Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

Chapter 1122 1122: SRLE (22) | Breakfast and Bureaucracy

Ruby leaned forward, her Queen persona taking over. "In the old timeline, the Syndicates had boundaries. We had territories. But right now? It's filled with low-life criminals, rogue Awakened gangs, blood-cults, human traffickers, and illegal monster-smuggling guilds. They're all over the place. There's no code of conduct. No rules. It's just total anarchy."

Rudy looked at her, entirely unimpressed. "It's the Underworld, Ruby. Criminals and gangs are literally the job description. What the hell are you on about?"

"I'm talking about a monopoly, you idiot," Ruby snapped back, though there was no real venom in her voice. "It's bad for business. If there are no rules, we can't tax them. We can't control the flow of mana cores or illegal artifacts. As long as these hundred little rat-factions are running around killing each other, the Obsidian Syndicate can't properly rule."

"She has a point," Maria agreed, taking a sip of her tea. "When Father ran things, there was a hierarchy. Right now, every thug with a B-Rank fire spell thinks he's a Don."

"It's Obsidian Ross Syndicate, by the way," Maria added.

Rudy sighed, setting his coffee cup down. He picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth.

"Fine," Rudy said. "Let me finish my eggs. Then I'll solve the Underworld problem."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Just like that? You're going to unite thousands of bloodthirsty criminals before lunch?"

"No," Rudy smirked. "I'm going to give them an eviction notice. Eat your sausage, Queen. We're going for a walk."

They took the limousine deep into the belly of the ruined city, driving past the quarantine zones and into the subterranean network of the old subway tunnels.

In the previous timeline, this massive underground cavern was the Colosseum—the premier, highly regulated gambling arena where the Underworld's elite hosted their tournaments.

Now, it was a sprawling, neon-lit slum.

Thousands of Awakened criminals, black-market dealers, and rogue mercenaries had turned the massive stone amphitheater into a chaotic fortress. Makeshift buildings of corrugated steel, stolen concrete, and glowing neon signs were stacked on top of each other like a giant, rusty favela. The air reeked of cheap alcohol, raw sewage, and monster blood.

Rudy stepped out of the limousine, followed by Maria, Ruby, and Lilim. They stood on the high precipice overlooking the sprawling, chaotic mess of the arena floor.

"This is the heart of the disease," Ruby said, crossing her arms in disgust. "Every major illegal guild has a base down here. If you want to establish rules, you have to route them out. But there are thousands of them. It would take an army weeks to clear this place out in urban combat."

"I don't have weeks," Rudy said.

He stepped up to the edge of the precipice. He simply projected his voice, amplifying it so loudly that the sound waves rattled the stone walls of the cavern.

"ATTENTION."

The bustling noise of the underground favela ground to an immediate halt. Thousands of heads snapped up to look at the lone figure standing on the VIP overlook.

"My name is Rudy," his voice echoed like thunder. "As of this moment, this Colosseum belongs to the Ross Syndicate. You have exactly five minutes to grab your belongings and clear out. Anyone still standing in this arena when the clock runs out will be dealt with."

For a long moment, there was absolute silence.

Then, the cavern erupted into laughter.

"Fuck off, pretty boy!" a heavily scarred Awakened warlord shouted from the ground floor, raising a massive battleaxe.

"Ross Syndicate is dead!" another yelled. "Come down here and make us leave!"

Gunfire erupted. A dozen rogue snipers took shots at the overlook. The bullets pinged harmlessly off the invisible kinetic barrier Rudy erected inches from his face.

Rudy checked the expensive watch he had stolen from the Vanguard Guild Leader.

He stood there in absolute silence for exactly five minutes. Ruby tapped her foot, and Maria watched with a predatory smile. While Lilim's tail swished back and forth in anticipation.

Beep.

"Time's up," Rudy announced softly.

He raised his right hand and clenched his fist.

The entire cavern groaned. A massive, crushing wave of telekinetic force and gravity descended upon the Colosseum.

In an instant, the corrugated steel shacks, the concrete bunkers, the neon signs, and the fortified guild halls were crushed flat. It was as if an invisible, million-ton press had slammed down on the architecture. Steel screamed as it was compressed into paper-thin sheets and concrete pulverized into dust.

The Awakened criminals screamed, throwing their hands over their heads, expecting to be crushed to death.

But the pressure never touched them. Rudy's control was so unimaginably precise that the buildings were utterly wiped out of existence, flattened into a smooth, paved floor of compacted debris, while the items, the loot, and the thousands of people remained completely unharmed.

Where a massive, multi-level slum had stood a second ago, there was now only a flat, perfectly level arena floor. Thousands of criminals stood completely exposed, shaking in terror, staring at the empty space where their fortresses used to be. Their weapons, their stashes of cores, and their clothes were untouched. But their homes were gone.

Rudy lowered his hand and leaned over the railing, looking down at the paralyzed army of thugs.

The dust from the flattened favela had barely settled when Rudy raised his hand.

The cavern floor rumbled violently. Right in the dead center of the massive Colosseum, the compressed concrete and stone began to shift and crack. With a deafening grind of tectonic force, a massive spire of black rock shot up from the ground, rising a hundred feet into the air.

At the flat apex of the spire, swirling threads of dark matter coalesced, weaving together to form a massive, jagged throne made of pure, obsidian-like energy.

Rudy teleported the four of them from the ground directly to the top of the spire. He took his seat on the dark throne, looking down at the thousands of exposed criminals like a god judging mortals.

"Now," Rudy's voice echoed in the dead silence. "Let's talk about the new rules of the Underworld."