Wrath Of The Legendary Warlord!

0009-First Fracture&The Rescue

The auction hall had changed from a proud temple into a room of cold panic.

On the high stage, the bright red error screens kept flashing a harsh glow over Lady Harrison and Camella.

The rich guests who had been cheering just moments before now backed away slowly, whispering to each other and checking their phones for news.

Lady Harrison stood with her head banging with shock, her fingers hovering over the desk where the heavy hammer lay pushed aside.

Her chest rose and fell in fast breaths as her mind tried to make sense of the bad numbers staring at her from the big screens.

"It is a system glitch," Lady Harrison said, her voice shaking even though she tried to sound tough. "Fix those screens right now! Call the tech workers! This is wrong!"

Beside her, Camella grabbed her phone, her fingers shaking so badly she dropped it twice before unlocking the screen.

They dialed the private phone number of the head boss at Morgana Syndicate, the bank that had backed their huge real estate buys.

The phone rang twice, then clicked off sharply.

A cold recorded voice spoke right away: “This account is frozen under legal restriction rules. Please talk to your lawyer.”

Camella stared at the phone like it was a snake. "Mother..." Camella whispered, her countenance soured immediately as she grabbed Lady Harrison's sleeve. "The bank blocked our lines. Some parts of our money accounts are locked."

"That's crazy!" Lady Harrison yelled, turning around to face the scared guests near the front. "We are the Harrisons! Our contracts are strong! Security, throw these reporters out—"

Before she could finish, a bank worker pushed through the worried crowd, running up the stage steps to hand a thick, red-stamped legal letter right into Camella's shaking hands.

It wasn't a glitch.

It was the first heavy wave of real debt, crashing down to prove their big empire was built on thin air.

Far away from the cameras and the flashing red lights, high above the city skyline, the rooms inside the dark penthouse of the Spectre group were quiet and shadowy.

A tall man was before a wall of big computer screens, watching the live video of the Harrison family's sudden money trouble with a cold, quiet smile.

This was the top boss of the Spectre group, a smart planner who pulled strings behind the scenes.

A small desk phone beeped softly, and a low voice came through the speaker.

"Sir, the money tied to the Harrison name has been locked away by an outside computer network," a worker reported. "Our traces point straight to the Skyfall network."

The boss smiled slowly, swirling a glass of dark drink as he watched Lady Harrison panic on screen.

"Allow the Harrisons to squirm," the boss answered, his voice smooth and happy. "The Harrisons were never anything more than a loud toy to test Andrew Lloyd's patience. They thought they could use our secret channels to crush him, not knowing they were walking straight into his trap."

The boss looked at a second screen showing old military files from Andrew's trial.

"Andrew is busy playing with small fish like the Harrisons," the boss continued softly, narrowing his eyes. "He still believes the military leaders betrayed him on their own. He has no idea we planned his whole fall from the shadows to hide the top-secret files. Let him break the Harrisons piece by piece; it only gives us more time to build more cages."

Back down on the city streets, far away from rich offices and dark penthouses, the evening air grew cool and damp as steady rain began to wet the road.

Andrew Lloyd walked alone through a side street, his hands inside his dark jacket.

He had put Stephanie safely to sleep hours ago, but his night checks were not done yet.

Suddenly, the roar of car engines cut through the quiet night. Two black cars rounded the corner at high speed, their tires screaming as they trapped a luxury car against a brick wall in a dead-end alley.

The car doors flew open, and six masked men holding heavy sticks jumped out, instantly smashing the driver-side window of the trapped car.

Inside, a sharp, brave woman fought back hard, hitting out with a heavy bag before a masked man dragged her out onto the wet ground.

"Get your hands off me!" the woman ordered, her voice strong even while being overpowered.

Andrew did not wait. He stepped out from the dark shadow of the brick wall, moving so fast and quietly that he seemed to appear right out of the mist.

Before the nearest man could turn around, Andrew’s hand shot out like steel, catching the man by the throat and lifting him off the ground with easy strength.

With one quick move, Andrew threw the man backward into the side of the car, breaking the door panel.

The other five men turned in shock, yelling as they rushed him all at once with raised sticks.

Andrew moved through the fight with smooth, expert skill. Every move was clean, fast, and powerful, a true display of top military training learned on many battlefields.

In less than forty seconds, all six armed men lay flat on the wet road, groaning in pain and completely beaten without Andrew breaking a single sweat.

The alley fell back into a heavy silence, broken only by the steady sound of rain.

Andrew fixed his jacket cuffs calmly and turned around. Standing near the open door of the luxury car was the woman he had just saved.

She wore a clean grey business suit, her glasses slightly crooked, and stood with natural confidence.

This was Catherine Cherries, the smart and brave chief boss of a big tech and money company who had been quietly looking into secret money accounts linked to the Spectre group.

Catherine brushed wet hair from her face, her adorable eyes looking at the fallen men on the ground before locking straight onto Andrew.

She did not scream, nor did she shake.

Her eyes studied his stance, the calm look in his focused eyes, and the clear power in his every move.

High-level military files had crossed her desk before; she knew the famous style of the disgraced special forces leader right away.

"You're... Colonel Andrew Lloyd," Catherine whispered, her breath catching as she put the pieces together. "The military news shouted your name everywhere about a month ago. They said you turned traitor and sold state secrets."

Andrew held her gaze, his face staying blank.

Catherine stepped closer, her eyes searching his face with deep curiosity and respect.

"People called you a criminal and threw you out into the dirt," Catherine continued, her voice firm and clear. "But looking at how you just fought, looking at the true skill of a real soldier, you're totally innocent of those charges, aren't you?"

Andrew tilted his head slightly, a small, quiet smile spreading through the corner of his lips.

"What do you think?" Andrew asked softly; his voice had a quiet aura that hung heavy in the damp night air.

Catherine stood with bulged eyes for a moment, a sudden thrill racing through her chest as she realized she was standing face-to-face with the legendary Warlord of the South, the man fighting a secret war much bigger than the city knew.

Across town, inside the dark bedroom of the Harrison Villa, Lady Harrison stared blankly at a legal letter on her dressing table, showing that their grand family home was now marked to be taken away immediately.

“What the hell is going on? This has got to be an insane joke!”

The first crack had turned into a huge gap, and the tiny crack of the storm was only just beginning.