In the grand halls of the imperial pace, Jinhai sat upon his throne, listening as his informants reyed the test whispers from beyond the Regime of Jin.

  "Your Majesty," one of them begaantly, bowing low, "there are rumors from the West of a new iion—a surface that be written upon with chalk and wiped away with mere cloth. They say it renders paper and quill all but obsolete."

  Jinhai raised a skeptical brow. "A surface that be used infinitely? Preposterous. If such a thied, the schors of Jin would have devised it turies ago."

  "Yet the rumors persist, Your Majesty," the informant pressed.

  "They cim it will ge education, trade, even goverself."

  Jinhai waved a dismissive hand. "Another fool's dream. What else?"

  The informaated before tinuing, "There are also whispers… of a on capable of tearing through reinforced steel."

  This made Jinhai pause. He leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharp.

  "A on that pierces steel? With Qi?"

  "No, Your Majesty. Without qi. A creation of pure maery."

  Jinhai scoffed. "Impossible. No bde, no hammer, no spear cut steel without immense force. Where did this ruminate?"

  Anure stepped forward—Wei Xian, Jinhai's most trusted informant.

  Uhe others, his word carried weight, his sources rarely failing. "The rumors are true, Your Majesty. I have spoken to someone… deeply embedded within the Western underworld. The os. And it is most likely in the hands of the Queen of the Underworld."

  Jinhai's eyes narrowed. "Who is she?"

  Wei Xian shook his head. "No kings, no emperors, no leaders know her true name. She is only known by her title."

  The emperor drummed his fingers against the armrest of his throne, annoyance flickering across his features. "A nameless ruler trolling power beyond prehension. How ve."

  He exhaled, reigning in his irritation. "And what of Yasmina's most loyal follower? Any leads?"

  Wei Xiaated before pulling out a dot. "Her name, once erased from records, has resurfaced. She was known as Zafira. But she no loes by that name."

  Jinhai's brow furrowed. "Is this information verified?"

  Wei Xian handed over the dot. "Official records firm it. But trag her down? That is another matter entirely. She's a ghost."

  Jinhai sed the paper before g his jaw. "Find her. I don't care how long it takes."

  He then leaned back, posing himself.

  "And tell me—have there been a disturbances? Anything… that made a 'boom'?"

  The other informants exged uneasy gnces before one finally spoke. "Yes, Your Majesty. But it is not a simple matter. The source of the disturbance came from Shrouded Peaks Sect."

  Jinhai's expression darkened instantly. He ched the armrest of his throhat damned sect again. One of the few pces in this world beyond my reach…"

  His grip tightened. He trolled kings, armies, trade routes. But the cultivators hidden within the Shrouded Peaks Sect remained elusive, untouchable.

  His mind ed. "A on that pierces steel. A hidden queen of the underworld. A ghost from Yasmina's past. And now… destru from within Shrouded Peaks itself?"

  He dismissed the informants with a wave of his hand. "Find me answers. And bring me results."

  As the hall emptied, Jinhai sat in silence, pting the impossible.

  "No known on could tear through steel," he muttered. "Unless…"

  He tapped his fingers against the cold stone of his throne, mind rag.

  "Unless it was something irely."

  Emery and the Sce of War

  In a dimly lit workshop cluttered with metal parts, gss vials, and stacks of scribbled notes, Emery meticulously adjusted the firing meism of his test iion. His hands moved with precision as he made minute ges to the inner ws of the on. Behind him, a rge wooden board stood propped up, covered iions and intricate sketches detailing his pns for a device that could harness electricity.

  "Callum, hold that steady," Emery said absentmindedly, tightening a screw on the on's barrel.

  Callum, looking absolutely exhausted, struggled uhe weight of the chalk-writing surfad its wooden stand that Emery had demanded be set up for his calcutions. "You know," Callum huffed, "most people would use a simple notebook, but no, you had to i something that makes quills and ink obsolete."

  Emery, without missing a beat, gestured toward the board.

