From Busboy To Iron Lord: The Almighty Rowan Lachlan Returns

The Ashen Spine

“Welcome back, Iron Lord!”

With humidity below thirty percent, on a vast plain where a towering mountain cut across the north like a blade driven into the earth, over ten thousand soldiers stood at attention.

Their eyes were pinned to the helicopter hovering above them.

The Ashen Spine was the highest mountain in the Imperial City. At this time of the year, it snowed more than ever, totaling seven consecutive months of relentless snowfall.

They trained here year-round. The shortest amount of time any of them had gone without leaving the mountain was three years.

Yet for soldiers who had survived such extreme conditions and knew better than anyone how to control their emotions, their faces were filled with the unmistakable feeling of pride and happiness.

“We missed you, sir!” they shouted, but the cacophony of their voices was swallowed by the deafening roar of the helicopter as it landed.

A tall, broad-shouldered young man in military gear stepped out. A stiff but genuine smile hovered across his face as he waved at them briefly before heading toward the barracks.

Rowan Lachlan had been the commander here for five years, but he had spent the last six months leading a brutal campaign on the border.

The Ashen Spine had an unsteady network, so the soldiers didn’t check their emails frequently.

After being gone from the base for half a year, Rowan took his seat before his computer and logged in. As his inbox opened, he began to flip through his messages, looking for anything important. Finding nothing, he moved to his voicemails.

Every single one was corporate nonsense. Most were from top families in the Imperial City, shamelessly asking when the legendary Iron Lord would be visiting.

He deleted them one by one until he reached the last message. It was the most recent, from just an hour ago, and lasted only fifteen seconds.

Thinking it was more political groveling, he played it. His finger hovered above the delete key impatiently until he heard the timid, whispering voices of two children.

“Did someone answer?”

“No. I think mommy was right. The phone really doesn’t work.”

“Reese! Ryan! Who are you on the phone with?”

“No one, mommy!”

A sharp crackling sound followed after their simultaneous shout, before the audio went dead.

Rowan’s pupils slowly dilated.

For a man who never flinched under heavy artillery fire, his fingers trembled slightly as he tapped the keys to replay the voicemail.

He recognized that woman’s voice. It had been six years, but he would know it anywhere.

His jaw tightened. He glanced at the door.

“Someone come in.”

A soldier standing guard stepped in immediately.

Rowan pointed at his screen, his voice dangerously quiet. “Where did this call come from?”

Because of the base's hidden location, the army’s satellite was calibrated to instantly trace any incoming signal.

The soldier tapped through the computer for a few seconds before turning to Rowan, answering respectfully.

“The call came from an estate in the Imperial City, sir.”

Rowan pushed his chair backward and calmly rose to his feet.

“Everyone stays behind. I have personal business to handle in the city.”

As his transport headed toward the Imperial City, a young woman of no more than thirty alighted outside a sprawling estate. Two identical boys stood closely by her side, shivering slightly in the cold.

By the gate stood a man in a designer tracksuit.

Walking forward, he shoved a document into her palm and eyed her sternly. “Donovan Locke is at the Grand Meridian Hotel. He’s expecting someone from the Renard family.”

“Nancy, usually I’d go myself. But since you begged so earnestly to be let back into the family, I spoke with grandmother. We all agreed this would be a fitting task for you—a nice reminder of how far you’ve fallen.”

Nancy Renard’s eyes immediately brightened, ignoring his insult. “Leo, tell grandmother she won’t regret this. I promise!”

Leo Renard rolled his eyes explicitly and stepped back.

Nancy smiled faintly, turning her attention to the twins. She bent to their height and reached over to affectionately ruffle their red hair.

“Babies, mommy will be right back. You just stay with your uncle until then, okay?”

They nodded obediently, their small hands clinging to each other as they filed inside the gate.

Nancy straightened up, watching them hesitantly.

“If we lose this deal to another family because of your sluggishness, you can kiss goodbye to our family ever doing you another favor,” Leo hissed.

Fearing she would ruin her only chance, Nancy immediately got back into the waiting taxi.

The minute the car taillights disappeared down the street, Leo took out his phone and dialed a number. When it connected, his arrogant tone vanished, replaced by sickening enthusiasm.

“Hello, Mr. Locke. You have nothing to worry about. Nancy is on her way to you, exactly as you asked.”

He listened for a moment, chuckling darkly. “No, no, the Renard family doesn’t care what you do to her as long as she returns with the signed document. Hahaha! It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Locke. Enjoy my family’s little treat.”

Leo hung up, a content smirk on his face. But the smile vanished instantly when he bumped into something and looked down to see Reese and Ryan looking up at him innocently.

It was almost evening and the snow had begun to fall heavier. They were covered up in thick sweatshirts, but it wasn't enough for the biting wind.

Reese, the smaller of the two, was clutching a worn-out toy robot, while Ryan held the cheap burner phone they had used in the car to call the "wrong number."

"Uncle Leo?" Ryan asked tentatively, his voice trembling. "Can we go inside? It's cold."

Leo sneered, looking at them as if they were mud stuck under his expensive shoes.

"Inside? What else did your mother tell you to say? Ask to be let into my room so you can steal whatever jewelry I have lying around?”

The boys fell silent, instinctively shrinking back from his hostility.

But their silence only infuriated Leo. He snatched the phone directly from Ryan’s hand.

Before the boy could protest, Leo dropped it onto the concrete driveway and crushed it beneath his heel, grinding the plastic into pieces.

The boys flinched, tears welling in their eyes, but they were too terrified to cry out loud.

"Maid!" Leo barked.

A hesitant servant hurried out of the side door. "Yes, Young Master?"

Leo slid a hand into his pocket and pointed toward the back of the house. "The boys will be staying in the backyard. The German Shepherd's old kennel is empty since I moved the dog into the heated guest room."

“Put them in there. And no blankets. If they have the energy to talk back, they clearly aren't cold enough."

"But... sir, the weather is freezing..." the maid stammered. It didn’t matter what their mother had done; they were innocent children.

Leo’s eyes went cold. "Did I stutter, or do you have another job waiting for you? Lock them in the kennel. If I hear a single sound from them while I'm eating my dinner, you’re fired."

The maid reached out, gently trying to pull them along, but the kids panicked. They resisted fiercely, biting and scratching at her arms in pure desperation.

"You little rats!"

Annoyed, Leo stepped in. He grabbed Reese by his hair, yanking his small head back, and violently kicked Ryan in the stomach, sending the boy sprawling onto the snowy concrete.

Just outside the compound, a tall figure stopped walking.

Through the vertical iron bars of the gate, his pair of icy blue eyes watched the kick land.

The signal from the burner phone had vanished just as Rowan arrived at this exact address.

He didn't know who these children were or why they were here. But seeing a grown man brutalize a child, he pushed the gate open, stepping into the compound.

“Where I come from, we have you castrated for beating children.”

Hearing the icy tone, Leo froze, his foot still raised over Reese as he snapped his head toward the gate in confusion.