Nostramo had five hive districts, named in order after ancient Roman numerals from the first to the fifth.
Curze landed in the fifth hive district, Quintus.
Hundreds of thousands of interlocking industrial blocks formed the steel forest of Quintus. The residential zones of the hive reached 15 kilometers high: 0–8 km was the lower hive, 8–12 km the upper hive, and 12–15 km the spire district.
The hundreds of billions of residents lived in the lower hive, working tirelessly in factories for 20 Terra hours each day just to earn 4 Terra hours of rest. The gangs allowed rest not out of mercy, but to prevent the labor force from dying too quickly.
The bottom hive had only tens of millions, initially drawn from the lower hive, mutants abandoned by their parents or civilians who could no longer endure the heavy labor and high taxes, fleeing to the bottom hive.
Hundreds of billions of people had labored in dark, sunless factories for generations, only to have an average lifespan of thirty years. Many had to replace body parts with cheap, corroded mechanical prosthetics before they turned twenty, and children as young as three were sent to factories to help support their families.
Meanwhile, the nobles in the spire indulged in luxury.
Hundreds of billions supported the leisure of millions.
Curze saw all of this; this was the bloody reality, not some distant future.
He climbed the lift shaft to the lower hive and infiltrated a lower hive gang's stronghold.
Control of the elevators was fiercely contested by gangs across the bottom, lower, and upper hives.
Nobles in the spire even stationed troops around the lift perimeters to prevent any underlings from sneaking into the spire.
No one noticed Curze. In the darkness, he silently killed everyone.
Through glimpses of the dead's futures, he discerned the "order" of the lower hive.
The lower hive was divided into eighty layers, each 100 meters high. Each layer was typically controlled by three or more gangs.
Even the strongest gang could not control an entire layer independently.
This was intentional by the spire nobles. They would not allow any gang to dominate the lower hive, even one layer, because they knew the hundreds of billions of workers and the hundreds of thousands of factories in the lower hive supported the entire city.
Curze climbed to a rooftop, staring over the streets.
"The lower hive needs the Midnight Phantoms' order. Control the lower hive, and we control the entire hive district."
Caelan smiled. "Difficult?"
"Not as difficult as I imagined," Curze admitted.
Alone, it would be difficult.
Although he could eradicate several gang bases each day, clearing all bases on one layer would take at least three months.
To eliminate all gangs in the lower hive would take twenty years.
But merely killing gangs without establishing a new order would allow crime to fester in the darkness.
With hundreds of billions of people, even if only 0.1% were gang members, hunting each one would be nearly impossible.
Those who survived would feel lucky, rebuild gangs, and in twenty years, the cycle would repeat.
But Curze was not alone. He had the Midnight Phantoms.
He would eradicate gangs, leaving no darkness unchecked.
The Midnight Phantoms would establish order and judge the guilty.
The remaining hundreds of billions of workers were ignorant; they obeyed gang rule because power equaled justice.
Thus, they would obey the Midnight Phantoms as well. That would not change.
Even in this city of sin, most were innocent. From birth, they struggled daily for survival, leaving no time to commit crimes, saving Curze a lot of trouble.
He didn't need everyone to understand justice; he only needed the Midnight Phantoms to understand and uphold it.
First, he needed to bring the Midnight Phantoms to the lower hive.
Curze waited here for three days because the lift stopped and started, taking three days to reach his layer.
During that time, he killed any gang members attempting to investigate, until no one dared approach.
When the lift finally landed, a noble surrounded by dozens of armed soldiers asked with curiosity:
"Who are you? Where's Ars?"
He stared at the man outside the elevator. Though suspicious, he felt little threat; lower hive gangs changed leadership very quickly.
As long as they paid taxes on time, the nobles didn't care who ruled here.
And as for threats?
No one dared threaten a noble, for total annihilation awaited.
Caelan smiled. "He's dead. So are you. Look behind you."
The noble didn't turn, replying coldly, "Kill him."
He couldn't understand the humor of these lower hive underlings, but he had already sentenced them for their offense.
Soldiers raised their guns, and blood sprayed.
The noble clutched his throat, but blood wouldn't stop. Curze spent a few seconds killing all the soldiers in the lift, frowning at the man outside.
"I don't need you as bait. You should be hiding!" his hoarse, low voice growled.
"What about the others?" Caelan asked.
"I don't need anyone as bait!" Curze repeated.
Caelan said, "I'm not bait. I just want to help. Is that not allowed?"
Curze remained silent.
"Only this once," he said dryly. "I don't want you helping me this way."
Caelan smiled and entered the lift.
Curze had instinctively learned to operate the lift. He sent it further down to the lower hive.
The lift's roar alerted the watchful children. Teenagers grabbed weapons and, led by Philly, gathered around the lift.
They were tense, unsure what awaited them.
When the lift landed, they saw the man inside and erupted in cheers.
"It's Teacher Caelan!"
"Long live the Midnight Phantoms!"
"Where's Leon?" Curze asked.
Philly replied, "Leon is patrolling outside, clearing remnants of other gangs."
"Bring a thousand with me to the elevator."
"Where to?" Philly asked.
"To the lower hive. I need help."
The crowd cheered louder, their faces flushed with excitement.
For the first time, the pale giant asked for their help.
"Can I go?" Philly asked eagerly.
She wasn't asking Curze, she asked Caelan.
Caelan smiled and nodded. "Yes. We need five hundred boys and five hundred girls. Don't bring weapons; leave them for others. There's plenty of weaponry in the lower hive for us to use."
Curze frowned at Philly. He didn't need that many girls; he needed boys for the sieges.
But Caelan had spoken, and Curze didn't want to oppose him.
He didn't want Caelan to see him as a rebellious child.
Though Curze was 2.5 meters tall, he was only eight months old. He was still growing; he was, of course, a child.