Return

The underworld was abuzz with speculation.

Sol had disappeared.

For over a month now, not a single whisper of his whereabouts had surfaced, and that was a problem. For someone like him—someone who had disrupted entire operations, humiliated powerful figures, and left a trail of chaos in his wake—going *completely* off the grid was unnatural. It unsettled people. It made them nervous.

Then, Sol's past came to light.

Before, people were merely spooked by the whispers surrounding him, by the eerie rumors of his abilities and unpredictability. But now? Now they were terrified. Reports leaked—unverified but persistent—detailing the chaos he had left behind on Galvaris Prime. The war that still raged in the slums, the power vacuum he had created, and most chillingly, the dozens of DreamCorp's elite troops who had met their end because of him.

It wasn't just that he had killed them. It was how. Entire squads wiped out with no recorded footage, no surviving witnesses willing to speak. Some claimed he had set rival gangs against one another in a deadly chain reaction, others insisted he had infiltrated DreamCorp's networks and turned their own security systems against them. The only thing that everyone agreed on? DreamCorp wanted him alive—and that was the most terrifying part of all.

Rumors spread like wildfire.

Some claimed he had finally been captured by DreamCorp, locked away in some black-site facility. Others said he had fled the ship entirely, vanishing into the depths of the galaxy where no one could reach him. The more outlandish theories suggested he had been assassinated in secret or had somehow transcended into something even more terrifying than before.

Regardless of what anyone believed, the silence was deafening.

In the dimly lit halls of the Crimson Syndicate's main hub, a group of enforcers gathered around a table, tension thick in the air. Their leader, a scarred veteran named Rax, drummed his fingers against the metal surface, his expression dark.

"We need answers," he said, his gravelly voice cutting through the murmurs. "No one just disappears like that. Especially not someone like him."

A younger enforcer shifted uneasily. "Maybe he got smart and left before things got worse. You saw the heat DreamCorp was bringing down on him."

Rax snorted. "You really think someone like Sol just runs? No. If he's quiet, it means he's up to something. And that should worry all of us."

Across the ship, in a more refined setting, Elise leaned back in her chair, swirling a glass of deep amber liquor. She had received countless inquiries from various factions, all asking the same question—where was Sol? She had no answer. And she didn't like that.

Asha, seated across from her, frowned. "This isn't like him. Even if he was laying low, he'd leave some kind of trace."

Elise sighed, setting down her drink. "He's not hiding. He's planning. And if I had to guess? When he resurfaces, we'll all know about it."

Asha's fingers tightened around the edge of the table. "And now that everyone knows about his past, they're going to be even more desperate to find him—either to kill him or to control him."

Elise nodded slowly, her expression unreadable. "The question is... which side is going to reach him first?"

Elsewhere, in the dim back room of an information broker's hideout, Lorne sat behind his desk, staring at the encrypted reports flashing across his terminal. He had people watching every corner of the city-ship, and still, nothing.

He muttered to himself, shaking his head. "Where the hell did you go, Sol? And more importantly... what are you planning?"

---

Sol let the hot water cascade down his back, steam curling around him as he leaned against the shower wall. The tension in his muscles slowly eased, though his mind remained sharp. He had been pushing himself relentlessly, but now, after weeks of isolation and training, it was time to step back into the world.

**System Update: Training Progress Analyzed.**

- **Illusion Affinity:** Increased to 17%

- **Plant Affinity:** Increased to 14%

- **Time Domain:** Increased to 14%

**Neural Adaptation Stable. Performance Threshold Increased.**

Sol smirked as the system's voice echoed in his mind. He wasn't surprised. His time affinity had always been the hardest to improve, requiring an immense amount of control. Meanwhile, his illusions and plant abilities had grown exponentially, feeding off each other in unexpected ways. He was getting stronger, but there was still a long way to go.

After finishing his shower, he stepped out and grabbed a towel, casually drying his hair as he reached for his communicator. He scrolled through his messages. Nothing from Elise. Not that he was surprised. After everything, she was probably letting the dust settle. Or maybe she was just as curious about what his next move would be as everyone else.

He smirked. Guess my past finally caught up to me.

If people weren't scared before, they definitely were now. But that didn't bother him. He had never cared much for public perception. Whether they feared him, hated him, or wanted to recruit him—it was all the same. He did what he wanted, when he wanted.

Throwing on a fitted black jacket over a dark gray shirt, he adjusted his cuffs before rolling his shoulders. His next stop was clear—Azuran. The blob always had the most up-to-date information, and if anyone had been keeping tabs on the underworld's paranoia over his disappearance, it would be him.

With a flick of his fingers, his appearance began to shift. Hair shortened to a muted brown, facial features softened into something more unremarkable, his posture adjusting to match someone who wouldn't turn heads in a crowded street. Even Peach, sitting lazily on the bed, flickered briefly before vanishing from sight entirely.

Sol grinned at his reflection before stepping out into the neon-lit corridors of the city-ship. It was time to see just how much the world had changed in his absence.

The walk to Azuran's was uneventful, the illusion keeping him comfortably unnoticed. When he reached the entrance, he exhaled softly and dispelled it as he stepped through the doors.

