11:00 PM (Four days after the chaos in Sector 3)
"The Dead End" – Underground Fight Pit in Sector 9
Sector 9 is a territory even the police hesitate to enter. In the center of a chain-link fence arena, a teenage girl around 15 or 16 years old stands tall over the body of a collapsed adult man. Her name is Mako. Her body is covered in old scars, her hair is short and messy, and her eyes are as sharp as razors—cold, alert, and feral.
Mako doesn't use firearms. In her hands are a pair of short blades fashioned from jagged industrial steel. She fights like a beast, yet with a methodical precision.
Rion stood at the back of the crowd, clad in a black trench coat, observing her every move. To him, Mako wasn't just a fighter; she was a weapon waiting to be honed.
After the fight ended, Mako walked toward a dark corridor to collect her meager winnings. Rion intercepted her there.
"Your step is too heavy on the left. An old ankle injury?" Rion's voice sliced through the silence of the alley.
Mako reacted with lightning speed. In one fluid motion, she was in front of Rion, pressing the tip of her blade against his throat. "Who are you? Planning to rob my winnings?"
Rion didn't even blink. "I have no use for your pocket change. I'm looking for someone who can kill without making a sound—someone who doesn't need technology to be dangerous."
Mako snorted, but she didn't pull the blade away. "I work alone. And I don't kill for strangers."
"You fight here just to survive from day to day," Rion said, staring directly into Mako's wild eyes. "Come with me, and you'll have targets worthy of your talent. You'll no longer be a show for these drunks. You'll be the shadow feared by the very people who consider you trash."
Mako fell silent. She sensed a different aura from this man—a darkness that mirrored her own. "What's the catch?"
"Family. And a place where you don't have to sleep with one eye open," Rion answered.
Mako slowly lowered her knife. Her instincts told her this was the only way out of the hellhole that was Sector 9. "If you're lying, I'll slit your throat while you sleep."
Rion offered a rare, thin smirk. "Try it if you can."
### **The Welcome at Headquarters**
That night, Rion brought Mako to the Sector 7 headquarters. The other members of Nero Familia were already gathered. Mia, busy with her data, looked up and immediately scanned Mako with her analytical gaze.
"Mako. Age 16. Record of 40 wins in the underground pits. Close-quarters specialist," Mia muttered without an introduction.
Mako flinched, her hand reflexively reaching for the knife at her waist. "How does she know that?!"
"That's Mia," Ren interrupted, emerging from the darkness with an elegant smile. "She knows everything. And don't worry—here, you don't have to fight for money. You fight for us."
Mako looked around—Garry chewing on candy, Key busy with her screens, and Zack giving a respectful nod of a fellow warrior. For the first time, Mako felt something foreign in her chest: a sense of security.
"The team is complete," Rion said, looking at all his members. "Tomorrow, we begin the real operation. Our targets are no longer street gangs. We are going to dissect Ironport from its roots."