Chapter 1

The Antarctic Ice Wall, the end of the world.

Hundreds of assassins in specialized cold-weather gear were undergoing brutal training on ice cliffs a hundred feet high. They climbed bare-handed, and every slip could mean a fatal fall.

Sharp ice spikes jutted out everywhere on the ice wall—one wrong move and you'd be impaled.

This was the training base of the Shadow assassin organization. Anyone training here was among the world's top assassins.

Below the ice wall, a young man in a heavy cloak sat leisurely by a campfire, roasting meat.

The young man was Damien Shaw, the assassin Supreme King of the Shadow Sect, code name Shura.

Five years ago, he was just a gold-ranked assassin. Today, five years later, he stood at the peak of the assassin world, commanding hundreds of top assassins, operating across the globe with no one daring to cross him.

By the campfire lay a massive Antarctic elephant seal. This seal weighed over 6,000 pounds and stretched more than 15 feet long—one of Antarctica's fiercest predators. But right now, it lay beside Damien like a tame pet dog, occasionally glancing at the meat on the grill with its small eyes.

The aroma of roasting meat drifted through the cold wind as Damien skillfully turned the seal meat on the grill. He'd hunted this adult seal himself—the meat was delicious, a rare delicacy in a place like Antarctica.

The meat was finally done. Damien tore off a piece and put it in his mouth, savoring it carefully. The meat was firm with a distinctive fishy taste, but in this extreme cold, it was the best food available.

After a few bites, he casually tossed the remaining large piece to the elephant seal beside him.

The seal let out an excited roar, opened its huge mouth, and swallowed the roasted meat in one gulp. Its small eyes narrowed to slits—clearly satisfied.

Damien shook his head with a smile and took another piece from the grill.

Just then, the satellite phone at his waist suddenly rang.

The urgent ringtone sounded especially piercing in the wind and snow.

Damien froze, and the roasted meat dropped from his hand onto the snow. The elephant seal immediately moved to eat it, but Damien kicked it away.

He slowly pulled out the specialized satellite phone, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

This phone was ringing for the first time in five years.

Five years ago, when Damien left, he'd left this number behind. He'd told that person that if they ran into trouble they couldn't handle, they could call this number.

But for five years, this number had never rung.

Damien took a deep breath and pressed the answer button.

A young voice came through, crying, "Are you Daddy?"

Damien's body shook violently, his hand holding the phone trembling slightly.

"I'm Faye... My mommy's name is Sophia Brown, my daddy's name is Damon..." the little girl sobbed, "Daddy has a triangle-shaped birthmark on his butt... I miss Daddy. When are you coming home? Mommy... Mommy was taken by bad people!"

Sophia!

The name struck like lightning, piercing through the memories Damien had deliberately sealed away for five years.

Five years ago, he was just a gold-ranked assassin. During a mission, he was ambushed and badly injured. To escape, he broke into a remote villa.

There was only one woman in that villa. Her name was Sophia.

She didn't call the police or show fear. Instead, she saved the unconscious Damien and bandaged his wounds.

When Damien woke up the next day, he found himself lying on a soft bed with his wounds professionally treated. But there was only Sophia in the entire villa—no servants or anyone else.

Damien was covered in injuries and couldn't move at all. He had Sophia take out healing medicine from a hidden pocket in his clothes.

Sophia pulled out two small porcelain bottles—one containing healing medicine, and the other containing...

She didn't know which one to use and planned to give Damien both.

But she didn't know that the other bottle contained a drug Damien used for special missions—the world's strongest aphrodisiac.

The moment the porcelain bottle opened and the medicinal scent spread, their desire surged instantly, their reason completely consumed by lust.

That night, Damien and Sophia had sex.

The next morning, Damien had to leave. The organization's kill order had been issued. He had to report back, or not only would he die, but Sophia would be implicated too.

Before leaving, he left that satellite phone number.

For five years, he thought it was just an accident, a memory that shouldn't exist.

He never imagined he had a daughter.

"Faye..." Damien's voice was hoarse, "Daddy is Damon. Where's your mommy now?"

"Mommy was..."

Before Faye could finish, a rough male voice suddenly came through the phone, "You little brat! Stealing my money and running so far to make a call! I'll kill you tonight!"

A sharp slapping sound rang out, followed by Faye's scream.

"Don't hit me! Don't hit me!" Faye cried out.

The sound of smashing and crashing came through the phone, then the line went dead.

Damien's hand gripping the phone bulged with veins, his entire body radiating terrifying killing intent. The temperature nearby seemed to drop even further. Even the three-ton elephant seal sensed the danger and backed away, trembling.

The assassins training on the ice wall also felt this killing intent and stopped their movements, looking down in terror.

They had never seen the Supreme King this angry.

"Ironclaw!" Damien growled.

As soon as he spoke, a burly man in black tactical gear emerged from the wind and snow. He stood over 6.5 feet tall with thick arms, wearing a specialized metal glove on his right hand with five fingers sharp as claws.

This was Ironclaw, an S-rank assassin of the Shadow Sect, ranked third, skilled in close combat.

"Lord." Ironclaw knelt on one knee respectfully.

"Find her!" Damien's voice was ice-cold, "Get me all information on Sophia and my daughter Faye's whereabouts! Ten minutes—I want everything!"

"Yes!"

Ironclaw immediately pulled out a specialized tablet, his fingers flying across the screen. The Shadow Sect had the world's most powerful intelligence network. As long as the target was alive, they could definitely be found.

Five minutes later, Ironclaw looked up, his expression somewhat grave.

"Lord, I found her." He handed the tablet to Damien, "Sophia, twenty-eight years old. Five years ago, she was the daughter of the Brown family in New York. But five years ago, the Brown family went bankrupt, and Sophia ended up in San Francisco with her daughter Faye..."

Damien took the tablet. The screen showed a photo of Sophia.

The woman in the photo was still beautiful, but her eyes showed more weariness and hardship. She held a four or five-year-old girl who looked a lot like Damien, especially the eyes.

Damien's finger gently traced across the little girl's face on the screen, a hint of tenderness flashing in his eyes.

But soon, that tenderness was replaced by overwhelming killing intent.

"Keep going," Damien said coldly.

Ironclaw swallowed and continued, "According to intelligence, Sophia was targeted by the local Ford family in San Francisco. The Ford family is one of San Francisco's underground forces. They took a liking to Sophia's beauty and forcibly took her. As for Faye, she was left in a rundown apartment in the slums. The call just now came from a payphone there."

"The Ford family..." Damien's voice was as low as a beast's roar.

"Also..." Ironclaw hesitated but spoke anyway, "Tonight is the engagement party between Sophia and Ronnie Ford, the Ford family heir. The Ford family has sent invitations to all major forces in San Francisco. Over a thousand people will attend this engagement party."

Damien punched the ice wall beside him. The entire wall instantly cracked, and large chunks of ice came crashing down.

The assassins on the ice wall turned pale with fright and scrambled to escape.

"Pass the order!" Damien stood up, his cloak whipping in the cold wind, "Command all S-rank and above assassins to reach San Francisco within twelve hours!"

"Yes!" Ironclaw immediately took out his communicator and began issuing orders.

Damien looked into the distance, the killing intent in his eyes almost tangible.

"The Ford family..." he said with hatred, "Starting tomorrow, I want you completely erased from this world!"