Reincarnated With The Degenerate System

Chapter 273: For the Sake of the Future 2

The morning we moved out.Harrison walked beside me, flanked by two of our better fighters.

Neither of them spoke. Neither did he. But I could feel the tension—shoulders stiff, jaw tight, eyes scanning every corner like he expected an ambush before we even arrived.

He wasn’t wrong to be nervous.

General Arthur’s territory stretched across the entire eastern block of the underground network, and the man had built himself a fortress around the one thing everyone else desperately needed—the water treatment plant.

Smart. Ugly, but smart. You don’t negotiate with someone who controls the tap. You either submit, or you cut the pipe entirely.

We turned the corner into the main corridor leading to the plant entrance, and there they were.

Hundreds of them.

Lined up on both sides of the passage in full tactical gear, rifles held and ready.

The lights overhead were harsh and industrial, throwing shadows across every surface. The air smelled like gun oil and recycled water.

Not a single one of them moved. They just watched us walk in.

Harrison stopped walking.

I didn’t.

"Leon." His voice came out barely above a murmur. "There are a lot of them."

"There are," I agreed.

"We should—"

I reached over and gripped his shoulder before he could finish the sentence. Not hard. Just enough to stop him from turning around.

"Breathe," I said. "I’ve got a plan."

He looked at me like a man being told to relax while standing on a landmine. But he didn’t argue.

Good. That was all I needed from him.

They brought us to Arthur in a room that used to be a facility control center—banks of old monitors on one wall, most of them dead, a handful still flickering with water flow data.

A long table had been set up in the center, maps spread across it. Men with rifles stood at every exit.

The General himself was standing at the head of the table with his arms crossed.

He was older than I expected. Mid-sixties at least, silver-haired, built like a man who had spent decades making his body into a weapon and then kept it that way out of habit.

His eyes moved the way military eyes always do. He clocked Harrison first, then me, then dismissed me almost immediately.

That was fine. It only meant my strategy of hiding my identity had worked.

With how quickly our army was growing, it was bound to draw attention from the other factions. That was exactly why we did it.

"Mayor Harrison." His voice was deep, flat. "Thought you were bringing her today."

He meant his fiancée that just turned 18.

Harrison opened his mouth.

I stepped forward.

"She’s not coming,"

Arthur’s eyes turned to me slowly. Like a tank turret rotating. "Who are you?"

"The guy who’s marrying her instead." I tilted my head.

"No offense, General, but you’ve got to be, what—sixty-five? Maybe more? You really want to marry a girl who probably wasn’t even born when you were already have a granddaughter?"

I let that sink in for a moment before smirking. "Damn. Didn’t realize we had a shameless creep hiding among us."

Arthur’s face didn’t change at first. Not one muscle.

Then the color came in, slow and deep, rising from his collar to his temples.

"You." The word came out like a compressed round. "You have no idea what you just walked into."

"I have a pretty good idea. And I’m afraid I can’t back down."

My gaze sharpened as I continued. "You see, I fell for her at first sight. So I don’t plan on sharing her with anyone—especially not someone who already has one foot in the grave."

Arthur slammed his fist on the desk. "Take him."

Four of them came.

They were fast.

I was faster.

I moved before they finished closing the gap. One step, and the air cracked around me as the Qi compressed and released in a single burst.

The first Second Phaser came in low with a strike that would’ve shattered ribs.

Lightning screamed through my arm, wild and violent. The air shrieked the moment I released it.

"Qi Burst."

My palm slammed into his chest. Electricity exploded through his body, frying flesh and tearing him apart as sparks burst in every direction.

The second one was already mid-swing when I turned toward him, his face turning pale as he realized exactly what was about to happen next.

I hit him open-palmed against the chest and pushed the lightning through the contact point in one concentrated pulse.

It came out his back. The current tore a path through him like it was offended by the resistance, and the back of his jacket erupted outward in a spray of scorched fabric and churned muscles.

"I’m not done yet."

By the time Arthur registered what happened—four of his best men down in the span of a single breath —I was already behind him.

My forearm came across his throat.

The room erupted. Rifles up. Safeties off. A dozen red dots dancing across my chest and face.

I didn’t move.

Neither did Arthur. To his credit. A lesser man would have grabbed for the arm, started thrashing.

He went silent instead, which told me he understood the situation clearly.

I leaned close to his ear.

"Tell your men to lower their weapons. Or this conversation ends with you dead—and then I’ll wipe out everyone in this base. I don’t care about age or gender, I’ll fucking kill everyone."

Arthur gritted his teeth. "You’re a devil for even thinking you can use me as leverage. Threatening to slaughter everyone in this base just to get your way... you’ve crossed the line."

"Idiot," I said flatly. "I already crossed the line the moment I decided to come here."

"SHOOT HIM! DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME—JUST KILL THIS PIECE OF—"

He stopped

A sound like thousands of birds screaming in unison tore through the air.

The room froze as lightning gathered behind me, twisting and condensing until wings erupted from my back, blazing arcs of blue-white power.

The sight alone was enough deterrence. No one dared pull the trigger. Even the slightest motion felt like it might provoke me.

"I’m not asking twice. Lower your weapons."