Barnaby dabbed his forehead with a silk handkerchief, his round face glistening with sweat under the glow of the mana lamps.

"The situation is… unfavorable, Young Master, I mean, Lord Zero."

Barnaby corrected himself hastily, glancing at the masked figure sitting behind the mahogany desk.

Even though he knew it was Damien under the porcelain mask, the air in the room made his instincts scream danger.

The playful boy who rescued him was gone. In his place sat a statue radiating a suffocating, heavy pressure.

"Speak," Zero's voice emerged, distorted by the mask's enchantment. It sounded like gravel grinding against steel.

"It's the Steel Guild," Barnaby stammered, shuffling his papers.

"They supply 80% of the refined mithril and iron in Gravestone. We need those materials for the new assembly line."

"And?"

"And… Guildmaster Voros has blocked our shipment. He says the Black Thread is an 'unverified entity.

' He demanded a 50% price hike and… a meeting with the owner to discuss 'protection fees.'"

Zero tapped his finger on the desk.

Tap. Tap.

The sound echoed loudly in the silent office.

"Protection fees," Zero repeated, the painted smile on his mask seeming to widen mockingly.

"A 3rd Order blacksmith wants to charge me for protection."

Although he currently did'nt have the Voss family backing and was wanted, but it wasn't to the point where any cat and dog could dare challenge him

Thinking of this, he could'nt help but be angry.

"He has the backing of the local Magistrate," Barnaby added nervously.

"And he has about fifty armed guards. If we fight him openly, the city guards might intervene, and we'll lose our supply chain."

"Barnaby," Zero stood up. The shadows in the room seemed to stretch toward him, clinging to his coat.

"You're thinking like a merchant. negotiations, laws, and margins."

Zero walked to the window, looking out at the sprawling, dirty skyline of Gravestone's industrial district. Smoke billowed from the foundries, choking the stars.

"While those things are indeed important, but for our future plans, they won't be our main decision makers."

He turned back.

"Barnaby. Do you remember those experimental Image-Projection Crystals I brought from Ironforge?"

Thinking of his last major appearance as Zero, Damien had an idea

"The… the broadcast prototypes?" Barnaby blinked. "Yes, but they're unstable. They consume massive amounts of mana."

"Prepare them," Zero ordered. "Hook them up to the mana grid of the entire downtown district."

"The… the entire district?" Barnaby's jaw dropped.

"Lord Zero, that will cause a blackout! And what are we broadcasting?"

Zero walked to the coat rack and grabbed his black fedora, placing it over his silver hair.

"We are broadcasting a hostile takeover."

"Prepare the carriage. We are going to the Steel Guild."

.....

[The Industrial District - 1 Hour Later]

The Steel Guild Hall was a fortress of iron and soot.

Inside, Guildmaster Voros, a burly man with a beard singed by fire and arms thick as tree trunks, laughed as he slammed a tankard of ale onto the table.

"That new company will fold by tomorrow!" Voros roared to his lieutenants.

"The Black Thread? Bah! Just some noble brat playing shopkeeper. He'll pay the fee, or he'll starve for steel!"

Around him, his men laughed. They were confident. They ruled this district.

ZZZZT.

Suddenly, the lights in the hall flickered.

"What the?" Voros frowned.

Outside, the hum of the city died. The streetlamps sizzled and went dark. The factories ground to a halt as the power was forcibly rerouted.

Total silence descended on Gravestone.

Then, the sky lit up.

HUMMMMM.

Four massive beams of blue light shot up from the corners of the Steel Guild, converging in the air above the building.

The mana coalesced, forming a gigantic, three-dimensional holographic projection in the night sky.

It was a face.

A white, porcelain mask with a mocking smile and a black "0" on the forehead.

The projection was a hundred feet tall, the only source of light in the darkened city.

"Citizens of Gravestone," a voice boomed from the sky, amplified by wind magic to reach every ear.

It rolled over the rooftops, a cold, distorted whisper that seemed to speak directly inside their skulls.

"I am Zero."

Voros stumbled out of the Guild Hall, staring up at the giant face in the sky. "What… what kind of magic is this?"

"The Steel Guild," the giant voice continued,

"has decided to interrupt the flow of progress. They have chosen greed over survival."

"And most importantly, they annoyed someone who was already in a bad mood"

Thinking about the girls who just left, Damien felt extremely irritated

He wanted to vent his anger, and what better way than an anoying force

"Therefore, their management is… terminated."

CRASH!

The front doors of the Steel Guild exploded inward.

Splinters of iron and wood rained down on the guards.

Through the dust, a single figure walked in. He wore a long black coat, a fedora, and the same white mask that hovered in the sky above.

"It's him!" A guard shouted. "Get him!"

Ten guards charged. They were 2nd Order warriors, strong enough to handle bandits.

Zero continued forward, unbothered.

He simply raised his left hand.

"Shadow Art: Spikes."

Thwip-Thwip-Thwip.

Shadows erupted from the floor like jagged spears.

In a blink, ten guards were pinned to the ceiling, skewered through their armor by solid darkness. They died before they could even scream.

Zero kept walking.

He stepped over the groaning men, his boots clicking rhythmically on the metal floor.

Guildmaster Voros stood at the end of the hall, clutching his massive war hammer. His face was pale, but his pride as a 3rd Order warrior held him steady.

"You think you can walk in here?!" Voros roared, his aura flaring orange.

"I am a Peak 3rd Order! I have crushed wyverns with this hammer!"

"Molten Smash!"

Voros leaped into the air. His hammer glowed red-hot, carrying enough force to flatten a tank.

Zero stopped.

He looked up at the descending hammer.

Ignoring his blade and eschewing his spells, he simply raised his right hand, wreathed in a faint, suppressive Golden Aura.

CLANG.

The sound was deafening.

The hammer stopped dead.

Zero had caught the head of the war hammer with one hand.

The floor beneath Zero remained pristine. The shockwave vanished instantly, absorbed by the terrifying density of his body.

"Peak 3rd Order?" Zero asked, his head tilting to the side. "In the face of a King… an ant is still an ant."

Voros's eyes bulged. He tried to pull the hammer back, but it wouldn't move. It was like trying to uproot a mountain.

"Let go!" Voros screamed.

"As you wish."

Zero released his grip.

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