Free Web NovelChapter 110: [110] Baiting the Audit
[Analyzing Enforcer Protocols...]
[Section 4, Paragraph 12: Sanctioned entities are strictly prohibited from damaging registered corporate infrastructure without prior authorization from a Prime Auditor. All unauthorized collateral damage will be billed directly to the offending party.]
Arthur let out a low chuckle. It was a dark, gritty sound.
"They brought badges," Arthur said, adjusting his suit jacket. "But they didn’t bring a warrant for property damage."
Cassia looked at him, her silver eyes wide. "You want to sue them?"
"I want to bankrupt them," Arthur replied smoothly.
"CRACK!"
The heavy mahogany doors of the Mayor’s office violently blew open. The front gates of the building had already been breached. The Enforcers were moving fast. They were already in the stairwells.
Arthur turned toward the shattered window. The drop was hundreds of feet down to the neon-lit streets below.
"Vane! Cassia!" Arthur yelled over the roar of the descending dropships outside. "Fall back to the central energy grid!"
"The energy grid?" Vane shouted. "Why there?" frёeωebɳovel.com
"Because it is the most expensive thing I just bought!" Arthur yelled back. He stepped up onto the window ledge. "Let them chase us!"
Arthur didn’t wait for a response. He leaned forward and dropped out of the window, plummeting straight down into the smog-choked city.
The wind roared past Arthur’s ears as he fell. He didn’t use a spell to slow his descent. He didn’t have his million-fold multiplier to give him god-like durability. He was completely nerfed.
He hit the roof of a rusted hover skiff parked in an alleyway.
"CRUNCH!"
The metal caved in under his boots. Pain shot up his legs, but he forced his knees to bend and rolled perfectly to distribute the kinetic force. He hit the wet cobblestones and immediately broke into a dead sprint.
Right behind him, Vane and Cassia slammed into the alley. Vane landed with a heavy thud, his boots cracking the stone. Cassia dropped down silently like a cat.
"This way!" Arthur yelled. He didn’t run toward the safety of the shadows. He ran directly toward the widest, most well-lit street in the sector.
"You’re going the wrong way, corporate!" Vane roared, his heavy broadsword swinging by his side as he struggled to keep up with Arthur’s hyper-efficient sprinting form.
"Just keep running!" Arthur snapped.
They burst out of the alleyway and onto the main neon-lit street.
The fifty High Enforcers were already there.
They looked like a wall of solid white metal. Their mirrored visors locked onto the three targets instantly. The air buzzed with the lethal voltage of their weapons.
"Targets acquired," the lead Enforcer’s synthesized voice echoed from his helmet. "Lethal force authorized by the Iron Consortium. Fire."
The Enforcers didn’t hesitate. They didn’t read them their rights. They raised their heavy plasma rifles and pulled the triggers.
"PEW! PEW! PEW!"
A massive barrage of hyper-condensed blue plasma tore through the street.
Arthur didn’t try to block. He didn’t draw the Ebonheart Sword. He just moved. He used the flawless, ingrained muscle memory of ten million sword swings to violently shift his center of gravity.
He intentionally took a sloppy, wide turn around a corner.
He practically threw himself out of the way of the plasma volley.
"WHOOSH!"
The blue plasma bolts missed Arthur entirely. They flew right past him and slammed directly into a newly installed, glowing anti-air turret mounted on the side of a building.
"BOOM!"
The expensive turret violently exploded. Shards of burning metal and crystal rained down on the street.
In Arthur’s mind, the system chimed merrily.
[Ding!]
[Public Infrastructure Damaged by Sanctioned Entities.]
[Adding to ledger. Value: 50,000 Merit Points.]
Arthur grinned. It was working.
"Keep moving!" Arthur yelled over the explosions.
Cassia vaulted over a rusted out car, her dark dress whipping around her. "You are using us as bait!" she yelled, laughing despite the sheer terror of the situation.
"I’m maximizing our returns!" Arthur yelled back.
Vane was bringing up the rear. He was not laughing. He was furious.
"HAAAA!" Vane roared. He swung his broadsword, catching a stray plasma bolt on the flat of the blade. The kinetic force pushed him back, his boots skidding on the wet stone.
"This is a terrible plan!" Vane yelled, his voice rough with exertion. He deflected another shot into the dirt. "They’re tearing the city apart!"
Arthur slid under a low-hanging neon sign. Another volley of plasma fire tracked his movement. He ducked at the exact right microsecond.
"Sizzle! CRACK!"
The plasma hit the massive neon sign. The expensive glass shattered, showering the street in sparks and gas.
[Ding!]
[Public Infrastructure Damaged by Sanctioned Entities.] ƒreewebɳovel.com
[Adding to ledger. Value: 15,000 Merit Points.]
"Exactly!" Arthur yelled back at Vane. He pushed himself off the ground and kept running. "Let them break it! I have the receipts!"
The chase was a chaotic, high-speed meat grinder. Arthur navigated the narrow streets of the Margin with surgical precision. He didn’t run in a straight line. He bobbed. He weaved. He intentionally put himself directly in front of the most expensive pieces of corporate infrastructure he had just purchased.
The fifty Enforcers pursued them with robotic, unyielding efficiency. They didn’t care about the buildings. They didn’t care about the collateral damage. They only cared about the targets.
They fired continuously.
A plasma bolt missed Cassia’s head and blew a massive hole in a newly renovated water purification tower.
[Ding! Value: 120,000 Merit Points.]
A sweeping strike from an Enforcer’s baton missed Vane’s ribs and shattered a primary transit rail line.
[Ding! Value: 250,000 Merit Points.]
Arthur’s HUD was scrolling with a beautiful, continuous stream of green numbers. The bill was racking up faster than a rigged casino table.
His lungs burned. His legs felt like lead. Running on base mortal stats was exhausting. He was sweating through his tailored shirt. But he didn’t slow down. He just kept baiting them.
"Almost there!" Cassia yelled. She pointed ahead.
At the end of the street was the central plaza of the Margin. It was a massive, open square. And sitting right in the middle of it was the towering, heavily fortified central energy grid.