  "Why limit myself to archaic tools when I create something infinitely reusable? Think about it, Callum! A surface where you write and erase instantly with nothing but a cloth! No more wasted part! No more costly ink spills! This will revolutionize knowledge itself!"

  Callum rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, a you'll be tellihat we should repce dles with something called 'electric lights.'"

  Emery snapped his fingers. "An excellent idea! I'll make a note of that."

  Before Callum could curse his owehe door swung open and Zafira strolled in, holding one of the prototype firearms. She casually spun the on around her finger before aiming it at a wooden target across the room. With a deafening bang, the bullet tore through the target, embedding itself into the stone wall behind it.

  Callum flinched. "Ever heard of a warning shot?!"

  Zafira smirked. "That was the warning shot. The real one would've gohrough your skull."

  Emery chuckled, barely looking up as he jotted down notes.

  "You see, Callum? She uands efficy."

  Zafira holstered the gun and leaned against the workbench.

  "Speaking of efficy, my informants just returned with something iing. The rumours have already spread like you wanted. Jinhai is asking for information on the Queen of the Underworld."

  Emery paused, gng at her over his shoulder. "Obviously, you didn't give him your name, right?"

  Zafira stretched zily, her smirk widening. "Oh, but I did."

  The workshop fell into stunned silence.

  Callum choked on air. "YOU WHAT?!"

  Emery pihe bridge of his nose. "Zafira, I'm going to need you to repeat that slowly so I process the sheer magnitude of the mistake you just made."

  Zafira chuckled. "I simply told them the truth. My name is Zafira. That's all."

  Callum looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. "Jinhai—the emperor of the Regime of Jin, the most powerful man in the East—now knows the name of the person ruling the Western Underworld, and you think that's fine?!"

  Zafira shrugged. "Oh, e on. It's not like he do anything with just a name. No one knows what I look like, and I doly go around carrying that her. I'm Ezra remember"

  Emery sighed, rubbing his forehead. "That may be true, but it won't stop Jinhai fr to track you down."

  Zafira waved a dismissive hand.

  "Let him try. It's impossible, ah know it."

  Callum looked betweewo of them, still fbbergasted. "You two are actually insane."

  Before Emery could reply, another informant rushed into the room, bowing quickly.

  "Apologies for the intrusion, but there's more. Jinhai's men have also uncovered the real name of Yasmina's most trusted follower."

  The air in the workshop grew tense. Emery and Callum turo Zafira, who remained unnervingly calm.

  "Go on," she said.

  The informaated before produg a dot.

  "They have records linking Yasmina's most trusted follower to Zafira. An official dot firming the name."

  Emery took the paper and sed it before handing it to Zafira. She barely g it before smirking.

  "Fasating. A, all that effort will still lead them nowhere."

  Callum leaned over to look. "So… is it true?"

  Zafira tilted her head. "What do you think?"

  Callum opened his mouth, then shut it. "...Right. I'm just going to pretend I didn't ask."

  The informant cleared his throat. "There's o thing, ander. Jinhai also inquired if there had been any is involving a loud explosioly."

  Emery and Callum exged gnces.

  Zafira raised an eyebrow. "And?"

  The informant looked visibly uneasy. "We firmed that there was indeed su event. But the location… It came from Shrouded Peaks Sect."

  The tension in the room thied.

  Ezra let out a low whistle. "Oh, Jinhai is going to hate that."

  Emery exhaled, leaning against the workbench. "He's one of the few rulers in this world that has no trol over that sect."

  Callum muttered, "And knowing his personality, that fact alone probably keeps him up at night."

  Ezra grinned. "Well, at least we know where his spies will be headi."

  Before anyone could respond, the door creaked open again, revealing a woman draped in dark traveling robes, her face partially obscured by a scarf.

  Seraphine, one of Zafira's most capable informants, stepped forward, her presence demanding attention without a single word.

  She bowed slightly before speaking. "Lady Ezra, we've pleted the iigation on the Silver Lotus Sect versus Crimson Serpe war."

  Zafira raised an eyebrow. "And?"

  Seraphine smirked. "Silver Lotus won."

