Author's note:
I will be shifting the tone. After revising the previous chapters, I concluded that they seem quite amateurish and the tone is a bit formal, stiff, and maybe a bit shallow so I will need to some time to change those things. Dialogues will also be improved.
Also, upon reflecting, I found that using the name Xin isn't ideal, as the Japanese name reminds me of certain Japanese protagonists, so I'll change it to Xin Ai.
If you have any other questions or suggestions, please join the Discord server in the synopsis.
Also, I'll reveal internal monologue once in a while. This will be the first and last fast paced arc in arc 1. Arc 2 has more mystery and actions. It won't be fast paced but not slow either. Realistic pace.
Thank you for your support and collections.
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Everyone fell silent.
The silence in the room hung heavy, almost suffocating. It was the kind of silence that comes after a storm, where everything feels too still, too quiet—too uncertain.
Maria could feel it pressing against her chest, pushing the air out of her lungs as she stood frozen, unable to tear her eyes away from Marcus.
Maria felt her heart drop into the abyss named despair as Marcus's rage passed the threshold of his irascible and short-circuited patience. " flicker of something primal sparked in his eyes, and his grip tightened around the bar, his knuckles white, and his muscles coiled like a spring ready to snap.
The look on his face… it was as though he had already decided that Xin Ai's life wasn't worth the air in his lungs, as if all the years of pent-up frustration had suddenly boiled over into this singular, destructive moment.
He rapidly rushed towards Xin's location with his dark, black unique metal bar intending to crush the young man's head to bean paste.
"No!! "
She screamed in despair, as she attempted to grab Marcus's shirt, only for her fingertips failing to and grabbing the empty, hollow air.
For a moment, Maria felt as though the world had stopped. The screams, the chaos, the blood—they all seemed to fade away as her eyes remained locked on Marcus, her heart pounding in her chest.
Tears traced the lines of her cheeks, the memories flickering in her mind like an old film reel. She could almost hear his laughter, distant now."
But then, with a simple sigh, Xin Ai moved. It wasn't the sudden, frantic movement of someone in a life-or-death struggle.
It was a quiet step aside—an effortless motion, almost graceful in its simplicity. He didn't look at Marcus as the man's fury continued its path, barreling past him with blind determination.
And then, just as quickly as the danger had risen, it fell.
He was spacing out in the air, his fingertips not even twitching.
Everyone present in the room gasped in shock and confusion, all of the having the same thoughts coursing through their veins, as if a toxin had seeped into their flowing blood.
the rage that had once consumed him was gone, replaced by something… empty.
His arm hung limply at his side, the bar slipping from his fingers as if it were a weight he could no longer hold. He didn't even twitch.
Only Maria covered her mouth with her hands as she tried suppressing her tears from coming out, her hand trembling in grief as she collapsed to the floor weakly, looking hollowly at the clean, shining floor.
A thin red line appeared horizontally in the center of Marcus's head, before his upper face slid off of his body.
A small black and red fountain erupted from the place that was once considered the center of his war-experienced looking face, revealing pink and greyish matter underneath, with a red liquid seeping slowly into the canals like a small river.
And he stood there.
A few people vomited to the floor, wrenching all they had eaten that evening, and a few were unable to stop the flow of tears from their eyes, their eyes glued to their ex-commander. Two or three looked towards to source of this mess, a young man who held an odachi over his back casually, staring at the half-head in the ground in disinterest.
All the guards rushed to their father and role model figure as some of them sobbed and some of them starting coming up with revenge plans on the young man.
Tears streamed down Maria's face as she mentally broke down, recalling all the moments of her childhood where Marcus had supported her, gifting her for her 6th birthday, playing with her, etc. He was like a father to her, better than than any father she could wish for.
And yet...yet....
Tap, Tap, Tap
A slick man wearing a white classic shirt with a black bowtie and black classic pants entered the scene as he walked out of a room deep inside, hands in pocket as he scrolled his phone in boredom.
The man had silver hair that was parted from the middle, with the edges of it being dark blue. He wore rimless rectangular glasses and had an emotionless expression painted on his face, sighing in untold acedia, his dull yet logical eyes lazily looking around the mess of a room.
The man adjusted the bridge of his glasses using his middle finger as he looked around the mess of a lounge. Tables and chairs were flipped over and destroyed, blood was here and there, Maria and guards were crying over a half-headless body , and a half-head was just refreshingly looking angry for no clear reason.
With a sigh showing no signs of emotional ripples, he spoke to no one in general as he adjusted his suit. The man was busy and had no times for farces, his overly calm demeanor expressing his undeniable experience of handling similar situations.
"Who caused this mess?"
His voice radiated with the room, neither low nor loud, but strangely average, holding unquestionable authority. Everyone in the room except Maria who was still crying was intently staring with hatred towards the young man who had caused this mess.
Seeing everyone looking at him in 'admiration', Xin couldn't help but shrug with a prideful expression etched upon his face, expressing his satisfaction with the spotlight directed towards him.
Four eyes knitted his eyebrows for a moment upon seeing the young man for the first time and not noticing him as if he was a mere side extra, before he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes and putting them back on while adjusting them to get a better view of the young man in front of him.
