The Northern Warlord Returns

CHAPTER 2

No soldier wanted to end up like Richard. But what they didn't know was why the Great Commander of the Northern Hemisphere had really visited him.

The old commander already suspected treason.

He had ordered his most trusted men to investigate the fake drug charges, but most of them turned up dead. His suspicion grew into terror.

To avoid making it obvious that he was stalling, he went to the hospital to dismiss Lieutenant Richard Eagle himself.

While there, he caught General Thickcup’s wicked smile the moment Richard was handed the title of Battalion Lordship.

Thickcup had never forgiven the Great Commander for winning the election against him.

On his way back to the White House, the commander's car exploded. His driver died instantly.

When the news reached his hospital bed, Richard was stuck in shock.

The only high-ranking official on his side was dead!

Now, General Thickcup was the acting Great Commander, and Richie knew Thickcup would come to finish him off.

“Boss, you need to get the hell out of here right now. Thickcup is coming for you,” Oscar urged, desperately packing Rich’s few personal items into a bag.

Oscar was his most loyal comrade-in-arms, turned friend.

He rushed to the hospital administrators, forced a rapid discharge, and smuggled Richard out of the Northern Hemisphere toward the Lumen border.

Seven months later, Richard Eagle was slowly getting used to his basic prosthetics.

He trained himself to fight with them, refusing to break. Old soldiers never truly die.

True to his fears, Thickcup didn't give up. He issued a nationwide military wanted notice for Richard Eagle and Oscar Mount, falsely accusing them of military drug trafficking.

Yet, Thickcup’s hitmen couldn't find them. Richie and Oscar lived completely off the grid, refusing to touch mobile phones or leave digital footprints.

Enraged by his failure to locate them, Thickcup resorted to pure evil.

He hunted down Richard’s elderly parents, cornered them with firearms, and forced them to pull the triggers themselves under the threat of hunting down and torturing their son.

Thickcup watched them die, and the public media ran a cold headline: “Parents of Notorious Drug Dealer and Battalion Lordship, Richard Eagle, Commit Suicide.”

The humiliation and grief hit Richard hard as the thought of his parents pulling the trigger on themselves had him roaring in blind fury.

When the news reached him, he punched a concrete wall so hard his fist tore through it, leaving a bloody crater.

Right then, he swore a blood oath: he would hunt down General Thickcup and make him drown in the very pool of blood he had shed.

Months later, during a routine therapy session, Richard crossed paths with Mr. Scott, a young, humble, and insanely wealthy elite businessman in his forties who loved backing disciplined, ambitious people and was willing to help Richie in whatever way possible.

The doctor approved of them meeting often for business talks, knowing occupational therapy would aid his recovery.

With Mr. Scott’s financial backing and Richard-Oscar’s military expertise, they launched a private security network.

They trained elite men and women to become high-end bodyguards, private detectives, and tactical security operators.

Meanwhile, Thickcup had frozen all of Richard’s military bank accounts, locking away the wealth the Great Commander had left him.

Undeterred, Richard used his sharp mind to master software engineering.

Within three years, they expanded their empire from Lumen to Greenland, and finally to Bangkok, where Richard founded RET Limited (Richard Eagle’s Tech).

Because coding didn't require legs, Richard could dominate the tech space from his desk while Oscar ran the security forces.

RET Limited skyrocketed up the Forbes list, though its enigmatic CEO and Chairman remained completely anonymous. Everyone in the corporate world begged to do business with him.

By the fourth year, they moved their main headquarters to Bolton, and their security firm planted deep roots in over twenty states.

Rich finally acquired state-of-the-art, military-grade prosthetics that looked and moved exactly like real human flesh.

He never forgot a single moment of the humiliation he suffered four years ago. It became the fuel driving his absolute dominance.

He often imagined a future where he would force General Thickcup and Mr. Morgan to face choices so agonizing that death would feel like a mercy.

As the Chairman of RET Limited and The Security Treats, top corporations in the Northeast Hemisphere started begging for his investments.

With major business opportunities calling him back, Richard and Oscar decided it was time to visit the Northeast Hemisphere.

They received a formal invitation to the annual Chevron Ark—the elite Northeast Hemisphere summit where top business tycoons sign massive contracts, secure billion-dollar investments, and buy out rival properties.

Back in the Northeast Hemisphere, Audrey dressed in an elegant designer gown as her father prepped her for the night.

“Remember who we are dealing with tonight, Audrey, the mysterious RET Chairman,” Mr. Morgan said happily, adjusting his silk tie in the mirror.

“We have to impress him so he agrees to take on the Morgan family's new infrastructure project.”

Audrey offered a faint, unbothered smile.

She hadn't dated anyone since the day she broke up with Richard, though she wouldn't mind finding someone powerful enough to secure her future.

“Dad, we don't even know what he looks like yet. Don't get your hopes up so high,” Audrey replied, slipping on her heels with the help of a maid.

“Looks don't matter, daughter. He is immensely wealthy and powerful, the only kind of man a true heiress deserves,” her father snapped dismissively.

Audrey sighed, wondering yet again why her father only ever viewed her life through the lens of a business merger.

“Who knows? You might just catch his eye tonight, my beautiful daughter,” Mr. Morgan added with a cold grin.

“Unlike that useless, disgraced soldier you wasted your tears on all those years ago.”