The destruction of more than a dozen garrison units sent shockwaves across the United States almost overnight. From that single battle, ordinary people finally experienced the brutal reality of war in a way they never had before. At the same time, they witnessed the terrifying power of Leon—an ability so overwhelming it seemed almost divine. The soldiers who fought under him had become a nightmare in the minds of countless civilians.
The garrison forces stationed around the battlefield had numbered more than thirty thousand troops. Of those thirty thousand soldiers, over sixty percent were killed during the fighting, while the rest were routed in rapid succession. Defensive lines collapsed again and again as the surviving units retreated under relentless pressure. By the time the contact war finally ended, the army's defensive perimeter had already been pushed back beyond New York, and what remained of the garrison had lost nearly all effective combat strength.
When the news broke, it stunned the entire world.
Across the United States, outrage boiled over like a pot left on high heat. Fear and anger spread through the population simultaneously, and Leon's name quickly became synonymous with terror. Many people trembled at the thought of his power, yet at the same time they shouted for his destruction, demanding that the government deploy even greater military force to eliminate him once and for all.
But before those voices could settle, another piece of shocking news struck the world like a hammer.
A nuclear warhead with a yield of three million tons had detonated several hundred meters above Manhattan. Yet despite the unimaginable destructive power of the explosion, Manhattan itself remained completely intact. The reason was simple and terrifying: the entire energy output of the nuclear blast had been swallowed and absorbed directly by Leon.
Even though the U.S. government attempted to suppress the information and keep the incident secret, the footage spread across the globe within hours. The images appeared on televisions, phones, and computer screens everywhere, leaving viewers stunned and speechless.
Naturally, those images had not leaked by accident.
Leon himself had released them.
His goal was simple: to plunge the entire world into panic so that humanity would be forced to unleash even greater potential.
Human beings were strange creatures. When danger appeared directly in front of them, they would panic and run. But when danger felt distant or abstract, people often ignored it completely, even indulging in bizarre fantasies or false confidence.
Leon intended to change that.
He wanted every person on Earth to live beneath the shadow of fear he created. Only when humanity stood face to face with despair would they truly fight back with everything they had.
Playing a single-player game alone was boring. Watching others play was even worse. Leon, however, considered himself the master of this enormous game. Since he was fully invested in it, he expected the rest of the world to participate just as seriously.
Otherwise, what was the point?
His plan worked.
When ordinary people realized they were facing a monster who could survive a nuclear explosion without a scratch, the fear they felt was greater than anything before. The realization shattered their illusions about safety and forced them to confront a terrifying truth.
Leon was not merely an enemy.
He was an enemy of the entire world.
New York had fallen first, but everyone understood what that meant. If nothing changed, the rest of the United States might follow soon after.
And once danger reached your doorstep, no one could escape it.
Under that oppressive atmosphere, something unexpected happened.
Many people who had once given up hope suddenly abandoned their despair. Instead of waiting for disaster, they began organizing, cooperating, and contributing whatever strength they could offer. Across the country, communities united with a single goal: defeating Leon.
Within less than a week, social order began improving at an astonishing speed. Although the financial system had suffered severe damage, the nation's underlying credit structure still remained intact. Because of that, the government managed to stabilize parts of the economy through emergency adjustments.
The situation was still extremely dangerous, but at least the basic function of money continued to exist. The entire country now stood balanced on the edge of a cliff, staring into the abyss below.
Everyone understood the reality.
If they refused to change, they would simply fall to their deaths.
Watching the nation gradually unite under the pressure he created, Leon did not feel even the slightest worry. Instead, a rare smile appeared on his face.
In his opinion, a united and capable country was far more interesting to fight against. If humanity collapsed too easily, then life would become unbearably dull.
"Very good," Leon said calmly. "Seeing you resist like this makes me very satisfied. As a reward, I'll add a little more fuel to the fire."
This time, however, Leon had no intention of continuing to torment the United States.
Instead, he planned to drop a far bigger bombshell onto the entire world.
On that day, Leon appeared in the skies above the Middle East.
More precisely, he hovered over Saudi Arabia.
From high above, he gazed down at the endless desert stretching beneath him. The land was dominated by scorching heat and waves of golden sand, yet it was also the birthplace of brilliant civilizations that had once flourished in the region.
Saudi Arabia was also the country with the largest proven oil reserves on Earth. Its massive oil fields held an estimated forty billion tons of crude oil buried beneath the ground.
Leon had already shaken the global financial system represented by gold-backed currency.
Now, he intended to destroy something even more fundamental.
The world's oil industry.
"Well then," Leon murmured quietly to himself. "Let's begin."
His body vanished instantly.
When he reappeared, he was standing in the middle of a massive oil field. The entire area resembled a blazing industrial construction site filled with steel equipment and pipelines. Behind him stood enormous facilities used for extracting and storing crude oil, while scattered across the field were rows of pumpjacks rhythmically rising and falling.
Each pumpjack looked like a giant mechanical creature bowing toward the earth.
Leon walked calmly toward one of them and stopped beside it. The machine moved slowly, accompanied only by a low mechanical hum. Based on the production rate of this particular oil field, every downward motion of the pumpjack extracted roughly fifty dollars' worth of crude oil.
In other words, it was not really pumping oil from the ground.
It was pumping money.
"Beep—beep—beep—!"
Leon's sudden appearance immediately triggered alarms throughout the facility. Security guards rushed toward him, shouting warnings while gripping their rifles tightly. One of them raised his weapon and aimed directly at Leon, shouting something in panic.
But the moment the guard clearly saw Leon's face, the color drained completely from his own.
His expression instantly turned pale with terror.
Leon looked at the approaching guard and smiled faintly. Without any hurry, he lifted his leg and kicked the nearby pumpjack.
A thunderous crash erupted across the oil field.
The enormous steel machine was launched dozens of meters through the air as if it weighed nothing at all. When it slammed into the ground, it twisted into a pile of useless scrap metal.
From the exposed extraction hole beneath it, dark brown crude oil suddenly burst upward like a geyser. The liquid sprayed more than ten meters into the air, forming a crude oil fountain that splashed across the surrounding equipment.
"Ah—ah—!"
The guard stood frozen in place, letting out a confused scream. His mind went completely blank, and for several seconds he forgot even to run away.
"This is the economic lifeline of your country," Leon said calmly. "Your nation exists because of oil. So let me ask you something."
He spoke fluent Arabic, his voice echoing clearly across the oil field.
"If oil disappears… what will you become?"
Leon lifted his hand and made a small gesture.
A large mass of crude oil suddenly rose into the air and gathered in his palm. The dark liquid twisted and flowed together, compressing into a swirling sphere hovering above his hand.
Then he gently tapped the surface of the oil with his other finger.
Something strange began to happen.
From the exact point where his finger touched, the crude oil slowly began to change. The dark brown color gradually faded, becoming lighter and lighter until the entire mass transformed into a perfectly clear liquid.
"You possess an enormous resource," Leon continued calmly, "but you lack something essential—fresh water. I happen to be someone who cannot bear to watch others suffer, so I will kindly solve that problem for you."
He lifted the transparent liquid slightly, letting it shimmer under the desert sunlight.
"I will turn all the oil into water, the very foundation of your survival. No need to thank me."
.....
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