Shadow of Vengeance Returns

Chapter 3: The Cultivation Secret

Marcus spent the next hour listening to Detective Sarah Chen explain everything she knew about Viktor Harmon's operation. She had been investigating him for over a year, gathering evidence from multiple sources, but every lead seemed to hit a wall. Officials who should have helped her suddenly became unhelpful. Witnesses refused to talk. Evidence disappeared from secure locations.

"Someone very powerful is protecting him," Sarah said, pacing back and forth in Marcus's small apartment. "It's not just money anymore. This goes deeper. There are people in government, in the military, even in the police department, who are connected to Viktor."

Marcus listened carefully, his mind processing everything. He had trained under a mentor who knew about cultivation, but he had never fully understood the scope of it. His mentor had told him that the old ways of unlocking human potential had been forgotten by most of the world, lost to time and history. But Viktor Harmon seemed to have rediscovered these ancient techniques and was using them to build an army of enhanced individuals.

"How many people are involved?" Marcus asked.

"That's the problem," Sarah said, sitting down heavily on the edge of his desk. "We don't know. We've identified at least thirty missing persons who might be connected to Viktor's operation. But there could be more. Some of them might still be alive, trapped in his facilities. Others..." She didn't finish the sentence, but her meaning was clear.

"Where are these facilities?" Marcus asked.

"That's classified information," Sarah said, but then she seemed to reconsider. "Actually, no. You're going to help me anyway, so you might as well know everything. There's a place called the Iron Tower, about twenty kilometers north of the city. It's officially listed as a research facility, but no one knows what they actually research there. Viktor owns it through a shell company, and the security is insane. Military-grade weapons, surveillance systems, trained guards."

Marcus nodded slowly. An attack on the Iron Tower would be dangerous, but it was exactly the kind of place where his enemy would keep secrets. If his sister Sarah was alive, if she had been taken by Viktor's organization, then the Iron Tower was where she would be.

"I need you to understand something," Sarah Chen said, her voice becoming more serious. "Viktor Harmon is not just a criminal. He's someone who believes he's building the future. He thinks that by unlocking cultivation in people, he's creating a new kind of human being. A superior being. And he has followers who believe the same thing. Some of them are fanatics. They would die for him."

"Then they will," Marcus said coldly.

Sarah looked at him with something like fear in her eyes. "This is not a joke, Marcus. The King of War reputation you built during the border war came from raw skill and combat ability. But Viktor's enhanced soldiers are different. They've been trained specifically to use cultivation abilities in combat. They move faster, hit harder, heal quicker. One of them fought against three military special forces soldiers, and he won."

"I've fought enhanced soldiers before," Marcus said. "During my training."

"Against how many?" Sarah asked.

"One at a time," Marcus admitted. "My mentor said that group combat against multiple enhanced opponents was a suicide mission without proper preparation."

Sarah nodded grimly. "Then we need to be smart about this. We can't just raid the Iron Tower. We need to gather more intelligence first. We need to understand their security, their procedures, their weaknesses."

"How long will that take?" Marcus asked.

"Weeks. Maybe months."

Marcus stood up and walked to the window, looking down at the street below. People were going about their lives, completely unaware of the shadow that had fallen over their city. They didn't know that their government was being infiltrated by Viktor's followers. They didn't know that young people were disappearing and being transformed into weapons. They didn't know that the King of War had returned.

"I don't have months," Marcus said quietly. "Every day we wait, more people disappear. Every day we wait, Viktor gets stronger."

"And every day you rush in recklessly, you die," Sarah replied sharply. "I understand your anger, Marcus. I understand that you want revenge for your mother and that you want to find your sister. But revenge won't help anyone if you're dead."

There was a knock at the door. Both Marcus and Sarah froze. They weren't expecting anyone. Marcus moved silently to the window and looked out, checking the street. A man stood in front of the building, looking up at the window. He was tall, muscular, with the kind of bearing that suggested military training. Marcus didn't recognize him.

