110 THE GENSYN AUCTION?
The mass proceeded with solemn chants and soft hymns. It was a new kind of religion—one built around life, rebirth, and sacrifice.
Damen didn't believe in any of it.
He would've left right away if not for Sienna, sitting at the grand piano, leading the choir with serene devotion. He stayed only to avoid drawing her attention, praying she wouldn't notice him.
When the mass ended and the congregation began to disperse, Damen slipped quietly toward the exit.
"Damen!" a voice called.
He froze. "Why didn't you say hello to your aunt when you saw her?" Sienna asked, her tone half-teasing, half-accusing.
Damen turned slowly. "Hi, Sienna. What are you doing here?"
Argent stood beside her, his expression unreadable, his hands folded behind his back fidgeting with a puzzle.
"I'm on volunteer duty," she said lightly. "You know me—always up for a little charity and religion."
"Well, I should get going," Damen said, already turning away.
"Why don't we take a walk?" she offered, smiling faintly.
"That's not necessary—"
"Nonsense," she cut in. "You must've gotten lost if you wandered in here without a guide. Come on, I'll show you the way out."
Reluctantly, Damen followed. The air between them was heavy; every word felt like a test.
"You've grown stronger," Sienna said after a while. "Maybe now you'll finally join our revolution?"
He forced a chuckle. "I haven't even finished school yet."
Their steps echoed down the stone corridor. Then she added, almost casually, "Did you know the city's going to auction off GenSyn Industries?"
That caught him off guard. "What? And why are you telling me this?"
"Because you should buy it," she said.
He froze mid-step. "Buy it? I don't have that kind of money."
She smiled faintly, her eyes gleaming with quiet amusement. "Oh, I think you do. Or maybe your friend could help? I heard he came into a rather large inheritance lately."
Damen's mind went cold. "She even knows about Zairgid stealing from his uncle Arom. Nothing escaped her."
But what Sienna said lingered in Damen's mind.
To survive in this city, he needed power—real power. Too many people were after his head, and luck wouldn't save him every time.
After Lander and Dorin resigned from SIA, even the faint protection he had from the authorities was gone. Now, he was truly on his own.
He needed a power base—something solid to keep others from stepping on him.
Buying GenSyn Industries… it wasn't a bad idea.
In fact, it could be the foundation of an empire. With enough strength, no one could bully him again.
"How much do you think the government will sell GenSyn for?" Damen asked suddenly.
Sienna smiled, the corner of her lips curling with satisfaction. She knew she had him hooked.
"About a hundred and fifty million," she said smoothly. "You already have a big part of that, don't you? Why not ask me for the rest? I'll lend it to you."
Damen paused, weighing her words.
Her tone was casual, but the offer was poison wrapped in silk. Accepting her help would mean tying himself to her—joining her shadowy cult and whatever schemes she served.
He forced a polite smile. "Erm… never mind. I'll find another way."
They reached the main road. Streetlights glimmered across the wet pavement, the hum of the city returning like a pulse.
"Thanks," Damen said, stopping. "I can manage from here."
"Of course," Sienna said softly. "But remember—if it's money you need, you can always ask me."
Damen nodded once, then walked away.
He didn't look back.
Argent hadn't said a word the whole time. When Damen finally disappeared down the street, he turned to Sienna.
"Why tell him about GenSyn?" he asked quietly. "He doesn't seem the type to join our cause."
Sienna's lips curved into a faint smile. "Maybe not now. But for our revolution to succeed, Damen would have a big part to play—even if he doesn't know it yet."
Argent studied her, his expression unreadable. "What are you planning, sister?"
She looked out toward the city lights, her eyes gleaming with cold amusement.
"You'll know soon enough," she said.
------
"Big Brother, isn't this dangerous? We're dealing with an assassin organization… the Order of Clocks," Kail asked, glancing around the diner.
"It's the Order of Cocks… but don't worry, If we're careful, there's nothing to worry about," Damen replied as they waited for a table at Six O'Clock Diner.
While they waited, Damen activated his Vision Connect and checked his status. He realized he hadn't done so since draining Rewind IX.
Name: Damen Dark
Strength Rank: C Meta Rank: D Blood Rank: E
Strength: 376 | Charm: 222 | Meta: 173 | Command: 172 | Blood: 81 | Armor: 204
"Not bad," he muttered, a half-smile tugging at his lips. "Guess Rewind's strength wasn't wasted after all. They've become mine."
Still, something bothered him.
The drain had only affected his Strength meta. None of her other attributes had transferred. It seemed the function could only extract what he hadn't already surpassed.
"Drain only works on metas stronger than me,.. I can only drain her stats that are higher than mine," he thought.
He then tapped Empowerment, toggling it off.
With Drain, he no longer needed to spend DemCoins to boost his stats. Better to save them and wait for an upgrade to his software.
He had a feeling his DemCoin Mining App still had unreleased features waiting to be unlocked.
"Please come with me. Your seat is over there," the waiter said, leading them through the hum of the Six O'Clock Diner.
They sat down, and Damen picked up the glowing menu tablet.
"Can you trace where this aur is going?" he asked quietly.
"No problem," Kail replied, giving a confident thumbs-up.
Damen began writing into the menu interface. His pen moved casually, but the words he entered weren't ordinary.
"Kill Director Ambrone Melrose."
The screen flickered. A message appeared:
"Do you want an assassination contract for Director Ambrone Melrose? [Y / N]"
Damen didn't hesitate. He pressed Y.
Another message popped up immediately:
"OUR PRICE: ELEVEN MILLION AURS. PLEASE PAY IN FULL."
"You can start tracing," Damen said, sliding his Aur Card across the menu tablet.
Kail's eyes glazed over as his neural interface activated.
The diner melted away into streams of data — lines of shifting code and floating command strings. The menu tablet unraveled before him, exposing layers of program threads.
Then he saw it — a bright line of energy codes flowing outward.
"I've got it," Kail said. "The aur is being transferred to a Tesla Coil receiver, three blocks from here."
"Good." Damen pulled out his card, his purpose was already achieved. "Let's move."
"But we haven't eaten yet," Kail protested.
"We'll eat somewhere else," Damen replied, his tone flat and final.
But they stood up to leave the waiter came over his eyes eyeing both of them suspiciously. "Is there a problem with the menu?"
Bodyguards from the diner suddenly appeared to surround them.
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