2026-01-14 02:36:19Vinnie "The Shark" was dead, his eyes bulging as he stared at the leaking warehouse ceiling, but his final smirk seemed to mock Marco.
"Hngh..." Marco dropped to his knees. Fresh blood spurted from the hole in his left chest, staining the cold concrete floor. The effects of the Adrenaline Overdrive were completely gone. Now, the real pain came to collect. His lungs felt like they were filled with shards of glass every time he took a breath. "Boss!" Julian leaped down from the stack of safes, his previously grinning face twisting into panic. He held Marco to keep him from collapsing, "Hey, Rhino Tank! Get your stupid butt over here quickly, bring a first aid kit or something! The Boss is leaking!" Bruno arrived with heavy steps, dragging an emergency medical bag he'd found on the wall. But when he saw the wound—a gaping hole from a Magnum round—Bruno just slowly shook his head (he was a little dim-witted, after all). "It went through the lung," Bruno said gloomily, "The closest hospital is 20 minutes from here. He won't make it," "Get back..." Marco pushed Julian's hand away with his remaining strength. His vision began to narrow, darkening at the edges. The physical world dimmed, replaced by an aggressive, blinking neon blue light in his retina. [WARNING: DAMAGE TO VITAL ORGAN (LEFT LUNG & ARTERY).] [BLOOD LOSS: 40%.] [ESTIMATED TIME OF DEATH: 120 SECONDS.] "Damn it..." Marco hissed. His breathing was gurgling—blood was entering his airways. [EMERGENCY RECOVERY OPTION AVAILABLE.] [METHOD: INSTANTANEOUS TISSUE RECONSTRUCTION.] [ENERGY COST: INSUFFICIENT (YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH POINTS YET).] Marco wanted to swear. Seriously, was he going to die here? After all of this, are you kidding me? However, the System screen changed color. From blue to a mysterious dark purple. [SPECIAL OFFER: BARTER.] [THE SYSTEM WILL TAKE NON-PHYSICAL "ASSETS" IN EXCHANGE FOR POINTS.] [PRICE: ONE (1) VALUABLE LONG-TERM MEMORY.] [TARGET FOR DELETION: THE MEMORY OF THE FIRST KISS WITH MARIA ROSSI.] Marco's heart stopped for a moment. Not because of the wound, but because of the horror of reading that text. The first kiss... it happened on the roof of a cheap apartment building ten years ago. It was drizzling rain. Maria wore a yellow dress. Her lips tasted sweet like cherry candy, and Marco promised in his heart then that he would protect her forever. That memory was his anchor as a human being, the thing that kept him going when he was a dock laborer. Not that... Take something else! Take my finger! Take the memories of school! Not Maria! Marco screamed internally. [NEGOTIATION DENIED.] [TIME REMAINING: 30 SECONDS.] [ACCEPT (Y) OR DIE (N)?] In the real world, Bruno had already started pressing a cloth onto Marco's wound, attempting to stop the impossible bleeding, "Hang in there, Marco! Remember your kid is waiting at home!" My kid... Marco closed his eyes. Tears trickled from the corner of his eyes, mixing with the blood on his cheek. He couldn't die. If he died now, Maria and Sofia would be chased by debts and enemies for the rest of their lives. With a trembling hand, Marco moved his finger in the empty air, pressing the [Y] button. ZIIING! The sensation came not in his chest, but in his head. It felt like cold ice cream was being forcibly scrambled with a spoon inside his frontal lobe. An unbearable headache, as if Marco's memory nerves were being burned and severed one by one. "ARGHHHH!" Marco screamed, clutching his head. "Boss?!" Julian recoiled in shock. A purple light enveloped Marco’s chest. The Magnum bullet lodged near his spine was forcefully expelled—CLINK!—falling to the floor. The torn flesh knitted itself back together at a terrifying speed. New skin grew to cover the hole, leaving a small, dragon-shaped burn scar. Marco's breathing eased. His lungs were intact. His heart beat strongly. But in his head... there was a hole. Gaping... Marco gasped, sitting upright. He looked at his hands. He was alive. He was healthy. But he felt something was missing. A precious memory. Something vital. He tried to remember Maria. He remembered her face. He remembered their wedding. But when he tried to recall the taste of Maria's lips on that rooftop ten years ago... not found. Static. Like a broken TV channel. There was only a crackling sound, no image, just gray dots. He knew the fact that they had kissed. But he didn't feel the emotion. What was the smell of the rain and the pounding of his heart back then? Blank... Gone. Wiped clean. Huekk... Marco threw up again. This time not blood, but because of the sudden emptiness that assaulted his soul. "Marco?" Bruno looked at him worriedly, and fearfully, "Your wound... How? How did it close up by itself?" Marco wiped his mouth with a rough gesture. His eyes were red; tears fell without him noticing. This had happened, and the system couldn't be reloaded. His fate had to move forward. From this moment on, that was the price for the extension of his life. "Open the safe," Marco commanded, his voice hoarse and hollow, "Take the money. And let's get out of here quickly!" * THE