Just as Paige Summers and Levi Young made their lucky escape from the Dead City, Marcus Monroe came face to face with the man he was there to see.

He stood across from Graham Monroe, his eyes narrowing slightly. The man sitting alone behind the desk looked significantly older, a solitary figure.

"To think you’d end up like this..."

Getting to see Graham Monroe had been surprisingly easy, and a faint suspicion had already formed in his mind.

This man wasn’t at the end of his rope, as the rumors claimed. He had his own hidden pieces on the board—assets that Shawn Monroe, the self-proclaimed new City Lord, knew nothing about!

’But why?’

Graham Monroe gave two light coughs, making him seem even more frail. He saw the doubt in Marcus’s eyes and his lips curled into an enigmatic smile. "What, surprised?"

’Indeed he was...’ Marcus pulled up a chair and sat down without a word.

Graham Monroe’s expression darkened. ’When did this child stop wanting to be close to me?’

He searched his distant memories, only recalling after a long while that it seemed to have started when Marcus learned he had other women. After that, the boy would always look at him with a stony face. He wasn’t even ten years old, yet his sharp eyes seemed to be constantly judging his father’s conscience. And Graham, feeling uneasy, had grown more and more distant from the child in turn.

At one point, the father and son were like complete strangers.

Until the apocalypse came...

"What are you plotting?"

Marcus’s question pulled him back to the present. Graham Monroe sighed. ’I suppose only old men enjoy reminiscing like this... It’s a shame. I have so little time left, even for memories!’

He stroked the armrest of his high-backed chair. "Do you remember the old days? When I first brought you all to the Dead City, the area was crawling with Zombies and Mutant Beasts. We had to fight our way through a river of blood just to get inside, only to find the city filled with rotting corpses and bleached bones. The buildings were in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt. We..."

"I’m not senile yet!" Marcus cut him off without ceremony. "I don’t have time for this. Get to the point!"

Graham Monroe fell silent for a moment. "Do you want the Dead City?"

"And what if I do? What if I don’t?"

Graham Monroe looked him straight in the eye and said gravely, "If you want it, it’s yours!"

After holding his gaze for a long moment, Marcus suddenly laughed.

A knot of frustration tightened in his chest, making him uncharacteristically agitated. "You haven’t changed one bit! Still so damn stubborn and controlling. You treat everyone like your puppets, don’t you? To be moved around as you please! But I never thought you’d use these tactics on your precious son, Shawn Monroe... I was wondering why he suddenly got so bold. Now I see it was your doing all along! What I don’t get is what you hope to achieve with all this. Just to hand the Dead City over to me? That’s laughable!"

"My time is running out." Graham Monroe had been listening quietly, only speaking softly after the tirade. "That’s the reason. I need to find a suitable successor for my city." ’In his heart, the most suitable person was Marcus, but alas...’

’So, he’s dying...’ An indescribable feeling washed over Marcus. His feelings for this man were incredibly complex, but he was sure of one thing: he didn’t hate him enough to wish him dead. But for him to take over this city... "Too bad. I’m not interested."

’Right. Of course.’ Graham Monroe closed his eyes. ’Hadn’t I already guessed he would say that? Then why can’t I hide this immense disappointment?’ But then his thoughts turned to the Dead City, and the part of his heart that had just crumbled grew cold and hard once more.

"...Then leave. For the sake of a dying man... Back when we fought our way out of Central City, I overused my superpower on several occasions. There were no immediate effects, but the damage was done. Now, it’s time to pay the price. I have less than a month left in this world."

"I poured my heart and soul into building the Dead City. I can’t just watch it crumble after I’m gone."

"Shawn may not be your equal, but he’s ambitious and ruthless enough."

"Figuring out how to overthrow me and take power was one of his tests. So far, he’s been very successful!"

"I know you have other plans out there. In that case, leave the Dead City—which you’ve never wanted anyway—to Shawn. The last thing I want is for my only remaining legacy to be destroyed by the two of you brothers fighting to the death."

Long after he left the room, Graham Monroe’s words still seemed to echo in Marcus’s ears. "Consider it repayment for the life I gave you. Leave the Dead City! After that... we’ll be even..."

Those words transformed his lingering confusion into a nameless rage!

’Using the gift of life as a tool to command me... that’s exactly the kind of thing he would do!’

’Did he give me life? What a joke!’

’It was nothing more than shooting out some sperm for a moment’s pleasure!’

’The one who carried me for ten months and struggled to raise me was my mother! Not this bastard who was busy messing around with other women while she was pregnant!’

Whatever shred of father-son affection he might have had left—the reason he had simply stood by and watched what happened with the Dead City and Shawn Monroe—was now burned to ashes.

’You want the Dead City to remain intact?’

’Heh. So sure I’d just leave quietly?’

’Dream on!’

’You don’t know me as well as you think you do!’

