2025-12-10 04:21:56Mr. Chen’s face cycled through disbelief, rage, and finally, a chilling, calculating fear. He stared at the security guard's tablet, which displayed the irreversible $50,000 transfer—the exact amount of the fabricated debt, moved out of his private fund fifteen minutes ago.
“Impossible,” Mr. Chen whispered, his authority crumbling like dry plaster. He looked back at Zane, the supposed "zero," who now stood before him with the quiet confidence of a man holding all the cards.
“Check your news feeds, Mr. Chen,” Zane suggested, his voice devoid of emotion. “The Zhangs have activated their surveillance network, preparing for their hostile takeover attempt against your daughter’s presentation this afternoon. I have already rendered their entire spy effort useless.”
The guards exchanged nervous glances. Mr. Chen, a man whose entire career was built on sensing weakness and exploiting it, could smell the truth: the worthless Son-in-Law was suddenly the most dangerous asset he possessed.
“You… you hacked the Zhangs?” Mr. Chen stammered.
“I protected your family's investment—your daughter,” Zane corrected. “You manufacture $50,000 in false debt to humiliate me. I take the $50,000 and offer you guaranteed victory over your rivals. The price of my continued service is respect, Mr. Chen, and full access to the resources I deem necessary to protect Liya.”
The word 'respect' hung in the air, heavy and absolute. Mr. Chen knew surrender when he saw it. Fighting Zane would expose his family’s illegal operations and the inexplicable loss of the debt money. Cooperating meant securing his political and financial standing this afternoon.
"You have twenty-four hours to prove the Zhangs will fail," Mr. Chen ground out, regaining a sliver of control. "If they fail, I grant you the privileges. If they succeed... you will face consequences you cannot imagine."
"Consequences are the currency I trade in," Zane said, his eyes conveying a truth that made Mr. Chen momentarily freeze. "The Zhangs will fall, Mr. Chen. Now, I require the key card to the unused West Wing office. Immediately."
Mr. Chen was forced to comply. The zero had just bought a five million dollar leverage with a fifty thousand dollar threat.
The Waking Bomb
Zane spent the next few hours in his new, quiet, private office in the West Wing—a stark contrast to the utility room. The first priority was confirming Caius's final, chilling threat: Liya is the key to permanently terminating your divine spark.
He couldn't rely on Caius's word, but he could rely on the System's data.
Zane sat at the desk, closing his eyes, and mentally focused his Divine Code (Lv. 1) on Liya's location: the Student Council office, three floors above. He wasn't spying on her; he was analyzing the metaphysical architecture surrounding her.
[Target: Liya Chen (Wife/Jailer).]
[Analysis: Active Suppression Field Detected.]
[Field Origin: Liya Chen's Subconscious Energy Signature.]
[Function: The Host's True Power (Ares) is directly linked to Liya's life force. Her vitality maintains the Containment Buffer. Removing her will result in immediate Core Breach and Fatal Power Surge.]
The data was absolute. Caius was right. Liya wasn't actively trying to betray him; she was the containment field—an unwitting, biological prison for his divine wrath. The Chens didn't know what they had married off; they only knew that keeping Zane alive and weak somehow boosted their family's luck.
I can't let her get hurt. But I can't let her family use her either.
The complication added a deep, strategic layer to the conflict. His goal was no longer merely survival; it was Protection for Acquisition. He had to protect the jailer to save the Commander.
Preparation for War
Zane accessed his newly created offshore account using his secure laptop. He wasn't buying guns or explosives; a true Commander buys information and utility.
Acquisition 1: Intelligence Network. Zane commissioned a series of dark web intelligence gathering services to scan for the Mark of the Serpent sigil and energy signatures matching the Scions of Chaos globally. Price: $500,000.
Acquisition 2: Secure Communication. He purchased encrypted satellite phones and advanced digital countermeasures to prevent his communications from ever being traced by both mortal agencies and Scion technology. Price: $200,000.
