Chapter 23. Harrow’s Offer
Author: ROONIE
last update2025-11-15 23:02:04

The forge was gone. By the time Landon climbed from the underground ruins, the tunnels had collapsed behind him.

The air smelled of smoke and ozone, and the sky above Milwaukee was still red from the power surges.

He stood in the rain, looking at what used to be his refuge, now only rubble and broken wires. His reflection rippled in a puddle, his eyes faintly glowing gold. He didn’t look human anymore.

He didn’t feel human either. His voice was calm when he spoke to himself. “Claire made it ou
Continue to read this book for free
Scan the code to download the app

Latest Chapter

  • Chapter 137. The Vanguard Strikes Back

    The city hummed in the half-light of early dawn. Smoke rose from a collapsed warehouse in the south, a faint reminder that violence never truly slept. Claire leaned over a holographic table in the Vanguard’s Chicago safehouse, eyes flicking across streaming data. The schedules, manifests, and movement orders of the Iron Order rotated in midair. Each entry glowed red against the muted blue grid.“Here,” Claire said, pointing to a convoy route along the northern rail lines. “They’re moving relics from the docks to their central vault in the financial district. Three armored transports, fully loaded. Timed precisely to the minute.”Navarro crouched beside her, adjusting a small drone resting on his forearm. “They don’t leave a margin for error. One second off, and we trigger an automatic lockdown. No civilians, no mistakes. Got it.”Jin leaned back in the shadows of the room, fingers flying across a keyboard, pulling real-time telemetry feeds from the city’s surveillance grid. “I’ve ma

  • Chapter 136: Counter-Foresight

    The night air in Chicago carried a metallic tang, thick with smoke from overturned cars and scorched concrete. Streetlights flickered, struggling against the chaos that had erupted across the south side. Somewhere nearby, a relic-powered gang skirmished with the Iron Order. Their shouts echoed through alleyways, followed by bursts of energy that made windows shiver in their frames. Landon Hale moved quietly, feet sliding over debris, eyes scanning, Kinetic Echo alive yet twitching like a nervous muscle. Something was off.“They’re suppressing me,” Landon muttered, his voice low, almost swallowed by the urban roar. His hands twitched as if feeling shapes in the air that weren’t there. His Echo, the sixth sense he relied on for anticipating attacks, seeing three, sometimes four moves ahead, was flaring in fragmented bursts. Shadows of the future appeared in slivers, blurred and incomplete. He couldn’t fully predict the enemy’s motion.“Predictive suppression fields,” Jin’s voice ca

  • Chapter 135. Relic War in the Streets

    The night in Chicago’s south side was thick with smoke and neon haze. Fires burned in overturned cars. Broken windows reflected the light of flames and flashing holograms from nearby advertising towers. The smell of ozone and gunpowder filled the air. Somewhere, a siren wailed, distant but insistent.Landon crouched behind a concrete barricade at the edge of the alley. His boots were caked with ash. Every step he had taken since entering the south side had been careful, deliberate. His Kinetic Echo hummed faintly, like a tuning fork in the back of his mind, trying to predict what would come next. But tonight, the Echo was restless. The patterns it usually read, the flow of movements, the trajectory of attacks, were broken, jagged, unpredictable.Claire’s voice came through the comm in a low, controlled tone. “Positions. South side grid compromised. Multiple targets moving north along Division Street. Gang is relic-powered. Iron Order is inbound. Avoid direct engagement until I mark

  • Chapter 134. Fractures in the World Order

    The room was dark except for the soft glow of multiple holo-screens. Landon stood at the center, arms crossed, eyes scanning the live feeds from Chicago, Berlin, and Toronto. Each window showed activity that made him tighten his jaw. Holo-maps flickered with red dots moving across cities, representing Iron Order units. Some units moved openly through streets. Others stayed in shadows, like predators circling before a strike.Claire leaned over a table, tracing patterns with her finger. “They’re not hiding anymore,” she said. Her voice was low, precise. “They’ve gone public in multiple cities at once. And governments are letting them.”Landon didn’t reply immediately. He tilted his head, watching Chicago’s shipping docks on one screen. Black-uniformed patrols intercepted a rogue cult without hesitation. The cameras showed civilians freezing, staring as if the world had shifted beneath them. No chaos. No hesitation. Just a clean, surgical elimination.“Look at this,” Priya said, tapp

  • Chapter 133. The Ghost General

    The room smelled of stale coffee and ozone. Screens lined the walls, each flickering with data, city maps, and streams of energy signatures. The Vanguard had been awake for hours, poring over every anomaly Priya had found in Chicago’s networks. The lights hummed low, giving the space an uneasy tension. Landon stood in the center, shoulders tense, watching the monitors reflect across his face.Priya’s fingers moved across a holo-table, pulling up fragmented files she had spent the night decrypting. The room fell quiet as the streams of data converged into one name: Kade Rauth.“Landon, look at this,” Priya said, her voice low. She tapped the screen, bringing up a profile. “Rauth. Multiple military citations. Strategic brilliance. Presumed dead for over a decade. And now, leading the Iron Order.”Landon leaned in, eyes narrowing. “The Iron Order has a ghost at the helm?”“Not a ghost,” Priya said, her tone sharper now. “A general. One who doesn’t miss. Who doesn’t hesitate. Whoever th

  • Chapter 132. A Warning Shot

    The wind cut across the city’s rooftops, sharp and cold, carrying the distant hum of traffic. Landon Hale crouched behind a crumbling ventilation shaft, scanning the block below. Neon signs flickered in the half-light, and every shadow felt alive. He wasn’t alone; Navarro and Priya flanked him, their breaths visible in the night air. Claire’s voice came through comms, calm but tense. “Target location is two blocks east. Surveillance shows a congregation, small but heavily guarded. No civilians nearby. Looks like the cult is performing a ritual of some kind.”Landon adjusted his stance. His boots scraped against the metal. He could feel the pulse of Kinetic Echo stirring faintly in his hands, an itch he had learned to ignore. “Visible forces?” he asked, scanning with precision.“Minimal,” Claire said. “Three armed guards, all standard cult issue. Nothing beyond what you’ve faced before.”Navarro grunted. “Too easy.”“That’s the problem,” Landon said. His eyes narrowed. “Something’s o

More Chapter
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