  The room fell silent for a moment before Callum let out an incredulous ugh. "You're joking. No way they pulled that off."

  Emery, however, showed no surprise. "Not impossible. Unlikely, yes, but not impossible."

  Seraphine tinued, "There's more. The sect has supposedly ged hands in leadership. The new leader is Meilin Wuye, daughter of Lin Wuye, the former sect leader."

  That got everyone's attention.

  "Meilin Wuye?" Callum frowned. "She's barely older than sixteen. How the hell did a kid take over a war-tor?"

  Emery pced a hand on his forehead and slowly pushed his hair back, his mind already rag through possibilities. If the Silver Lotus Sect won, there were only a few pusible expnations.

  "Tactical superiority?"

  Seraphine nodded. "The reports say the battle was decided through precise formations, terrain manipution, and calcuted strikes rather than brute force."

  "Deception?"

  "It's rumored they made the Crimson Serpe believe they had the upper hand multiple times, only to exploit their overfidence."

  "Sacrificial pys?"

  "Yes. Barely any losses on their side, but they forced the eo overextend at key moments."

  Emery smirked. "Then there it is. They didn't win because they were strohey won because they were smarter."

  Callum shook his head in disbelief.

  "A sixteen-year-old led them to victory through strategy alohat's insane."

  Zafira tapped her fingers oable, her expression unreadable.

  "Not insane. Just rare. Very, very rare."

  Emery let out a sharp exhale, rolling his shoulders as he processed the probabilities. "The statistical likelihood of a sixteen-year-old leading aire sect to victory is... less than one pert. No, scratch that—closer to 0.03% given the variables of experience, leadership, and battlefield adaptability."

  He tapped his fingers against his forehead before sliding them back through his hair. "Unless... she wasn't ag alone."

  Callum frowned. "Go on, genius."

  Emery smirked. "She had to have access to knowledge that the Crimson Serpe uimated. Tactical superiority isn't just about formations; it's about fht. The sect would've needed access to precise scouting data, prediodels for enemy movements, and a ander capable of rapid mid-battle adjustments."

  Seraphine nodded. "Our sources say they won through positioning and calcuted strikes. The enemy was led into believing they were winning, only to fall into pre-praps."

  "So she pyed them like a game of stones." Emery mused.

  "The best way to defeat an arrogant oppo is to let them believe they're winning—right up until they aren't. And if she has that level of fht… well, that makes her very, very dangerous."

  Zafira stretched zily before dismissing the thought. "The's make sure we know more before assuming. New mission: find out everything you about Meilin Wuye. See if there's a way to open unication with the Shrouded Peaks Sect. If there's even a ce we meet her and Daokan, I want to know."

  Before Seraphine could leave, she smirked and snapped her fingers. The doors swung open, and two of her men dragged in a bound figure ed in thick ropes, his muffled protests evideh the gag. They tossed him onto the stone floor unceremoniously.

  The man shouted something in ese, his voice panicked.

  "放了我!你们不知道自己在和谁打交道!" (Let me go! You don't know who you're dealing with!)

  Zafira's eyes gleamed as she crouched down beside him, her tone calm but edged with danger. "我们当然知道.问题是,你知道你现在在和谁说话吗?" (Oh, we kly who we're dealing with. The question is, do you know who you're speaking to?)

  The man's face paled.

  Callum, arms crossed, sighed. "Oh great. Here we go again. ese that I don't uand."

  Seraphine and the other informants bowed before stepping back, their figures slipping into the shadows as they exited.

  "We will return once we have more information, ander."

  Zafira barely aowledged their departure, her focus entirely on the bound man before her. Before she could begin, Emery—watg with his usual mix of curiosity aached amusement—leaned against the table.

  "You know, you really should use the firearm. It could cut the interrogation time in half."

  Zafira hummed in thought before suddenly drawing the firearm from her hip, iing it like it had just bee the most fasating tool iehen, without hesitation, she aimed it directly at the captive's forehead, her expression turning unreadable.

  "So. What exactly are you doing here? And more importantly, what's your purpose?"