Acquisition 3: The Sanctuary. He used the bulk of the money to purchase a dilapidated, abandoned warehouse district on the edge of the city—a perfect, secluded location to serve as a high-tech training and operations base. He needed to train his mortal body to handle the System's power surges. Price: $3.5 Million.
The System flashed a new mission completion: Acquisition Protocol Complete. Reward: Skill Unlock: Basic Surveillance (Lv. 1).
[Skill Acquired: Basic Surveillance (Lv. 1).]
[Function: Enhances Host's perception of audio and visual data. Can intercept and decode low-level mortal communication.]
The timing was perfect.
The Price of Campus Glory
It was 3:00 PM. The auditorium was packed for the televised Student Council President's annual address. Zane stood discreetly in the back, dressed in new, tailored clothes—a gift from Mr. Chen, a token of forced respect.
Liya Chen was on the stage, delivering a flawless speech on campus sustainability. She was commanding, beautiful, and utterly unaware that she was the linchpin of an ancient, cosmic war.
Suddenly, a massive, high-definition screen dropped down behind her, overriding the university's projector system. The image filling the screen was a compromising photo—a blatant, manufactured smear designed to ruin her reputation.
The auditorium gasped. The Zhangs' agents in the audience began to murmur loudly, ready to pounce.
But then, Zane activated his new skill, Basic Surveillance (Lv. 1). He didn't need to look at the hackers; he only needed to intercept the malicious data stream.
In his mind, he saw the network of the Zhang Clan's sabotage system. Using a lightning-fast application of Divine Code (Lv. 1), he didn't stop the image; he edited the source file in real time.
On the screen, the compromising photo of Liya warped and twisted, turning instantly into a ridiculously filtered image of Victor Huo (the linebacker Zane had injured) wearing a clown nose and a sign that read: I Love the Zhang Clan.
The entire auditorium erupted in confusion, then mass, uncontrollable laughter. The Zhangs' carefully orchestrated attack had instantly devolved into an embarrassing, juvenile prank on their own muscle.
Liya, confused but quick-witted, smiled into the mic. "I see the Zhang Clan has resorted to childish digital vandalism. Perhaps they should focus on their studies."
The auditorium cheered. Liya's victory was absolute, and Zane's leverage was secured.
As he turned to leave, Zane received a final notification from his network, not from the System, but from the black-market intelligence agency he'd just hired.
[Intelligence Alert: Scion Activity Confirmed.]
[Location: Abandoned Warehouse District (Your New Property).]
[Note: Unknown Hostiles are currently clearing the area and fortifying the central warehouse. Mark of the Serpent confirmed.]
Zane stopped dead in the hallway. The Scions were already at his new base. They hadn't followed him; they had been there all along, preparing a trap.
They knew I would come.
The war had begun, and the Commander had just walked straight into an ambush.
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Chapter 15
Liya Chen stared at the flashing red warning on the Sanctuary's main console: ACTIVATION OF REGIONAL CHAOS ANCHOR IN 12 HOURS. The message was clear, absolute, and terrifyingly precise. In half a day, the city—her city—would become the launching pad for a global Scion invasion.She looked down at Zane, who was completely unconscious, his breathing shallow but steady. He was a dying god encased in a broken shell, and she was the only one left to operate his fortress.Twelve hours. I almost killed him. And now I have to save him, or the world ends.The guilt and terror transformed into the icy focus she usually reserved for ruthless political maneuvering. She had been the most effective Student Council President for a reason: when faced with chaos, she prioritized the objective.Stabilizing the CommanderLiya's immediate priority was Zane's mortal shell. She dragged him onto a clean metal table near the central pillar—the brains of the Sanctuary. She used her phone’s flashlight to
Chapter 14
