Chapter 251 | Master Michael

Dexter entered the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, and looked over the ingredients he had available. Flour. Rice. Vegetables. Meat. Eggs. Spices. Everything he needed was there, organized and waiting.

A smile slowly appeared on his face.

"If everyone is exchanging food..."

He reached for the first ingredient.

"...I might as well make something worth exchanging."

And with that, Dexter began preparing the meals for the picnic.

...

Stargate City was far more complicated than it appeared on the surface.

To ordinary citizens, it was simply an enormous city filled with heroes, awakened individuals, wealthy businessmen, academies, guilds, and countless opportunities. They saw the glittering towers, the bustling streets, the heroes who patrolled the skies. They saw the surface.

But those who truly understood Stargate City knew that its real power rested in the hands of a select few.

Nine families.

They were known collectively as the Nine Great Families of Stargate City. Each possessed enormous wealth, influence, businesses, territories, awakened experts, and generations of accumulated resources. Some controlled important industries. Others had connections reaching into politics, academies, military institutions, and hero organizations.

Even a single one of the Nine Great Families could make ordinary organizations tremble. Together, they practically dominated Stargate City.

Yet even the Nine Great Families weren’t at the top.

There was one organization whose influence overshadowed them all.

The Hero Association.

If the Nine Great Families were nine enormous pillars supporting Stargate City, then the Hero Association was the roof hanging above all of them. Its influence wasn’t limited to Stargate City. It wasn’t even limited to the country.

Branches of the Hero Association existed across the continent, and its influence extended even farther, with branches operating on other continents throughout the world. Countless powerful heroes were registered under it. Resources, techniques, intelligence networks, training facilities, ancient inheritances—the organization had accumulated them for generations.

More importantly, the Hero Association possessed overwhelming strength. Within Stargate City alone, its power was enough to rival the Nine Great Families combined.

That was why, regardless of how arrogant the great families became, none of them openly challenged the authority of the Hero Association.

But where there was order, there would always be those who rejected it.

The Hero Association wasn’t the only extraordinary organization in existence. Far from it. Numerous factions existed beyond its control. Some operated openly. Others remained hidden. And some had been forced underground precisely because the Hero Association was too powerful for them to reveal themselves carelessly.

Among those hidden forces were organizations whose names alone were enough to make experienced heroes uncomfortable.

The Villain Association was one of them.

Unlike ordinary criminals who committed crimes for money, survival, or revenge, those recognized as true villains were frequently awakened individuals who had completely rejected the laws governing society. Some killed. Some experimented on humans. Some destroyed entire communities. Others pursued power regardless of the price.

And among the numerous villain organizations associated with the darker side of the awakened world, there was one name that carried a particularly bloody reputation.

The Golden Snake Syndicate.

They were considered one of the three most dangerous villain factions in the entire country. Not necessarily because they possessed the greatest number of awakened experts. Nor because they controlled the most territory. It was because of what they could supposedly do.

Extract talents.

The Golden Snake Syndicate was rumored to possess a forbidden method capable of forcibly extracting an awakened talent from another person. To them, an awakened individual wasn’t simply an enemy.

They were a resource.

A harvest.

The extracted talent could supposedly be used to strengthen an existing talent or, under certain circumstances, be transferred to someone else. Whether every rumor was true remained uncertain. But enough heroes had disappeared over the years for people within the awakened world to fear the possibility.

It was also precisely why the Golden Snake Syndicate attracted so many villains. Power was everything to people like them. And if power could be stolen? There would always be someone willing to steal it.

Human lives meant little to the Syndicate. Enemies were resources. Captives were resources. Sometimes, even their own members were nothing more than resources waiting to be consumed by someone more valuable.

That ruthlessness had earned them enemies everywhere. Especially within the Hero Association. Yet somehow, despite numerous attempts to destroy them, the Golden Snake Syndicate continued to survive.

Of course, the world wasn’t divided simply between heroes and villains.

There were other factions. Organizations that didn’t care about justice. Organizations that didn’t worship destruction. Neutral powers. Merchant organizations. Ancient clans. Mercenary groups. Research societies. Hidden sects.

