The warehouse was silent, save for the rhythmic dripping of water from a leaking roof and the labored breathing of Gino's wounded men. Ryu Shin stood in the center of the room, his aura so dominating that the dust dancing beneath the dim lights seemed to freeze in mid-air.
"Silvio," Ryu Shin called out without turning.
"Yes, Young Master?" Silvio emerged from the shadows behind him, startling Gino and his crew. They had remained entirely unaware of the old valet's presence until that moment.
"Take them to 'The Nest.' Provide the finest medical care and nutritious sustenance. Starting tomorrow, they are no longer mere street thugs. They are the first seeds of my shadow faction."
Gino attempted to stand, clutching the searing pain in his shoulder. "Sir... you spoke of making us rulers. But we are naught but orphans with rusted blades. How can we possibly stand against fully armed mercenaries?"
Ryu Shin turned, his eyes flashing with a faint crimson glint. "A weapon is merely an extension of the hand. The hand is merely an extension of the will. If your will is strong enough to cleave the heavens, then even a blade of grass can become a lethal sword."
He approached Gino and placed his palm against the youth's chest.
"Basic Demonic Breathing: Spark Flow."
Whoosh!
Gino felt an extraordinary surge of heat rush into his chest, spreading through his veins and exploding at his wounded shoulder. Within seconds, the pain vanished. The bullet lodged in his flesh was expelled automatically, hitting the floor with a crisp ting.
"This..." Gino fumbled at his shoulder. The wound had closed, leaving only a faint, fading scar. "What manner of miracle is this?"
"It is not magic. It is the power every human was meant to possess, yet you have forgotten it by relying too heavily on machines," Ryu Shin said. "Starting tomorrow, you shall learn the proper way to breathe. If you do not perish during my training, you shall become monsters feared by the world."
The Girl Behind the Screen: Yuki
"Silvio, where is the individual I requested?" Ryu Shin asked after they departed from the warehouse.
"She is waiting in the van, Young Master. She is a bit... difficult to manage. However, her ability to breach military satellite networks is unparalleled in all of Europe."
They walked toward a black van parked in a dark alley. Inside, surrounded by a dozen monitors glowing with blue light, sat a teenage girl with short silver hair and an oversized jacket. She was nonchalantly chewing gum while typing at an incomprehensible speed.
"So, this is the 'Young Master' who's been paying me in illegal crypto?" Yuki turned, meeting Ryu Shin's gaze with a bored expression. "You look thinner than your photo in the Moretti database. Are you certain you won't die before I get a chance to spend your money?"
Silvio cleared his throat, a silent warning regarding her manners, but Ryu Shin merely smiled. He appreciated those who were honest with their intentions.
"Yuki, I presume?" Ryu Shin entered the cramped van. "I require two things of you. First, erase all traces of my presence at the docks tonight. Second, I want you to penetrate the security protocols of the government's 'Unit Zero'."
At the mention of 'Unit Zero,' Yuki's hands froze. She turned slowly. "Unit Zero? That's the government's superhuman project. Do you have a death wish? They have sensors that can detect a heartbeat from a kilometer away."
"That is precisely why I need you," Ryu Shin leaned in, staring at a monitor displaying data flow graphs. "I will grant you access to an algorithm this world has never imagined—an algorithm based on the flow patterns of natural energy."
Ryu Shin took a marker and sketched a series of formulas on a small whiteboard inside the van. The formulas were not standard programming language, but a mathematical representation of Meridian Lines and Qi Flow.
"Use this as your encryption basis," Ryu Shin commanded. "It will create a 'black hole' in any radar system. They will not perceive you as data, but as a common natural disturbance."
Yuki stared at the formula for a full minute. Her bored eyes widened with a frantic enthusiasm. "This... this is insane. This isn't code. It's like the language of God translated into binary. Who are you, really?"
"Simply a man reclaiming what is rightfully his," Ryu Shin replied.
Stage One: Hell Training
The following day, in a secret basement beneath a private villa Ryu Shin had acquired using Valerio's diverted funds, Gino and five of his companions stood trembling. They wore only shorts in a room where the temperature had been plummeted below freezing.
"Do you feel the cold?" Ryu Shin's voice echoed. He stood before them, clad only in a thin shirt, yet a warm mist emanated from his body.
"W-we're going to freeze to death, Sir!" one of Gino's men cried out.
"Excellent. The fear of death is the greatest teacher," Ryu Shin walked among them. "Sit cross-legged. Focus on the point beneath your navel. Inhale for seven seconds, hold for forty-nine seconds, and exhale in a single second."
"Hold for forty-nine seconds?! Our lungs will burst!"
"Then let them burst," Ryu Shin replied emotionlessly. "If you cannot master your own breath, you will never master the lives of others."
He began striking the pressure points on their backs with a bamboo staff. Each blow was not intended to wound, but to forcibly open the meridians blocked by their poor lifestyles.
"Scream as you wish. But if any dare break their meditation posture, Silvio will ensure you never see the sun again."
In the corner, Silvio stood silent, but his aura was enough to keep them pinned. For the next six hours, the room was filled with groans, the cracking of bones, and finally... the sound of heavy, rhythmic breathing.
Gino was the first to succeed. He felt a hot spot in his abdomen. The cold that had been piercing his bones now felt like a gentle breeze. He opened his eyes and saw white steam rising from his pores.
"Master... I feel it. It's as if there is a fire in my belly!"
Ryu Shin nodded with satisfaction. "That is the most basic level of Qi. Now, take that blade."
Ryu Shin pointed to a throwing knife on the table. Gino retrieved it.
"Channel that 'fire' into your arm, then hurl it at that steel wall."
Gino complied. He visualized the heat flowing into his fingers.
TING!
The knife did not merely stick; it pierced through the two-centimeter-thick steel plate up to the hilt. Everyone in the room fell silent. It was a power that transcended the limits of ordinary men.
"From this day forward," Ryu Shin's voice turned frigid, "you are no longer The Strays. You are The Demon's Shadow. Your first task: eliminate every one of Valerio's drug distributors in Western Sicily in a single night. No firearms. Use only your hands and your blades."
Gino knelt, followed by the others. "We live and die for the Demon!"
The Brother's Move
At the main Moretti mansion, Valerio shattered his crystal glass against the wall. Reports from his subordinates indicated that every shipment of "herbal soup" to Lucian's room was being disposed of by Silvio, and Sofia had vanished without a trace.
"He has changed," Valerio hissed. "That piece of trash has transformed into something else."
"Perhaps we should use harsher methods, Brother?" Dante entered, his arm still in a cast, his eyes burning with resentment. "Give me ten men from the Strike Unit. I will level his room tonight."
"Don't be a fool, Dante. Father is watching him," Valerio lit a cigar with trembling hands. "We need an outsider. Contact 'Viper' from the executive mercenaries. Tell him there is an interesting target that needs 'cleaning' at the docks tomorrow."
Valerio gazed out the window toward Western Sicily, which was now being swallowed by darkness. He did not know that within that darkness, a true monster was sharpening its fangs.
Ryu Shin, meditating in his residence, suddenly opened his eyes. He felt a ripple of approaching energy—a sharp, concentrated killing intent.
"Viper, is it?" Ryu Shin stood and took up a wooden practice sword. "It has been a long time since I have pulled the fangs from a serpent."