Chapter 84: Supply and Demand

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Supply and Demand

The blue energy dome over Genesis City hummed quietly against the morning sky. Inside the barrier, the streets were safe. Outside, the war had already started.

Donald stood in the War Room, watching a live satellite feed on the tactical table.

"Julian Vane didn’t waste any time," Aris said, pointing at the screen. She looked exhausted, holding a cup of black tea. "The Capital officially declared Genesis City a ’quarantine zone.’ They hired a private mercenary army called the Steel Vipers to blockade Route 7. That highway is our main artery for food and medical supplies."

Donald looked at the feed. A massive, makeshift fortress of concrete barriers and spiked steel wire blocked the multi-lane highway. Dozens of supply trucks were parked on the road, trapped. Heavily armed mercenaries patrolled the walls.

"How long until the city runs out of food?" Donald asked.

"Four days," Aris replied grimly. "If we don’t break that blockade, the citizens will panic. The smaller Guilds we just bought out will riot."

"They won’t get the chance," Donald said smoothly.

He unzipped his dark jacket and checked his gear. The Abyssal Impact gauntlet was securely strapped to his left forearm. Nyx fluttered down from the ceiling rafters, landing silently on his shoulder.

The shadows in the corner of the room suddenly rippled like dark water.

Sylvia stepped out of the floor. She wasn’t just walking out of the dark; she was gliding. Her new A-Rank [Shadow Sovereign] skill made her movements entirely silent and unnervingly smooth.

"I like the new trick," Evelyn said, walking into the room. The Valkyrie had her black hair tied back in a tight braid, wearing her sleek urban combat armor. "Ready to test it in the field?"

"Garrick gave me some new toys to put in my inventory," Sylvia smiled slightly, patting her flat shadow. "I’m ready."

"Let’s go buy a highway," Donald said.

Route 7 was a graveyard of broken asphalt and stalled supply trucks.

At the front of the traffic jam, the Steel Viper mercenaries had set up heavy mana-cannons behind a massive, ten-foot-thick wall of solid rock. The mercenary commander—a Level 62 Earth Mage—stood on top of the wall, smoking a cigar and watching the terrified truck drivers.

"Turn around!" the Commander shouted through a magical amplifier. "By order of the Capital, this road is closed! Anyone who drives past this line gets a cannon shell through their engine block!"

The truck drivers cowered in their cabs.

Suddenly, a sleek, black armored TIG transport vehicle drove right past the stalled trucks. It didn’t slow down. It drove straight toward the concrete wall.

"Light them up!" the Commander yelled.

Three heavy mana-cannons fired. Blue energy bolts the size of cars tore through the air, aimed directly at the transport.

The roof hatch of the transport popped open.

Evelyn launched herself into the sky. Her massive sapphire-and-gold wings erupted, catching the sunlight. She didn’t dodge the cannon fire. She drew the Bloodhound’s Fang and swung it in a blinding silver arc.

The holy fire off her blade completely vaporized the incoming energy bolts.

"S-Rank!" a mercenary screamed in panic. "They have an S-Rank!"

Evelyn didn’t give them time to reload. She tucked her wings and dive-bombed straight toward the massive rock wall. She channeled her kinetic energy into her boots and slammed into the barricade.

BOOM.

The ten-foot-thick wall of solid earth exploded into gravel. Mercenaries were thrown screaming into the air.

Before the dust even settled, the black transport drifted to a halt. Donald stepped out, adjusting the cuffs of his jacket.

"Sylvia," Donald said calmly. "Clear the turrets."

Sylvia wasn’t in the transport. She was already in the shadows of the destroyed wall.

With her [Shadow Sovereign] skill active, the dark patches on the ground were like a high-speed transit network. She shot out from the shadow of a flipped jeep, appearing directly behind a mercenary gunner.

She didn’t use her daggers. She reached down into her own shadow.

