Morning light spilled across the hotel windows in pale silver lines.
The city below was already awake.
Traffic moved steadily through the streets beneath the tower while distant construction noise echoed faintly between buildings.
Inside the suite, Dante sat near the table with coffee in one hand and paperwork in the other.
He looked exhausted.
Mostly because he was staring at Izana.
Again.
"…You slept."
Izana adjusted the sleeve of his black shirt calmly.
"…Yes."
Dante continued staring.
"…Voluntarily."
No response.
"…For more than three hours."
Izana picked up his watch from the table.
"…You're talking too much."
Dante leaned back slightly in the chair.
"…I'm documenting history."
Izana ignored him completely and fastened the watch around his wrist.
Dante watched carefully.
No dark circles beneath his eyes.
No visible irritation.
No tension sharp enough to cut through the room like usual.
Calmer.
Still cold.
Still dangerous.
But calmer.
Dante narrowed his eyes slightly.
"…You're less homicidal today."
Izana grabbed his gloves from the table.
"…For now."
Dante sighed dramatically.
"…There it is."
A few minutes later, they were already heading downstairs toward the waiting car.
The replacement shipment had supposedly arrived early that morning.
Corrected.
Verified.
Ready.
At least according to the dealer's increasingly desperate messages from the night before.
Dante checked his phone while entering the backseat beside Izana.
"…He's sent four apologies since six this morning."
Izana looked out the window.
"…Meaningless."
"Agreed."
The car pulled into traffic smoothly.
Silence filled the drive for several minutes before Dante finally glanced sideways toward him.
"…You called them again after I left?"
Izana didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"…Yes."
Dante nodded once like that confirmed everything.
"…Thought so."
Izana looked unimpressed.
"…Focus on work."
"I am focused on work. I'm also focused on the fact you smiled at your phone yesterday."
"…Dante."
"That image is going to haunt me permanently."
Izana ignored him again.
Outside, the warehouse district slowly came back into view.
Cold steel buildings.
Cargo containers.
Industrial silence.
But the second the car stopped outside the warehouse—
Dante noticed something immediately.
The atmosphere felt wrong.
Too tense.
Men standing outside avoided eye contact the moment Izana stepped from the car.
Nobody greeted them.
Nobody moved properly.
Dante sighed quietly.
"…That's never a good sign."
Izana said nothing.
But his expression hardened slightly.
The warehouse doors were already open when they entered.
Inside, workers stood unnaturally still near several newly delivered crates.
The dealer hurried toward them immediately.
Too fast.
Too nervous.
"Boss," he said quickly.
"Everything has been corrected."
Izana walked past him.
No acknowledgement.
The dealer followed anyway.
"We verified every shipment personally this time."
Dante glanced sideways at him.
"…Interesting choice of wording considering what happened yesterday."
The dealer swallowed slightly.
Izana stopped beside the nearest crate and pulled it open.
Inside—
rows of weapons rested neatly packed in foam.
Correct models.
Correct finish.
At first glance, everything looked fine.
The dealer exhaled slightly in relief.
Then Izana picked one up.
Silence filled the warehouse instantly.
Every single person watched him inspect the weapon.
Metal clicked softly as he checked the chamber.
Turned the weapon slightly beneath the lights.
Examined the serial number.
Another click.
Another silence.
Then he reached for a second weapon.
Then a third.
Dante's expression slowly changed.
Because Izana had gone completely quiet.
And that was always worse.
The dealer started speaking too quickly.
"We checked everything carefully this time—."
Izana ignored him.
He picked up another gun.
Examined the barrel.
Then slowly looked toward the remaining crates nearby.
Dante already knew.
"…Oh no."
The dealer blinked.
"…What?"
Izana finally spoke.
Quiet.
Controlled.
"…Half of these are counterfeit."
Silence.
The dealer froze completely.
"What?"
Izana tossed the gun back into the crate hard enough to make several nearby men flinch.
"…Modified internals," he continued coldly.
"…Cheap replacement parts. Wrong weight distribution."
Dante crouched beside the crate and grabbed one himself.
Checked it.
Then sighed deeply.
"…You have got to be kidding me."
The dealer immediately shook his head.
"No. No, that's impossible."
Izana slowly looked at him.
"…You inspected them personally."
The dealer's face paled instantly.
"I—."
"You said that yesterday."
