The soft clink-clink of his leather boots against the polished marble floor could be heard as Samxon made his way to his office, his face tight with irritation, probably because of the figure trailing straight behind him.

The man held a tablet close to his chest. He had disheveled curly hair, glasses covering his eyes, and a sore mole sticking out by the side of his nose.

"Sir Samxon," the man, Larry, began, reading from the tablet. "Members of the bureau are slowly gathering a force to stand up against you. The people are buying their idea. They believe you haven't been doing any work since you took up this position. I think you should start playing closer attention to what the civilians need. At least that will make them see you as a more competent leader."

Larry jolted back, startled, as his nose slammed into the back of Samxon, who had just come to an abrupt stop. He quickly took several steps back, maintaining a safe distance with a wry smile.

"Sir Samxon, anything?" Larry asked with a stiff smile.

"Hah," Samxon exhaled, turning back with tightly knitted brows, making the scrawny advisor flinch. "Larry, let me ask you a question. Do I look like I'm sleeping on duty?"

Larry shook his head, his stiff smile still plastered across his face. "No, sir."

"Good. What have we been doing over the past few days?"

"We've been increasing security around the city, sir."

"So what else do these people want?!" Samxon raised his voice.

"T-they w-want to set up new means for exchange in the System, since most of the population is now overruled by Gamers, who use MUT Coins—"

"Larry, does it look like we need all that now?"

"We n—"

"What matters most at the moment is to strengthen our forces and prepare for whatever scenarios come up next! Survival is what matters now! This is a dog-eat-dog system. Until we've secured ourselves, then we can start worrying about exchanges. If they're not okay with my style of handling things, they might as well come here and come fight me themselves!" Samxon cut him off before he could reply. Without wasting a second, he pulled the door open and slammed it shut after entering, leaving the young advisor standing outside with a blank expression.

Larry stood in front of the office with his mouth ajar, the unfinished words dying on his tongue. He let out a sigh of exasperation.

"How do I explain to him that this might cause problems for us?" Larry facepalmed hopelessly as he turned to leave, his words echoing as he retreated. "Hopefully, the bureau doesn't have their way."

Samxon rubbed his forehead as he entered the room. "Can't I get a little praise for the little I've done already, ungrateful bastards," he scoffed. He then caught a better look at his office room.

Behind the desk, a short figure stood with arms crossed behind their back, peeking out through the window.

Samxon instantly recognized the figure from the upright ponytail and quickly frowned.

"How do you keep getting into this place? I've increased the security in this entire estate, even had Langdon give me a few extra bots, and yet you still keep coming in here unnoticed." Samxon facepalmed, hissing in annoyance.

"Hehehe." The figure simply chuckled, turning around to face Samxon. He slid a finger across the sleek office table, taking in the scent of sandalwood that permeated the room.

"Well, I've got to give it to you, you've got quite the taste," the figure replied, ignoring Samxon's question.

Samxon stared at the figure wearily, taking a deep, calming breath. His brows furrowed as he asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you wanted to hold him back while I sent out my guys to get the crystal?"

The masked figure—the Titan of Discord—stopped his movement and slowly raised his gaze toward Samxon. A red glint of light shone behind the eyehole of the mask. "I underestimated his strength. He's way stronger than I thought. I couldn't hold him back."

Samxon raised a brow. "What's your Mutant level and why can't I see it? How come you weren't strong enough to defeat that brat? That simply means I can beat you myself," he added with a cold scoff.

"You can try," a cold, emotionless voice came from behind the mask, making the air tense up as the two stood facing each other. For a moment, they just stared, and Mask could sense a flicker of excitement in Samxon's eyes.

The tension was cut with a playful laughter.

"You're really stubborn." Mask said.

"I just hate being bossed around, especially by weaker people," Samxon retorted coldly.

"Well, I don't boss you around. If I remember correctly, this is a mutual relationship. If someone didn't fail to get the crystal, we wouldn't have to be going through all this stress."

Samxon scoffed. "If someone didn't fail to kill the brat, there'd be nothing left to worry about."

Mask let out a loud laugh. "I couldn't kill him; he's still stronger than I am. Thankfully, he held back. And aside from that, he's still a very important piece in all the events that will come."

Samxon chuckled at his words. "So the brat is still being so naive. It's hard to tell if he's simply good-natured, or just brainless. I wish he wasn't a goody-shoe; maybe he would have killed you for me too."

Mask didn't reply and calmly walked toward the door. As he passed by Samxon's side, he said in a low voice, "Be careful what you say. Your words might come back to haunt you." He added with a grim tone, "It only takes one move for someone to go from good to bad."

"That aside, I came to inform you: tell your team to be quick and come back. I'll hang around, so when they retrieve it, I'll give you the gauntlets like we agreed." He added as he pulled the door open.

Samxon glanced at him from the side of his eyes. "I have one question, though," he stated. Mask stopped right in front of the door. "What might that be?"

"Why do you have the same username as that brat?" Samxon asked with a cold voice. He couldn't see the Titan's Mutant level, but he could see the username, and it was very similar to a name he really loathed.

{Player Nexus1}

{Mutant Level: ???}

Mask chuckled lightly. "Let's just say, he inspired me a lot," Mask said before leaving the room and gently closing the door behind him.

Samxon let out a deep breath as the figure disappeared from his room.

{Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading and following the story this far. I'm glad you're enjoying Akhil's journey! If you're able, I humbly ask for your support in the ongoing Win-Win mission this month. Any privilege or tier purchase you can make would mean the world to me. Thank you for reading! ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ}

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