Sylvia pulled out a massive, heavy, B-Rank stun grenade that Garrick had engineered. Because it had been stored in her shadow, it weighed absolutely nothing to her until she pulled it out.

She dropped the live grenade into the gunner’s lap and sank back into the floor.

BANG.

A shockwave of concussive force and blinding light knocked out an entire squad of mercenaries.

Sylvia reappeared fifty feet away, moving at double her normal speed as long as she stayed in the shade. She pulled a loaded tactical shotgun out of her shadow, blasted a mana-cannon’s power core to pieces, threw the empty gun back into her shadow, and vanished again.

It wasn’t a fight. It was a flawless, high-speed dismantling.

The Steel Viper Commander panicked. His blockade was falling apart in seconds. He raised his wooden staff, his eyes glowing with heavy, brown mana. The ground beneath the supply trucks began to violently shake.

[WARNING: High-Density Mana Signature Detected.]

[Enemy Skill: Tectonic Rift (A-Rank)]

"I’ll swallow the whole convoy!" the Commander screamed, slamming his staff into the ground to open a massive fissure under the civilian trucks.

Donald didn’t run. He just looked at the glowing earth magic ripping through the asphalt.

He raised his right hand.

"[Hostile Takeover]," Donald stated simply.

A golden, holographic receipt flashed in front of his eyes.

[Target Spell: Tectonic Rift (A-Rank)]

[Appraised Value: 800,000 System Credits.]

[Purchase Confirmed?]

"Buy it," Donald commanded.

[800,000 Credits Deducted.]

The violent earthquake stopped instantly. The glowing brown mana in the ground shifted into a bright, corporate gold. The Commander gasped, staring at his hands as his connection to the earth was completely severed.

"My turn," Donald said coldly.

He snapped his fingers.

The Tectonic Rift reversed. Instead of splitting the ground under the trucks, the asphalt directly beneath the mercenary camp violently shot upward. A massive pillar of solid rock launched the Commander and his remaining men fifty feet into the air. They crashed down into the dirt, groaning and completely defeated.

The highway was dead quiet.

Evelyn landed softly on the cracked road, resting her silver sword on her shoulder. Sylvia rose from a shadow next to Donald, looking thrilled with her new combat style.

Donald pulled up his System interface. He had broken the blockade, but he needed to make sure the Capital couldn’t just build another one tomorrow.

He navigated to the [Territory Expansion] tab.

[Purchase: Secure Trade Route (Route 7) - 1,000,000 Credits]

[Effect: Claims the designated highway as Guild Territory. Deploys automated B-Rank escort drones and healing stations along the route. Hostile entities suffer a 50% speed penalty on this road.]

"Confirm purchase," Donald said.

[1,000,000 Credits Deducted.]

[Trade Route Secured.]

A wave of golden light washed over the ruined highway. The broken asphalt instantly began to repair itself. Small, sleek metallic drones materialized in the air, humming quietly as they began patrolling the sides of the road.

Donald turned around and walked up to the lead supply truck. The driver was shaking behind the steering wheel.

Donald tapped on the glass. The driver slowly rolled the window down.

"The toll is waived today," Donald smiled behind his gold mask. "Welcome to Genesis City. Drive safe."

The driver stared in awe, then quickly slammed his foot on the gas. The massive convoy of trucks finally began rolling forward, crossing the border and heading into the city.

Donald watched the food and supplies roll in. His balance was down to 200,000 Credits. He was almost broke by his own standards.

"The Capital tried to starve us," Evelyn said, standing next to him as she watched the trucks. "What do you think Vane will try next?"

"I don’t care," Donald said, turning back toward their transport. "The defense phase is over. We have our walls, we have our supply lines, and Sylvia is fully awakened. It’s time we stop reacting."

He looked at Evelyn and Sylvia, his dark eyes sharp.

"Rest up tonight," Donald ordered. "Tomorrow, we stop farming the shallow levels of the Abyssal Gate. We’re taking the fight into the deep floors. We are going to hunt a Demon King."