Supreme Spouse System.

Chapter 636: Before the Next Storm Breaks

Before the Next Storm Breaks

Johny let out a breath through his nose and clicked his tongue. He said "Yes, the people we are talking about smell opportunity. It is like blood in the water, to them. The people we are talking about will test Johny and his friends they will push Johny and his friends maybe the people we are talking about will even send spies to watch Johny and his friends.

Black said they already did that.

Johny looked up fast. "They actually did?"

The police caught three people night. They were taken into custody. The three people were caught because of something they did. The police caught the three people.

Johnys eyebrows went up. He said "Three?"

Black said that there were two people from Aurelian and one person, from Gary.

A quiet curse slipped from Johnys lips. He said "Damn vultures" to himself. Johny was really upset, with these vultures.

Black tapped the table once. It made a sound but it was sharp and it cut through the whole room. Black said "That is why we can not afford to make a mistake with the plan. Not one mistake, with the plan is allowed."

The words just hung there in the air. Torches made a hissing sound the flames moving gently licking at the air. At the time somewhere down below the sound of soldiers training was like a low rumble of thunder. It echoed through the stone walls of, like the sound of waves crashing in the distance.

Then Johny moved, which broke the quiet and calm that was around. The stillness was gone because Johny shifted.

He said to me "You know I set some runes, for safety." He spoke slowly and carefully.

Black turned his head to face him. His eyes got a little smaller. "Runes?"

Johny gave a nod he was already getting interested in the topic. "Yes" he said. "We need to put reinforcement runes on the walls of the place.. We have to put detection runes on the east gate and the north gate." Johny tapped the table as he was talking. "I also put a silence rune under the balcony so that when the council members start arguing with each other people outside will not be able to hear what is going on they will not get to see the fight, for free."

Black looked at him for a bit. "What is the cost of this?"

Johny rolled his eyes. "Relax. I did not bankrupt us. I just took some of the things that were left over in the mage quarter. A lot of that stuff was just sitting there getting old anyway."

For a moment Black did not say anything. Then he looked a bit more relaxed the anger, in his eyes was not so sharp. He said " work".

Johny looked really surprised. He said "You are actually saying things, about me?"

"Do not get excited " Black said in a voice.

Johny leaned back in his chair. Let out a big sigh. He was trying to be funny. "You are going to hurt my feelings, Commander " Johny said with a smile, on his face.

"Shut up."

Johny laughed it was an easy sound but it did not last very long.

When the laugh faded away Johny started to think deeply about things.

His smile became softer. Johny looked at Black for a second longer than he did before.

Listen he said in a voice I know we like to have a little fun and joke around. But I want to be honest with you I am not blind to what’s going on the things that are happening with the people around us I mean I can see them I can see what people are doing. I know what is real. I know that sometimes our jokes are just a way to avoid talking about the real things and I want to talk about the real things, about what is really going on because I am not blind, to it.

Johny stopped talking for a moment. The words felt like a weight, between them before he said them out loud. "You are carrying a lot of stuff on your shoulders. You are trying to keep this place safe while Leon is dealing with the problems outside."

Black did not deny it. He did not have to do that. The truth was really clear in the lines, on his face. The way his shoulders were always a little bit tense. Blacks face and his shoulders told you everything you needed to know about what was going on with him.

Johnys voice got really quiet like he was talking to himself. "We trust him Johny and I trust him that is why we went with him. That is why we are standing here in this city the city that was, on fire a week ago...". Johny took a breath and then let it out slowly. ".... Now we are trying to fix the city to rebuild it from the ashes of what is left of it. The city that was burning is where Johny and I are and we are trying to make it a better place to rebuild the city from the ashes.

Blacks gaze wandered around the command room. He looked at the tables that had scars on them. There were maps spread everywhere. The torches were burning low with flames that danced and flickered. The chairs were empty where people used to sit and talk. The air in the room felt heavy with things that nobody was saying. Black felt like he had a weight on him the weight of responsibility and he could not get rid of it. The responsibility of the command room and everything, in it weighed heavily on Black.

"Yeah " he said after a while. His voice sounded a little rough. It was steady. "We decided to do this. We are doing it. We will keep going no matter how hard the travel, on this path of ours gets for the path we chose."

Johny nodded once he did it slow and firm. "Then we keep making the city safe" he said. "We build walls that’re really strong. We have people watching the city. We make the streets safer. We make everything, in the city stronger."

