Empire Building With Infinite Warehouse-Chapter 68: Massacre and Monopolies

Lyra stood frozen in the ruined street, her breath catching in her throat as the thud of her squadmate’s remains settled onto the ground.

She stared up at Kane.

The man looked down at her, scar over his eye pulsing with a dark glow.

Adrenaline finally broke through Lyra’s paralysis.

She gritted her teeth, her fingers tightly gripping the hilt of her hunting dagger and pulled her arm back, preparing to drive the blade directly into his neck.

She never got the chance.

The woman in black appeared in a flash of sparking blue electricity, right in front of Lyra.

The movement was so fast it bypassed human reflexes.

Pale, cold fingers reached out and gently touched the side of Lyra’s head.

"Kill yourself," the woman whispered.

The command carried an absolute order.

Lyra’s eyes went wide with panic.

Her brain screamed at her to step back, to swing the knife, to run away.

But her body no longer belonged to her.

Her arm moved against her will in a shaky motion.

She brought the sharp edge of her own dagger up to her throat and sliced deep.

Lyra collapsed to the ground, clutching her neck as her life poured out onto the street.

Kane didn’t even blink.

He just kept walking forward.

From the perimeter of the barricade, a fresh wave of Association guards and low-level hunters poured out from the side alleys, their weapons drawn, shouting orders to take the intruders down.

Kane reached into his dark coat and pulled out a glass vial.

It was filled with a bubbling red liquid, very similar to the berserker draft Julien sold in his shop, but this variant was far darker, similar to blood.

He downed the liquid, tossed the glass aside and equipped a massive iron gauntlet on his right hand. The weapon was absurdly large, roughly the size of a human head, covered with heavy steel.

A red aura exploded from Kane’s body.

The air pressure around him shifted dramatically.

Before the closest guard could even raise his gun, Kane moved.

He crossed the distance in a blink, pulling his right arm back and delivering a devastating punch directly to the guard’s face.

The iron gauntlet shattered the man’s riot helmet, and his body folded from the impact, launching through the air and crashing hard into the side of a rusted civilian transport vehicle.

The remaining guards shouted in alarm, rapidly aiming their guns at the man’s broad chest.

Behind Kane, the woman in black raised her head.

Her dark eyes ignited, glowing blue.

She raised her hands and unleashed a massive shockwave of raw electricity.

The blue energy rippled down the street, slamming into the firing line of guards.

The shockwave fried their weapons and overloaded their nervous systems, and within a minute, the entire squad dropped to the ground, shaking and lying low, unable to move a single muscle.

Footsteps echoed from the opposite side of the ruins.

Ignis’s party mage and healer team rushed toward the battlefield.

They skidded to a halt, taking in the absolute carnage: the severed body of their tank on the pavement, the paralysed guards, and Lyra bleeding to death near the wall.

"Get them!" the mage screamed.

She raised her glowing staff, quickly summoning a bright, complex magic circle in the air in front of her.

Kane didn’t let her finish the incantation.

He crossed the street with terrifying speed, appearing right beside her and reaching out with his massive, bare left hand and grabbing her casting wrist.

Snap.

He broke her arm without a second thought.

The glowing magic circle shattered into sparks.

Before the mage could even process the pain, Kane grabbed the back of her robes and slammed her head directly into the ground.

The young healer was left standing alone.

She stumbled backwards, her staff slipping from her trembling fingers and looked at the giant, then at the massacre surrounding him.

"Please," the healer cried, tears streaming down her face as she slid backwards on the pavement.

"Please..."

Kane stepped forward and lifted her by the throat.

The iron gauntlet wrapped completely around her neck, lifting her until her boots kicked at empty air.

With a casual, brutal squeeze, he cracked her neck.

Her body went limp, and he dropped her onto the road.

The entire area was filled with blood and scattered with bodies.

Near the alleyway, Lyra’s body finally stopped twitching.

Kane ignored the dead.

