Lower City Perimeter | 7:00 PM
The black vehicle hummed low through the backroads of Lower City, its matte finish nearly invisible under the dim streetlights.
Neon signs blinked distantly—dying glimmers in a city too bruised to sleep.
Inside the car, silence settled until Darithi broke it, tapping her encrypted holopad.
"It's confirmed. The clash took place an hour ago in the Delta Strip of Zone 4. One from each side down. Supervillain Makael—dead. Hero Halden of the Upper Order—also gone."
Cruxius didn't blink. He didn't recognize either of them—heroes and villains of low ranking, ones who had never held his attention, not even in his past life.
Right now, he had just cornered Nano into shutting down her system. He fed her false, authority-based information, spread through fake announcements from the villain syndicate.