What if they test the people at the place Black asked, his eyes looked up from the map that had all the important information, on it.

Johnys lips curved into an dangerous smirk. There was something unforgiving in the way Johny looked at them. Johny said "Then they learn why they should not mess with Leons territory."

Black let out a breath. You know, the kind of breath you do not even know you are holding until it comes out. His shoulders relaxed a bit. A small smile almost came to his mouth. It did not quite make it. Black leaned forward again. He put one hand flat on the map like he was holding on to what was happening right now.

"Alright " he said in a voice. Continue with what you were saying. What is next that you want to talk about?

Johny looked at the papers one by one the sound of the papers was the thing you could hear in the room. When Johny spoke again he did not sound casual anymore. Now Johny sounded like a professional, someone who really liked getting ready for things, like this.

We have to think about the night patrol rotations. We also need to look at the gate reinforcement schedules. The rune reactivation times are important too.. Then there is the weapon distribution. His finger tapped one line, another. We still have to talk to the five captains that Leon chose two days ago.

Black rubbed his temples he was already getting a headache. Those people who were supposed to be helping him they had better know what they are doing because Black was not in the mood to deal with mistakes he thought to himself those idiots, the people in charge they had better be good, at their jobs.

Johny said "Oh they are". He was trying not to laugh. One of the people he was talking about had really hurt him when they were practicing fighting. This person had almost broken Johnys wrist.

Black said that is good. Black likes the man already.

Johny chuckled. "Yeah I figured that out."

Time went by as they talked. Their conversation was like the noise of big machines moving. They made plans. Then they changed them. They looked at numbers and the roads they would take. They even thought about how they would get the things they needed. The city of New York was not. The city was very important to them. Every decision they made about the city was a deal. The city was, like something that could be shaped and changed by what they decided. They knew that what they chose to do would affect what happened to the city on. The city and its people were counting on them to make choices.

The torches made a lot of noise as they burned. The shadows, around us got really dark.

The night was really big. It felt weird. The land was still messed up from Leons fights. The earth was all burned the ground was. You could still feel the heat from all the fighting. Leons fight with Aden was bad. His fight with the soldiers was bad too. It was like the land was showing everyone what Leon could do when he wanted to. Leon could do some damage when he decided to take action. The land was, like a reminder of Leons power.

Inside the command room the air was really tense. It felt like the whole world was waiting to see what would happen next. Black and Johny were bent over maps and reports. They were sitting close that their shoulders were almost touching. They were trying to figure out how to protect the city. They were looking at the walls and the roads that supply food and other important things. They wanted to make sure the city could survive when the next big problem came. The citys defenses were like a body. The walls were like the ribs and the supply routes were, like the veins. The heart of the city was the thing that would keep everything running. Black and Johny were trying to make sure this heart kept beating when things got tough.

Johny sat up all of a sudden his fingers stopping right over a line that was marked on the map.

"One more thing."

Black looked up. One of his eyebrows went up. He said "What"

Johny hesitated then he spoke really quietly like he was scared the walls might hear what he was saying. If Leon moves again if he decides to get even bigger our jobs at the company will get a lot harder our responsibilities will. That means a lot more work for us especially for people, like Johny and the rest of the team who work with Leon.

Black didn’t blink. The truth of it settled between them, heavy and unkind. "I know."

The words didn’t shake — but the air around them did. A quiet pressure filled the space, like the room itself was listening.

"You ready for that?" Johny asked.

His voice was calm, but his eyes searched Black’s face, looking for something that wasn’t there — doubt, hesitation, anything human enough to crack.

Black lifted his gaze, eyes sharp as steel.

"We’re ready for whatever our lord demands."

Not bravado. Not pride. Just a vow spoken too many times to mean anything else.

Johny nodded slowly, eyes unreadable.

"Yeah... I thought you’d say that."

For a heartbeat, neither man moved.

The torches flickered again—hard this time, like a gust of invisible wind punched through the room.

The flames twisted, stretching long and thin, shadows crawling across the walls like something trying to escape.

Both men looked at the flame.

Something felt different.

Something felt close.

Johny exhaled. "...Looks like the night isn’t done with us yet."

There was no humor in it. Just the quiet recognition of someone who had survived too many bad nights to mistake what was coming.

Black turned back to the map, fingers tightening.

Lines and borders blurred beneath his grip, as if even ink could feel what was approaching.

"Then neither are we."

And the room fell into a tense, expectant silence—

a silence that felt like the calm before the next storm.