Under a massive glass dome filled with countless stars, the ceiling glowed with every color imaginable. Yet three stars shone brighter than all the others, casting an eerie light over the chamber below.
Eridius stood beneath them.
Several A Corp members surrounded him, weapons drawn and aimed directly at him. Guns, blades, and various pieces of unfamiliar equipment were all pointed toward the thirteen-year-old.
Eridius, meanwhile, looked completely unfazed.
His eyes were glowing in seven different colors, each one shifting independently as though something far beyond human comprehension was being processed inside his head.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then—
The glow abruptly vanished.
Eridius blinked.
He stared at the people surrounding him.
Then at the stars above.
Then back at them.
He looked like someone who had just witnessed the universe itself commit a crime against logic.
[Eridius]: I just watched a horror beyond comprehension...
A pause.
He rubbed his eyes.
[Eridius]: They explained it to me.
Another pause.
[Eridius]: And I still don't understand a single fucking thing.
One of the A Corp members slowly lowered his weapon.
Eridius pointed vaguely toward the ceiling.
[Eridius]: Why were they all talking at the same time?
A beat.
[Eridius]: Why does time flow in different directions?
Another.
[Eridius]: Why did one of them have three pasts?
He stared blankly into the distance.
[Eridius]: And why did the explanation somehow make it less understandable?
Silence.
Eridius slowly looked back at the A Corp members.
[Eridius]: I think my brain just filed for resignation.
A long pause.
Then one of the A Corp members quietly raised his weapon again.
Eridius sighed.
A beat.
[Eridius]: I deserved that. So... where's Miss Garion?
[Garion]: Behind you.
Eridius froze.
Slowly, he turned around.
His eyes widened.
Garion smiled.
Eridius immediately jumped straight into the air like a startled cat and somehow stuck himself to the glass dome above them.
Garion calmly looked up at him.
She reached into her hand and held up the ticket.
RIP.
Garion tore the ticket in half.
The instant she did, one of the three stars above them suddenly shone brighter than all the others.
For a brief moment, the entire sky seemed to revolve around it.
Then—
FWOOM.
The star went dark.
Not dimmed.
Not disappeared behind clouds.
It simply ceased to shine.
One by one, the remaining stars vanished as well.
Within seconds, the entire sky had become an endless black void.
No stars.
No moonlight.
Nothing.
Eridius stared upward from his position on the dome.
A long pause.
[Eridius]: I think you may have actually killed a god.
Garion calmly brushed a piece of paper from her sleeve.
[Garion]: That should teach them never to become arrogant again.
She glanced toward the other A Corp members.
[Garion]: Which star fell again?
One of the employees immediately opened a thick astronomical record and began flipping through the pages.
After a moment, they stopped.
[???]: The Star of Strength and Arrogance.
A pause.
[???]: Kuranta the Impossible.
Eridius slowly lowered himself from the dome.
[Eridius]: ...You know, I was expecting a truck.
Garion smiled.
[Garion]: The truck was unnecessary.
[Eridius]: That's somehow more terrifying. I mean, think about it—someone has enough power to kill a Star, and nobody even knows what else they're capable of.
A beat.
[???]: Hey, I do have a truck.
Both of them slowly turned toward the voice.
Silence.
A truck was somehow parked inside the facility.
Its driver leaned out of the window, holding a small paper with five completely blank stars printed across it.
[Truck Driver]: So... how would you rate our service?
Eridius stared at him.
Then at the truck.
Then back at him.
[Eridius]: ...Where did you even come from?
The driver shrugged.
[Truck Driver]: We go wherever we're needed.
Garion smiled.
She calmly reached over and marked all five stars.
[Garion]: You deserve five stars.
The driver beamed.
[Truck Driver]: Thank you for choosing Truck-Kun™!
The truck immediately drove away.
Eridius watched it disappear.
A long silence followed.
He slowly looked at Garion.
[Eridius]: Did we just get a customer satisfaction survey from a truck?
A pause.
Eridius slowly turned back toward Garion.
[Eridius]: I want to make a deal with you about something.
Garion raised an eyebrow.
[Garion]: Then let's see if you have anything interesting enough to offer.
Eridius opened his inventory.
He reached inside and pulled out two glowing bottles.
He placed the two [STR-UP Potions] on the table.
Then he took out a box of tea.
[Eridius]: Second, tea.
Garion's eyes immediately focused on it.
[Eridius]: And finally—
He pulled out the Mummified Human.
The room went completely silent.
Garion froze.
The other A Corp employees froze.
Even Eridius stared at the thing for a moment.
The mummified corpse suddenly twitched.
Everyone stared.
A beat.
She slowly looked at Eridius.
[Garion]: Where the hell did you get that?
Another silence.
[Eridius]: Don't ask.
The mummified human weakly raised one hand.
Garion stared at it for several seconds before finally looking back at the two potions.
Her expression changed immediately.
She folded her arms.
[Garion]: Talk. What do you want for these?
Eridius pointed at the potions.
[Eridius]: You really want those [STR-UP Potions], don't you?
Garion: Of course.
She glanced toward the mummified human.
[Garion]: Do you seriously think I want that mummy after whatever the hell happened to it in that strange inventory space?
Garion ignored it.
[Garion]: Those potions, however, are useful.
Eridius smiled.
[Eridius]: Then we have something to negotiate.
Garion's smile returned.
She leaned forward.
[Garion]: Let's see how much you're willing to ask for them.
The mummified human weakly raised its hand again.
