Sakura growled in frustration as her spell fizzled out—blocked before she could learn anything useful.

  She had been hoping to obtain fresh intel before meeting with Dialla and Earl, but she had to accept that it wasn’t going to happen. The Claws on the plains had stepped up their interference over the last few days, jamming all long-range communication and information-gathering skills in the direction of the Savage Garden.

  As a result, Sakura didn’t know what had transpired after she sent her last message to Edge. It was a worrying development, but it wasn’t all bad news. Edge’s name—along with Tessa’s and the crew leader of the scouts who had been heading over to investigate—showed up in Lore-Weaver’s active-contacts list, which meant they were still alive.

  It was a weight off her shoulders, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the settlement was in danger and her time to prepare was quickly running out. Whatever the jailbirds were planning, their endgame was fast approaching, and it was clear the convicts still intended to conquer Puppet Town despite their setback in the Savage Garden.

  After finding that faint magical fingerprint on the northern turrets, Sakura hadn’t seen or sensed anything out of the ordinary. The deputies had posted extra guards on both gates and the core manufactory, then stepped up their patrols through the settlement just to be safe. Meanwhile, Dialla and Sakura had conducted their own investigations, both of which had come up empty.

  Either the person who had attempted to tamper with the turrets had already left town, or they were remarkably skilled at covering their tracks. Either way, she was certain that the convicts would make their move before the elite warriors in the expedition returned.

  It meant a battle was coming sometime within the next few days. She wasn’t sure how the Claws could invade with the turrets and Dome in place, but she was positive they had a plan to deal with the potent defenses.

  She chatted with Lore-Weaver as she made her way to City Hall, but the spinner of truth and lies hadn’t discovered anything either. The spider seemed distracted by events taking place along the periphery of its web, which was usually a sign that trouble was brewing.

  She would have to deal with it eventually, but Sakura didn’t have time to worry about other matters until the jailbirds were dealt with and the settlement was strong enough to contend with the powerful creatures that were drawing closer to the center of the plains by the day.

  She put her mask into place, then leapt down from the rooftops and walked over to the town square, entering City Hall after showing her credentials to the deputy on duty. She made her way to the conference room, then stepped inside and took a seat at the red stone table—where the sheriff and mayor were in the middle of an animated discussion.

  Sakura made sure the magitech privacy device was active, then took off her mask and rubbed her temples. “I can’t get through the Claws’ interference,” she reported. “Whatever they’re up to, they are willing to blow through a ton of mana and aether to keep us in the dark.”

  “Our efforts haven’t borne fruit either.” Dialla sighed. “And the last group of scouts we sent out never returned. I’m afraid I sent them to their deaths.”

  “I wish we had enough manpower to scour the plains and launch an assault.” Earl ground his teeth in frustration. “But we’re critically understaffed after forming the expedition. The few elites still in town are barely enough to guard the settlement, and the fresh recruits we are training are woefully unprepared to deal with hardened killers. If we send them beyond the walls, they’ll get slaughtered. We’re still able to do some field training by keeping the crews in sight of the settlement, but it’s slowing down our efforts to cycle up our newly cored members and rank up their skills.”

  “Have you had any luck figuring out who attempted to access the turrets’ magical circuitry?” Dialla asked.

  “No,” Sakura replied. “There hasn’t been any trace of unknown magic since that disturbance, and no one has approached the town’s critical infrastructure who isn’t authorized to be there. I’m afraid there isn’t much we can do other than hunker down and wait for the expedition to return.”

  “I’ve known Yussuf for a long time—that murderous piece of shit.” Earl scowled. “While he’s cold-blooded, he isn’t stupid. He would never have come after us if he wasn’t sure he could win, and he’s the most dangerous man I know. Based on what has happened so far, I think the true purpose of his attack on the dungeon was to eliminate our elites.

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  “Even though he wasn’t successful, until the expedition returns, we’re in the same position we would have been in if they were wiped out completely. I have a bad feeling that he plans to conclude his invasion before that happens, and until Yussuf’s dead, we haven’t dealt with the true threat the Crimson Claws pose.”

  ***

  Yussuf the Red stood in front of the Gilded Heights, contemplating the city that had been his base of operations for the past three years.

  The Claws had grown in both wealth and power during that time, preparing to attack the gang living in the bordering biome and claim their territory. Those plans were dead in the water, but his time hadn’t been wasted.

  Good riddance. Yussuf spat on the ground. I’ve always hated this fucking place.

