The smoking ruins of the spatial suppressor hissed as coolant leaked from its fractured titanium casing, bleeding a faint, acrid wisp of smoke across the concrete floor of the central water hub.
District Overseer Gault lay half-tangled in a heap of twisted railings ten feet away, his immaculate slate-gray trench coat caked in gray dust and soot.
His slicked-back silver hair was disheveled, and his mouth hung open in a mute, stunned gasp.
The corporate-grade device he had boasted about—a multi-million-credit piece of technology designed to suppress all spatial-kinetic anomalies—had been smashed to pieces by a single, unyielding human fist.
The two dozen elite Iron Syndicate enforcers stood frozen.
Their high-frequency plasma rifles were raised, but their fingers hovered over the triggers like dead weight.
The terrifying aura radiating from Deku Kwanoh had completely paralyzed their combat instincts.
”He… he broke it,” one enforcer whispered, his voice trembling inside his reinforced helmet as he took an involuntary step backward.
“Without even blinking… he shattered a Tier-4 spatial suppressor with raw physical force.”
Deku Kwanoh didn’t rush.
He stood tall amidst the settling debris, the ruined fabric of his high-school uniform stark against the high-tech industrial backdrop.
He slowly raised his right hand, flexing his fingers.
The system interface hummed warmly in his peripheral vision, confirming the successful adaptation and integration of his Overclocked Flesh path.
[Bully System]
Host: Deku Kwanoh
Status: Suppression Successfully Neutralized
Milestone Achieved: Dominance over Corporate Technology
Current Physical State: Optimal / Overclocked
“And rules exist to be rewritten by those who hold true authority.”
He took a slow, measured step forward.
The sound of his ruined leather shoes clicking against the concrete echoed like a ticking clock in the massive chamber.
Gault coughed violently, dragging himself up against a rusted support beam.
He glared at Deku with a mixture of burning hatred and profound disbelief.
“You… you reckless brat. You think breaking my device means you’ve won? Aether-Corp owns this entire quadrant. The moment our monitoring systems register a drop in the water grid’s security ping, an orbital strike will flatten this entire sector into glass!”
Deku stopped a few paces away from the Overseer, looking down at him with a gaze so completely devoid of emotion that it made Gault’s blood run cold.
”Let them try,” Deku replied, his tone chillingly casual.
“If your superiors want to burn their own assets, I’ll simply be standing on top of the ashes.”
Before Gault could utter another threat, Deku raised his hand and brought the side of his palm down with surgical precision against the Overseer’s shoulder blade.
A sharp, localized kinetic shockwave knocked the remaining breath from Gault’s lungs, dropping him instantly into unconsciousness.
The syndicate enforcers watched their leader slump to the floor like a wet sack of flour.
The last remaining shred of their morale evaporated.
”Drop your weapons,” Deku ordered softly, not raising his voice, yet commanding the entire room with inescapable gravity.
Clatter.
Clatter.
Clatter.
One by one, high-frequency plasma rifles hit the concrete floor as the syndicate enforcers dropped to their knees, raising their hands in total, unconditional surrender.
In the harsh hierarchy of the undercity, power was the only currency that mattered, and Deku had just proven himself infinitely richer than the corporation holding their leashes.
High above the subterranean chamber, hidden behind the reinforced security glass of the upper observation deck, a small, encrypted data-terminal beeped softly.
Pip, who had managed to sneak in through a side maintenance vent with a portable data-pad, stared at the cascading lines of code scrolling across his screen.
His eyes widened into saucers.
”B-Boss!” Pip shouted over the hum of the cooling pipes, jogging down the metal stairs toward Deku.
“You’re not going to believe this! When you smashed that suppressor, it opened a backdoor into Aether-Corp’s regional mainframe! I’ve got full access to the water distribution network, the supply manifests, and…”
Pip paused, swallowing hard.
“And the encrypted logs of every corporate outpost in Sector 9.”
Deku turned his dark, piercing eyes toward the scrambling kid, adjusting his neatly knotted tie with immaculate discipline.
A dark, ambitious smirk curled the corners of his lips.
”Good,” Deku said, his voice echoing with the promise of a much larger conquest.
“Unlock the main valves, restore water to the unevolved residential rings, and broadcast a message to every syndicate boss and corporate supervisor remaining in this sector.”
Pip blinked, clutching his data-pad tightly.
“What kind of message, boss?”
Deku’s eyes burned with the unyielding fire of an apex predator.
”Tell them class is in session.
And attendance is about to become mandatory for everyone.”