Liya Chen drove a borrowed, nondescript utility van—one of the Chen family’s logistics vehicles—at terrifying speeds through the deserted industrial roads toward Warehouse 7. Zane lay inert on the passenger seat, his body unnaturally still, wrapped in a blanket salvaged from the back. The silence in the van was broken only by Liya’s ragged breathing and the distant wail of emergency sirens heading toward the Student Union.I broke him. The thought hammered at her. She wasn't processing the god-war; she was processing the shock of her own, accidental violence. She had aimed for control, and she had achieved utter, devastating destruction."Hold on, Zane," she muttered, gripping the wheel until her knuckles were white. "We're almost there. You said this was the only place."The Commander's Last CommandZane’s mind was a black, chaotic void. His consciousness was reduced to a flicker—a single core process fighting the systemic failure of his mortal body.[Host: Zane (Ares)][Core
Chapter 13
The fist charged with the malevolent, raw power of the Dormant Containment Unit was rocketing toward Zane's face. Liya, eyes blazing with ecstatic, purple light, was determined to end the life of the "zero" who had dared to control her.Zane was pinned, critically injured, his Core Power plummeting from 40\%. His body was too slow to dodge, and his shell integrity was too low to absorb the impact. This was the end.But the Commander’s mind, honed by millennia of warfare, never accepted defeat."System! Execute Zero-Point Gambit!" Zane roared, the command ripping the last ounce of air from his burning lungs.[Warning: Zero-Point Gambit is an unstable, self-destructive protocol. Requires full Core Power commitment.]"Commit! Use the fall damage! Inject the remaining Core Power into the Unit's source code!"In the fraction of a second before Liya’s blow landed, Zane didn't try to defend himself. He let the Temporal Shift (Lv. 2) run one final, devastating prediction: the exact mom
Chapter 12
Zane did not take a car. He was operating at 70% Core Power, and the Temporal Shift (Lv. 2) was his only way to traverse the city's chaotic streets in seconds. He focused his mind, pushing the limits of the mortal shell.Temporal Shift: Full Activation.The city blurred into streaks of light and color. The cars became slow-moving obstacles, the people frozen snapshots of motion. In the space of three breaths, Zane had covered three miles, arriving at the deserted East Wing Student Union—the site of his original humiliation and now the stage for his most critical battle.The area was silent, eerily devoid of the police presence one would expect after the Museum heist. The silence confirmed Zane's dread: This was an Obsidian Hand operation designed to be unnoticed.He burst through the main doors, his eyes immediately locking onto the primary energy signature: Liya. She was standing in the center of the vast, dusty lounge—the very spot where he had scrubbed wine stains just days ag
Chapter 11
Zane stepped out of the Chen compound, the early afternoon sun doing nothing to mitigate the cold resolve in his eyes. Liya was safely contained, her terror-induced compliance confirmed by the hidden micro-sensor he'd planted on her desk. Mr. Chen was busy manipulating the mortal media to blame the Zhangs for the Museum heist, creating the perfect smoke screen. The battlefield was prepared.His objective was singular and urgent: Asset Sigma.The Scions had deployed a superior operative specifically to target the Containment Key (Liya). Zane could not allow this asset to familiarize itself with the campus environment or the city's power structure.Search Protocol: Temporal Shift and Divine CodeZane slipped into a large, deserted campus parking garage, the silence broken only by the hum of the air conditioning units. He needed to find an operative who was actively trying to conceal themselves.He initiated his search, combining his two most powerful utility skills:Temporal Shif
Chapter 10
Zane emerged from the sewer tunnels an hour later, shedding his ruined, debris-caked suit near a secluded storm drain. He walked toward the Sanctuary, the Void Fragment now fully absorbed and integrated into his core. The pain was gone, replaced by a cold, absolute sense of control.[Host: Zane (Ares)][Core Power: 99% (Stable).][Mortal Shell Integrity: 85% (Recovery Protocol Complete).][Acquired Skills: Temporal Shift (Lv. 2); Divine Code (Lv. 1); Iron Fist (Lv. 1); Basic Surveillance (Lv. 1).]The 99% power level was a revelation. He didn't just feel stronger; he felt correct. The limits of the mortal shell were still there, but now they felt like sturdy, well-maintained armor instead of a fragile cage. The trauma of the heist had strengthened his vessel.He activated Temporal Shift (Lv. 2). The world didn't just give him predictive data; the entire environment subtly slowed down around him. He could perceive the flicker of a fluorescent bulb, the minute vibrations of the co
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