Inside an old rundown pub, Ronin used Presenceless to create another image. These last few days he'd been so engrossed in training his stealth techniques, his entire life had been put on hold. Any form of spaceship construction had been called off, the academy work had been postponed, and he'd even stopped exercising. Well, the normal form of exercise anyways.

  Ronin locked the mental image in place and the entire pub began to glance towards it. Instead of a bar counter though, this time he'd chosen a picture of some long dead idol on the wall. Apparently, the girl in the picture had once visited this place. Ronin somewhat doubted that. What sort of an idol would visit this kind of neighborhood?

  Narrowing his eyes, Ronin moved the mental image of horror onto an old jackhammer along the wall and the crowd's attention followed.

  Over time, he'd found that he could move the image of the technique. It made the entire ordeal more straining, but it saved him the work of having to create another image every time he moved.

  Ronin next moved the image of the broken fractal gate towards a wolfram enriched rock sample, displayed at the back of the pub. Like clockwork, the pub dwellers subconsciously followed and began to stare at the rock.

  Alright, I think that's enough, he thought.

  Ronin released the technique, then dizzily stumbled out of the building. He checked the time:

  2 minutes… It will have to do.

  It was the same duration as last time. Maybe, if he really tried, he could’ve held the mental mask for a few seconds longer, but he'd pretty much reached a bottleneck at this point.

  His progress had been fast in the beginning. From only being able to hold the mask for 30 seconds, he’d rapidly improved his record to twice that the next day. He'd reached 1.5 minutes soon after, but every second beyond that, had taken a lot of work.

  To reach further in Presenceless, perhaps my mind will need to become stronger first? Ronin wondered.

  The Kalvrakian embrace could help with that… Regardless, it was time to pay Argus a visit. Any further work on the technique right now, would take too long.

  Ronin headed back towards the Hemsway. He wouldn’t be driving towards the factory this time though. Not today.

  “…”

  Thirty minutes later, and a small azure-blue shuttle landed beside the chute leading into district 101. Ronin stepped out, then walked up to the gaping hole in the ground.

  He gave his lovely ship one last look. The Hemsway had gained a special place in his heart after all the work it took to build it. It may not have much value to others, but to him it had a value far beyond credits.

  He grabbed one of the pipes sticking out of the chute, then slid down...

  Landing back amidst the familiar fog, Ronin snuck along the side of a building, hoping the combination of darkness and fog would be enough. Without a suit, if he was spotted now, it was over.

  According to the document sent by Nagata, Argus was most likely in a massive compound roughly 10 kilometers from here. It was the one place Argus had been seen entering repeatedly every week, so, if Ronin was going to look anywhere, this place was his best bet by far.

  Moving towards the compound, Ronin tasted the sour acid fog as he breathed. There were ruddles everywhere here. They just wandered around, seemingly at peace. Nobody seemed to care though. The scattered groups of drug fiends and prostitutes that he saw, just stood there, staring into the air. Besides smoking drugs out of a pipe, these addicts didn't really seem to care about anything — not even their own survival apparently.

  Ronin jumped over another trash pile.

  Everywhere he looked, there was something foul. Besides the trash and the ruddles, he also spotted numerous dead people, just lying around. About a hundred meters back, Ronin had even seen someone use the rotting body of a man as a chair. He put a hand to his nose, attempting to block out the smell. The combination of the sickly-sweet aroma of fantasia dust and the already ubiquitous stench of rot, made for a nauseous mixture.

  Ronin shook his head. District 101 truly was a place for the worst of the worst.

  Continuing on, he snuck in between buildings, making sure to use Snapshot every time someone got close. The minutes passed as he moved his way further in, and at some point, Ronin began spotting organized patrols. The men marched up and down the streets as they carried weapons and the closer he got, the more men there were.

  He briefly activated Presenceless, avoiding another group of men. This group had laser rifles, breathing masks and shock grenades. Their bodies were also heavily augmented. Anything from their legs, their arms, to their skulls had been bionically modified.

  They've got to be Argus's henchmen, Ronin reasoned.

  The compound was now only 500 meters away.