"Someone's here," Marcus whispered.

Sarah drew her weapon instantly, moving to a position where she could see the door but wouldn't be visible from the hallway. "Did you tell anyone you were staying here?"

"No," Marcus said.

The knock came again, harder this time. Then a voice called out: "Marcus Vale! I know you're in there! I have information about your sister!"

Marcus and Sarah exchanged a look. This was a trap. It had to be. But the mention of his sister made Marcus's chest tighten. Despite his training, despite his control, the emotional wound was still raw.

"Don't," Sarah warned, seeing the look in his eyes. "It's obviously a setup."

But Marcus was already moving to the door. He had been waiting ten years for information about his sister. He had risked everything to build his power, to become strong enough to save her. He couldn't ignore this, even if it was dangerous.

He opened the door slightly, keeping the chain lock in place.

The man outside was holding his hands up, showing he was unarmed. But his arms were covered with the same strange markings that Sarah had shown him in the photograph. This was one of Viktor's enhanced soldiers.

"My name is Kade," the man said, his voice calm and controlled. "I was sent to find you. To tell you something important."

"How do you know about my sister?" Marcus demanded.

"Because she's alive," Kade said. "Sarah Vale is alive, and she's been in Viktor's facility for the past ten years. And Marcus... she's one of us now. She's been transformed. She has cultivation abilities. And she's been training to become Viktor's elite guard."

The words hit Marcus like a physical blow. His sister was alive. But she wasn't a victim anymore. She was a soldier in Viktor's army.

"I don't believe you," Marcus said.

"Then come with me and see for yourself," Kade replied. "Viktor wants to meet with you. He wants to offer you something. A choice. You can join us, or you can fight us. But either way, your sister is going to be part of this future we're building. The only question is whether you'll be on the same side as her or against her."

Before Marcus could respond, Sarah Chen grabbed his arm and pulled him back from the door. She raised her weapon and fired through the opening. The bullet should have caught Kade in the chest, but he moved with inhuman speed, disappearing from the doorway in a blur of motion.

There was a sound of impact against the door, and it burst inward, the chain lock snapping like it was made of paper. Kade stood in the doorway, completely unharmed, his eyes glowing with a faint blue light.

"That wasn't very nice," Kade said, his voice still calm. "Viktor said you might be hostile. He said I should bring you by force if necessary."

Behind him, in the hallway, Marcus could see three more enhanced soldiers taking up positions. They were surrounding the apartment building. This wasn't an offer. This was a kidnapping.

Sarah fired again, but Kade caught the bullet mid-air, his hand closing around it as if he was simply plucking it from the sky. Then he threw it back, and Sarah barely managed to dodge as it passed her head and embedded itself in the wall behind her.

Marcus stepped forward, his own cultivation abilities beginning to activate. His body moved faster, his senses heightened. He could see the flow of energy through Kade's body, could see the patterns of his enhanced strength.

"Come on then," Marcus said, and he rushed toward Kade with all his power.

They collided in the middle of the apartment, their impact sending a shockwave through the small space. Books flew off shelves. The laptop crashed to the ground. But when the dust settled, something shocking had happened.

Kade had stopped Marcus's attack, but his arm was visibly bleeding. His cultivation, whatever it was, had limits. And Marcus was stronger.

"Impressive," Kade said, pulling his arm back. "But not strong enough."

He raised his hand, and a wave of blue energy exploded outward, throwing Marcus backward into the wall. Before Marcus could recover, the other three enhanced soldiers rushed through the doorway.

Sarah Chen fired, taking down one of them, but the other two were too fast. They overwhelmed her in seconds, disarming her and pinning her against the ground.

As Marcus struggled to stand, wiping blood from his mouth, Kade smiled.

"Viktor was right about you," Kade said. "You have more potential than any of us. That's why he wants you. That's why your sister wants you. Because the real war is just beginning, Marcus. And we need the King of War on our side."

Then everything went black.