Vance saw Ethan coming and panic shot through him. His body flickered as he tried to dodge to the side, desperate to get away.

But it was too late.

Ethan's Domain of the Dead had already spread out, locking Vance in like a fly caught in a spider's web. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free.

Realizing death was imminent, Vance's face twisted with fury and desperation. He let out a guttural snarl, eyes wild.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking everyone with me!"

He shoved a hand into his pocket and yanked out a round metal sphere.

The crystal core inside pulsed with energy, glowing hotter and brighter—it was seconds from activation.

"Crystal Core Bomb!"

Ricky and the waitress, along with the others nearby, froze in terror.

That bomb wasn't some low-grade toy—it had an S-class core embedded in it. If it went off, everything in the vicinity would be reduced to ash.

With a final burst of strength, Vance hurled the bomb into the air.

The metal sphere arced upward, spinning through the air, heading straight for the ceiling. It was about to detonate.

Everyone stared, breath caught in their throats. Time seemed to freeze. Life and death hung by a thread.

Then—just like that—Ethan flicked his wrist.

The space above them twisted unnaturally, and the S-class Crystal Core Bomb vanished into thin air.

Gone. Just like that.

The explosion that should've ended them all was effortlessly neutralized.

Ricky and the others had already braced themselves for death. Ricky even saw his girlfriend's face flash through his mind one last time.

"Huh? …It's gone?"

They all stood there, dumbfounded.

Especially Vance.

He was still standing in place, wounded and waiting for the explosion to take him out. But nothing happened.

He blinked, confused, awkwardly frozen in place.

"What the hell just happened?"

His answer came in the form of a jet-black katana slicing through the air.

He didn't even have the strength to dodge. All he could do was watch as the blade closed in—until it cleaved clean through his neck.

Blood sprayed across the wall in a vivid arc.

His headless body crumpled to the floor.

Just like that, the man who ran the Black Market was dead—cut down by Ethan.

Ricky stood in the back, stunned. His whole body felt numb. In all his twenty-something years of life, nothing had ever hit him this hard.

"Is Captain… wiping out the entire Black Market?"

With Vance dead, the ones most terrified now were the waitress and the secretary. The two women huddled in a corner, trembling like baby chicks caught in a storm.

"P-please… don't kill me! Dane, I'll do whatever you want, I swear!" the waitress sobbed, her voice cracking. All her earlier arrogance and coldness had vanished. Even the way she addressed him had changed—more respectful now, almost pleading.

Ricky couldn't help but feel a little smug.

Not so high and mighty now, huh?

Looks like karma's finally serving her a tall glass of payback…

But Ethan didn't even blink.

Just like before, he didn't say a word to her. He raised his blade—and brought it down.

Her throat opened in a clean slash, blood spraying across the secretary's face.

The secretary's pale skin was now streaked with crimson. Her eyes went wide and blank—like her mind had just shut down from fear.

Ethan stepped in front of her, looking down with cold, unreadable eyes.

"Can we talk?"

"Uh…" Her whole body trembled. His tone sounded polite, but there was no mistaking it—this wasn't a request.

"Y-yes! Yes, of course! I'll do whatever you want!"

"Then go get me the files on all the consignors," Ethan said flatly.

"O-okay, okay…" she stammered, scrambling to her feet.

She rushed to the back of the office, where a hidden compartment was built into the wall. It connected to a secure vault.

Her hands shook as she punched in a series of codes. After several tries, there was a loud click—and the vault door swung open.

"Holy shit!"

The moment the vault door swung open, Ricky's eyes nearly popped out of his head. What he saw inside was a mountain—no, a damn fortress—of gold bars stacked high.

Just eyeballing it, there had to be at least a billion Credits' worth in there.

This was the real treasure trove of the Black Market—more shocking, more tangible than any of the crystal cores Ethan had pulled out earlier.

Ricky's knees went weak. He could barely stand.

"Gold bars! So many freakin' gold bars!!!"

But Ethan didn't even glance at them. To him, gold was about as valuable as scrap metal. What he cared about were the consignor records.

The secretary, still trembling, dug through the vault and pulled out a thick stack of paper files. Everything was recorded on paper—old-school, but the safest and most secure method.

"Here… here's everything you asked for," she stammered, holding the documents out with shaking hands.

"Mm." Ethan gave a noncommittal grunt and started flipping through them casually.

Didn't take long before he found what he was looking for: the sellers of the Guard Mech and the Lightsaber. The names were Trent Hawke and Jolene Quinn.

"This Trent guy—who is he?" Ethan asked, eyes narrowing.

"He… he's from the Inner City. The eldest son of the Hawke family. His father, Howard Hawke, is the Chief of Security over there. Their family developed the Guard Mechs and handles all the maintenance and upgrades."

She paused, then added, "But Howard's son is a total gambling addict. Lost a ton of money a while back, so he secretly took one of the family's mechs and had his people sell it off. That's how it ended up here on consignment."

"Hmm. Not bad." Ethan nodded, clearly pleased. That kind of intel was exactly what he needed—it gave him a clear trail to follow.

"What about Jolene Quinn, the one who sold the Lightsaber?"

"She… we don't really know. Her identity's kind of a mystery. All we know is she's also from the Inner City," the secretary explained, clearly nervous.

When it came to the Inner City, even she didn't know much.

"Alright…" Ethan murmured, nodding again. Looked like he'd have to make a trip to the Inner City himself.

The Inner City's security forces were mostly controlled by a few powerful human families. The Hawkes were one of them. Another had been the LORN family—the same one Ethan had already wiped out.

These families weren't just rich—they had serious tech. Especially in communications. They specialized in sending signals into deep space. And if anyone out there responded, they'd launch full-scale invasions to strip planets of their resources.

There used to be several civilizations near Originis. Now? All gone. Plundered into oblivion.

Of course, the LORN family hadn't come to Earth just for looting. That much was obvious.

What else they were after… Ethan would have to dig deeper to find out.

While he stood there lost in thought, the secretary's pale face was drenched in cold sweat.

"I've told you… everything I know. You're not… gonna kill me, right?"

Ethan didn't even look at her. "Nah. I'm not gonna kill you. You can go."

The woman let out a shaky breath, like she'd just been pardoned by God himself. Without wasting a second, she bolted past Ricky, flung the door open, and ran outside.

Ricky glanced after her, a little surprised. Huh. Boss actually let someone live. Guess he's got a soft side after all.

But just as the secretary made it out the door, her voice rang out in a shrill scream:

"Help! Somebody help! Vance is dead! He killed Vance and he's robbing the Black Market! The killer's still inside—go! Go get him!"

"What?! Someone's robbing the Black Market?!"

"Who the hell's got the balls to do that?!"

"Come on, let's check it out!"

"..."

Out in the main hall, there were still plenty of people around. Hearing the commotion, they started rushing toward the vault.

The secretary, seeing the crowd gather, finally felt a sliver of safety. Her breathing steadied a little.

But then—she reached into her pocket.

Her fingers brushed against something heavy.

...

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