"Mr. Olympia," he said, flatly. "You're late. The supposed meeting concluded... three weeks, two days, seventeen hours, forty-two minutes, and…"
Four eyes gaze lowered as it locked on his expensive wristwatch that costed at least enough to feed a whole family for decades, for a moment
"....And 32 seconds exactly"
He turned sideways before speaking a cold, logical voice that held no warmth nor condolences for the victims in the room.
"See to the girl. Clean this up. If anyone's thinking of revenge, then don't. You won't survive it. And neither will your children. So do the right thing, and don't make me have to come to your families to deliver your head to them before taking theirs in turn. I don't like working overtime."
There it was again, his emotionless pragmatism, spoken like a man reading a grocery list echoed through to boom like wind.
As the bodies were moved and the blood scrubbed away, Four-Eyes gestured for Xin to follow, before giving his back to him and walking alone. Xin merely shrugged his shoulders before following him.
They moved through corridors lined with velvet drapery and oil paintings of tyrants long dead. It was a place of power—but more importantly, of performance.
Xin walked silently, scanning every detail.
The walls were thick. Reinforced. Cameras hidden in flower vases. Heat sensors in the floor. This wasn't just an estate—it was a fortress wearing a tuxedo.
"How's Gracia?" Xin asked in profound curiosity.
The question hung in the air like perfume—pointless, fragrant, and slightly irritating.
Four-Eyes smirked, his lips quivering for a moment.
"Ever since you ghosted the first summit, he's convinced you stole the hundred thousand Sing dollars and vanished. Talk about cheating him out of his money and taking him as a fool, heh."
I wonder what they prepared for dinner.
"Idiot," Xin muttered in dismay. "Who invests money in me and expects returns?"
Four-eyes sighed once more in weariness, before mumbling under his breath something akin to 'I don't get paid enough for this'.
All he wished to do was go back home, eat a luxurious meal, read his favorite book on logistics before passing out. His boss didn't let him take for a moment, claiming it was for his own good in gaining experience.
Merely remembering his boss who gave him a whole lecture on human sociability and interaction experience made him shiver for a moment before he calmed his self internally.
Silence went on between them as Xin scanned the environment around him. He had always been such a curious child.
The walls were decorated with rich tapestries and paintings, depicting grandiose scenes of power and conquest. At the end of the hallway, they came to a set of heavy, dark wooden doors. These, too, were locked but Xin didn't seem bothered.
A few steps ahead, two heavily armed guards stood in front of the doors, their faces obscured by identical, pitch-black masks.
They were tall, muscular, and their armor was state-of-the-art—bulging with hidden equipment that was clearly designed for one thing: intimidation.
Xin stopped in front of them, a casual smile crossing his face.
The guards didn't flinch. One of them stepped forward, his voice muffled but clear behind his mask. Four eyes spoke to him in fluent Italian which Xin had no idea what he was saying.
The guard looked him up and down briefly before signaling to the other guard.
With a swift motion, the other guard stepped aside, unlocking the door. Xin stepped forward, the man.
The room inside was darker, lit only at the table by five yellow drum lanterns hanging from the ceiling directly that had a feast on it, and a few floor lamps at the corner of the room. There were even couches, arm chairs, a smart TV that was removed from all the tracker chips inside, a table of poker at the side, and few white neon lights at the top edges of the room.
As soon as they stepped through, they were greeted by a cold chill in the air, and the heavy silence of the space seemed to close in on them.
The room was massive, far larger than anything Xin had expected. But it wasn't the size of the room that caught his attention; but the large glass windows that took up the entire walls as if they were observing the small world like gods, and the people inside.
Xin's focus however was mainly on the food in front of him, as he managed to hold himself from jumping on the feast in front of his eyes.
Wow, they really prepared for this meeting. I never thought I would have this for dinner. Thought I would have to go out and buy something like fast food again for tonight...
Inwardly, Xin was sniffing emotionally, visible affected by the warmth of the consideration of others for his poor soul.
The room was full of individuals, each masked, except two individuals, each shrouded in mystery. They sat around a long, polished table made of dark oak, surrounded by various screens and holographic displays that emitted a cold glow.
"Uh.. was I supposed to wear a mask?" Xin tilted his head in confusion as he noticed the people sitting in the room with anonymous identities.
Why do they look like they were waiting for me? I don't remember telling anyone I would be making my grand debut here tonight.
One of the lenses of four-eyes glasses cracked at Xin's question.
"Cough....cough...."
Four-eyes coughed to hide his embarrassment. He had forgot to inform Xin of the anonymous procedures before coming here, and he would no doubt get scolded by his boss later. His gaze went to a girl that appeared in her twenties scrolling her phone, visibly shuddering in fear at the up-coming lecture that would fracture the thin threads of his exhausted mind.
Despite the girl appearing to be nonchalantly scrolling his phone, he knew better than to think that she would leave out such an entertaining situation and scold him for his forgetfulness. It was obvious she was keeping tabs on what was happening.
Imaginary tears rolled down his eyes in acceptance as he saw his drained spirit ascending the heavens.
He however quickly disguised his embarrassment behind a wall of indifference as he cleared his throat, scanning everyone in the room.
"If you may, kind sir"
Xin on the other hand was reaching his limit of hunger as his predatory gaze landed on a roasted chicken seated sadly alone on the table, wishing for the warm embrace of any white teeth to chew on it.
Hehe..