Bloodstain froze. "What?"

Another operator hurried over. "The ruin teams!"

Bloodstain’s eyes widened as a genuine look of disbelief appeared on his face.

The operator rapidly explained. "Six teams have already completed their ruin expeditions."

Bloodstain nodded. "And?"

"And they got ambushed while returning."

The room suddenly felt colder as Bloodstain stared at him.

The operator swallowed nervously. "They cleared their ruins successfully."

"They secured loot."

"They loaded everything into their convoys."

"Then while traveling back..."

His voice dropped. "...they were attacked."

A vein bulged on Bloodstain’s forehead. "No."

The operator nodded miserably. "Unfortunately."

Another screen lit up and convoy route appeared.

The location marker was blinking red.

~ LOST CONTACT ~

Bloodstain clenched his fists. "Who attacked them?"

"We don’t know."

"What do you mean you don’t know?!"

The operator flinched. "Survivors reported they were overwhelmed before they could identify everyone."

Bloodstain’s fury intensified while one of the communications officers raised a trembling hand.

"Boss..."

The woman immediately regretted speaking as soon as Bloodstain turned.

"Three teams have been successfully ambushed while three are currently under attack."

Bloodstain slowly looked toward the communications station and the room went silent.

A transmission was still active causing loud static noises to fill the speakers.

Loud panicked voices emerged next.

"LEFT SIDE!"

"DODGE!"

"AHHHHH!"

An explosion rang out causing everyone to stiffen.

Bloodstain rushed forward. "Report!"

The voice on the other end sounded exhausted as they rough breathing rang out. They were clearly injured.

"Boss!"

"Who is attacking you?"

There was no answer from the other end... only chaos as a loud impact rang out.

Loud screams followed causing Bloodstain to roar. "I SAID WHO IS ATTACKING YOU?"

An answer finally came from one of the other ends.

"We don’t know!"

"What?"

"We don’t know who they are!"

More explosions rang out and a man screamed.

"Randal!!!"

"He’s down!"

"Damn it! Who are these fuckers!"

"How dare you mess with Iron Vultur... arrghhh!"

Bam! BOOM!

As the crashing and explosive sounds continued to ring out, another voice shouted through the comms.

"It’s two awakened!"

"And two beasts!"

Another loud explosion went off and the transmission crackled.

Then the final voice came through. "ARRRGHHHH—"

The connection died afterwards, leaving Bloodstain utterly dumbfounded.

Nobody dared speak because everyone knew what that silence meant... that entire team had been defeated.

Which also meant that another batch of ruin loot had been stolen.

Bloodstain slowly lowered the communicator with shaky hands.

His hands weren’t trembling from fear at the moment... they were trembling from rage.

The room also began quaking as several terminals flickered resulting in one monitor cracking.

BOOM!

Bloodstain fist smashed through a reinforced workstation causing a bunch of computers to explode.

Operators screamed and jumped backward.

"What the fuck is happening?!" His voice echoed throughout the entire operations center.

Nobody had an answer because nobody understood what was going on.

Everything was well coordinated as though somebody had predicted every single move Iron Vultures would make.

Bloodstain suddenly remembered something.

The looted headquarters... the stolen resources... the mysterious infiltrator... the ten ruin permits... the ambushes.

One thought entered his mind at this moment... SHADOW REAPERS.

’Could it be them?’ The thought immediately made him angrier.

Because how could such a small gang cause him this much trouble? Impossible.

His right-hand man arrived moments later after being summoned.

The moment he entered, he could tell things were bad.

Bloodstain pointed toward the screens.

"Look."

The man did and his face immediately changed.

"Four successful ambushes?"

Bloodstain nodded. "Two ongoing."

The man cursed while Bloodstain slammed his palm against a table.

"We need to warn the others."

The operators immediately began to work.

Communications were attempted... channels were opened... signals sent.

But it was all for nought.

One operator nervously adjusted his headset. "Boss..."

"What?"

"The remaining teams are still inside their ruins."

Bloodstain already knew where this was going.

The operator continued. "We can’t contact them."

A curse escaped Bloodstain’s lips.

Of course they were well aware that Ruins blocked communication.

Once a team entered a ruin, they were effectively isolated from the outside world which meant every remaining expedition was walking blind toward whatever trap awaited them once they were done clearing their respective ruins.

Bloodstain knuckles whitened as he grabbed the edge of a table.

Somewhere out there, someone was systematically dismantling his organization and he couldn’t stop it.

His expression hardened. "No... I won’t let them run things to the ground for me."

Bloodstain pointed toward the operators. "Contact every available member outside."

"Every patrol."

"Every escort."

"Every warehouse guard."

"Every business front."

His voice became colder.

"Recall all of them."

The operators immediately began working sending calls and messages out.

The right-hand man frowned. "If we pull everyone back—"

"We need manpower." Bloodstain interrupted him. "Now."

The man reluctantly nodded. Bloodstain was the boss after all.

Several minutes later, responses started coming in.

Some teams acknowledged while others reported they were already en route but many couldn’t leave immediately and ohers were far away.

Gathering everybody would take time.

The realization only worsened Bloodstain’s mood but he would use whoever was available at the moment.

His eyes slowly drifted toward the display of maps with red markers all over.

Another transmission arrived and an operator immediately stiffened. "Boss."

Bloodstain turned. "What?"

The operator swallowed. "We’ve lost contact with another team."

•••

•••

Several hundred kilometers away, a young woman burst into laughter as she ducked beneath a flaming projectile.

"Damn!"

She rolled across the ground before springing back to her feet.

"This is insane!"

The woman couldn’t have been older than twenty.

She had short dark-green hair and an energetic face filled with excitement rather than fear. Even now, in the middle of a battle, she looked like she was having the time of her life.

"I just joined this gang!" She dodged another attack. "The first thing I get involved in is a gang war!"

A grin spread across her face. "This is awesome!"

A voice immediately barked from nearby. "Pay attention, rookie."

Hart slid beneath a blade before driving his shoulder into an Iron Vultures member’s chest hard enough to launch the man backward.

The newly recruited Shadow Reaper laughed. "Yes sir."