154 POWER OF SPACE
"Enough," Sienna said, her voice cool but edged with command. "You've drained more psychic energy from him than you can handle."
Damen paused mid-step, startled. "How do you know that?"
Before she could answer, Lander's voice buzzed through the comms. "What's happening there? I'm getting nothing—just static."
Damen tapped his earbud. "Lander, can you hear—?"
"He can't hear you," Sienna interrupted. "I've muted your channel. No need to thank me."
Another figure entered behind her. It was Argent, another Quantum Mind, who is even more formidable than Kail.
"Why did you stop me from killing that weirdo?" Damen demanded.
Sienna tilted her head slightly, almost amused. "He's been hiding from me for months, thinking I wouldn't find him. And then you stumble in and drag him into the open."
Her gaze sharpened. "You've done me a favor, nephew."
"And how did you know I'm after him?" Damen asked.
"That's not hard. I've seen the footages from your meeting with the Rewind sisters up till your little sting operation. Boring", Argent replied.
"Damn you, Quantum mind", he cursed.
Damen thought he was careful but that meant nothing to a Quantum mind who could track every equipment and machine in his range. Even Kail couldn't stop him from prying.
"We don't mean any harm, Damen. That's what Argent does…his mind looks at everything. It so happens he came across your feeds", Sienna said.
"Why do you need him, the Chicken man?" Damen asked warily.
"He's an oracle, a true psychic seer—one in a generation," she said before adding, "Parading as a male escort and running a part-time killers' ring is an unforgivable squandering of that gift."
"He tried to have me killed. Twice," Damen said, his tone low.
Sienna smiled faintly. "And yet, you're alive. That counts for something. If you want compensation, take it from his hidden stash. He's sitting on a small fortune."
Damen folded his arms. "And the Order of the Black Cockerel?"
"Disbanded," she said simply. "From this moment on. I only need Coracle's gift, not his band of fetish-clad murderers."
She turned to leave, her steps as soft as dissolving mist.
"Wait," Damen called. "What are you doing in the slums … with those disappearances? Hundreds of people are gone."
"Ah, you've heard about that." Her smile curved wider, too calm, too knowing. "Rejuvenation, nephew. I'm giving them new life."
She laughed lightly, and her form shimmered and then vanished.
Damen exhaled.
He couldn't read her — not her motives, not her power. He could even feel true fear in her presence. She was far beyond Coracle's powers could compare.
"Is Sienna even stronger than a Rank-B Psychic? Nah... forget it. I can't do much about Sienna anyway", he admitted.
He turned to the ruined bar and headed to Coracle's office, scanning for any sign of the promised stash.
Then a voice said from behind him, "Looking for these?"
It was Liorea, holding several aur cards between her fingers like playing chips.
"Yes," Damen said, narrowing his eyes. "I spared him. Now I'll take his money."
Liorea flicked her wrist, and dozens of crates filled with glittering green jade aur cards appeared before him like magic.
"What the hell?" he muttered in shock.
"Coracle's fortune," she said. "All of it."
Damen's gaze swept over the piles. "How much blood money did he make?"
"More than you can imagine," Liorea replied, the aur's glow flickering in her eyes.
He folded his arms. "There's too much. How am I supposed to carry it all?"
"Allow me," she said.
In an instant, the room shimmered. Every crate, every gem, every coin vanished.
Damen's jaw tightened. "Where the hell did it go?"
"The same way it appeared," Liorea said smoothly. "I stored it. My ability is space compression. I can't fight like other metas, but I can hide an entire warehouse inside my dimension."
"You took all the money," Damen said flatly. "What about my share?"
She laughed, soft and knowing. "You can have all of it…if you let me work for you. I've lost my boss and my job. I need a new one."
"Liorea, is it?" Damen asked. "What makes you useful to me?"
"I'm good at business. When Coracle wanted to start his little assassination 'club,' I built everything—the front, the menu, the message boards. Every deal ran through me."
"So, you are the real mastermind behind Cockerel?" Damen asked.
"You can say that, but I only carried out orders. Coracle is the one who wants to start the club", Liorea replied.
"I'm not interested in running killers."
"Doesn't matter," she said confidently. "Whatever kind of empire you want, I can make it profitable."
Damen studied her—her poise, her nerve, and the way she'd just stolen half a billion aurs. She was practically offering her loyalty wrapped in fortune.
"Is such a good thing even possible?"
"All right," he said finally. "You can follow me. But I don't tolerate traitors."
"I won't betray you," Liorea said with a smile. "Not as long as you're the boss."
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Damen stepped out of the Big Cat Cosplay Bar, Liorea and several dozen androids in glossy rubber suits following behind him like silent shadows.
Lander climbed out of the van, his eyes wide. "What the hell is this?"
"We'll need transports to bring them back to GenSyn," Damen said calmly.
"No— I mean this." Lander gestured at the androids. "Where's Coracle?"
"Gone," Damen replied. "Slipped away. Not easy to catch the boss of a killer organization."
"I'll admit that," Lander said, frowning. "But what about… all these?"
Damen glanced over his shoulder. "Their boss ran away, so now they work for me."
Lander blinked. "You're not serious."
"Perfectly, serious," Damen said.
Then, he turned to Dorin, "You can have one of the rubber suits if you fancy."
Dorin groaned. "No. Not interested! Never."
-----
"What the hell are these?" Zairgid shouted, pointing at the rows of rubber-suited androids lined up across the hall.
"I'm thinking of replacing the nurses with them," Damen said casually.
"No way—over my dead body!" Zairgid barked.
Then his eyes shifted to the woman standing beside Damen. Not exactly his type, but cute—and the glasses didn't hurt. "And who's this beauty?"
"This," Damen said, "is Liorea Shearak. Since your heart's not really in business, I have found you an assistant. She's good at it."
Zairgid tilted his head skeptically. "All right, Liorea. What's your résumé? Any previous experience?"
Liorea smiled sweetly. "I co-founded and managed a killer organization called the Order of the Cockerel."
Zairgid froze. "Wait…killer organization? Are you out of your mind?"
"Relax," Damen cut in. "Just let her show you what she can do."
Liorea waved her hand. In an instant, dozens of crates materialized around them—stacked high with jade aur cards and glittering treasure.
Zairgid's jaw dropped. "What in the hell is this?"
"That's the profit she made for her last boss," Damen said. "Coracle."
Zairgid stared at the mountains of aur, then gave Damen a slow thumbs-up. "Fine. You win. As long as I get more time in the club."
So Liorea became Zairgid's assistant—handling GenSyn Industries' Sales and Corporate division with murderous precision.
Before Liorea was given any real responsibility she raised a hand.
"What now, Liorea?" Damen asked.
"I have a new proposal," she said.
"A proposal? So soon — about what?" Zairgid asked.
"Supplies for Fortress Myrone. I can get us several heavy artillery pieces and power cannons."
Zairgid blinked. "What? How do you even know what we are doing here?"
"I know a lot," Liorea replied, cool as glass. "Every dark secret in every major family in this city — I know them all. It's not hard to figure out what GenSyn Industry's real business is."
Damen waved a hand, skeptically. "Fine. Tell us the plan. Heavy artillery and power cannons are exclusive to the major families — Veyran Industry in particular. They don't sell that to Fortress Myrone. They never did."
"Who said anything about buying them?" she said.
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