Eridius glanced at it.
[Eridius]: Someone give him some water before he becomes another gacha reward.
Garion sighed.
[Garion]: Fine. Give the mummy some water.
One of the A Corp employees immediately left.
[???]: Yes, ma'am.
Eridius looked back at Garion.
[Eridius]: Now, about my price...
That day, Eridius left A Corp with a surprisingly satisfied smile.
The negotiations had gone far better than he expected.
He had secured fifty additional slots for his Soldiers and Captains, obtained a new recruit through his summon, and, most importantly, walked away with two official documents from B Corp approving his Singularity technique.
But that wasn't all.
He had also acquired several land deeds, a business license, and—more importantly—official identity papers and fabricated backgrounds for fifty people.
In the City, every birth and death was documented.
If someone existed without a recorded history, that alone was suspicious.
And if absolutely nothing could be found about them...
Then people started asking a much more dangerous question:
Are they even human?
Eridius's new paperwork gave his soldiers and captains something they desperately needed:
A history.
Names.
Birth records.
Backgrounds.
Employment histories.
Enough documentation to make them appear as ordinary people who had simply been overlooked by the City's bureaucracy.
It also gave Eridius a degree of protection.
If one of the Wings—especially corporations like N Corp or T Corp—ever became interested in his resources, they could no longer simply point at his people and ask where they came from.
As far as the City's records were concerned...
They had always been there.
For once, Eridius felt like he had actually won a negotiation.
He left A Corp happily.
And, for the first time since arriving in the City, he walked away carrying something almost as valuable as power:
Legitimacy.
[Back at A Corp]
Garion leaned back in her chair, staring at the two red bottles sitting on the table.
[STR-UP Potion]
{Increases STR by 50% when consumed.}
{Limit: Three uses.}
She sighed.
[Garion]: I lost to that brat.
A pause.
She picked up one of the bottles and examined it.
A small smile appeared.
[Garion]: The deal was worth it.
She set the potion down.
Her eyes drifted toward the door Eridius had disappeared through.
[Garion]: Too bad he had that damn monocle.
[???]: The appraisal device?
She clicked her tongue.
[Garion]: If he hadn't been able to see what everything was actually worth, I could've gotten much more out of him.
A pause.
Garion leaned back.
She stared at the potion again.
[Garion]: If my schedule weren't already packed with investigations and helping H Corp with their cleaning operations...
She smiled.
[Garion]: I would've taken him in.
The room went quiet.
[???]: As an apprentice?
Garion shook her head.
A beat.
Silence.
Everyone in the room stopped moving.
Slowly, they turned toward Garion.
One employee blinked.
Another lowered their paperwork.
A third simply stared.
[???]: You mean... legally adopting Eridius?
[Garion]: That's generally what adoption means.
Another uncomfortable silence.
[???]: He's thirteen.
[Garion]: I know.
[???]: And you just threatened to kill him earlier.
[Garion]: I also offered him tea.
[???]: That's not how parenting works.
Garion shrugged.
[Garion]: I'm learning.
Everyone stared at her.
Garion calmly picked up her tea.
[Garion]: Besides, he's interesting.
A pause.
She took a sip.
[Garion]: And someone needs to stop him from using that ridiculous inventory of his without supervision.
[???]: That's your reason for wanting to adopt him?
Garion thought about it.
She smiled.
[Garion]: The other reason is that he's funny.
Silence.
One employee quietly returned to their paperwork.
[???]: ...I'm not paid enough for this.
[Garion]: Neither am I.
A pause.
[???]: You are literally one of the highest-ranking people in this building.
[Back to Eridius]
It had been a week since Eridius left A Corp.
He had spent most of that time traveling between different Nests and Backstreets, recruiting people wherever he could find them.
Thanks to the documents A Corp had provided him, Eridius could now legally enter most Nests without immediately attracting attention.
It was an unusual privilege for someone from the Backstreets.
Naturally, there was one obvious question.
Why not use the trains?
Eridius had considered it.
Then remembered that W Corp controlled the Warp Trains and their stations.
And anyone familiar with the City knew that W Corp and T Corp had a rather... cozy relationship.
Eridius wasn't interested in testing either corporation's patience.
So he walked.
A lot.
By the end of the week, he had recruited people from several different districts and added them to his growing organization.
Eventually, however, he decided it was time to return home.
He pushed open the familiar door to Ragnarock Café.
[Ding!]
[Eridius]: Hey, Alexander, I'm—
He stopped.
His sentence died in his throat.
Eridius slowly looked around.
The café was...
Bigger.
Much bigger.
The tiny establishment he had left behind was gone.
In its place stood a spacious, freshly renovated café with several floors, new tables, polished counters, expanded kitchens, and enough seating to accommodate a small army.
But that wasn't the strangest part.
Walking between the tables were dozens of humanoid cockroaches.
Some carried trays.
Others prepared coffee.
One was wiping down a table.
Another was taking orders from a Fixer.
A particularly large one stood behind the counter, carefully pouring coffee into a customer's cup.
[Customer]: Thank you.
Eridius stared.
The cockroach nodded politely and walked away.
Eridius slowly turned toward Alexander.
Alexander was calmly standing behind the counter, wearing his usual apron.
Beside him, another cockroach was polishing a coffee machine.
He looked around again.
[Eridius]: What happened here?
[Chapter End]
[ When the mother embraces her closest daughter, the yellow light of mercy from the master shall swallow the dark light of the dispersing city of blasphemy ]