The sewers beneath Nexus Academy reeked of decay and broken dreams.
I dragged Derek's unconscious form through the murky water, his dead weight slowing me down but serving as insurance. Guild Master Chen wouldn't risk killing his precious initiate—not when Derek still had value as a hostage.
*System Alert: [Predatory Vision] available.*
*Scan environment for tax violations?*
"Yes," I whispered, and the world exploded into data streams.
Golden threads of light traced through the darkness, highlighting every living thing in my vicinity. Three heat signatures glowed ahead—mutant rats the size of house cats, their razor teeth gleaming with bio-luminescent saliva.
*Target Analysis Complete:*
*[Sewer Rat Alpha | Lv.3]*
*[Violation: Unauthorized territory occupation]*
*[Penalty: Asset forfeiture]*
I pointed at the largest rat. "Illegal squatting. I'm confiscating your weapons."
The creature's fangs and claws dissolved into streams of silver light, flowing directly into my chest. The rat collapsed, now nothing more than a harmless ball of fur and confusion. Its companions scattered, suddenly aware they were no longer apex predators.
*Assets Acquired: +15 Agility, +5 Night Vision*
*Daily Collection Quota: 58% complete*
*Soul Starvation Timer: 21 hours, 14 minutes remaining*
The gnawing hunger in my chest eased slightly, but it was like throwing pebbles into an ocean. I needed more—much more. The system had limits on daily collections, which meant I'd need to be strategic about my targets, focus on high-value assets rather than petty theft.
Derek groaned, consciousness returning. Perfect timing.
"Where... where are we?" His voice was barely a whisper, his body still recovering from having fifteen years of life force extracted.
"Somewhere your Guild friends won't find us." I checked my phone—no signal down here, which meant Chen's tracking devices were useless. "At least, not immediately."
"You're insane," Derek wheezed. "Master Chen will hunt you to the ends of the earth. You can't fight the entire Guild."
"Watch me."
A splash echoed from deeper in the tunnel. Someone was coming—multiple someones, judging by the footsteps. I tensed, ready to activate another collection protocol, when a familiar voice called out:
"Ethan? Ethan, is that you, man?"
Marcus "Fatty" Wang emerged from the shadows, his round face streaked with grime and terror. Behind him, three street thugs in leather jackets blocked his retreat, their awakened abilities crackling with menace.
"Well, well," sneered the lead thug, a scarred man with lightning dancing between his fingers. "Looks like we got ourselves a two-for-one special. The academy's biggest loser and its fattest failure."
Marcus shot me a desperate look. "Ethan, these guys want protection money. They say if I don't pay up, they'll—"
"Break your legs," Lightning Fingers finished with a grin. "Nothing personal, Fatty. Just business."
I studied the thug leader through my enhanced vision. Level 8 Electrokinetic, with several interesting violations glowing above his head like neon signs.
*Target Analysis:*
*[Jake "Sparks" Morrison | Lv.8 Electrokinetic]*
*[Violation: Excessive leverage on borrowed power]*
*[Debt Status: Critical - left leg structural integrity compromised]*
"Your left leg," I said conversationally, "is about to default on its loan."
Jake blinked. "What the hell are you talking about, freak?"
I activated [Debt Collection].
The sound of snapping bone echoed through the tunnel. Jake screamed, collapsing as his femur shattered like glass. His electric powers flickered and died, the energy flowing into me like water finding its level.
*Collection Successful: +200 EXP, +Lightning Resistance*
*Daily Quota: 61% complete*
The other two thugs backed away, their bravado evaporating. Marcus stared at me with a mixture of awe and terror.
"How did you—"
"New management," I said, pulling out my phone and opening a notes app. "Gentlemen, you have two choices. Option one: I collect everything you owe, right here, right now. Option two: we negotiate a payment plan."
Jake writhed on the ground, clutching his ruined leg. "You're crazy! You can't just—"
"I'm a tax collector," I interrupted. "This is what we do." I showed them the contract I'd typed up. "Standard installment agreement. Ten percent of all future earnings, paid automatically through the system. In exchange, you keep your lives and most of your abilities."
The uninjured thugs looked at each other, then at their crippled leader. The math wasn't complicated.