  The mae his bound state, scoffed. "You think that little shit hurt me?" His eyes flicked to the gun, unimpressed.

  "It's just a fner's toy. Nothing pared to true strength."

  Zafira exhaled through her nose, almost disappointed. "Ah. You pnorant soul."

  Without breaking eye tact, she shifted the gun downward and pulled the trigger.

  A sharp bang echoed through the room as the bullet buried itself into the stone floor just inches from his leg. The captive flinched violently, his bravado crag for the first time as his breathing became erratic.

  Emery, arms crossed, sighed in English. "Zafira. What. Are. You. Doing."

  She gave him a casual shrug, still pointing the on zily at the man's knee.

  "A demonstration. He seems to think this is just a toy. I figured a little hands-on learning would help."

  The captive, now visibly sweating, gritted his teeth. "Y-You missed."

  Zafira's smirk widened and spoke ba their nguage.

  "Oh, I wasn't aiming for you. But I fix that mistake real quick."

  Callum groaned, rubbing his forehead and hands. "One day, just one day, we do things without scarring someone for life?"

  The captive, still visibly shaken, suddenly closed his eyes, his breathing steadying. A faint shimmer of energy surrounded his body as he focused his Qi inward, attempting to reinforce his limbs and snap the bindings. The ropes trembled as his muscles flexed, veins pulsing from the enharength.

  "Hah!" he sneered. "You think I'm just going to sit here and beg? You're all powerless against true cultivators—"

  Bang!

  Before she pulled the trigger, Zafira grabbed the captive by the colr and smmed him down with brute force, her muscles tensing as she overpowered his Qi-reinforced body without using any Qi herself. The ground cracked beh the impact, and the captive gasped in shock—his so-called reinfort was crushed by raw strength alone.

  "All that reinfort, and you still 't beat someone who's just strohan you?" she mused, pressing her boot against his chest to keep him pinned.

  Then, without hesitation, she pulled the trigger. The bullet struck his thigh, pung through his supposedly reinforced Qi defense like paper. The moment it ected, his expression morphed frao sheer agony. He screamed, colpsing onto his side as blood seeped into the stone floor.

  Emery blinked. "Zafira, WHAT THE FUCK!?"

  She tilted her head, genuinely intrigued. "Huh. That's iing."

  "Iing? You just shot him!" Callum gawked, kneeling beside the now-twitg captive, trying to stop the bleeding.

  Zafira ignored him, croug down beside her target.

  "Your Qi reinfort should have stopped that bullet. A…" She poked his shoulder with the tip of the gun, watg him flinch.

  "It didn't."

  Emery's eyes sharpened as he processed the implications. "Wait. Are you saying—"

  Zafira nodded. "Yun, Emery, doesn't just bypass standard Qi reinfort—it weakens it. Not pletely, but enough. I'd say the damage output is somewhere around a beginner level of raw force, maybe slightly more. But still enough to make cultivators bleed."

  Emery scoffed, shaking his head. "ht. Qi reinfort. The mystical, all-powerful shield cultivators swear by. If it was so perfect, why does it keep failing when faced with actual physics?" He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply.

  "Theoretically, it should have absorbed the impact, redirected the kiiergy, something. But no, here we are, watg reality prove them wrong."

  He crouched beside the now-bleeding captive, the wound with a detached curiosity speaks to him in ese. "你的所谓"气"并不神圣,它只是另一种能量场.而当一个物体移动得比你的强化反应更快时,会发生什么?(You see, your so-called 'Qi' isn't divi's just another energy field. And what happens when an object moves faster than your precious reinfort react?) He tapped the gun bullet hole. 很简单,就是这样. (It goes through. Simple as that.)

  Zafira smirked, nudging the man with her boot.

  "So much for being untouchable."

  Callum, still holding a very injured and very much screaming captive, groaned. "You're both fasated by this?! we at least pretend to care that he's bleeding out?"

  Emery let out a long, suffering sigh, rubbing his temples before rolling up his sleeves.

  "Fine, fine. If you insist on interrupting my incredibly valuable research time…" He motioo Callum.

