At the apex of the Adjudication Tower, a howling gale rushed through the shattered floor-to-ceiling windows. It sent classified documents swirling through the air like funeral paper for the dead.
Gu Hanzhou entered the office that represented the highest authority in the Iron City with heavy, rhythmic footsteps. His tactical gear was saturated with the black, chemical-tainted blood of The Fallen. With every step he took, he left a startling, crimson footprint upon the pristine white carpet—a stain of the abyss in a sanctuary of power.
Directly ahead, Duke Mordent sat silently behind a massive obsidian desk. He had discarded his ceremonial robes, wearing only a perfectly tailored dress shirt. Though his frame was withered and aged, the aura of authority he had wielded for decades—the power over life and death—loomed over the room like a physical weight.
Mordent's right index finger rested lightly, almost playfully, on a jet-black remote device.
"You were three seconds slower than I anticipated." Mordent's voice held no emotion, only an eerie, bone-chilling calm.
Gu Hanzhou said nothing. He leaned forward slightly, his muscles groaning from exhaustion, and carefully unstrapped Gu Qingshan from his back. He leaned his father against a stone pillar near the entrance. Su Qingyue pressed herself against the pillar, her short blade held in a white-knuckled grip, shielding Gu Qingshan with her own body.
"Set him free."
Gu Hanzhou leveled [Black Order]. The dark-gold blade reflected the flickering light of the overhead chandelier, casting a cold, murderous sheen across the room.
"Set him free?" Mordent chuckled softly, lifting the remote. "Your current realm is the Peak of the Blood-Ignition Phase—half a step into the Blood-Engraving Realm. In this city, you are indeed a formidable monster. But you are too young. Do you really believe that in this world, slaughter alone can solve every problem?"
Mordent turned a small dial on the remote.
"ARGH—!!"
Gu Qingshan, leaning against the pillar, suddenly erupted into a scream of agony. His body curled into a fetal position, his muscles spasming violently. Beneath the skin of his spine, the purple "Biological Lock" began to throb with a sickening light. Thin, red filaments of energy spread like a web along his nerves, glowing through his flesh.
"Stop!" Gu Hanzhou's eyes threatened to burst. The floor beneath his feet cracked as his Order-energy flared out of control.
"Stay back," Mordent said tonelessly. "One more step and I sever the frequency. The compression pump in his heart will detonate in 0.1 seconds, vaporizing everything within ten meters. That includes you, and that little Primal-Blood girl."
Gu Hanzhou forced his body to a halt. The sudden suppression of his momentum caused a backlash; he tasted iron as a trickle of blood ran down the corner of his mouth.
"What do you want?"
Seeing Gu Hanzhou restrained and at his mercy, a flash of sadistic pleasure finally flickered in Mordent's eyes. He stood up and walked to the window, overlooking the Iron City below—a city currently wreathed in fire and chaos.
"The world is sick, Gu Hanzhou." Mordent gestured to the burning horizon. "The Inquisition, the Legions, those self-important Night-Kin... they are all fighting over rotting scraps. But your blood... your blood is the only cure."
He turned back, his gaze locking onto Gu Hanzhou with predatory intensity. "I want you to sign a contract. I will extract one-third of your Origin Royal Blood and inject it into my experimental vats. In exchange, I will deactivate your father's lock and grant the three of you an amnesty pass to the 'Holy City.'"
"You want my blood to extend your own rotting life?" Gu Hanzhou sneered.
"No, I seek a greater evolution." Mordent's eyes turned fervent, almost manic. "Blood-Engraving, Blood-Settlement... those are merely the realms of mortals. Only by possessing the lineage of the Ancient Court can one truly touch the authority of this world!"
A deathly silence fell over the room.
Su Qingyue looked at Gu Hanzhou in a panic. "Gu Hanzhou, you can't! Extracting a third of your Origin will cause your cultivation to plummet! You might never be able to reach the Blood-Engraving Realm!"
Gu Hanzhou felt the hard edges of the bloodstained scroll in his vest. He looked at his father, who was whimpering in pain, his eyes clouded with torment.
The dark-gold light in Hanzhou's eyes flickered, dimming and brightening like a dying star.
Duke Mordent did not press him. He waited with the patience of a master angler. As a top-tier politician, he understood the weaknesses of the human heart—especially in a youth who had not yet been completely hollowed out by slaughter.
"Well? It is a fair trade." Mordent smiled, his finger hovering millimeters above the trigger. "Your father's life, or your future talent. Which weighs more?"
Gu Hanzhou lowered his head, his long hair obscuring his expression.
After a long moment, he slowly raised his hand and slid [Black Order] back into its sheath.
"I accept."
"A wise man's choice," Mordent exclaimed, his face lighting up with greed.
But he failed to notice that in the moment Gu Hanzhou bowed his head, his right index finger was moving. Against the hilt of his sword, he was silently carving an infinitesimal, glowing mark—an Ancient Court Array-Trace he had seen in his vision.
It was a fragmented remnant of "Spatial Perturbation" he had managed to grasp by overdrawing his potential during the previous bloodbaths.
"But before the trade, I must verify my father's condition." Gu Hanzhou began to walk toward Mordent, step by step. His aura felt incredibly weak, as if he had completely surrendered his will to resist.
A spark of suspicion flashed in Mordent's eyes. But seeing Gu Hanzhou at the end of his tether, combined with the absolute ace held in his hand, his greed ultimately won.
"Fine. But you stop three meters away."
Gu Hanzhou halted exactly three meters from the Duke. His eyes were locked onto the black remote.
The gamble for power had entered its final countdown.