"We'll take the deal," one of them said quickly.
*Contracts Established: 3 new revenue streams*
*Projected monthly income: 1,200 EXP*
"Smart choice." I helped Marcus to his feet, noting how his hands shook. "Killing the golden goose is bad business. I'd rather farm you than slaughter you."
Marcus waited until the thugs had limped away before speaking. "Ethan, what happened to you? This morning you were getting stuffed in lockers, and now you're... this."
"Evolution," I said simply. "The strong consume the weak, remember? I just learned how to digest properly."
Before Marcus could respond, every speaker in the city crackled to life. Chen's voice boomed through the underground tunnels, amplified by the Guild's emergency broadcast system:
"Attention, citizens of Nexus City. The terrorist known as Ethan Su has stolen a Class-S forbidden relic and murdered a Guild initiate. He is armed, extremely dangerous, and completely unstable."
My blood turned to ice.
"Furthermore," Chen continued, his voice taking on a paternal tone that made my skin crawl, "we have reason to believe he may attempt to contact his hospitalized sister, Emma Su, currently receiving treatment at Mercy General. For her own protection, Miss Su has been placed under Guild custody until this matter is resolved."
The broadcast cut to static.
Marcus grabbed my arm. "Ethan, your sister—"
"I heard." My voice came out flat, emotionless, but inside I was screaming. Emma was the only family I had left, the only person who'd never looked at me like I was worthless. She was dying of some rare genetic disorder, and the medical bills had already bankrupted us twice over.
Now Chen was using her as bait.
Derek stirred again, his eyes unfocused, muttering in delirium. "The Fallen God... the one who devoured... the Celestial Treasury..." His voice was barely a whisper, fragments of forbidden knowledge leaking from his damaged mind like blood from a wound.
*System Alert: Memory fragments detected in target*
*Accessing restricted data...*
Images flashed through my consciousness—not my memories, but Derek's. Ancient texts, whispered legends, warnings passed down through Guild bloodlines about something that had once made the gods themselves go bankrupt.
*System Alert: Extreme emotional distress detected*
*Emergency Protocol Available: [Conceptual Collection - Trial Version]*
*Warning: Untested ability. Side effects unknown.*
*Target Available: City-wide broadcast network*
I looked up at the speakers embedded in the tunnel ceiling, and suddenly I was starving. Not for food—for something far more substantial. The fear Chen was broadcasting through his words... it smelled delicious. Like the aroma of a feast after a lifetime of starvation.
*System Alert: High-Grade Conceptual Asset detected [Mass Terror]*
*Nutritional Value: Extreme*
*Soul Starvation Timer: Feeding opportunity detected*
My vision shifted to show the golden threads of connection spreading throughout the city like a vast web of terror and control.
*Analysis Complete:*
*[Nexus City Emergency Network]*
*[Violation: Unauthorized fear distribution]*
*[Collectible Asset: Terror Tax - estimated yield 50,000 EXP]*
"They want to play with fear?" I asked the darkness. My stomach twisted—not from nerves, but from a hunger so deep it felt like a black hole in my gut. The fear Chen was broadcasting... it was calling to me like a siren song.
Marcus backed away from me. "Ethan, your eyes are glowing again. You look... hungry."
"I am," I smiled, and it felt like winter. "I'm starving. And Guild Master Chen just delivered dinner to my door."
The golden fire spread up my arms, reaching toward the speakers like hungry fingers. As my power touched the broadcast network, Derek's delirious whispers grew clearer:
"He could tax concepts themselves... fear, hope, love... turned emotions into currency... the gods went bankrupt..."
"I'm going to teach Guild Master Chen the first rule of taxation," I whispered, my voice echoing with harmonics that made the tunnel walls vibrate.
The system pulsed with anticipation as I grasped the invisible threads of the city's terror.
"You can't threaten a tax collector's family," I said, my power racing along the network cables like liquid lightning. "That's tax evasion."
Every speaker in Nexus City began to hum with otherworldly energy. Chen's confident voice stuttered, then cut off entirely, replaced by something that sounded like the whisper of dying stars.
And in that whisper, I heard my own voice—older, colder, infinitely more dangerous:
"The audit begins now."