Library
Search
Home / Urban / The Beggar’s Throne / Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty
Author: Danny Ink
last update2025-07-16 23:37:36

Amanda Carter sat in the shadowed corner of the penthouse’s expansive living room, a glass of untouched whiskey resting on the low table beside her. Her eyes, cold and calculating, followed Jake Sullivan and Elena Moreno as they moved together like a twisted dance—he offering reluctant compliance, she commanding with quiet, ruthless certainty.

From where she sat, Amanda could see the lines of tension carved into Jake’s face, the hesitation that flickered when Elena brushed her hand along his arm, whispering promises laced with threats. Elena’s smile was sharp and possessive, a queen claiming her king’s crown. Amanda’s jaw tightened. She hated the way Elena touched him, the way she spoke to him, as if he were a prize to be secured or a pawn to be played.

But Amanda hated Jake even more.

She rose silently, the floorboards creaking softly under her weight, a reminder that no alliance was truly invisible. She moved toward the balcony, slipping through the sliding doors into the cool night
Continue to read this book for free
Scan the code to download the app
Previous ChapterNext Chapter

Latest Chapter

  • Chapter Three Hundred and Forty

    The morning air was sharp, carrying the faint metallic tang of energy still lingering from the lattice’s collapse. Jake stepped over the fractured shards scattered across the desert floor, his boots crunching against the jagged remains. Each piece seemed inert now, but his instincts screamed caution. The lattice had been defeated, yes—but not eradicated. It had shown an unsettling ability to adapt, to learn from every strike. That knowledge alone weighed heavily on him.Lyra followed closely, her instruments beeping softly, scanning for residual energy pockets. Her eyes darted across the horizon as if expecting the lattice to reassemble itself at any moment. “Jake… look at this,” she called, pointing to a faint shimmer along the sand.Jake crouched, examining the trace. The shimmer was subtle, almost imperceptible, a thin web of energy linking the shards they had already neutralized. It pulsed faintly, almost like a heartbeat. “It’s forming again,” he muttered, unease creeping into hi

  • Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Nine

    The first rays of dawn painted the desert in shades of orange and gold, but for Jake, there was no warmth in the light—only the stark reality of what had just transpired. He moved with careful steps over the jagged shards of lattice that still dotted the dunes, remnants of the structure they had destroyed. The air crackled faintly with residual energy, a reminder that the lattice’s consciousness, though fractured, might not be entirely gone.Lyra was nearby, scanning the debris with her instruments. Her brow furrowed as she muttered under her breath, “The energy signature is unstable… but not fully gone. Some fragments are dormant, waiting…”Kael, as always, was more pragmatic. “Waiting or not, we neutralized the core. That’s the real threat gone. The rest are just pieces without coordination.”Jake’s eyes narrowed, scanning the horizon. He had thought the destruction of the core would bring a sense of closure, but instead, he felt an eerie tension. The lattice had been intelligent. I

  • Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight

    The desert morning arrived with an unsettling calm, the kind that precedes chaos. Jake rose from the makeshift camp, the sand cool beneath his boots, and surveyed the expanse around them. The shattered lattice nodes had scattered across miles of dunes, and while many appeared inert, Jake knew better. Even the smallest fragment could regrow, adapt, and strike back if left unchecked.Lyra was already scanning the horizon with a portable energy spectrometer, her brow furrowed. “I’ve tracked five major nodes,” she reported. “They’re semi-stable, but each one pulses intermittently. If we miscalculate, they could coalesce again.”Kael stood behind her, arms crossed. “We can’t just go node by node. It’ll take forever, and each engagement gives them time to evolve. We need a coordinated strike.”Jake’s jaw tightened. “Agreed. But first, we need to understand their behavior. I’ve been thinking—what if the lattice isn’t just adapting? What if it’s anticipating our tactics?”Lyra looked up sharp

  • Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven

    The desert wind had shifted by morning, carrying with it a sharp bite that cut through even the thick layers of their gear. Jake adjusted the collar of his jacket, scanning the horizon with a practiced gaze. The remnants of the lattice still smoldered faintly beneath the sand, a reminder of the confrontation they had survived. Yet, something in the air felt… off.Lyra approached, her expression unreadable as she carried her sensor pad close. “Jake, I’ve been analyzing the residual energy from the lattice,” she said quietly. “It’s not just traces—it’s evolving. Faster than we anticipated.”Jake’s eyes narrowed. “You mean it’s rebuilding itself again?”“Not exactly,” Lyra replied. “It’s… fragmenting. Parts of the lattice are separating, forming independent nodes. They’re weaker individually, but collectively they could reassemble in unexpected ways.”Kael joined them, his steps crunching in the sand. “So it’s scattering itself to survive. Classic adaptation. We’ll need a strategy that a

  • Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Six

    The aftermath of the core’s destruction left a strange stillness over the desert. The lattice fragments were scattered like blackened teeth, jagged reminders of the battle below. Jake stood at the edge of the collapsed cavern, surveying the ruins with a mixture of exhaustion and grim satisfaction. The hum of residual energy had faded to a low, almost imperceptible vibration, but it was enough to remind him that nothing remained entirely inert.Lyra crouched beside him, scanning the shards with her portable sensor array. “Some of the fragments are still active,” she said, her voice tense. “Minimal energy output, but it’s enough to self-repair over time. If we leave them, the lattice could regenerate.”Jake’s jaw tightened. “Then we don’t leave them.” He gestured to Kael, who was methodically examining the outer perimeter. “I want every shard neutralized. Nothing that can learn from this fight should remain.”Kael nodded, moving with precision. “Understood. I’ll handle the larger fragme

  • Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Five

    The night was eerily silent, broken only by the occasional scrape of shifting sand. Jake walked slowly along the ridge overlooking the desert plain, the remnants of the lattice scattered across the landscape like blackened teeth. His mind churned with calculations, probabilities, and the stark reality: the lattice’s evolution would not stop.Lyra appeared beside him, her data pad glowing faintly in the dark. “I’ve been running simulations on the energy feedback from the collapsed lattice. It’s… different this time. Far more adaptive than we anticipated.”Jake nodded, running a hand over his face. “It learned from our last engagement. Every time we think we’ve predicted its behavior, it changes the rules. We can’t underestimate it again.”Kael joined them, his boots crunching in the sand. “We need a new strategy. The disruptors worked, but just barely. Next time, if it evolves faster, we could be looking at a complete wipe.”Jake’s jaw tightened. “We need to think beyond reaction. Beyo

More Chapter

You may also like

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on MegaNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
Scan code to read on App