They obeyed neither the Hero Association nor the Villain Association. They served their own interests. And within Stargate City, some of these organizations had existed quietly for generations. Their influence remained buried beneath the city’s glittering surface.

Waiting.

Watching.

Growing.

---

Somewhere within Stargate City stood an enormous mansion.

Its towering walls surrounded a vast estate filled with carefully maintained gardens, stone pathways, fountains, and several luxurious buildings. Everything about the estate radiated wealth. Yet beneath that beauty existed something considerably darker.

Deep within the mansion was a private chamber inaccessible to ordinary servants. The chamber was enormous. There were no windows. Dark stone covered the walls, while strange crimson patterns had been carved across the floor.

At the center stood a massive circular pool.

But there was no water inside it.

The liquid was crimson. Thick. Dark. And carrying the unmistakable metallic scent of blood.

At the center of that bloody pool sat a young man.

His upper body was exposed, revealing a muscular physique. Long crimson-red hair flowed behind him, several strands floating across the surface of the liquid. His eyes remained closed. His breathing was almost nonexistent.

Cultivating.

The blood surrounding him slowly rotated. At first, the movement was almost imperceptible. Then it became faster. A vortex gradually formed around his body. Tiny wisps of crimson energy began rising from the surface. One after another, they entered the young man’s body through his skin.

Every time another wisp disappeared into him, the level of liquid within the pool decreased slightly.

Three beautiful female attendants stood around the edge of the pool, silently maintaining the strange cultivation ritual. They carried containers filled with the same crimson liquid. Whenever the level of the pool dropped too far, they poured more inside.

Splash!

Fresh blood entered the pool. The young man’s breathing deepened. Another wave of crimson mist rose around him. The temperature inside the chamber seemed to increase.

Then...

Knock.

The sound came from the door.

The three attendants instantly stopped. Their expressions changed.

Boom!

Killing intent erupted from them simultaneously. The atmosphere inside the chamber became suffocating. Their previous appearance as quiet attendants vanished completely. They weren’t ordinary servants. Each one was dangerous.

The young man’s eyes opened.

Crimson pupils appeared beneath his eyelids.

"Enough."

One word. That was all it took.

The killing intent disappeared immediately. The three attendants lowered their heads.

The young man raised one hand. One attendant immediately walked toward a nearby hanger and retrieved a long black robe.

The young man rose from the pool. Strangely, the crimson liquid slid away from his body before it could cling to his skin. By the time he stepped onto the stone floor, there wasn’t a single drop remaining on him.

The attendants approached. One held the robe open while the others helped place it around his shoulders. The dark fabric covered him. They secured it neatly.

Throughout the entire process, the young man said nothing.

He walked toward a sofa positioned beside the pool and sat down. Only after settling comfortably did he finally look toward the door.

"Come in."

Click.

The door opened.

A young man entered. The moment he stepped into the chamber, he lowered his head respectfully.

If Dexter had been standing there, he would have recognized him immediately.

Wayne.

The very same Wayne who had approached Violette when she and Dexter were eating together at the restaurant.

But Wayne’s attitude now was completely different from the confident manner he had displayed that day. Here, there was no arrogance. No casual smile. He didn’t even raise his head without permission.

The red-haired young man leaned back against the sofa. One of the attendants moved behind him and began massaging his shoulders. He didn’t acknowledge her. His crimson eyes remained fixed entirely on Wayne.

Several uncomfortable seconds passed.

Then he finally spoke.

"You asked to see me."

Wayne swallowed. "Yes."

The young man’s fingers tapped gently against the armrest. Once. Twice. Three times.

"Then speak."

Wayne finally raised his head. There was a strange seriousness in his expression.

"It’s about Violette."

The tapping stopped.

For the first time, genuine interest appeared in the red-haired young man’s crimson eyes.

"Violette?"

"Yes."

Wayne hesitated.

" the man who was with her."

Silence.

The crimson pool behind them continued rotating slowly. The young man’s expression didn’t change. But the blood within the pool suddenly stopped moving. Completely.

Wayne noticed and his body stiffened.

The red-haired young man leaned forward. His crimson eyes narrowed.

"Speak Up..."