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Chapter 545
He let the conversation breathe for a few seconds longer, listening to the low tide of voices around him. This—this—was the fragile part. After victory, before direction. He felt it in the way people leaned closer to one another, in the way questions hovered just beneath smiles. He turned slightly, addressing not the press, not the screens—but the people within arm’s reach. “Reidsville,” Jack said, voice steady, unamplified, yet somehow carrying. “I won’t pretend tonight fixed everything. It didn’t. What it did was stop the bleeding.” The plaza quieted again, not by command, but by choice. “For a long time,” he continued, “this city was forced to make decisions under pressure that wasn’t its own. Fear distorts judgment. It makes good people compromise just to survive.” Ryan nodded slowly beside him. Emily folded her arms, attentive, analytical. “Tonight,” Jack said, “fear lost its leverage. Not because someone stronger showed up—but because enough of you refused to keep living
Chapter 544
Jack let the laughter around him taper naturally, not silencing it—just guiding it. The plaza had reached that rare balance point where relief hadn’t yet curdled into chaos. Families stood shoulder to shoulder. Strangers shared space without suspicion. Reidsville was breathing. Then the LED screens shifted. Not abruptly. Not with alarms. The Senators’ split-screen debate faded into a soft blue seal edged in gold. The murmur of the crowd lowered on instinct. Even DragonBot’s stabilizers adjusted, hovering a fraction higher, optics narrowing in quiet focus. A familiar crest resolved across every screen in the plaza—Venmoor’s national insignia, crisp and unmistakable. Ryan’s brow creased. “That’s… international.” Emily straightened slightly. “They don’t interrupt local broadcasts unless it matters.” Jack didn’t move. He only tilted his head up, one hand resting loosely near the Dragon Dagger—not in readiness, but in habit. “Let’s hear him out.” The seal dissolved. The President
Chapter 543
Jack let the hum of the plaza’s quiet acceptance settle for a heartbeat. Then he raised a hand again—not toward the crowd, not at DragonBot—but at the small comm device on his wrist. “Ryan,” he said, voice carrying over the plaza without amplification. “Get your family. Now. Sarah, Matilda, Jackson. Come to the center. We’re not done sharing this moment.” DragonBot hovered closer, stabilizers adjusting. “Are you certain outreach is prudent? Emotional overload potential is high.” Jack smirked faintly. “They’ll manage. They’ve earned it.” Minutes passed. People in the plaza continued murmuring, pointing upward at the screens where the Senators still debated, the city’s pulse settling into cautious excitement. Then, movement at the far edge of the plaza caught Jack’s eye. First, a figure appeared—a tall, broad man, hair darkened by stress, eyes scanning the crowd until they locked onto Jack. That was Ryan Brooks. Behind him, Sarah Thompson, steady but radiant, kept a protective ha
Chapter 542
Measured. Thoughtful. Like people testing the weight of what they’d just been handed. Jack stepped back another half pace, giving the plaza space to breathe. He didn’t leave the center—but he stopped being the center. That mattered. Then the LED screens pulsed again. Not a broadcast chime. A priority signal. DragonBot’s optics shifted instantly. “Multiple authorized feeds. Legislative clearance confirmed.” A murmur rolled through the crowd. Four figures appeared on the screen—split evenly across the display, each framed in stark, utilitarian lighting. No ceremonial halls. No banners. Just offices stripped down to function. The Senate of Reidsville. Jack felt the temperature of the moment drop—not colder, but sharper. The first to speak was a man in his early sixties, broad-shouldered, silver hair cut short, eyes steady in a way that suggested he’d learned patience the hard way. “People of Reidsville,” he said. “My name is Senator Marcus Hale.” A few voices murmured recogn
Chapter 541
Jack let his hand fall from the hilt. The metal no longer hummed against his pulse, no longer pulled at him like a living thing. Around him, the plaza shifted into motion again—people turning to one another, voices rising in overlapping fragments, relief bleeding into plans and questions and laughter that still felt uncertain in their own mouths. Then the LED screens flickered again. Not a hard cut this time. A low chime rippled through the plaza as the image of Governor Elena Ward reappeared—closer now, the framing tighter. The office behind her hadn’t changed, but something in her posture had. The stiffness had eased, just enough to feel human. The crowd quieted without being asked. Ward folded her hands once, then released them. “I wasn’t finished,” she said. A ripple of quiet amusement moved through the plaza. “I know some of you are wondering why I’m still here on that screen,” Ward continued. “Why I didn’t end with a clean sentence and let you go home feeling victorio
Chapter 540
The applause followed him even as Jack stepped back—but he didn’t leave. He stopped two paces from the platform, turned halfway, and lifted a hand. The sound didn’t die immediately. It thinned. Folded in on itself. Like a fire learning to burn instead of explode. Jack looked out over them again. “I need to say one more thing,” he said. The crowd leaned forward as one. Jack’s gaze hardened—not with anger, but with clarity. “Victor Krane didn’t just lose tonight,” he said. “He was exposed.” A ripple moved through the plaza. “Men like him don’t start as monsters,” Jack continued. “They start as solutions. As efficiency. As order. They tell you they’ll take responsibility so you don’t have to.” DragonBot adjusted its position, projecting a slow scroll of archived footage—Krane in boardrooms, Krane at summits, Krane shaking hands with people who smiled too easily. “Then one day,” Jack said, “you realize you don’t remember when you stopped choosing.” Silence settled heavier now
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