Still pushing the nationalism angle.
Arthur shook his head with apparent urgency. "It's important. Military-grade important. We'll go together, just you and . My team stays here, yours too."
Jax studied Arthur's face, calculating potential advantages. A private conversation might reveal sothing important. Besides, he was confident in his ability. He wasn't worried that the young man in front of him would do anything to him.
"Fine," he decided after a mont's consideration. "Lead the way."
Curiosity killed the cat.
Arthur gestured toward Gates Corporation headquarters, its gleaming exterior unmarked by the chaos surrounding them. "This way. It's private and secure."
Into the spider's web.
The two n walked toward the building entrance, leaving their respective forces eyeing each other warily. Tension crackled between the groups like static electricity.
Inside the headquarters, Arthur led him towards a closed room.
"Friend," Arthur began, his voice carrying new undertones that made Jax's senses tingle with warning. "The thing I wanted to say is..."
Here it cos.
Arthur's smirk beca visible even through his mask as he slowly turned to face the military officer.
Showti.
The conference room suddenly felt much smaller as Arthur's true presence began manifesting. Whatever ga they'd been playing was about to change dramatically.
Revelation incoming.
Jax's hand moved instinctively toward his weapon as survival instincts scread warnings his conscious mind hadn't yet processed.
Too late to run now.
Arthur's spatial aura erupted without warning.
THRUM!
Invisible force slamd into Jax like a physical wall, pressing him against the conference room's floor.
His awakened body and armour strained uselessly against the space pressure that Arthur was pressing on him.
Jax was completely immobilised, unable to move under the imnse pressure.
"W-What are you doing!" Jax's voice cracked with sudden terror as his body refused to obey his commands.
"This is an assault on a federal officer!"
Arthur's laugh carried genuine amusent as he watched the military officer struggle futilely against his space talent.
"What am I doing? Isn't it obvious?"
Energy intensified around Arthur's position. The conference room's expensive furniture groaned under the pressure.
"You walked into my territory, threatened , and demanded my cooperation. Don't you think that you deserve to be punished? Or is it because you are part of the military, so you think laws don't apply to people like you?"
Jax's ego kicked in despite his helpless position. "The military will respond! You attack an officer, they'll bring everyone to enforce justice!"
"A-Rankers, S-rankers—they'll hunt you down like the terrorist you are! How dare you attack a man in duty!"
He's still trying to intimidate , despite being clearly overwheld... Does he have a brain? Why does it seem like he has no brain cells?
Arthur's spatial manipulation tightened, pressing Jax deeper into the floor.
Cracks began spider-webbing across the surface.
"Terrorist? That's harsh language coming from soone in your position. I could simply squash you like the bug you are...now. And you know what's funny about it? Nobody can stop ," Arthur smiled, as he slowly walked towards him.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with!" Jax gasped, his physique struggling to keep up with the pressure.
He could feel his body slowly losing power. Blood wasn't circulating enough due to the pressure, and it was starting to show imdiate effects.
Arthur reached up with slowness, his fingers finding the edge of his mask. Jax's eyes widened as he watched Arthur's action.
Recognition incoming.
"They will place a bounty on your head, and every awakened will hunt you down! Don't you dare do sothing stupid! You can't beat the world! You are none but one person with a small fake dragon." Jax cried out in pain as he felt his body slowly betraying him.
"Bounty? One person? fake dragon? What are you even saying? Are you listening to yourself?
You clearly don't know who you are talking to, Jax, so let clue you in."
Arthur's mask ca away, revealing features that made Jax's blood freeze in his veins.
Black hair, Black eyes. The face that had dominated wanted posters across every military installation in Arica.
The most wanted man in the world.
"What do you think?" Arthur's smile was sharp enough to cut glass.
Arthur Fate. In the flesh.
Jax's world tilted sideways as recognition crashed over him like a tsunami.
I was threatening him with a bounty...yet this man has a ten billion-dollar bounty on his head.
Ten million for information leading to the capture.
The subject of every briefing, every tactical assessnt, and every nightmare scenario the military had prepared for in the past days.
And he's standing three feet away.
"You..." Jax's voice died in his throat as true terror replaced military bravado.
The boogeyman is real.
Arthur's aura intensified, filling the conference room with pressure that made breathing difficult. The air itself seed to thicken around his position.
"Surprised?" Arthur's tone carried casual amusent.
Jax's then realised that the person holding him motionless was soone who can't be threatened with the military...yet he had been doing so ever since they t.
How utterly foolish I was.
Understanding his imminent death, Jax's bootlicking mode kicked in with desperation.
"Wait! Wait!" His voice cracked with panic. "I surrender! I'll give you intel! Military positions, troop movents, classified information! I can help you!"
Arthur's laughter echoed through the conference room. It was always funny seeing them have the sa reaction when death approached them after their foolish acts. They never understood the idiom of
"Jack, do you know what's interesting about dead people?"
"My na's Jax, sir. But no, I don't. Can you enlighten ?" Jax said, terror making him unnaturally polite.
Arthur stopped talking, staring at him. The silence stretched until Jax's nerves began snapping.
"Jake, what's interesting about dead people is that they tell more than those alive ever could." Arthur continued.
"What do you an—"
"I'll show you what I an." Arthur's smile was beautiful and terrible at the sa ti.
"Don't worry, Jake. This won't hurt... much."
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