North Carolina Capital, Uppers.

The Ministry of Defense Building.

Early in the morning, Jaslin Eve, the current Minister of Defense of North Carolina, was already sitting in her office chair with a face mask on. This high-end mask, worth ten thousand US Dollars, had hydrating, whitening, and nourishing effects. It also eliminated wrinkles and slowed the aging process. As a woman approaching forty, she applied a face mask three times a day to ensure her skin remained as tender as a young girl’s.

Thirty thousand US Dollars was enough for someone from the lower rungs of North Carolina society to live comfortably for several years. For Jaslin, however, it was just a fraction of her daily expenses. Besides the masks, her three daily meals cost a total of fifty thousand US Dollars. Adding in the maintenance for her body, her basic daily expenditures were around one hundred and fifty thousand US Dollars.

To her, this was less than nothing. As the Minister of Defense, she had amassed billions of US Dollars in profits during her ten years in office. She had built her family’s business from scratch into a Fortune 500 company, making it one of the pillar enterprises of the North Carolina Republic. Her personal status was among the highest in all government departments.

"Master, a Rebel Army was annihilated in Rusted Iron City last night."

A handsome Secretary came forward with a file to report. He knelt on one knee before Jaslin, lifted her hand to lightly kiss its back, and then respectfully raised the file over his head with both hands.

Jaslin knew how to enjoy life. Her Secretary, chauffeur, chef, personal physician, yoga instructor, equestrian coach... all of them were handsome young men. They all had to call her Master and obey her commands without question. She did this for two reasons. First, they were pleasing to the eye. Second, young men were in good shape and could satisfy her at any time, in any place.

"Rusted Iron City?"

Jaslin thought for a moment before recalling a file from Rusted Iron City she had seen a few days ago. It mentioned that a street gang was planning to make a move on the city center and had requested support from the Counter-Terrorism Department.

"Oh, right. They took care of it?"

"Yes. With the cooperation of Counter-Terrorism Department Special Agent Brady, two Hand of the Empire squads, and the Rusted Iron City Government Army, they successfully annihilated the terrorist group known as the Poisonous Sore Gang last night," the Secretary said. "The terrorists suffered heavy losses, with only a few members escaping. The Rusted Iron City Government is conducting a city-wide manhunt."

"Hmph. Good work. Tell the mayor down there that I don’t care about gang wars in the slums. But if the Salvation Army so much as shows its face, I want them crushed completely, no matter what it takes. Even if they have to use tanks and missiles. I don’t want a repeat of what happened in Xize City," Jaslin said coldly.

"Yes."

"Anything else?"

The Secretary’s voice grew grave. "Last night, City 27 was attacked by the Black-robed Man. We lost two steel mills, two car manufacturing plants, a lumber processing plant, and a chemical plant suffered a severe toxic gas leak, resulting in the deaths of over five thousand people from poisoning. According to our estimates, the losses from this attack amount to 785 million."

"That fucking Black-robed Man!"

Jaslin slammed her hand on the desk in fury. "What about the Government Army in City 27? The Hand of the Empire? The Counter-Terrorism Department? Are they all dead?

"And those Special Agents who swore they wouldn’t return until they killed the Black-robed Man? What the fuck were they doing, chasing their own tails?"

A cold sweat broke out on the Secretary’s forehead. "The Government Army and the Hand of the Empire were wiped out the moment they arrived on the scene. The Black-robed Man used some kind of mysterious Curse Technique to drain their Life Force. As for the Special Agents from the Counter-Terrorism Department, they were killed in a direct confrontation with him... including the ones who made that promise..."

"What?"

Jaslin thought she must have misheard. She shot upright in her seat. "All of them? Dead?"

She snatched the file and began flipping through it herself. The more she read, the colder her heart grew.

Four Tier Three Ascenders, a standard Hand of the Empire squad, and one hundred fully-armed Government Army soldiers... all of them slaughtered by the Black-robed Man in less than ten minutes.

The destroyed factories could be rebuilt, but these precious Ascenders—cultivated with so much effort, time, and resources—were gone for good. This was a massive loss for the North Carolina Government. There were four Tier Three Ascenders among them!

’Damn it... Just where the hell did this bastard come from...’

Jaslin’s eyes glinted with malice as she subconsciously bit her nails.

As the Minister of Defense, even she knew very little about the Black-robed Man’s origins. She only knew that he had suddenly appeared shortly after the outbreak of the Crystal Disease, possessed Forbidden Object B-025: Wishing Box, and was extremely hostile toward the North Carolina Government. He had repeatedly attacked major cities and hunted down Ascenders serving the government. He was now North Carolina’s most wanted criminal.

If the Black-robed Man was allowed to continue his rampage, the consequences would be unimaginable.

This was an age of the Extraordinary, where one person taking on an entire nation was no longer impossible. While the Black-robed Man couldn’t take on the country by himself, he could wreak havoc within its borders. A few more attacks like this, and the resulting losses and chaos would be enough to make the government sick to its stomach. It would also damage the government’s credibility with the upper echelons.

After a long moment of contemplation while biting her nails, Jaslin finally spoke.

"Get me Colonel Jason."

Jason Diego, known as the "Iron-blooded Colonel," was one of only two Tier Four Ascenders in North Carolina.

"Yes." The Secretary nodded.

"Also, contact the press department. Get the story about the successful annihilation of the terrorists in Rusted Iron City published. It would be best to print it in the newspapers and distribute them in the slums. Let those lowlifes know the consequences of rebellion. And give some commendations to the higher-ups in Rusted Iron City. Let the other cities learn from them."

·

"The commendations have been issued. We should have fooled them."

In a safe house within the Rusted Iron City Municipal Building, the Plague Doctor watched the news on TV, the last of their anxiety finally melting away.