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."
Dan 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."
Dan tapped his earbud. "Lander, can you hear—?"
"He can't hear you," Sienna interrupted. "I've muted your channel. No need to thank ."
Another figure entered behind her. It was Argent, another Quantum Mind, who is even more formidable than Kail.
"Why did you stop from killing that weirdo?" Dan demanded.
Sienna tilted her head slightly, almost amused. "He's been hiding from 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 a favor, nephew."
"And how did you know I'm after him?" Dan asked.
"That's not hard. I've seen the footages from your eting with the Rewind sisters up till your little sting operation. Boring", Argent replied.
"Damn you, Quantum mind", he cursed.
Dan thought he was careful but that ant nothing to a Quantum mind who could track every equipnt and machine in his range. Even Kail couldn't stop him from prying.
"We don't an any harm, Dan. That's what Argent does…his mind looks at everything. It so happens he ca across your feeds", Sienna said.
"Why do you need him, the Chicken man?" Dan 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-ti killers' ring is an unforgivable squandering of that gift."
"He tried to have killed. Twice," Dan said, his tone low.
Sienna smiled faintly. "And yet, you're alive. That counts for sothing. If you want compensation, take it from his hidden stash. He's sitting on a small fortune."
Dan folded his arms. "And the Order of the Black Cockerel?"
"Disbanded," she said simply. "From this mont 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," Dan 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 shimred and then vanished.
Dan 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," Dan 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."
Dan'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 ," she said.
In an instant, the room shimred. Every crate, every gem, every coin vanished.
Dan's jaw tightened. "Where the hell did it go?"
"The sa way it appeared," Liorea said smoothly. "I stored it. My ability is space compression. I can't fight like other tas, but I can hide an entire warehouse inside my dinsion."
"You took all the money," Dan said flatly. "What about my share?"
She laughed, soft and knowing. "You can have all of it…if you let work for you. I've lost my boss and my job. I need a new one."
"Liorea, is it?" Dan asked. "What makes you useful to ?"
"I'm good at business. When Coracle wanted to start his little assassination 'club,' I built everything—the front, the nu, the ssage boards. Every deal ran through ."
"So, you are the real mastermind behind Cockerel?" Dan 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."
Dan 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 . But I don't tolerate traitors."
"I won't betray you," Liorea said with a smile. "Not as long as you're the boss."
-----
Dan 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," Dan said calmly.
"No— I an this." Lander gestured at the androids. "Where's Coracle?"
"Gone," Dan 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?"
Dan glanced over his shoulder. "Their boss ran away, so now they work for ."
Lander blinked. "You're not serious."
"Perfectly, serious," Dan 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," Dan said casually.
"No way—over my dead body!" Zairgid barked.
Then his eyes shifted to the woman standing beside Dan. Not exactly his type, but cute—and the glasses didn't hurt. "And who's this beauty?"
"This," Dan 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," Dan 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," Dan said. "Coracle."
Zairgid stared at the mountains of aur, then gave Dan a slow thumbs-up. "Fine. You win. As long as I get more ti in the club."
So Liorea beca 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?" Dan 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."
Dan 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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