FOLLOWING MORNING. The rising sun illuminated Marco's still messy apartment. But on the tilted dining table, a mountain of cash was piled high. The total loot from Vinnie's safe: $450,000. Filthy money, blood money, gambling money. Marco sat in a chair, staring at the money without interest. Julian and Bruno had left with their respective shares; Bruno immediately sped off to the hospital to take care of his mother, Julian went somewhere else to look for new trouble. The bedroom door opened. Maria emerged, her eyes still swollen and fixed on the towering pile of green cash. "Arcy...?" Maria covered her mouth with her hand, "T-this... is all ours, Arcy... this much money?!" "Pay off Vinnie's debt. Pay the other loan sharks. Pay the apartment rent for a year. Buy new clothes for Sofia," Marco said flatly. Marco, however, did not look at Maria; he stared silently at the wall. Maria ran closer, touching the money with trembling hands. She cried, but this time tears of relief. As if a thousand tons of weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "We're free... Arcy," Maria sobbed. She turned Marco's chair around and hugged his neck from behind, "Thank you, darling. Thank you... you saved us!" Maria cupped her husband's face. She leaned down and kissed Marco's lips. The kiss was warm. Soft. Full of gratitude. But Marco remained motionless. His eyes were open, staring blankly ahead. He felt Maria’s lips touch his. Physically, Marco sensed it... the warmth, the gentle pressure of their lips meeting. Maria hugged Marco tightly, radiating a palpable desire. But his brain tried to compare this kiss with the "First Kiss," which had been the standard and reference point in his life's memoir. He searched for the reference file to feel the same happiness. File Not Found. Error. There was no tremor in his chest. No butterflies flying. No exploding passion left. It felt... clinical. Like pressing flesh against flesh. The System had taken the essence of that feeling. Marco panicked. He returned the kiss roughly, trying to force the old feeling to return. He kissed Maria deeper, biting her lip, searching for the spark that used to be there. But... Maria pulled away, slightly breathless and confused by Marco's sudden, yet hollow aggression. Bland. "Arcy? Are you alright, darling?" Maria asked, stroking her husband's cheek, "You look... different," Marco stared at Maria's lips. The same lips he had worshipped for a decade. Now, those lips felt alien. "I'm tired," Marco lied, turning his face away. He stood up, moving away from Maria, leaving the pile of money behind, "I need a shower!" Maria smiled understandingly, assuming her husband was just exhausted from working hard (or whatever Marco did to get that money). She then went back to counting the money with sparkling eyes. "We can buy a new house, Arcy! We can move out of this rat hole!" Maria exclaimed happily. Marco went into the bathroom, locked the door, and turned on the shower so Maria wouldn't hear. Under the pouring water, Marco Rossi (Vinnie The Shark's killer, host of the contract) cried silently. He beat his own head, trying to call the memory back. Remember, you idiot! Remember what it felt like?! But there was only darkness. A black hole ready to swallow him whole. Marco felt increasingly disgusted with himself, mourning the destiny he had chosen. The price of a life, the endpoint of which he could not predict. Suddenly, in the corner of his vision, the System notification appeared again, as if mocking his suffering. Dragging him deeper. Endlessly. [TRANSACTION COMPLETE.] [PHYSICAL CONDITION: 100%.] [MENTAL CONDITION: STABLE (EXCESSIVE EMOTIONS DELETED).] [WELCOME TO YOUR NEW LIFE.] Marco stared at the mirror. Behind his dark eyes, he knew this was a beginning. One where he didn't know where fate would take him. This black contract was like a double-edged sword, because the system didn't just consume the enemy. It also consumed its host, piece by piece, memory by memory. A perforated memory. ***
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Chapter 139: The Jammer Plan
OMNI TOWER - HIDDEN SUB-LEVEL LABORATORY11:00 PMThe sterile white lights of the hidden laboratory buzzed with a low, maddening hum. The room was buried deep beneath the official sub-basements of the Omni Tower, completely severed from the building's central grid. There were no security cameras here. There were no microphones. It was a true blind spot in the Black Dragon Empire, carved out by Isabella Moretti through sheer administrative manipulation and ghost accounting. Isabella stood over a large steel workbench, her eyes bloodshot, her hands shaking as she stared at the scattered electronic components laid out before her. Copper wires, microchips, and melted soldering iron sticks littered the table. In the center of the mess sat a half-finished metallic collar. Sofia Rossi sat on a high stool across from her. The teenager looked equally exhausted. She was holding a cup of black coffee that had gone cold hours ago. "It failed again," Isabella whispered, running a frustrated han
Chapter 138: The Wrath of the Machine