The warehouse had become deathly quiet now.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even breathing sounded too loud.
The dealer stepped forward desperately.
"There must've been another mistake during transport—."
"…No."
Izana's voice cut through the room instantly.
Cold enough to freeze the entire warehouse.
The dealer stopped talking immediately.
Izana picked up another weapon calmly.
Then snapped it apart in seconds.
Several altered components dropped onto the crate lid.
Cheap.
Incorrect.
Counterfeit.
Izana looked at the dealer again.
"…You tried to sell me modified weapons."
"It wasn't intentional."
Dante closed his eyes briefly.
"…Please stop saying that."
The dealer looked panicked now.
"I swear I didn't know—."
Izana stepped closer.
The movement alone made nearby guards tense instantly.
"…Then you are incompetent."
The dealer swallowed hard.
"…Boss, please—."
"You failed once."
Another step.
"You failed twice."
The dealer backed up instinctively.
Sweat visible now beneath the warehouse lights.
Dante remained silent.
Because at this point—
nothing would help.
The dealer spoke again anyway.
"We can fix this."
Izana tilted his head slightly.
"…You already said that yesterday."
"I'll personally oversee another shipment."
"…And waste my time a third time?"
The dealer's breathing became uneven now.
"No—."
Then he made the mistake.
He reached forward suddenly—
and grabbed Izana's sleeve.
Everything changed instantly.
Movement blurred.
The dealer was slammed violently against the nearest crate hard enough to shake the entire stack.
Several men jumped backward immediately.
The warehouse exploded into chaos for half a second before silence crashed down again.
Izana held the dealer pinned against the wood.
Knife pressed beneath his jaw.
Cold silver blade against skin.
The dealer stopped breathing entirely.
Everyone else in the warehouse froze.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even looked away.
Izana's voice was terrifyingly calm.
"…You keep wasting my time."
The dealer shook slightly against the crate.
"I'm sorry."
The knife pressed slightly higher.
A tiny line of blood appeared instantly against the man's throat.
Dante watched silently nearby.
Because this—
this was the Izana everyone feared.
Cold.
Precise.
Violence without hesitation.
The dealer's voice broke slightly.
"Please."
Izana stared at him without emotion.
"…Do you know why you're still alive?"
The dealer couldn't answer.
Izana's grip tightened slightly against his collar.
"…Because I gave you another opportunity."
Silence.
The knife remained steady against the man's throat.
Everyone in the warehouse understood exactly how close this was to death.
Then—
Izana's eyes shifted downward briefly.
Toward his sleeve.
A faint pale mark still remained near the cuff.
Barely visible now.
Small fingers.
Zarek.
The memory hit instantly.
Tiny hands gripping his sleeve that morning before he left home.
Leah complaining quietly about blood staining his clothes.
Izana went still for half a second.
Then slowly—
the pressure of the knife eased.
The dealer looked genuinely shocked.
Dante noticed immediately.
So did everyone else.
Izana lowered the blade completely before stepping back.
The dealer nearly collapsed against the crate trying to breathe again.
Izana closed the knife calmly.
The sharp click echoed through the warehouse.
"…You're finished," Izana said coldly.
The dealer looked up immediately.
"…Boss—."
"You lost the contract."
Silence.
"You lost access to the ports."
The dealer's face drained completely.
"And if I see your shipments attached to my business again," Izana continued quietly, "…I'll finish what you started today."
Nobody in the warehouse doubted him.
Not for a second.
Izana slid the knife back beneath his coat.
Then turned around.
"…Dante."
Dante immediately grabbed the paperwork.
"…Already removing them from the network."
They walked toward the exit together.
Nobody stopped them.
Nobody dared.
Outside, cold air hit immediately.
The harbour stretched silently beyond the docks while the city skyline glowed faintly in the distance.
Dante glanced sideways toward Izana as they approached the car.
"…You stopped yourself."
Izana opened the door calmly.
"…Yes."
Dante studied him carefully.
"…Six months ago he would be dead."
No response.
Izana entered the car.
Dante followed beside him.
The vehicle pulled away from the warehouse slowly.
Silence filled the backseat for a while before Dante finally spoke again.
"…You know what the difference is now?"
Izana looked toward the passing city outside.
"…What?"
Dante leaned back slightly.
"…You're not less dangerous."
A pause.
"…You just have more reasons to come home alive."