The air pressure inside the warehouse plummeted to a freezing point the moment Gu Hanzhou began his descent.
As the obsidian blade sliced through the stagnant air, it didn't produce a sharp whistle. Instead, it emitted a dull, heavy thud—like the sound of ancient silk being torn asunder. The private soldier on the far left didn't even have time to look up. He felt a momentary chill at the nape of his neck before his entire world began to spin. His head was severed so cleanly, with such terrifying velocity, that the arterial spray didn't even erupt until his cranium hit the floor.
"Enemy contact!"
The remaining two mercenaries displayed a high level of tactical discipline. They didn't panic or retreat. Instead, they immediately pressed their backs against each other, forming a defensive circle as their short-range Order-SMGs barked into the darkness. Muzzle flashes flickered frantically, illuminating the towering iron shelves in staccato bursts.
Gu Hanzhou hit the ground and rebounded instantly. He moved in a jagged "Z" pattern, his body hugging the edges of the shipping containers. Every Order-bullet that grazed his tactical soft-armor left a trail of sizzling electrical sparks, but none could find their mark.
Ten paces. Five paces. Three.
The dark-gold luminescence in Gu Hanzhou's pupils exploded. Inside him, the Order Blood reached a boiling point.
He didn't swing his blade immediately. Instead, he slammed his shoulder into the chest of the nearest soldier. The sheer momentum, amplified by a sudden burst of internal energy, shattered the man's ribcage with a sickening, wet crunch.
Crack!
As the sound of fracturing bone echoed, [Black Order] flickered out like a viper's tongue. The tip of the blade transfixed the second soldier's wrist, severing the tendons and nerves with surgical precision before the man could even pull the trigger.
The first soldier, gasping for air through his collapsed chest, fumbled for a combat knife. But before his fingers could close around the hilt, Gu Hanzhou's boot was already pinned against his throat.
"Don't move."
The voice was low, raspy—a sound that seemed to crawl out from the deepest pits of a frozen hell.
Gu Hanzhou lowered the tip of his blade. The droplets of blood clinging to the steel were slowly being absorbed, vanishing into the obsidian surface of [Black Order]. He looked down at the squad leader, who was kneeling on the floor, clutching his ruined wrist and howling in agony.
"Who are you… do you have any idea… this is Lord Lin's cargo…" The leader hissed through gritted teeth, his face pale with cold sweat, yet his eyes still held a flicker of desperate, hollow bravado.
Gu Hanzhou didn't indulge in words. He thrust the tip of [Black Order] forward, driving it deep into the man's thigh. He avoided the artery but pressed the steel firmly against the periosteum—the sensitive membrane covering the bone.
"AAAAAAAGH!" The scream reverberated through the hollow cavern of the warehouse.
"I will ask only once." Gu Hanzhou knelt on one knee, his eyes behind the mask devoid of any human emotion. "How many more 'private stashes' does Lin Xiu have on this street? Where are his vaults?"
"I… I don't know… I'm just a carrier…"
Gu Hanzhou's wrist gave a slight, microscopic twist. The blade scraped against the bone. That agonizing sensation, a pain that bypassed the flesh and struck directly at the nervous system, finally broke the man's will.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Warehouse No. 3 on Emerald Street… and the basement of the 'Moonlit' Bar… Lord Lin keeps a massive stockpile of 'Blood-Ignition Serums' and unregistered Order Crystals there…" The leader gasped, his breath ragged, a mixture of snot and cold sweat dripping from his chin. "Please… just give me a quick death…"
Gu Hanzhou got the answers he needed, but his gaze only grew colder.
He didn't just want the resources; he wanted to amputate Lin Xiu's financial and logistical limbs in the Mid-Tier Sector.
He stood up, and [Black Order] traced a final, effortless arc through the air.
SHLICK.
The two mercenaries ceased their breathing in a state of absolute despair. Gu Hanzhou didn't spare a second glance for the corpses. He turned toward the metallic crate they had been guarding with their lives.
He extended his right hand, his fingertips brushing against the cold surface of the container.
Click.
The lid hissed open, revealing a dreamlike, swirling pool of ghostly blue liquid. It seemed alive, undulating within its glass housing, radiating an intoxicating aura that made the very soul tremble.
Liquid Order-Ore.
This was the refined essence extracted from the very heart of the Order-Mines—a catalyst of unimaginable potency for those seeking to enter the "Blood-Ignition Phase." On the black market, a single vial of this liquid was worth an entire street in the Furnace District.
Gu Hanzhou didn't hesitate. He knew Lin Xiu would realize the discrepancy any moment now.
He removed the vial and pressed it directly against the center of the complex Order Sigil on his chest.
Sensing the concentrated energy, the dark-gold sigil reacted like a starving beast. It uncoiled thousands of microscopic, ethereal filaments that pierced the glass and began to drain the liquid.
"Hssss—"
Gu Hanzhou's head snapped back, his veins bulging like thick cables beneath his skin. The blue liquid surged into his bloodstream, engaging in a violent, chaotic struggle with his dark-gold Order Blood.
The threshold of the "Peak Awakening Phase," which had felt like a solid wall, began to crack and buckle under the pressure.
It was an illusion of being set on fire from the inside out. He felt as if it wasn't liquid flowing through his veins anymore, but streaks of unbridled lightning. Every red blood cell was being forged anew in this baptism of energy, their color shifting from a dull gold to a profound, mysterious Obsidian-Gold.
Just as Gu Hanzhou was submerged in the agonizing pleasure of his evolution, the distant, frantic wail of sirens began to close in on the warehouse.
"Quick! Surround Warehouse No. 3! Let no one through!"
The Inquisition's reinforcement units had arrived.
Gu Hanzhou snapped his eyes open. A flash of golden fire ignited in his pupils for a fleeting second before receding. He felt a sense of power unlike anything he had ever known—it wasn't just a pile-up of raw energy, but a qualitative shift in his perception of the world's underlying laws.
Though he hadn't fully crossed into the "Blood-Ignition Phase" yet, he had placed his hand upon the door.
He retrieved [Black Order] from the floor and slid it slowly back into its black scabbard.
"Lin Xiu… since you've provided such a generous gift…"
Gu Hanzhou scanned his surroundings, his gaze locking onto a high-altitude ventilation window that led toward the most prosperous section of Emerald Street.
"...then it's only fair we change the rules of the game."
His silhouette flickered, vanishing among the iron shelves like melting smoke.
Seconds later, a squad of heavily armed Adjudicators burst into the warehouse. All they found were three cooling corpses and an empty, hollow metallic crate.
Meanwhile, amidst the brilliant, neon-soaked night of Emerald Street, a figure draped in a grey cloak walked with steady, purposeful strides toward the Moonlit Bar.
The long night of the Iron City had only just reached its most chaotic chapter.