CHAPTER 131: CHAPTER 131 - SHADOW WAR

On the top floor of the Alvarez mansion, the silence was sharp enough to cut through glass.

No one spoke as the final moments of Logan Mercer’s broadcast faded from the screen.

They expected Logan to retaliate after being silent for so long... just not this cleanly or this publicly.

"Spinning the narrative will be difficult from here," Daniel said, voice heavy.

As the head of the Alvarez family, he’d approved the smear campaign, convinced the boy would crack under public pressure.

He never expected it to backfire this badly.

’I thought the Logan kid would cling to his reputation like he did in the university,’ Daniel thought, clenching his fist. ’I underestimated him because of his age.’

His jaw tightened as his thoughts drifted to his youngest son, Derek.

He wasn’t the most capable, not even close, but Daniel had still trusted and believed in him.

Because no matter how flawed he was... he was still his son.

And now?

He was dead. Cremated to ash.

And with him, a piece of his plan had turned to dust.

Daniel glanced at his remaining two sons in front of him, noticing their grim expression.

A soft knock echoed through the room.

One of their aides walked in, holding a sleek mana-sealed folder with a large red stamp on it.

"The Commerce Tribunal’s notice just arrived, sir," he said, offering it with both hands. "Mercer Industries filed for defamation through official channels."

Daniel took the folder and flipped it open, scanning the contents. His face gave nothing away, except for a faint twitch in one eye.

"So he wants to play both public and legal games..." he muttered.

He closed the folder and handed it back.

"Marcus," Daniel said, turning to his eldest. "Put together a response. Deflect everything."

Marcus gave a firm nod, bowing slightly before leaving.

"Theo," Daniel continued, his voice colder now. "Order a black line from the Seoul branch. Spare no expense... and make sure there’s no digital trail."

Theo stiffened, eyes wide. "...Are you sure?"

Daniel didn’t answer immediately, staring out of the large windows.

"If Mercer wants to act like a man..." he said. "...then he can die like one."

Back at the Mercer Headquarters, Logan lay flat on his back inside his training room.

’I’m almost there,’ he thought, glancing at the pile of bones beside him. ’Just need to optimize the strength of the threads a little better.’

After a few minutes, Logan stood up.

"I’ll have to stop here though," he muttered while stretching. "My mana is completely tapped."

As he walked over to his lounge area, he paused by the window.

A sea of stars lit the dark sky above.

’What a clear sky tonight,’ he thought, smiling faintly.

Feeling his eyelids grow heavy, Logan continued on to his bed.

By the time his head hit the pillow, his body was already half-asleep.

The next morning.

A soft beep jolted him awake.

"Huh?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

Glancing at the video feed from the camera on his door, he saw Edric standing outside with a sleek black suitcase in his hand.

Logan raised an eyebrow before looking at the time.

"Shit," he muttered, rolling out of bed. "It’s already ten."

He pulled the door open, stepping aside to let Edric in.

Edric walked in with a grin and set the black suitcase on the table before sitting down.

"The new suit?" Logan asked, still rubbing his eyes.

Edric nodded, gesturing towards the case. "Try it on."

Logan flicked the box open, eyes widening at the sight of a neatly folded black suit with embedded reflective panels.

"This isn’t the same one as last time, is it?" Logan asked, raising the practically weightless suit up.

Edric’s grin widened. "It’s a slightly better version that my friend managed to stumble upon."

"It’s more comfortable during movement and as you noticed, it weighs a lot less."

Logan nodded, a large smile on his face as he stared at the suit in satisfaction. "I’ll put it to good use."

"Thought so," Edric said, tapping on his watch.

A hologram opened up in front of them.

[BREAKING NEWS] Alvarez Family Responds to Mercer Industries Evidence File"Inconsistencies that raise questions," says Marcus Alvarez

The clip showed Marcus standing behind a podium, voice calm as he explained that they would further their own investigation.

Each sentence was professional and just vague enough to avoid legal risks, but attracting enough to make the public jump on them.

"Regardless of what anyone says," Marcus said, a deep sadness in his voice. "He killed my baby brother."

He paused, letting the words settle. "We will not rest until we get our justice."

As the news clip stopped playing, Logan nodded slightly.

"That was to be expected," he said, glancing at Edric. "They are playing for public sympathy."

Edric nodded as he shut off his hologram.

"They’ll keep doing that coupled with spinning around any actual evidence," he said, revealing a tired look. "Until the public’s completely on their side."

Shaking his head slightly, Logan smiled.

"The public isn’t so easily fooled," he said. "And the more noise they make now, the easier it will be to get them in the lawsuit."

Edric stared at him hesitantly. He wasn’t sure whether the average people were smart enough to see the clear emotional manipulation from the Alvarez family.

"Oh," Logan said, turning to him again. "Did you research the Alvarez dungeons I asked about?"

Shaking the thought away, Edric nodded and tapped on his watch.

A hologram flickered to life between them, listing a series of dungeons.

"I sorted through the dungeons you asked for," Edric said. "Most are what you’d expect."

He scrolled through a few entries.

"Ravenguard, Mosscradle, Frostcliff... all standard. But—" He stopped at one. "Willowshade Dungeon stands out."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

As Edric opened the file, rows of text and pictures entered the screen.

"It’s a high-tier C-rank dungeon. Large, filled with B-ranks," he said, narrowing his eyes. "But mercenaries are rarely brought in to clean it up.’’

Logan leaned in slightly, a small smile growing on his face. ’’Limited access for a resource-rich dungeon, huh?’’

Edric nodded. "Upon further investigation, we found that Willowshade doesn’t follow the usual open-access model. Instead, the Alvarez family reserves it for private use."

"Every few weeks, they send in handpicked teams," Edric said, tapping on another tab. "Usually relatives of board members, sponsors, or young elites from allied guilds. Some guilds even require their younger members to complete a dungeon cycle there as part of training."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "When is the next cycle?"

"In six days," Edric answered. "There’ll be around twenty people, most your age but less talented."

Logan’s smile deepened. "Interesting."

Edric hesitated, watching him carefully. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

Logan didn’t answer right away.

He simply stood up, grabbed the new suit, and walked towards his room.

"Don’t worry about it."