  Ronin had to forcibly reign in his hands from shaking. Unfortunately, he couldn't kill the bastard… not yet at least. He looked down at the injector he’d prepared for this. Utterly illegal and unreasonably expensive, this injector was filled with nanobots. Designed to be virtually undetectable, these bots not only tracked the location of the target. They picked up and recorded the audio registered along the target's eardrums, then sent it all out to an anonymous server every time the host connected to the net.

  Nagata had said something about the bots piggybacking off implant signals when he handed it over, but Ronin was just happy with the fact that the thing worked. He didn’t need the specifics, just the knowledge on how to use it.

  Shadowing the group of bionic men, Ronin moved even closer, only stopping when he reached the last building before the first fence.

  Crouching down, he squinted his eyes to get a better look.

  This compound was packed. Be it the guards or the people simply working there, there were so many of them, even the large area in front of the building looked crowded. Dozens of figures could be seen walking in and out of the building itself. Beside it, Ronin also saw several shuttles arrive. It only took a few minutes before the ships left again though, and new shuttles flew in to replace them.

  Whatever was happening here, there was a lot of activity involved.

  Ronin sized up the 40-meters long distance between him and the first fence. There didn't seem to be any landmines installed. Then again, those things weren't exactly supposed to be visible to begin with. Further ahead, he spotted several turrets. If these turrets were anything like the ones at his own factory, he should be fine as long as he avoided contact with the two fences ahead.

  Alright, as long as no landmines go off, this should be doable. Time to get to work, Ronin thought, then donned his grey hood. He then inhaled a deep breath and activated the mental mask:

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Apocalypse…

  He now had 2 minutes.

  “…”

  Running with all he had, Ronin jumped over the first fence. Flying over it, arms and head first, he landed in a dive roll. He quickly got up, then bolted towards the second fence, making sure to keep his steps light. Afterall, there could be landmines here.

  This next fence was much higher than the first, and there was no way he'd be able to jump it. But it did have a gate.

  Spotting a couple of thugs on monowheels, about to drive through said gate, Ronin made his move. With haste, he ran in front of the two bikes, then squeezed past the forming gap as the gate opened. The large building was just up ahead now.

  1 minute 40 seconds remaining.

  Ronin ran forward in an all-out sprint, entering the front door of the building. He did a quick survey of his surroundings. The report sent by Nagata was sparse from this point on.

  He saw people moving in all kinds of directions, but from the facial expressions of the various gang members, the ones heading upstairs looked more serious. They also wore more expensive clothing.

  With no choice but to gamble, Ronin followed them up.

  1 minute 10 seconds remaining.

  He passed by floor after floor, but what was he supposed to look for? Would Argus be on the next floor, or maybe he'd been on the floor below? Was he even here to begin with?

  There! Ronin spotted a door with more traffic than any other. It was his best bet. He ran down the corridor then grabbed ahold of the door frame as he swung himself into the room, feet first.

  “How are the newly pledged gangs doing?” Ronin heard a man say.

  The man, leaning back on a sofa in the middle of the room, had blond hair and a muscular body. His face was the spitting image of the one in the file Nagata had sent.

  Jackpot! Ronin exclaimed in his head. He'd finally found Argus.

  “Well, sort of as you predicted. They’re getting hammered and probably won't be able to hold on for long,” another man replied.

  Argus however, instead of looking at the man he was talking to, seemed to be looking at Ronin. Strange…this shouldn't have been possible... Ronin still had a firm grip on his mental mask.

  20 seconds remaining.

  Ronin tried to ignore Argus as he made his way towards the sofa, but as he got closer, it became undeniable. He'd been spotted. Argus's eyes were literally following his movements! Halfway there—

  Argus blinked — and Ronin moved.

  Ugh, Ronin inwardly groaned, feeling his mental mask shake. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle both techniques at the same time.

  Anyways, it had worked. His mental mask still held, and he was out of the man's eyesight. He next used the men in the room as cover as he moved in. With the way Argus was acting, the way he resisted the mental mask, Ronin had to be careful.

  10 seconds remaining.

  With a dash, Ronin managed to get behind Argus. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of gravel. It was something he'd brought along before coming here, just in case. He then threw the rock out the door and as it entered the corridor beyond, he raised the injector.

  PING!

  The moment the rock hit the wall, causing a distraction, Ronin dug the injector into Argus’s neck. Almost with inhuman speed, however, the crime lord turned his head, ignoring the sound.

  Blink.

