Chapter 121: Join Us

Chapter 121: Join Us

The warehouse was enormous and completely empty. All the production equipment had long been hauled away, leaving nothing behind but some concrete foundations that couldn't be moved and a tangle of pipe marks on the walls.

Right in the center of the warehouse, thick steel cables hung straight down from the overhead beams. At the end of each cable hung a person.

It was Mia and the others who had been taken.

They dangled limply in the air, eyes shut, clearly all knocked out cold.

Their bare arms and legs were covered in wounds of various kinds — injuries they'd picked up while fighting back.

The damage looked deliberate, carefully kept away from anything vital, but seeing them like this still made Ethan angry.

Even so, he didn't panic. Injuries like these were barely worth calling injuries when you had the healing power of the repair serum behind you.

Then, right at that moment —

A sharp burst of clapping rang out through the empty warehouse, shattering the silence.

The sound came from multiple directions.

One by one, five figures stepped out from the shadows behind the support columns.

Every one of them wore a black robe and a mask.

The one in front kept clapping as he walked toward Ethan.

Ethan turned toward the sound, and his expression grew harder.

He'd seen these masked types before. One of them had nearly blown him to pieces. That alone was reason enough to take them seriously.

"Well done, Ethan."

The lead masked figure stopped about a dozen feet away. The mask hid every expression, but his voice was full of amusement. "You actually came alone."

He spread his arms wide in an exaggerated gesture, as if showing off the space around them.

"Did it never cross your mind that we might not be planning to negotiate at all — that we might just put you down right here, as brutally as possible?"

Ethan stayed where he was. He slid both hands into his pockets and gave a lazy shrug.

"If you could actually take me out by force," he said, his voice flat, eyes fixed on where the masked man's eyes should have been, "would you really need to go to all this trouble? Kidnapping my family and friends like a bunch of rats hiding in the sewers, just to get some leverage?"

The masked man's outstretched arms paused for just a moment. He seemed to pull himself back quickly, swallowing whatever had flared up inside him, and said nothing.

A quiet snort came from beneath the robe. Then he shifted direction entirely.

"Do you have it? The formula?"

"Three hours was a pretty tight window," Ethan said, not even blinking. "It's not like I carry it around with me everywhere." He paused. "But don't worry. I've got people I trust bringing it over. They should be here soon."

The masked man said nothing. He just looked at Ethan.

About ten seconds passed before he spoke again.

"Ethan." His voice had dropped the cold edge. Now it was smooth, almost inviting.

"Let's step back from all this for a moment and think clearly. There's no reason we have to keep being enemies, is there?"

He raised one arm, pointed at the floor beneath his feet, then swept it upward toward the ceiling.

"I'm formally inviting you — join us. Join The Aeterna Causality."

There was a strange excitement in his voice.

"Bring us the complete formula, and I give you my word — the position you'd hold within the council would rank above mine."

"With the talent and strength you've shown, you could stand alongside our supreme leader at the very top of real power in this world."

"The financial dynasties that run the global economy, the armies of every nation — all of them would be beneath us. Beneath you."

The words echoed through the empty warehouse and faded.

Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly, glancing back and forth between the masked man and the people hanging in the air above.

Then the corner of his mouth pulled up.

"Is that so..." Ethan drew the words out, as if he was actually turning it over in his head. "That does sound like... an offer that's almost impossible to turn down." A hint of something unreadable crept into his voice.

"Give me a moment —"

"Let me think about it."

A satisfied laugh came from behind the mask.

"Ethan, you're a smart man. Those tycoons, those politicians — to us they're just tools. Bring us the formula and you'll have real power."

The masked man paced back and forth as he spoke. "As for the people you care about..." He gestured toward Mia and the others hanging overhead, his tone dismissive. "Say the word and I'll have them cut down right now. Though I'll be honest with you — if you're going to stand at the top of the world, dragging along a bunch of ordinary people who'll only slow you down isn't a great habit to get into."

Ethan stood still and listened to all of it.

He didn't rush to respond. He even nodded along, playing the part.

"Real power. Sounds like a pretty good deal," he said slowly. "Hard to see a reason to say no."

Then he let out a quiet laugh.

"But I'm saying no."

"You think you can play me?" The masked man realized what had happened and roared.

Before he could do anything else, a strange sound came from the already-crumbling roof above.

The next second, chunks of concrete and rusted steel panels crashed down from the ceiling. A massive hole was torn straight through the roof of the warehouse.

Through the swirling dust, an enormous figure dropped through the gap, hitting the heavy crossbeam that held Mia and the others with terrifying force.

The steel beam — built to hold serious weight — snapped clean in two.

The cables dropped fast, but the giant figure shot out both arms mid-air and caught everyone before they hit the ground.

The moment his feet touched down, his legs exploded with force. The floor cratered beneath him, and he used that burst of momentum to punch straight through the side wall of the warehouse, carrying all the hostages out into the night.

Gone.

It happened in two or three seconds, maybe less.

The masked man stared at the empty air where they'd been hanging, shaking with rage. He spun around and locked his eyes on Ethan. "You think one traitor who turned his back on The Aeterna Causality is enough to pull this off?"

He screamed at the others, "Go! Hunt that traitor down and tear him apart! Bring those women back!"

"Yes!"

All four robed figures immediately moved toward the gap in the wall.

And then.

"Gentlemen." A calm voice spoke directly into the masked man's ear — close enough that he could almost feel the vibration of it. "I think you've all made one mistake."

The masked man froze. His breath stopped.

He hadn't felt any movement in the air. He hadn't heard a single footstep.

One second ago, Ethan had been standing a dozen feet away.

Ethan reached out casually and set his hand on the masked man's shoulder. The moment he made contact, the masked man felt an overwhelming force clamp down on him — completely locked in place, unable to move.

Ethan tilted his head, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Now... it's just the two of us."