  "First, press down on the wound. Hard. If he bleeds out before I get a proper look, I'll personally make you test the firearm."

  Callum muttered something under his breath but obeyed, applying pressure as the captive winced and groaned in pain.

  Emery turo Zafira. "Cover his mouth. Tight. If he bites his tongue off from the pain, we lose a perfectly good test subject."

  Zafira smirked but plied, shoving a cloth between the man's teeth before pressing a hand over his mouth to muffle his screams.

  With practiced efficy, Emery took out the bullet with his bare hands, though he made sure to wipe them thhly with a cloth first. The projectile was still warm from the shot, slick with blood. He ied it for a moment before discarding it.

  "N. entry. Looks like the barrel design is holding up."

  Callum gave him an incredulous look. "I meant what are you doing about him, not your damn gun."

  Emery ignored him, already moving on to the step. He grabbed a bottle of brandy from the nearby shelf, uncorked it, drank some and poured it directly onto the wound. The captive's entire body vulsed as a muffled scream tore from his throat.

  Callum flinched. "What the hell, Emery?!"

  Zafira, who had been watg with amusement, suddenly stiffened. "Wait. Is that—was that my brandy?"

  Emery barely g her.

  "Yes, and now it's a ing drink."

  Zafira groaned, rubbiemples. "That erfectly good bottle of expensive liquor! I was saving that!"

  Emery scoffed. "Oh yes, five me for prioritizing stopping a man from dying over your own a aravagant drinking habits. ime, I'll let the wound rot and we all enjoy a fine drink while watg him succumb to sepsis. Very civilized."

  Emery rolled his eyes. "Rex. It's called brandy but right now it's a ing agent. If I must I'll expin to you why I use it but unless you'd rather watch him die slowly from iion, in which case, by all means, tinue questioning my methods."

  Callum hesitated. "But—"

  "Why alcohol?" Emery interrupted, cutting off the iable pint.

  "Simple. Whatever Qi nonsense he was relying on clearly failed him, which means he's as vulnerable to septife as anyone else. Alcohol should kill off any unseen germs." He scoffed.

  "Of course, if people actually uood why things rot aer, we wouldn't have to rely on superstitious nonsense like 'bad air' and 'angry spirits.'"

  Zafira chuckled. "Always the skeptic."

  Emery ignored her, reag into a small crate filled with dried herbs.

  "Callum, elevate his leg while I prepare the clotting agents."

  Callum followed the order while Emery ground yarrow and mugwort between his fingers, crushing them into a fine paste before pressing it firmly into the wound. "These should slow the bleeding and prevent further iion. At least, that's the theory."

  "The theory?" Callum echoed, horrified.

  "Oh, don't look at me like that. He's still alive, isn't he?" Emery grabbed a cloth and ed it tightly around the wound, binding it securely.

  "There. gratutions, he won't die immediately. Now, I go bay work?"

  Callum, however, wasn't letting him off that easily. "Wait. Hold on. You just did all of that like it was sed nature. What exactly did you do?"

  Emery sighed dramatically, but there was a glint of satisfa in his eyes. "Are you seriously askio expin basic logic? Fine. You start by slowing the bleeding—which you did, surprisingly well, might I add. , you prevent iion, which is why I had to sacrifice Zafira's precious brandy to the wound."

  He smirked at Zafira, who scowled at him. "Then, you elevate the limb to reduce blood flow and swelling. After that, you apply coagunts—hehe herbs. Finally, you it up tightly to keep everything in pce."

  Callum blinked. "So… you just ied the first actual method for treating gunshot wounds?"

  Emery scoffed. "Oh, don't be ridiculous. I didn't i it—I just figured it out first. Big difference."

  Meanwhile, as Emery unknowingly id the foundation for modern battlefield medie, Zafira casually retied the captive's bindings, her hands swift and effit. She shoved him bato position, this time without the gun, leaning in with an easy smirk.

  "Now that we've established you're not invincible, shall we tinue?"