OMNI TOWER - 65TH FLOOR COMMAND CENTER09:45 AMThe heavy, bulletproof glass doors of the command center did not just slide open; they were violently kicked apart, shattering the electronic locking mechanism completely. Bruno Ferro stormed into the pristine room. His massive chest heaved with exertion, his face pale and slick with a cold, terrified sweat. In his thick, scarred arms, he carried the Godfather of the Black Dragon Empire. "Clear the floor! Clear the damn floor!" Bruno roared, his voice cracking with unprecedented panic. Isabella Moretti, who had been anxiously pacing behind her desk waiting for their arrival, froze in absolute horror. The tablet slipped from her trembling hands, clattering loudly against the polished marble floor. The invincible King of New York was a broken, writhing mess. Marco Rossi's tailored black suit was soaked in a horrifying mixture of rain, street grime, and thick, corrosive black plasma that continually seeped from his mouth. His metallic
Chapter 137: Glitch in the Machine
OMNI TOWER - PENTHOUSE MASTER SUITE - 07:00 AMSofia Rossi held her breath in the dark alcove of the penthouse corridor. Her fingers gripped the cold, heavy metal of the Neural Jammer so tightly they ached. She heard the heavy, reinforced oak door of the master suite unlock with a low, mechanical hiss. Marco Rossi stepped out. Sofia pressed her back against the marble wall, merging completely with the shadows. She was ready. She just needed to step forward, snap the metallic collar around his neck from behind, and activate the device to end the nightmare. But as Marco walked past her hiding spot, she froze. He was not walking with the terrifying, mechanical precision of the Black Dragon. His steps were slightly uneven, almost heavy. His breathing sounded labored, a quiet, ragged wheeze that did not match the invincible armor of his body. Sofia watched in stunned silence as her father paused near the private elevator, pressing a metallic, scaled hand against his chest as if he were
SERIES 10: THE LAST STAND OF HUMANITY Chapter 136: Marco's Nightmare
OMNI TOWER - PENTHOUSE MASTER SUITE - 12:00 AMThe apex predator of New York City did not sleep. Sleep was a biological vulnerability, a prolonged period of unconsciousness where the body was rendered defenseless against external threats. For the past three years, Marco Rossi had bypassed this human necessity entirely. The nanites in his bloodstream recycled his cellular waste and repaired his muscle fibers in real-time, requiring only short, waking meditative trances to optimize his neurological pathways.But tonight was different.The final integration of the Black Dragon entity into Marco's physical brain had pushed his biological vessel to its absolute limit. The forced mutation of his cellular structure, the permanent deletion of his emotional centers, and the massive expenditure of kinetic energy during the battle with the Russian mercenaries had accumulated a devastating amount of systemic fatigue.The machine ins
Chapter 135: The End of Series Nine
OMNI TOWER - 64TH FLOOR, CFO OFFICE - 12:30 PMThe elevator doors slid open with a soft, mechanical hiss. Sofia Rossi stepped out onto the sixty-fourth floor, leaving Bruno Ferro behind in the steel cabin. The giant enforcer had not spoken a single word during the entire ride back from Tribeca. He had simply stared at the floor, his massive shoulders slumped, looking like a man who had just watched a ghost take physical form. Sofia walked briskly down the pristine, white-lit corridor, bypassing the main security checkpoints. Her posture was flawless. Her dark eyes were focused. The heavy, customized Glock 19 was still tucked securely into the waistband of her skirt, pressing cold and hard against her lower back, right next to her father's old leather journal. She did not head to the command center. She walked straight into Isabella Moretti's private office. The moment Sofia crossed the threshold, Isabella slammed her hand against the wall console. The heavy glass doors slid shut, a
Chapter 134: Sofia's First Mission
OMNI TOWER - 65TH FLOOR COMMAND CENTER10:00 AMThe massive obsidian desk in the center of the command room was completely devoid of clutter, save for a single manila folder resting under the harsh glow of the ceiling lights. Marco Rossi stood by the window, his back to the room. The gray skies over Manhattan cast a dull, lifeless light against his metallic skin. He wore a heavy black turtleneck and his signature dark sunglasses, hiding the glowing red plasma veins and the demonic eyes that had become the true face of the Black Dragon. The heavy glass doors slid open. Sofia Rossi walked in. She wore a sharp, tailored black blazer over a white silk blouse, her dark hair pulled back into a tight, severe ponytail. She looked older than her seventeen years. The soft, terrified girl who used to cry in the basement bunker was gone, replaced by a cold, calculating heir to a criminal empire. Hidden in the small of her back, tucked into the waistband of her tailored trousers, was Marco's ol
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