2025-12-24 21:17:27
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 110 — GHOSTS DO NOT BLEED
“They are calling you a contagion again.”Raymond did not look up.He was tightening the wrap around his forearm, fingers steady despite the tremor in his muscles. The tunnel safehouse hummed with low power. Bare bulbs. Old city bones.“Helix needs language that makes killing easier,” he said. “Contagion works.”Mercer leaned against a console, holo-feed flickering over his scarred face. “This one is different. They are not just hunting you. They are baiting you.”Lira snorted softly. “Of course they are.”Raymond finished the wrap and flexed his hand. Pain flared, then settled.“How,” he asked.Mercer expanded the feed. A district map bloomed in the air, glowing red in several nodes.“Three clinics,” Mercer said. “All independent. All previously ignored. Helix just sealed them under emergency protocol.”Raymond’s jaw tightened. “How many inside.”“Unknown,” Mercer replied. “But the message is public. Loud. They are daring you to show.”Lira crossed her arms. “If you go, they close th
CHAPTER 109 — THE PRICE OF BEING SEEN
The backlash came before dawn.Raymond woke to shouting. Not alarms. Not gunfire. Voices.Angry. Afraid. Demanding.Lira was already on her feet when he pushed himself upright, pain flaring through his ribs. The clinic hall was darker now, emergency lights dimmed to a low amber glow. Outside, silhouettes pressed against the reinforced glass.“They followed the feeds,” Lira said tightly. “All of them.”Raymond swung his legs off the cot. “How many.”“Too many.”Mercer stood near a portable console, jaw clenched. “Helix shut down three transit lines within a kilometer. They are funneling civilians here.”Raymond froze. “They are using us as a pressure point.”“Yes,” Mercer replied. “They want disorder. Panic. An excuse.”The shouting grew louder.A fist slammed against the door.“Open up.”“My daughter needs help.”“They said you would save us.”Raymond stood slowly, breath shallow.“This is what being visible means,” Mercer said. “You cannot be a symbol without becoming a magnet.”The
CHAPTER 108 — WHEN HEALING BECOMES ILLEGAL
The first clinic burned twelve hours later. Raymond did not see the flames. He felt them.A sudden spike behind his eyes. A tightness in his chest that had nothing to do with injury. Somewhere in the city, hands he had just trusted were scrambling through smoke and panic.Lira noticed immediately.“You felt that,” she said.Raymond nodded slowly. “They found one.”Mercer checked the portable scanner, jaw tight. “Eastern sector. Helix marked it as a narcotics den.”“Were there survivors,” Raymond asked.Mercer hesitated.“That bad,” Raymond said quietly.The room they occupied was smaller than the last. A forgotten utility chamber wrapped in humming cables. Emergency lighting cast long shadows across the walls.Lira paced. “They are not even pretending anymore.”“No,” Raymond replied. “They are teaching.”Mercer looked up. “Teaching what happens when people disobey.”The Core stirred, its presence heavier than before.Predictive outcome confirmed, it whispered. Decentralized nodes are
CHAPTER 107 — THE FIRST CUT SPREADS
The room smelled like rust and antiseptic.Raymond stood in the center of what used to be a transit storage bay, staring at the people gathered around him. Twelve of them. Too many. Not enough.A woman with cracked optical implants leaned against a crate. A man with tremoring hands clutched a med-kit that was at least a decade out of date. Two teenagers hovered near the door, whispering to each other, fear written plainly across their faces.Lira closed the bay doors and slapped a manual lock into place.“That’s everyone,” she said. “Anyone else we risk drawing attention.”Raymond nodded slowly. His head still throbbed. Every heartbeat felt slightly out of sync.“You all know why you’re here,” he said.No one spoke.He tried again. “I am not here to replace Helix.”A man snorted. “Good. They replaced themselves with nothing.”A few quiet laughs rippled through the group.Raymond raised a hand. “This is not a rebellion. This is not a cult. If that is what you are looking for, leave now
CHAPTER 106 — THE CITY DECIDES
The city did not wait for Raymond to recover. It never did.Sirens howled across Zenith’s spine as Helix gunships swept low over the undercity, floodlights carving through smoke and neon haze. Checkpoints appeared overnight. Streets that once belonged to gangs and scavengers now bristled with armored troops and scanning towers.Raymond felt it before he saw it.A pressure behind his eyes. A pull in his chest. The city’s fear brushing against his nerves like static.They moved through a maintenance corridor beneath the hospital, guided by Mercer’s codes. The walls vibrated with distant engines. Dust rained from the ceiling.Lira kept close, her grip firmil, alert, weapon ready.“You still standing,” she muttered.“Define standing,” Raymond replied, breath shallow.Mercer glanced back. “You should not be conscious.”Raymond managed a faint smile. “I have a habit of disappointing experts.”Mercer did not smile back.They emerged into an abandoned transit hub. Broken rails. Flickering ads
CHAPTER 105 — A SYMBOL MADE OF BLOOD
Raymond woke to darkness and sound.Machines breathed for him, steady and relentless. A slow rhythmic beep pulsed near his ear, too loud, too close. Antiseptic stung his nose.Hospital.Again.He tried to move and pain answered immediately, sharp and unforgiving.“Don’t,” Lira said.Her voice was right there. Close. Tired.Raymond cracked his eyes open. Dim lights. Reinforced ceiling panels. A private med-bay, not one of the public wards.“How long?” he asked.“Six hours,” she replied. “You scared the hell out of everyone. Including yourself.”He swallowed. His throat felt like sandpaper. “The city?”“Still standing,” Lira said. “Barely.”She leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. There was dried blood on her sleeve that was not hers.“They are calling it the Ascendant Incident,” she continued. “Helix locked down half the districts. Emergency broadcasts on loop. Your face is everywhere.”Raymond closed his eyes.“That bad?”“That loud,” she corrected. “People are chanting your name i
You may also like
Wulin : Martial Heroes
Keikokumars23.1K viewsPenniless Man's Wealthy System
Calendula28.3K viewsDivine Farming System Vol. 2: Searching for Way to Revival
K. C. Oiranar19.5K viewsCheated No More: The All-in-One System
WillyCatchFish65.5K viewsUNLOCK: I CAN SEE MY STATS
T.NOOR911 viewsNexgenesis: The System's Sin and Sovereignty
H2Oz_Anxious147 viewsBECOME AN ENTERTAINMENT GOD WITH SYSTEM
Obsession299 viewsRise Of The Powerful Husband
Dark Crafter24.5K views