  This was the last time he would ever lay eyes on the shithole of the settlement—a collection of brick-and-mud structures his gang had fashioned from the resource-poor desert stretching on for as far as his eyes could see.

  Although he had left a few guards behind with his uncored residents to maintain the illusion he intended to return, they were all disloyal, disposable grunts who would have eventually died in one horrible manner or another—deadweight the Claws would be stronger without when he conquered Puppet Town and began building his empire.

  He knew people thought him mad for his ambition—that convicts could never hold true power with the wardens calling the shots. That was the way it had always been, and no jailbird could ever change it.

  But Yussuf refused to bow before fate just because the odds seemed insurmountable. That was how he had wound up on Ord, but he was still breathing and stronger than ever. He had waited patiently for his chance to come, waging war on other prisoners to hone his skills.

  And now his time in the sun had finally arrived. The miraculous anomaly had heralded his ascension, erasing the old order to make room for something new. At long last, his dream finally felt close enough to grasp. All he had to do was reach out and cut down anyone who stood in his way.

  Before, the wardens had protected the starting regions, preventing jailbirds from interfering with the puppet-tourism industry and threatening the fortune they made from the Prison World feeds. But now that the surface of the planet had been shuffled and the wardens were nowhere to be found, there was nothing stopping the Crimson Claws from setting up shop in the Ivory Plains and claiming Puppet Town for themselves.

  At first, Yussuf had intended to keep both holdings, taking him one step closer to carving out an empire on this deadly magical planet. But after the core manufactory had slipped through his fingers, there was no reason to stay here anymore. When it was time to expand, he’d pick a better location instead—somewhere with rich resources and plenty of prey.

  He had been shocked to learn Ripper and Ella had failed to conquer the dungeon, although he was secretly pleased by the turn of events. The blunder would lower Ripper’s standing, preventing the strike leader from challenging his rule. When the man returned from his siege, Yussuf was already planning to kill the cowardly piece of shit, and now he had a perfect excuse.

  No matter how the situation in the jungle resolved, he intended to bring his ambitions to fruition. Yussuf had been hoping to wipe out Puppet Town’s elites, but delaying them was sufficient. Once he met up with Tiburón’s crew and Blaze’s strike force hiding in the plains, and Wraith breached the settlement’s defenses, Yussuf would take the city, conscript anyone who seemed useful, and slaughter everyone else. By the time the expedition returned, the Claws would be in a fortified position and the tourists’ allies would be dead.

  Yussuf was curious about the small group of hunters who had killed the dungeon’s boss—who had been mentioned in the System’s quest-failure message. On that note, he was furious that One-Eye had betrayed him to join forces with the puppets instead. While he would take his revenge when the opportunity arose, that didn’t explain how they had conquered the Savage Garden with only a fraction of the forces fielded by the Claws and Puppet Town.

  I’ll have Ella break their wills and recruit them if I can. I need new strike leaders who won’t be as inclined to betray me. Now that I think about it, after the battle, it’s time for Tiburón to go too. Yussuf sighed—grateful that at least some of his elites were reliable. Blaze only cared about burning things down, Ella just wanted people to turn into pets, and all Roth needed was a constant supply of test subjects. But Ripper and Tiburón both had ambitions to lead the gang.

  He was about to hit the road when a messenger approached—a scout he’d sent to find out what was taking Ripper and Ella so long. The man looked terrified, which set Yussuf’s blood boiling at the anticipation of bad news. “Out with it man. What fresh incompetence do you have to report?”

  “The moment I was in range, I scouted the jungle with a Sense-Linked eagle. It took me a while, but I finally found Ripper. He was moving with a small force of Claws, but I didn’t see Ella or Roth at all.”

  “So, the battle to defeat the puppets wound up being closer than I expected.”

  “About that, my lord,” the scout continued. “They’re not dead.”

  “Ella and Roth?”

  “No, my lord—the tourists. I saw the expedition from Puppet Town too. Most of them were still alive when...”

  Yussuf gestured, and the man’s shoulder exploded—arm twitching after landing with a splat. He growled in irritation, and the other three limbs followed suit, leaving the Claw to bleed out. A painful process that would take several minutes, thanks to the man’s superhuman Durability.

  “We’re heading out!” he addressed his army. “We need to reach the Ivory Plains sooner than I thought. Sharpen your blades and break out the stimulants. It’s time for pillage and slaughter.”