I Evolve 10,000 Times Faster

The Capital station was packed.

Holden saw them the moment the train pulled into the platform. Crowds pressed against the barriers, held back by a line of Vanguard military police. Reporters with recording crystals floated above the front row, their blue lights blinking in the afternoon sun.

And behind the reporters were academy students. Dozens of them, wearing uniforms, whispering to each other with the barely contained energy of people who had been waiting for hours.

Team Soup stepped off the train.

The reaction was instant. The whispering stopped, then exploded into something louder and more frantic. A hundred people trying to talk at once, all trying to be the first to say what everyone was thinking.

"That’s them! That’s Team Soup!"

"Is that the girl with the frost-spear? She’s Rank 2?"

"Look at the big one with the shield. He’s huge."

"Holden Voss! Can we get a statement?"

A reporter shoved a recording crystal toward Holden’s face. He was a young man with slicked-back hair and a pressed suit. "Holden Voss, Sable Chen, Capital News Network. Can you confirm that you and your team entered the Abyssal Portal at Demon Mouth Outpost and destroyed the anchor from the inside?"

Holden looked at the reporter, then at the crystal, still giving no comment.

"Sources say you killed a Rank 3 Abyssal General single-handedly. Is that accurate?"

"I said no comment."

"What about the Siege Turtle? Witnesses say you dropped from the sky like a rock."

He walked past the reporter, ignoring the outstretched crystal still in the reporter’s hand.

Renna, walking behind him, leaned toward the crystal. "He was on fire! It was incredible! Ask me about the arrows! I shot seven beast in seven seconds!"

Emric looked up from his notebook and stared. "Ah."

They walked through the station. The Vanguard military police cleared a path, saluting as they passed. A group of academy students broke through the barrier and rushed forward, not to attack but to touch Emric’s shield like it was a holy relic. Emric looked deeply uncomfortable.

"Please don’t touch the shield. The surface hasn’t been sanitized. You’re introducing microorganisms to a combat instrument."

The student ignored him and rubbed the dent on Emric’s shield with almost reverent fingers.

"This dent is amazing."

She looked at him like a pilgrim at a shrine.

"It’s a structural compromise, not a souvenir."

The villa was modest by noble standards. Three bedrooms, a common area, a kitchen, and a basement that Maeve immediately claimed as her operations center. Within thirty minutes, her computers were set up, her tablet was synced, and three monitors displayed overlapping data streams.

Holden sat on the couch, drinking tea.

"What’s the situation?" he asked.

Maeve didn’t look up from her screens. "The Sterling family spies reported your arrival twelve minutes ago. I intercepted an encrypted burst transmission from a rooftop near the station."

"Of course you did."

"The transmission went to two locations. The Sterling family estate and a secondary address in the financial district." She pulled up a map on the screen. A red dot blinked steadily in the financial district, five kilometers from the villa. "I traced the secondary address. It’s not a residence. It’s a front."

"For what?"

"The Crimson Syndicate."

Holden set his tea down.

"The address is a legitimate business on paper. A high-end restaurant called the Crimson Room. But the building’s power consumption is six times what a restaurant should use. The basement levels extend deeper than the building permits. And the encrypted traffic coming from that address matches the Syndicate’s command network."

"They’re hiding a casino underneath it."

"Exactly. The restaurant is the top layer, with the casino beneath it. That’s where the high-stakes gambling happens. Then, underneath all of that, there’s the Syndicate’s headquarters, where they keep the contracts and the money."

Holden looked at the map. The red dot blinked steadily in the financial district, five kilometers from the villa.

"If I leave the Syndicate standing, they’ll just hire someone else. House Sterling has the money and they’ll keep trying until the contract is fulfilled or cancelled."

"Or the Syndicate doesn’t exist anymore."

"Exactly."

Holden stood up and walked to his room. He sat on the bed, focused and summoned the Void Mantle from his inventory.

He reached into his closet, pulled out the gold Asura mask and stared at it for a long moment.

Holden put on the cloak, pressed the mask to his face and tied the straps.

The world collapsed into two narrow slits of light through the mask, and everything outside those slits disappeared.

The Capital at midnight was a different city.

The Vanguard patrols thinned out in the financial district. The buildings here were tall, clean, and quiet. Banks, investment houses, corporate offices. The kind of buildings that were locked tight and guarded by expensive security systems.

Asura moved through the streets like a rumor. The Void Mantle erased his presence completely. The light bent around him and the shadows swallowed him whole.

He circled the building. The alley on the north side was narrow, dark, and empty, with a service entrance and an electronic lock rated for military-grade security.

Holden pressed his palm against the lock. His Aether-Steel fingers found the mechanism, felt the tumblers, and pushed. The metal screamed.

creeeak.

The lock popped open, the mechanism snapping under the force. The door swung inward, hanging crookedly from its ruined frame.

Asura stepped through.

The first underground level was the casino.

The doors opened to a wall of noise. Slot machines chimed in the background while cards shuffled and dice rolled across tables. Laughter, shouting, and curses blended together until it was hard to make out any single voice. The room was massive, far larger than the building above should have allowed, carved deep into the ground and bathed in amber and gold light that made everything look warm and expensive.

Tables stretched across the floor in neat rows, offering everything from poker and blackjack to roulette and games Holden didn’t even recognize. The patrons looked wealthy, dressed in silk and expensive jewelry, carrying themselves with the easy confidence of people who had never had to worry about money.

Security was everywhere. Guards in black suits with earpieces and concealed weapons positioned at every exit, corner and blind spot. They watched the room with professional attention, their eyes scanning for threats.

None of them saw the figure in the black cloak step out of the elevator and disappear into the shadows near the stairwell.

The Void Mantle was perfect. It hid not just his body and energy but his presence and existence from every detection method in the building.

Holden reached the stairwell and started down. On the second level, the casino gave way to a row of VIP rooms secured by electronic locks. The noise from above quickly faded behind him, replaced by the harsh hum of fluorescent lights.

On the third level was the armory and barracks. A long room lined with weapon racks holding shock rifles, plasma blades, and enough explosives to make it clear this was the Syndicate’s personal arsenal. Two guards stood at the entrance with their backs to him, watching the corridor. Both were at least Rank 2, 6-Star. They held their weapons loosely, carrying themselves with the relaxed confidence of professionals who knew trouble could come at any moment.

bzzz.

The wards on the door were designed to detect magical intrusion, energy signatures, and any attempt to tamper with the physical lock. It was expensive, high-end security, the kind that could stop a Rank 2 intruder cold and give even a Rank 3 a serious headache.

Asura walked between them. They didn’t move, flinch, or breathe differently. He passed within three feet of them and they had no idea he was there.

He continued down. The stairwell narrowed. The walls changed from polished paneling to raw concrete. The amber lighting became harsh fluorescent.

Fourth level.

The stairwell ended at a heavy steel door, warded with energy fields that hummed with a low, persistent buzz. Two guards stood here, bigger and better armored than the ones above, holding rank 2 weapons.

bzzz.

The wards screamed.

creeeak.

The door bent inward as the hinges gave way and the lock snapped under the force. It swung open, hanging crookedly from its ruined frame.

Asura stepped through.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!