He tilted his head, looking past the ruined buildings toward the swirling vortex of the Red Gate.

He turned his head slightly toward the woman in black.

"Tell Genos to bring the extractor."

The woman gave a single, silent nod.

A spark of blue electricity wrapped around her, and she disappeared from the street.

The heavy red aura slowly faded from Kane’s skin, leaving him standing alone in the quiet ruins.

A satisfied smile formed on his scarred face.

Miles away from the slaughter, the atmosphere in District 5 was different.

Evening had finally settled over the wealthy district.

The chaotic mob of desperate hunters had been processed, sorted, and served.

Julien and his team had officially closed the heavy basement doors of the J.A.C.K Market for the night.

He sat at his makeshift wooden counter, a warm cup of coffee in his hand, staring at the glowing blue System interface floating in front of his face.

His merchant account balance read exactly 700,000 credits.

He was rich.

But the money wasn’t even the best part.

Because of the massive influx of A-Rank buyers picking up premium potions for the incoming monster wave, his unique Commission Skill rule had activated dozens of times.

He currently had thirty separate A-Rank skills lined in his queue, ready to be copied.

However, the System prompt blinking in the corner of his eye carried a strict warning: he could only imprint five, excluding the skills he already had.

More did not mean merrier.

He had to choose wisely.

Kiara’s advice echoed in his head: Utility and defence only.

Do not pick something that will break your fragile bones.

Julien expanded the interface, bringing the thirty skills up in a neat format.

He quickly skipped past the first twenty-five options, recognising them as high-output combat skills that would undoubtedly drain his tiny E-Rank mana pool and tear his muscles apart.

He focused on the final five options on the list.

[System Commission Log: 30 A-Rank Skills Available for Copy]

[Warning: Host may select Five(5) skills.]

Previous selections will be permanently discarded.

[Combat Skills - Ignored]

1. Flame Strike | 2. Iron Cleave | 3. Shadow Step | 4. Thunder Roar | 5. Piercing Lunge | 6. Berserker Wrath | 7. Venom Coating | 8. Dual Strike | 9. Heavy Impact | 10. Wind Cutter | 11. Blood Rage | 12. Seismic Stomp | 13. Phantom Blade | 14. Mana Arrow | 15. Ice Lance | 16. Crushing Grip | 17. Viper Bite | 18. Sonic Boom | 19. Whirl Slash | 20. Meteor Dive | 21. Acid Rain | 22. Stone Fist | 23. Lightning Arc | 24. Shadow Bind | 25. Bone Shatter]

’Tsk. A pity not to use these.’

[Filtered Results: Utility & Defence]

[26. Spatial Lock (A-Rank)]

[Type: Defence Description: Creates a localised, invisible barrier of hardened mana within a ten-foot radius. Prevents any physical entry or transfer for a duration of ten seconds. High mana consumption.]

[27. Mana Sonar (A-Rank)]

Type: Utility Description: Sends out an undetectable mana wave that maps local terrain and highlights the exact location of all living signatures within a one-mile radius. Low mana consumption.

[28. Phantom Step (A-Rank)]

Type: Utility / Evasion Description: Allows the user’s physical body to briefly become intangible, capable of passing directly through a single physical attack or solid object without taking damage. Medium mana consumption.

[29. Appraisal Eye (A-Rank)]

Type: Utility Description: Reveals the exact level, hidden numerical stats, and active status conditions of any targeted individual or monster. Passive mana drain while active.

[30. Kinetic Displacement (A-Rank)]

Type: Defence Description: Absorbs the direct kinetic force of a blunt physical attack and seamlessly redirects the energy to the source.

Julien leaned back in his creaky chair, rubbing his chin.

Five incredibly powerful, non-combat A-Rank skills.

He read over the descriptions again, weighing the mana costs against the survival benefits. The decision was tough, but all five skills stood out as the perfect safety net for a frail merchant running a highly targeted black market.

Julien reached his finger out toward the glowing blue screen before he noticed something else.