  The captive, breathing heavily, suddenly shifted his gaze to Zafira, desperation flickering in his eyes. "Please… I have a family." he pleaded.

  "I did nothing wrong. I only waoo far into your territory. I swear it!"

  Zafira tilted her head, sidering his words, but her expression remained unreadable. "Wandering into my domain without permission is already uable," she said ftly.

  "But still… killing you ht does seem a little cruel."

  She turo Emery, a knowing smirk on her lips.

  "What do you think? You're the genius here. What should we do with him?"

  Callum, standing slightly apart from them, barely followed the versation. His limited grasp of the nguage left him pieg together what little he uood. He reized the shift in tohe captive's desperate pleas, Zafira's amused but unreadable response, and the way Emery's name was thrown into the mix.

  Great. They're debating his fate, and I have no clue what's being said.

  He resisted the urge to ask for a transtion, knowing full well that Emery would only roll his eyes and Zafira would make it worse with an exaggerated, overly dramatic version just to mess with him. Instead, he watched warily, waiting for some indication of whether they were about to execute the poor bastard or let him go.

  Emery crossed his arms, eyeing the captive with a mix of annoyand curiosity. "You know martial arts, don't you?"

  The maated before nodding. "Yes… I've trained since childhood."

  Emery scoffed. "Fantastic. Then tell me—how fident are you in expining that whole 'Qi' nonseo someone who actually uses his brain?"

  The captive looked fused. "What?"

  Zafira raised an eyebrow. "Emery, what are you getting at?"

  Emery exhaled dramatically. "Simple. I want him to start a martial arts school. Not here. In the main city of Russia."

  Emery tinued, "Business. If we establish a martial arts school in a major city, we gain local influehe people will floethiid 'mystical.' That's human nature."

  Zafira nodded in uanding. "And that means profits. udents, high fees, and if the demand grows, we monopolize martial arts training in this region."

  "Exactly," Emery firmed. "More than that, it expands our trol over what information about Qi and bat is actually spread. Right now, it's all mythionsense—'cultivation this' and 'spiritual enlightehat.' But if we teach it in a beginner-friendly way, it bees accessible and structured."

  Zafira grinned. "And unlike me trying to teach you, where you failed spectacurly, this guy actually expin it properly."

  Emery rolled his eyes. "Yes, because your version was essentially throwio a fight and saying, 'figure it out.' Hardly an education."

  He turned back to the captive.

  "So, gratutions. You're not going to die today. Instead, yoing to be a teacher."

  The captive hesitated before blurting out, "What about my family?"

  Zafira clicked her tongue. "Oh, now you remember them? ve." She crossed her arms, gng at Emery. "What do you think? Family reunion, or are we keeping this simple?"

  Callum, still trying to catch up, finally interjected.

  "Look, I don't uand half of what's going on, but if he has a family, sending him alone could be a problem. What if they e looking for him? Or worse, if someone else uses them against him?"

  Zafira hummed in thought. "That's a fair point. If his family is still in Regime of Jin, then they're leverage waiting to happen."

  Emery tapped his fingers against his arm. "Fihen the solution is simple. We verify. We find out exactly where his family is, if they're in any danger, and—" he turo the captive, "—if they're worth the effort."

  The captive stiffened as if uanding English screamed. "Of course they are!"

  Zafira smirked. "We'll see. If they're in trouble, maybe we help. Maybe we don't. But if you're lying to us, well…" She gestured vaguely toward the bloodstained floor.

  "I'm sure you guess what happe."

  Callum sighed. "Why does every solution around here involve either money, leverage, or threats?"

  Zafira grinned. "Because they work."

  As if ohe door swung open again, and Seraphirode ba, her expression one of barely tained amusement. Behind her, several figures followed—a woman and three younger individuals, two boys and a girl, all looking weary and travel-worn.

  The captive's head soward them, his eyes widening in shock. "Haoran!"

  The woman gasped, rushing forward, only to be held back by Seraphine's men. "Husband! Are you hurt? What have they doo you?"

  Emery raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was fast. I see we're really embrag the 'efficy' part of anization."

