tone. "General... your sector is locked down. Someone activated a military-grade signal jammer. They aren't on a routine patrol, General. They are surrounding you!""Where is the signal jammer located?" Ares asked calmly, without the slightest panic in his tone."On the roof of the hospital across the street," Saphira reported. "They are using thermal body scanners. They already know your exact position inside the apartment."Ares turned off his radar. The Architect Organization had made their move. Whether Silas leaked the address, or they managed to track the EMP wave Ares released this afternoon. What was clear, the troops out there had come to kill him. Let them try, he thought cynically.Clara suddenly woke up and sat hugging her blanket because the room temperature had suddenly dropped cold. "Ares? You're not asleep yet?" she asked softly with a hoarse voice.Clara had absolutely no idea that at this moment, an e
CHAPTER 8: The Return of The Ghost
The tungsten coin Ares threw from the balcony didn't just burst the right tire, but was capable of splitting the Mercedes' alloy rim in two. The luxury vehicle instantly lost control, sliding wildly on the wet asphalt, then its rear slammed hard into a fire hydrant, exactly according to the General's projectile trajectory calculation.Water spouted heavily into the air, flooding the intersection, accompanied by the loud blaring of the wrecked car's alarm. From behind the spouting water, Julian's panicked screams could be heard, trapped inside the cabin because his car door was jammed shut from the hard impact and the deployed airbags.Let the bastard enjoy a little shortness of breath, Ares thought coldly.On the second floor of the apartment, Ares was already back sitting in his wheelchair. He relaxed his leg muscles, returning his posture exactly like a crippled person before Clara noticed his absence. After closing the plastic tarp on the window again, he backed his chair into the
CHAPTER 7: The Unseen Attack
A deafening high-frequency sound tore through the apartment's electrical system. Ares had secretly activated the signal jammer in his wheelchair through the vibration of his internal energy.The entire apartment instantly went pitch black. It wasn't just a normal power outage, but the temperature in the room suddenly dropped extremely to freezing cold. A very thick and heavy murderous aura radiated from Ares's body, immediately locking onto Julian's neck like a phantom chokehold.Julian's hand froze in mid-air, only a few centimeters from Clara's face. Julian's survival instinct immediately screamed loudly: move even an inch, and his life would be lost right then and there."W-what is this?" Julian stuttered in panic. His whole body trembled in fear, his teeth chattering loudly. "P-power outage?"The Steel Tiger guard behind him immediately reacted in panic. He tried to draw his pistol from inside his suit, but all the joints in his hands suddenly became stiff and paralyzed. The deadl
CHAPTER 6: The Ghost's Recovery
"General," Lieutenant Saphira's firm voice sounded directly in his brainwaves. "Your biometric data shows red. Your body temperature has reached 41 degrees Celsius. Are you under attack?""I am neutralizing the remaining poison in my body, Lieutenant," Ares answered through internal transmission without moving his lips. "What is Elias's status?""He has secured the port area," Saphira reported, accompanied by the sound of rapid typing on the other end. "Titan Corp is officially destroyed. The tax evasion evidence we sent to the prosecutor's office has already landed their CEO in jail. Meanwhile, Silas Valerius just held an emergency family meeting. Julian is now hiding in terror at the main estate."Ares smirked cynically. "Tell Elias to destroy their logistics routes. Block all Valerius Group cargo trucks from leaving the city today. Let them watch their company go bankrupt without knowing who attacked.""Yes, General! Also, my drone detected the movement of unknown troops entering t
CHAPTER 5: The Coin of Death and the God of War's Charade
Clara pressed her ear to Ares's chest. Her husband's heartbeat now sounded normal, stable, and as strong as the pounding of a war machine. Suddenly, the harsh screech of car brakes was heard outside the apartment, followed by the sound of doors slamming. Ares's sharp hearing immediately locked onto the arrival of the uninvited guests.Ares stared at the front door. He took an iron needle from his collar—an emergency weapon he had intentionally hidden."Clara, get in the bedroom and lock the door," Ares ordered quickly with a tone that accepted no refusal."What is it, Ares?""Julian has come to collect his money. He thinks he can beat up a crippled man."Clara, sensing the strong authority from her husband, immediately went into the bedroom. The next second, the front door of the apartment was smashed into pieces.Five armed men barged into the living room, led by Julian Valerius behind them. Julian's face was flushed with ferocious anger. He immediately pointed a silenced pistol at A
CHAPTER 4: Counterattack
Ares stared at Clara. His eyes were no longer empty, but sharp, focused, and as cold as ice. The internal clash and his anger became the trigger that restored all of the General's memories.He remembered everything. The Architect Organization. The betrayal on the battlefield. He also remembered that Silas Valerius—Clara's grandfather—was the bastard who sold him out to a criminal syndicate just to save the Valerius company from bankruptcy.A rotten business tactic exchanging a General's life for money, Ares thought furiously."I'm fine, Clara," Ares said. His voice was no longer hoarse, but deep, stable, and full of oppressive authority.Ares immediately sat upright without needing to lean on any furniture. His military instincts made him able to ignore the pain easily. He took the towel from Clara's hand, then wiped the remaining blood on his own temple with tactical movements."My legs are not important right now," he said flatly. "What's important is that I remember everything. I r
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