The wind of the Silicon Desert turned into a blade at night, scraping across the wind-eroded rocks with a ghostly wail.

  Inside an unremarkable rocky cave.

  Crag’s massive frame leaned against the cave wall, his breath coming in heavy, ragged gasps.

  The wounds torn open by bullets across his body had stopped bleeding, but the dense scabs and his pale complexion were clear indicators of his current state of exhaustion.

  Outside, Kunlun Corp had woven a dragnet.

  The searchlight beams were like pitiless, giant eyes, sweeping across this dead sea of sand over and over again. Swarms of dozens of drones were utilizing thermal imaging and life-detection sensors to search every inch of the land without blind spots.

  This was a death trap.

  Crag knew very well that once the cooldown for [ Shadow Veil ] ended and they were exposed again, they would face an endless pursuit.

  "Kid... we played it too big this time."

  Crag’s voice was raspy as he looked at the silent silhouette at the cave entrance.

  Kane did not turn around.

  He was crouched on the ground, using a tactical dagger to carefully cut open his combat suit to treat the horrific bruising on his chest.

  Greg’s elbow strike had snapped three of his ribs.

  Every breath pulled at the broken bones, sending piercing jolts of pain through him.

  Yet, the hand treating the wound was as steady as a rock, without the slightest tremor.

  Hearing Crag’s words, he simply spoke calmly.

  "Not big enough."

  "How does this end?"

  Kane applied a tube of fast-acting healing gel to the wound. The icy sensation allowed his tensed muscles to relax slightly.

  He stood up and turned around. Beneath the shadow of his hood, his eyes were as calm as a bottomless pool of frigid water.

  "Do you know why I chose to let Rennie and Booker live at the end?"

  Crag froze, instinctively shaking his head.

  In his view, in that situation, one should have finished off all the enemies.

  "Because dead men tell no tales."

  Kane walked over to Crag’s side and handed him the remaining half-tube of healing gel.

  "Greg is dead. Andrew Zoe will go insane. But he will only settle that score with me alone."

  "But now, Rennie and Booker have survived."

  A cold arc curled at the corner of Kane’s mouth.

  "How will Rennie report this to the Company’s high-ranking officials? He will say that Andrew Zoe’s incompetence and recklessness led to the death of 'Hammer' Greg and nearly caused the total annihilation of his own elite squad."

  "He will push all the responsibility onto Andrew, using it to suppress his rival within the Company."

  "And Booker?"

  "He will take everything he saw and add his own flavor before telling his mysterious boss. A 'Ghost' who can fuse skills, whose combat power far exceeds all evaluations, and who possesses a demonic intellect—the value of that 'intel' is much safer than trying to capture me in person."

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  Kane’s voice was soft, yet it sent waves of shock through Crag’s brain, which had grown sluggish from blood loss.

  "This way, the factions of Andrew and Rennie within Kunlun Corp will fight even more fiercely."

  "The force behind Booker will re-evaluate their strategy toward me because I’ve become 'uncontrollable.'"

  "The waters of Blackrock Town are finally, truly muddied by my hand."

  Kane watched Crag’s shocked expression and continued.

  "I intentionally exposed [ Earth Flash ] because I wanted them to know I possess power they cannot comprehend."

  "I feigned critical injury because I wanted them to believe I was at the end of my rope."

  "I deliberately drew the three parties into a confrontation because I wanted them to lay all their cards on the table in front of me."

  "From beginning to end, every single one of them was acting out my script."

  Crag’s throat went dry.

  He looked at the young man before him, a chill racing from the base of his spine to the crown of his head.

  Monster.

  The word leaped into his mind once again.

  This guy's terror didn't lie in his elusive abilities.

  It lay in that brain—one that could play everyone like puppets in the palm of his hand.

  "But... but how do we get out now?"

  Crag asked the most critical question.

  No matter how much you calculate, if you die here, it’s all empty talk.

  Kane didn't answer.

  He simply reached into his coat and pulled out his communicator.

  Under Crag’s gaze—which was shocked beyond measure—Kane pressed a few keys, drafted an extremely brief message, and sent it out.

  The content of the message was only one sentence:

  "Tell your people to come out. Stop wasting time."

  Crag’s eyes widened.

  Who was this... sent to?

  They had reinforcements?

  How did he not know!

  Just as Crag was about to press for an answer, the communicator vibrated.

  A reply appeared on the screen.

  There was no text.

  Only a pulsing dot marking a location on the map—a set of coordinates deep within the Silicon Desert.

  The moment he saw those coordinates, Crag’s expression shifted from shock to pure horror.

  He recognized this communication channel.

  There was only one person capable of using it.

  The tavern owner, Felix!

  How was this possible!

  "Let’s go. Our 'investor' has sent someone to pick us up."

  Kane pocketed the communicator and was the first to step out of the cave.

  Crag followed mechanically behind him, his mind still a complete blank.

  Using the thirty seconds of invisibility from [ Shadow Veil ], the two of them silently bypassed several searchlight blockades, stealthily moving toward the coordinates at high speed.

  On the way, Crag finally couldn't hold it back anymore.

  "Kid... Felix... what the hell is going on?"

  "Aren't you curious?" Kane’s voice drifted back from the shadows ahead. "Since we left Blackrock Town, we’ve caused such a massive scene. Why has the 'Underground Emperor' of Blackrock remained completely silent?"

  Crag stiffened suddenly.

  That was right.

  Felix’s intelligence network covered every inch of the area surrounding Blackrock Town. They had killed Karl and made an enemy out of Andrew; there was no way Felix didn't know about events of this magnitude.

  Yet, he had acted like a complete outsider, asking no questions and showing no concern.

  That in itself was highly abnormal.

  "In my initial calculations, I assumed Felix’s faction would definitely show up, yet he didn't appear even after the fighting was over."

  "Booker runs an intel business in Blackrock Town. Every move he makes cannot escape Felix's eyes."

  Kane’s logical chain was clear and cold.

  "Therefore, Felix knew from the very beginning that Booker sold me that intel and set this trap."

  "But he didn't stop it, and he didn't warn me."

  "He was watching."

  "He was watching to see how sharp I am as a blade, and how strong the net of Kunlun Corp truly is."

  "His people have been lying in ambush nearby for a long time. No matter who won tonight—us or Kunlun—he would always be the 'mantis stalking the cicada,' the one who comes out at the end to clean up the mess."

  Crag felt a chill run through his entire body.

  As it turned out, while they were calculating against others, they were being peered at by another pair of eyes in the dark.

  "Then why did you..."

  "That’s why I sent him that message," Kane interrupted. "To tell him that I won. Now, it's time to come out and talk prices."

  Kane stopped walking and turned back to look at Crag. The eyes beneath his hood shimmered with the sharp light of total insight.

  "Andrew wants to kill me, Rennie wants to capture me, and Booker wants to study me."

  "All of them treat me as an 'object'."

  "Only Felix is different."

  "From the moment he sold me The Cyclone, to giving me the hunting missions, to tacitly allowing me to leave Blackrock Town..."

  "From the start, he has acted like a shrewd businessman 'investing' in me, though I still haven't figured out his true motive."

  "Now, I have proven my value."

  "The fact that he didn't show his face during the fight was indeed outside my expectations."

  "By messaging him—straightforwardly telling him I’ve known about his schemes all along rather than waiting for him to 'save' us when we're cornered—I’ve changed the negotiation chips entirely. This should also be outside his expectations."

  "So, it’s time to see what kind of contract my 'investor' is prepared to offer."

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