  The two boys, aged around fourteen and fifteen, looked worse for wear—bruises littering their arms and faces, evidence of a struggle. The girl, about twenty, held herself with quiet defiaanding protectively in front of her mother.

  Zafira whistled. "So, this is the family you were so worried about? You've got a wife, two sons who clearly don't know when to back down, and a daughter who looks like she's ready to stab me. Quite the group."

  Haoran's breathing was ragged, his earlier bravado pletely shattered as he stared at his family, equal parts relieved and terrified.

  "They—they had nothing to do with this. They didn't even know I was here!"

  Emery crouched down in front of the man, studying him with renewed curiosity.

  "Iing. But before we get all seal, let's address the real question here—" He turo the family. "Do any of you know sce, math, martial arts, or, heaven forbid, 'Qi' bullshit?"

  The family exged nervous ghe two boys, still visibly bruised from whatever ordeal they had endured, shifted unfortably under Emery's stare. The daughter, despite the tension, squared her shoulders and spoke first.

  "I know some math." she said cautiously. "My father taught me basic calcutions for trade."

  Emery nodded approvingly. "Not bad. And the boys?"

  The younger one, , hesitated before responding, "We were trained in basic self-defense. Our father didn't want us to be helpless."

  Haritted his teeth. "I told them not to fight back. But they wouldn't listen."

  "Obviously," Emery deadpanned, eyeing the bruises. "And you?" he directed at the older boy, Feng.

  Feng lifted his . "I know how to use a staff."

  Zafira smirked. "That's adorable. You pnning to seople away like flies?"

  Feng bristled but held his tongue. Meanwhile, Emery tapped his fingers against his knee, clearly thinking.

  "Alright, so we've got a mert-in-training, two stubborn brats who don't know when to quit, and a father with just enough skill to get himself captured."

  Haoran ched his fists. "We are not useless."

  "Good," Emery said, standing up and dusting off his shirt.

  "Because I just decided we're keeping you."

  The entire family stiffened.

  Callum, who had been watg silently, raised a hand. "Uh, what?"

  "Think about it," Emery said, gesturing toward them.

  "We need aional legal base in Russia, and what better way to establish trol than with a family business? The father's got martial arts skills—he teach. The daughter handle finances or I turn her into a new assistant. The boys be trained further or I use them. We have everything we o open a school and trol local trade."

  Zafira folded her arms, intrigued.

  "It does solve a lot of logistical problems. in outsiders. We train them, we own them."

  Haoran's wife, Renshu, stepped forward at st, gring at them all. "And if we refuse?"

  Emery raised an eyebrow. "Then you go back to whatever life you had before. But sidering your situation, I'd say this is the best deal yoing to get."

  Zafira, the Queen of the Underworld, let out a dramatic sigh and slowly pulled out the firearm. She tur in her hands, letting the metal gleam in the dim light.

  "This," she said casually, "is what hurt your father."

  The family teheir eyes flickeriween the on and Haoran, whose expression darkened.

  Renshu's lips pressed into a thin line. "You expect us to believe that? That little thing did what even bdes and arrows 't?"

  Zafira rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone want to keep testing me?"

  Without hesitation, she aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into the stone floor—inches from Renshu's feet.

  The sharp crack of the shot echoed through the room, the impact sending dust and shards of rock flying. Renshu and the children staggered back, their bravado crag instantly.

  The room fell silent.

  Feng, the eldest son, swallowed hard, eyes wide. "That… that wasn't a normal on."

  Zafira smirked, spinning the gun around her finger before holstering it. "Now you're starting to uand." She gestured toward Haoran.

  ''Your father thought he was untouchable. That little 'tri' proved otherwise. So, let's not waste time pretending you have a choice here."

  Renshu pulled her children close, breathing heavily. "What… what do you want from us?"

  Renshu hesitated, looking at her sons, then at her husband. The unspoken truth hung in the air—this was not a iation. It was an ultimatum.

  Finally, Haoran exhaled. "What do you want us to do?"

  Emery grinned. "Gd you asked. We're going to turn you into something useful."