Chapter 27: Bread and Candy (4)

An abandoned factory.

Inside the dimly lit warehouse, loud music blared, accompanied by the sound of cards being thrown and raucous laughter.

About a dozen gangsters crowded around a makeshift gambling table covered in stacks of cash and playing cards.

Suddenly, a deafening crash echoed as the warehouse door was kicked open.

Boom!

Startled, the gang members jumped to their feet, some instinctively reaching for the guns at their waists.

“What the—who the hell is that?!”

Through the darkness outside, a man walked in with slow, deliberate steps.

He looked wretched—gaunt, unsteady hands trembling uncontrollably.

His face, appearing to be in his mid-to-late thirties, was hollow and unkempt.

He looked no different from a common homeless man wandering the streets.

Realizing it wasn’t the police, the gang members’ tension turned into sneers.

“Are you out of your damn mind?!”

One of them pointed his gun at the stranger, but that became his final action.

The first victim didn’t even have time to scream.

A blade shot out from the man’s wrist and sliced clean through the gangster’s neck, severing his head instantly.

Splurt!

“H-Huh…?!”

Blood splattered across the adjacent gangster, who was frozen in shock, before meeting the same fate.

In the blink of an eye, several gang members had fallen, prompting the survivors to panic and fire their guns wildly.

“Kill that psycho!”

“Shoot! Just shoot!”

Bang! Bang bang bang!

Gunfire rang out, reverberating through the warehouse, but the bullets didn’t reach the intruder.

His movements were too fast to track, and even when they managed to hit him, the shots bounced off his reinforced armor, sparking on impact.

The sheer difference in power was undeniable—the gangsters’ resistance crumpled like paper against the relentless force of his augmented body.

“Monster! Die, you freak!”

The man’s Mantis Blades sliced through limbs, torsos, and even the pillars and crates the gangsters tried to use as cover.

By the time they realized what was happening, their bodies had been cut in half without even feeling the pain.

The last remaining gangster dropped his weapon and begged for his life, but the man approached him with the same unfeeling expression.

“P-Please… Spare me!”

Without a word, he ruthlessly crushed the man’s throat, ending his life.

As the cacophony of gunfire and screams ceased, the only sound left in the warehouse was the ragged breathing of the lone survivor.

He slowly retracted the blood-soaked blades back into his wrists, glancing around the room.

The once-dominant gang that ruled 14th Street was now reduced to a pile of dismembered bodies.

Dusting off bits of flesh and blood from his shoulder, the man walked out of the warehouse through the broken shutter door as if nothing had happened.

Across the street, two well-dressed men in expensive suits waited for him under a streetlamp.

Despite having just witnessed a massacre, they remained unfazed, casually addressing the man.

“Oh, you’re here?”

“Took you long enough. What, you get lost or something?”

Their tone was condescending, treating him like a lowly servant.

But the man, instead of reacting, knelt on the ground like a beaten dog, almost crawling toward them.

“I’m sorry… I did as you ordered… I took care of them all.”

His once-fearsome demeanor was now completely gone.

His voice cracked, trembling with fear and desperation.

He bowed his head to the dirt, weeping.

“So… please… give me what you promised…”

One of the suited men chuckled, nudging his companion.

“See that, bro? That’s the ‘Rising Star Lonzo’ for you. Pathetic, isn’t it?”

He pressed his shoe onto Lonzo’s back, sneering.

“Our little mutt did his job well. What do you want as a reward, huh? That why you’re wagging your tail like that?”

Lonzo didn’t resist.

No, he didn’t even seem to think of resisting.

His entire being was fixated on the small blue pill between the man’s fingers—Heaven Candy.

The craving was so intense that nothing else mattered.

One of the gang leaders, grinning wickedly, tossed the pill to the ground.

“Here, eat up.”

Lonzo, once a feared fixer known as the “Rising Star,” crawled forward, lapping up the pill like a dog.

His hands shook uncontrollably as he devoured it, eyes rolling back in relief.

One Year Earlier

VIP lounge of the club “Black Sapphire.”

Under the dim blue lights, Lonzo swirled his glass of premium whiskey, enjoying his well-earned break.

He turned when he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

“Hey, Lonzo! I heard you’ve been doing great lately. Congrats!”

An informant from the back alleys approached with an exaggerated grin.

Lonzo raised his glass with a faint smirk, indifferent to the flattery.

“They say you took on three corporate jobs back to back and made it out alive. That’s amazing!”

The informant gave a thumbs-up.

It wasn’t a lie.

Corporate jobs in Omega Detroit were notorious for being death traps.

Even if one survived, staying alive afterward was even harder.

Yet, Lonzo had completed three such jobs in a matter of months and was now enjoying a drink.

He had become a legend among the underground fixers—a symbol of raw talent and sheer luck.

Some even began calling him the “Rising Star Lonzo.”

The informant leaned in, lowering his voice conspiratorially.

“Word on the street is that a major corporation’s scouting you. Is that true?”

Lonzo didn’t answer, merely taking another sip, but the rumor wasn’t unfounded.

A client he’d worked with for years had hinted that a big corporation was considering offering him an external security contract—a rare opportunity to escape the dangerous life of a fixer and secure a stable, legitimate career.

‘Working for a corp… wouldn’t be bad.’

Lonzo thought, setting down his glass.

Confident in his abilities, he believed he could excel wherever he went.

Success was a given for someone like him.

For once, his mood was light, basking in the glow of his recent achievements and the promising future ahead.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone approaching.

He turned to see a breathtakingly beautiful woman smiling softly at him.

A red silk dress hugged her figure, golden hair cascading around her shoulders, her eyes gleaming seductively.

Even in the dim club, she seemed to glow.

“Are you alone? Can I buy you a drink, Mr. Rising Star?”

Though momentarily surprised, Lonzo quickly regained his composure and flashed a confident smile.

With a woman this stunning approaching him first, he figured his luck was truly on a roll tonight.

“Of course. I wouldn’t say no to someone like you.”

He accepted the drink she offered without hesitation, lowering his usual guard in the face of such beauty.

As she signaled the bartender, something small slipped from her fingers into the glass.

But caught up in his good mood and the rising warmth of intoxication, Lonzo didn’t notice.