  Ronin moved.

  “Huh!? What's going on here!?” Argus roared, looking confused.

  5 seconds left.

  Ronin shakily scanned the room. There were no windows. In other words, it was too late to get out. There were too many people in the compound, and without Presenceless, he was bound to be noticed by someone.

  Where, where, come on!

  Then Ronin saw it — the sofa! There wasn’t much space, but he was still fairly skinny. He should be able to fit in under it. He only had 3 seconds left of the mental mask though, and Argus still hadn’t blinked. Should he take the chance? Argus was still looking around, confused, he might be able too—

  With one second left to go — Argus blinked. Ronin dove for the sofa, falling flat on his stomach as he slid into the gap.

  “Did any of you see that!?” Argus shouted, sounding bewildered.

  “Sir?” A man asked, confused.

  “Someone was here! I’m sure of it!” Argus continued.

  From beneath the couch, Ronin saw it move as the muscular warlord above him rose up then began stalking around the room.

  “Come out! Come out now!” The blond-haired man roared.

  Trying his best to keep his own heavy breathing quiet, Ronin felt the tension of the men in the room rise.

  “Boss, I think you’re the only person who saw… whatever you saw,” someone hesitantly said.

  “No, it can’t be, can it? Did I imagine it?” Argus muttered.

  People shuffled their feet as an uncomfortable silence descended.

  “Hah, look at that, I’m acting like a maniac,” Argus laughed.

  Ronin could hear and audible breath of relief from several men. They probably really thought the man was crazy. As the warlord walked back, then sat down, the sofa groaned as the bottom part of it came ominously close to Ronin's face.

  Thank the void. I’m still hidden, Ronin wordlessly breathed out.

  “Check with the guards if there’s been any sign of an intrusion,” Argus said.

  “Ye—Yes,” someone answered, sounding a little confused.

  “—And check if there’s been any reports on something being strange or out of order during the last hour.” The crime lord then moved around on the sofa, before letting out a grunt. “Why in the world does my neck hurt? What's going on?”

  “…”

  Ronin hid under the couch for what must have been 20 minutes, listening to the conversations above.

  He heard talk about what he speculated to be politicians and businessmen, what they'd be willing to do and how much they’d cost to bribe. He also heard about war plans, the status of the gang's drug trade, as well as their brothels. At one point, they even discussed Ronin's own bounty, and whether or not they should raise it. Fortunately, they didn't. Not even once, however, did they mention Specter. Any conversation that might have naturally had something to do with that man, stopped as soon as they brushed the topic. It sounded... unnatural.

  Regardless, it was time. Ronin would have loved some more rest, but there was no way he’d stay a second longer than he had to. Not here.

  Apocalypse, he wordlessly whispered, donning the mental mask again.

  With both hands, he grabbed two of the legs supporting the sofa then pulled hard, rapidly sliding out. As he pushed himself back on his feet, he did a quick scan of the room.

  Yup, still as packed as ever, Ronin thought, then moved behind a man nearby as he hid from Argus.

  He used Snapshot again to get out of the room, then ran down the stairs. Finally, after sneaking past one fence then jumping over another, he was out of the compound.

  Phew, I'm never doing that again, Ronin sighed as he looked back at the building. Now let’s just hope those nanobot trackers do their job.

  Glancing down, he noticed his torn-up shoes. He lifted a leg then shook it, and the shoe sole dangled back and forth, nearly falling off. The seams holding the footwear together was also torn, to say nothing of the front section of the shoes. If he didn't know any better, Ronin would've thought this pair just came out of a shredder. It did make sense though, considering how much stronger he'd become. These shoes had been designed for regular everyday humans, not someone like him.

  Ronin next spent about an hour sneaking back, then began the climb out of the chute. Halfway up, one of the shoe soles eventually gave out. Ronin followed it with his eyes as it bumped against a wall, then landed below with a soft thud. He made a small mental sigh. He was probably going to throw the shoes away anyways, but he did hate losing things.

  A few handholds later, and Ronin was out. He looked for the Hemsway.

  That’s strange… He knew he’d parked it here, but where was it? It couldn't be, could it?

  NO! Not my Hemsway!?

  Just like that, the first ship Ronin had ever made, one of his most prized possessions, was gone. Stolen away by thieves.