Chapter2

The enforcers who smashed through the door gave us no time to catch our breath, violently dragging us out of the rubble.

The agonizingly slow ticking of the hacking progress in my earpiece was the only sound I could register. To keep that faint red light from erupting into a deadly explosion, I let them haul me like a sack of dirt and hurl me into Aurora Island's underground arena.

Blinding searchlights instantly locked onto my mud-caked body.

I squinted through the chain-link fence, my gaze landing on the highest VIP tier.

Julian, draped in an impeccably tailored suit, casually swirled a half-glass of red wine. His other hand rested brazenly on Eileen's trembling shoulder.

Eileen clutched our daughter desperately to her chest. The blinking red lights of the micro-bombs clamped to their necks pierced my eyes through the shadows of the stands.

"Distinguished guests," Julian purred into the microphone, his voice echoing across the massive arena. "Behold this piece of trash that crawled out of the abyss. Eileen's former fiancé."

The stands erupted in mocking laughter.

"Let's play a little game." Julian pointed down at me with condescending amusement. "If this cripple can survive just three minutes against my bio-cyborg, I'll reward this mother and daughter with a week of clean rations."

The heavy steel gates ground upward.

A bio-engineered cyborg, towering over two meters, stepped onto the sand. It reeked of pungent chemical stimulants, its mechanical prosthetics gleaming with a cold, metallic malice under the lights.

My muscles coiled instinctively, the knuckles of my fingers emitting a faint, cracking pop.

Just one punch. If I unleashed even a fraction of my true strength as the Supreme Commander of the Blackwater Fleet, I could shatter this cyborg's heart in an instant.

"Commander, hold on! The heartbeat triggers are extremely sensitive, and the hack is only at fifteen percent!" My tech officer's frantic voice crackled in my ear.

I inhaled deeply, violently suppressing my body's combat instincts, and forced my clenched fists to relax.

The cyborg charged at me like a runaway tank.

BAM!

A massive iron fist slammed into my chest. The sickening crunch of snapping ribs exploded within my ribcage.

Faking a total loss of balance, I let the blow send me flying backward, crashing heavily into a muddy pool of blood. A hot, metallic taste instantly welled up in my throat.

Before I could even attempt to rise, the cyborg's heavy metal boot slammed down onto my spine.

He ground his heel into my back, pressing me deeper into the bloody water, the rough gravel mercilessly slicing open my cheek.

"Harder! Crush the bug!"

The elites in the VIP stands raised their champagne flutes, their laughter rising and falling in waves. They were treating my humiliation as exquisite entertainment.

I strained to roll my eyes upward, looking toward the high platform.

Eileen's fingernails had dug so deeply into her palms that blood was now dripping through her fingers.

She watched me lying defenseless in the mud, and the last trace of pity in her eyes sputtered out. It was replaced by a profound, agonizing hatred.

She hated my weakness. She hated that I didn't even have the courage to fight back to protect our daughter. She bit her lip until it bled, her silent tears finally breaking their banks.

I closed my eyes and swallowed the blood pooling in my throat.

The three-minute countdown finally hit zero.

The cyborg kicked me hard, sending me sliding to the edge of the chain-link fence. I slumped to the ground like a pile of wet mud, spitting out a mouthful of blood and shattered teeth.

Through my blood-blurred vision, I locked my eyes onto Julian, who was looking down at me while taking a leisurely sip of his wine.

The ticking in my earpiece remained steady.

In the depths of my mind, I carved a single name. Julian.