He walked out of the house, crossed the garden, and reached the main gate. There, he saw more than a dozen Superpower Users fanning out in a semicircle to surround him. Their eyes radiated with unmistakable killing intent.

An ice-cold smile touched the corners of Marcus’s lips.

’Graham Monroe... are you watching?’

’Even if I wanted to leave, your precious son won’t let me!’

’He hates me to the bone, his sworn enemy!’

’And he sent his elite Superpower Users to do the job!’

’But if he thinks he can keep me here, he’d better have what it takes!’

In the blink of an eye, a flare shot from Marcus’s hand. Its brilliant red painted streaks across the sky, heralding a storm of blood and violence that was about to sweep over the entire city.

The strange light was seen by people outside the Dead City and in its third district. Immediately, waves of Superpower Users rushed out from various gathering points. Some were Hunting Parties assembled by Sylas Underwood, others were Marcus’s hidden agents within the city, and still others were backup forces lying in ambush outside the walls!

The signal told them all one thing: Marcus’s decision.

He was going to turn the Dead City upside down!

Paige Summers and the others, already outside the city, saw the signal too. She didn’t know what it meant, but her intuition told her something big was about to happen where Marcus was.

At an order from Clark Yardley, the captain of the Hunting Party, their vehicles, which were already some distance from the city, came to a halt.

Most of the team members looked uneasy.

Paige Summers asked tentatively, "Uncle Yardley, what’s going on?"

Clark Yardley’s brow was deeply furrowed. "I’m afraid in the city..." He broke off mid-sentence, then suddenly changed his tone. "You two, get out. Sorry we can’t take you any farther, but our families are back in the city. The Hunting Party has to go back!"

Paige Summers and Levi Young did as they were told and got out. They had barely found their footing when the vehicle spun around and sped back toward the Dead City.

They looked at each other, wondering what to do next, when the sound of more engines rumbled from not far away.

More than ten vehicles came speeding toward them. Paige recognized the one in the lead.

Howard Everett jumped out.

Though his eyes betrayed a sense of urgency, he calmly directed the team members from a smaller vehicle behind them to move into the other cars. He then turned to Paige and Levi. "We have to get back to the Dead City! You two take this car back to the old camp and meet up with the people we left on guard!" With that, he got back in his own vehicle.

Paige hesitated for a second, then ran up and pressed a few bottles of medicine pills into his hand.

Howard Everett’s fierce gaze softened slightly. He nodded at her before waving for the convoy to move out.

"Let’s go." After they were gone, Paige called to Levi as she got into the car.

Levi thought for a moment before asking hesitantly, "Shouldn’t we go help?"

Paige shook her head. She knew perfectly well why Howard Everett didn’t want them involved. It wasn’t about their safety; it was most likely a matter of trust.

Which was fine by her. She had no desire to get dragged into it anyway.

Looking back toward the Dead City, she could faintly hear the sounds of intense fighting.

Even the city gates were no longer quiet; she could hear the boom of cannon fire.

’It seemed Howard Everett and his people were planning to storm the gates.’

Paige calmly pulled her gaze away and focused on driving.

In stark contrast to her composure, the people inside the city—especially Graham Monroe and Shawn Monroe—were anything but. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The former, having thought he understood his son’s temperament perfectly, had been certain Marcus would leave the Dead City in a rage after their conversation. Discovering he had achieved the exact opposite effect, Graham was filled with regret and forced to scramble for a way to handle the fallout.

The latter, upon hearing that his forces within the city were facing a large-scale assault, went pale with shock. Shawn had never imagined that Marcus could still command so much power after being away from the Dead City for years. He quickly mobilized his subordinates, preparing for an all-out battle!

He had no path of retreat!

Marcus wasn’t surprised that Graham Monroe had shown himself.

He had no intention of negotiating further, however. Instead, he, Martin Warren, and the others used the opportunity to quickly shake off their would-be assassins. Then, he had Cillian relay an order.

"Make everyone in this city believe we’re fighting for their imprisoned City Lord! That we’re fighting for every single person who wants to survive! Shawn Monroe despises Transformers, looks down on low-level superpower users, and has no tolerance for ordinary people. Tell them he wants to wipe them all out!"

In his years in the Dead City, Sylas Underwood had become a master of networking. Fanning the flames of dissent and framing others was second nature to him. He even had a dedicated team that specialized in just that kind of work.

And so, while Shawn was busy fending off the attacks, he was already, without his knowledge, becoming the object of suspicion and hatred for many. His captains gradually realized that their enemies were growing in number, and that they were fighting with the fury of an incensed mob!

Even Graham Monroe felt helpless as the flames of war spread rapidly out of control.

In the current situation, he couldn’t openly support Shawn, nor could he openly move against Marcus.

Listening to the battle reports from his subordinates, his face grew steadily paler.

This day, and the night that followed, were destined to be anything but peaceful for the Dead City. They would be filled with bloodshed... and death.