The Unbeatable Warlord

Chapter 3

The street beyond the Leeds gates was a battlefield of confusion. People darted from cover to cover. Smoke hung thick in the air. The crack of gunfire ricocheted between buildings.

  Two armed men sprinted across the road, firing wildly toward a row of houses. Alexander ducked behind the gate pillar, positioning himself behind a damaged vehicle. 

  His return shots were controlled and deliberate, cutting off their path with calculated movements that forced them to retreat. 

  Within minutes, the immediate street began to clear. Those responsible for the assault in that sector scattered, retreating toward the heart of the city.

  Residents peered cautiously from behind shattered windows and overturned cars.

  A man helped his injured neighbor while staring at Alexander in disbelief.

  “Who is that?” someone whispered.

  “He’s alone,” another said in awe.

  Alexander moved forward like an eagle cutting through storm winds.

  As he advanced deeper into Dawn City, he encountered more scattered pockets of unrest, but each time, he adapted. 

  Within moments, word spread quickly among the civilians.

  “There’s someone fighting back.”

  “Someone is pushing them out!”

  “Who is he?”

  Within a short time, fragments of information began circulating among bystanders and fleeing attackers alike. .

  Alexander intercepted a frightened municipal worker hiding behind a barricade.

  “National Security,” Alexander demanded. “Where is their central office?”

  The man pointed with shaking hands toward the administrative district.

  “It’s been attacked. They hit it early.”

  Alexander’s eyes narrowed.

  Of course they had.

  He moved toward the district at a relentless pace.

  When he arrived, the sight before him tightened something deep in his chest.

  The National Security Command building—was scarred and broken. Windows were shattered. Smoke seeped from multiple floors. The entrance doors hung crookedly from damaged hinges.

  He stepped inside cautiously.

  Silence greeted him.

  The interior was worse than the exterior. Desks overturned. Equipment destroyed. Walls marked with bullet impacts. Papers scattered across blood-stained tiles.

  Several bodies lay motionless across the main hall.

  Alexander’s expression did not soften, but his grip tightened.

  He moved room to room. It was empty!

  The Operations center was abandoned and the communications wing was destroyed. He did not find any surviving senior officer inside.

  Whoever had orchestrated the assault had struck the nerve center first.

  As he exited the damaged building, a shaken security aide—approached him cautiously.

  “Sir, you shouldn’t be here,” the aide stammered.

  “Where is the leadership?” Alexander demanded.

  The aide hesitated.

  “Director of National Security… Chairman Gabriel Thorne… he was relocated.”

  “Relocated where?”

  “To a secure facility outside Dawn City. Standard evacuation protocol for high-risk breach.”

  Alexander’s jaw flexed.

  “So while the city burns, the Director of National Security is safe elsewhere?”

  “It’s for continuity of command,” the aide said weakly.

  Alexander said nothing further. He obtained the facility’s location from the aide, then left without another word.

  By the time Alexander reached the fortified compound nestled beyond the city’s edge, dusk had fallen.

  Armed guards blocked his path.

  “I need to see Chairman Gabriel Thorne,” Alexander stated firmly.

  “State your identity and purpose,” one guard replied.

  “My name is Alexander Leeds. And my purpose is to end what your leadership has failed to!”

  The guards exchanged uncertain glances.

  Inside the compound, word spread quickly that an unidentified civilian had disrupted sectors of the attack and was demanding an audience.

  Eventually, a message returned.

  Chairman Thorne would grant a brief meeting.

  Alexander was escorted through reinforced corridors into a secure office suite.

  Gabriel Thorne stood behind a polished desk, his uniform crisp despite the fatigue evident in his eyes. Screens behind him displayed fragmented feeds from Dawn City—still smoldering, though calmer than before.

  For a moment, neither man spoke.

  Then Alexander stepped forward.

  Without waiting for pleasantries, he slammed his fist against the desk.

  The sharp impact echoed through the room.

  “Why is there so much unrest in Dawn City?” he demanded.

  Guards shifted uneasily.

  “For ten years this has happened. For ten years you have failed to stop it. Today I walk through streets filled with bodies. Your headquarters is in ruins. Your officers are dead. And you are here!”

  Thorne’s jaw stiffened. “How dare you? This facility is a continuity command center. My presence here ensures coordination—”

  “Coordination?” Alexander cut in. “Your coordination left citizens defenseless!”

  The room seemed to tighten around them as Thorne responded in a cold whisper.

 “Clearly, you have no idea how complex this threat really is.”

  “Then enlighten me,” Alexander shot back. “Because from what I saw, your team is incapable!”