Kael kept his head low, his voice a controlled monotone. "What's the mission?"
Feng Yang's smirk deepened, the golden plates of his jaw glinting in the dim light. "Glad you're on board, Kael." He leaned back, fingers steepled. "It's rather difficult this time. Baron Vale recently acquired a certain crystal at auction. I need you to infiltrate his mansion and retrieve it for me."
Kael's breath hitched.
This wasn't a mission—it was a death sentence.
Baron Vale's estate lay in the Inner Sanctum, the gilded heart of Grein City, where the nobility hid behind walls manned by first-stage Awakeners. And the Baron himself? A Knight-tier fighter, Feng Yang's equal in strength.
For an unawakened street rat like Kael, this was suicide.
"That's impossible," Kael said flatly.
Feng Yang waved a dismissive hand. "Normally, yes. But the Baron will be at the City Lord's banquet tomorrow. Half his guard will accompany him. The mansion will be vulnerable."
"I still can't get into the Inner Sanctum, let alone breach his vaults."
"Leave that to me," Feng Yang purred. "The question is—are you going?"
Kael's fingers curled into fists.
Refusal meant remaining a slave forever, bound by the brand seared into his back. Acceptance meant walking into a trap.
But if there was even a sliver of a chance…
"I'll go," Kael said, lifting his gaze. "But you sign the contract first."
Feng Yang's amusement flickered. For a heartbeat, the air between them thickened with tension. Then—
A snap of his fingers.
A scroll materialized in his grip, blank parchment humming with latent power.
"I, Feng Yang," he intoned, voice dripping with mock solemnity, "declare to set Kael free upon delivery of the Alginate Crystal."
The parchment burned crimson. Words etched themselves into the page in searing script. Spectral chains erupted from the ink, coiling around Feng Yang's wrist before vanishing—binding him to his oath.
The gang lord exhaled, his pallor grayer than before. "It's done."
Kael didn't relax.
"The banquet is tomorrow," Feng Yang continued. "I've arranged for a guard to smuggle you into the Sanctum. A contact inside the mansion will guide you to the treasury. Retrieve the crystal. That's all."
Kael nodded, already calculating.
"Tron," Feng Yang called. "Take him away."
The hulking grafted seized Kael's arm, dragging him out.
When Tron returned, his mechanical fingers twitched with unease.
"Boss… I gotta question."
Feng Yang arched a brow. "Oh?"
"That mission's a death trap. We've spent years bribing our way into the nobles' good graces. Why risk it? And why send him? He won't survive—not with him there."
Feng Yang's grin turned venomous. "I don't need him to succeed. I want him caught."
Tron's optics whirred in realization.
"I've already warned the Baron that thieves might target the crystal," Feng Yang murmured. "And who would dare but our rivals, the Tiger Gang?"
A perfect frame job.
If Kael failed, the Baron's wrath would annihilate the Tigers. If by some miracle he succeeded? The theft would still be pinned on them.
"But—what if the boy talks?" Tron rasped.
Feng Yang laughed, low and cruel. "Who will the Baron believe? A noble ally… or a branded slave?"