The moment he entered, the energy in the room shifted. Conversations quieted, heads turned, and a wave of tension spread through the Emporium. Every pair of eyes fell on him—some filled with disbelief, others with outright fear. The underworld had spent a month speculating about his fate, and now here he was, walking in as if nothing had happened.

The Emporium was just as chaotic as ever, filled with traders, scavengers, and opportunists seeking Azuran's unique inventory of knowledge and rare goods, but in that moment, it felt like the entire place was holding its breath.

The massive gelatinous being sat at the center of it all, his translucent form subtly shifting in color as he conducted business with a reptilian merchant. The moment Sol entered, Azuran's many eyes shifted toward him, his form pulsing a deep shade of violet—surprise.

"Well, well," Azuran's voice gurgled, rich with amusement. "I was beginning to think you'd truly vanished into the void. What a delightful development."

Sol smirked, casually approaching the counter. "Miss me that much?"

Azuran's form undulated as he let out a sound resembling a chuckle. "Miss you? Oh no, my dear boy. I was merely invested in your little disappearance. The underworld has been in such a state over you. Rumors, panic, oh, it's been delicious to observe."

Sol leaned against the counter, tilting his head. "And what exactly have you heard?"

Azuran's many eyes blinked in a slow, deliberate motion, his gelatinous body shifting with amusement. "Oh, where do I even begin? The moment word got out that you had vanished, the vultures started circling. Some thought DreamCorp had finally gotten its hands on you, others assumed you had run off to some remote corner of the galaxy. But then the more interesting stories started to surface."

Sol quirked an eyebrow. "Interesting how?"

Azuran's form rippled. "For starters, everyone wants to know what you were doing in your time away. You see, people fear the unknown far more than something they can quantify. The idea that you, of all people, simply disappeared? It rattled them. If you had died, the problem would be solved. If you had fled, they could track you. But this? This silence was maddening. And then, to make matters worse, your past on Galvaris Prime finally caught up with you."

The air around them seemed to tighten, the distant murmur of traders and mercenaries growing quieter as people pretended not to eavesdrop. Sol noticed the way some of them subtly leaned closer, their eyes flickering between him and Azuran.

"Let me guess," Sol said, a smirk playing at his lips. "They finally learned about the war I left behind?"

Azuran let out a gurgling chuckle. "Oh, they learned all right. DreamCorp's loss of troops, the gang war that never ended, the bounty on your head… It's no longer just whispers in the back alleys. Now, it's fact. And that, my dear boy, has put you at the top of everyone's priority list."

Sol exhaled slowly, pretending to be unbothered. He had expected this. It was only a matter of time before the pieces fell into place. But hearing it confirmed made things all the more real. The fear in the eyes around him was palpable. No one knew what he had been up to in the last month, and that uncertainty made him even more dangerous in their eyes.

"So tell me," Sol said, his voice smooth, casual, "who exactly is the most interested in me right now?"

Azuran's color shifted to a deeper shade of violet, his amusement laced with something else—intrigue. "That, my dear boy, is a long list. But let's start with the most pressing ones, shall we?"

He paused for a moment, as if savoring the tension in the room before continuing. "DreamCorp, of course, remains the most persistent. Their bounty on you hasn't gone anywhere, but their approach has shifted. They're no longer relying on random hunters or low-tier operatives. They've sent specialists now, people who don't leave trails. The kind of people who don't ask questions."

Sol smirked but didn't respond. He had expected that much. DreamCorp wouldn't give up so easily.

Azuran continued, his form shifting slightly as he absorbed more data from his countless sources. "Then we have the criminal syndicates. The Crimson Syndicate, the Daggerborn, and even some remnants of the Black Coil have all put feelers out for you. Some want to hire you, others want to use you as leverage, and a few… well, they think removing you is their best move."

Sol tilted his head, amused. "The Black Coil? Didn't they collapse?"

Azuran chuckled. "Mostly. But desperate men cling to old banners when they have nothing left. Your name has become something of an obsession for some of them. A vendetta they don't even understand."

Sol exhaled, his fingers drumming idly on the counter. "Sounds exhausting."

Azuran's form pulsed. "Oh, you have no idea. And then, of course, there's Elise. She's been rather quiet, hasn't she?" The blob's many eyes focused intently on Sol. "Not a single job offer in the past month. That's not like her."

Sol rolled his shoulders. "She's playing it safe. Letting the dust settle."

Azuran let out a deep, amused hum. "Or she's waiting to see if you're an asset… or a liability." He let the words hang, watching for Sol's reaction.

Sol only smiled. "And what do you think?"

Azuran chuckled again, a thick, rolling sound. "I think you're the best kind of chaos, my dear boy. And that makes you worth watching."

The tension in the Emporium remained thick. The others in the room still pretended not to listen, but Sol could feel the weight of their stares. The underworld didn't know what to do with him yet. And that was perfect. The less they understood, the more control he had.

Sol finally straightened up, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Appreciate the update, Azuran. Anything else I should know?"

Azuran's eyes gleamed. "One last thing. There's been… an offer."

Sol raised an eyebrow. "Oh? From who?"

Azuran's form rippled with delight. "From someone who claims they can make all your problems disappear. For a price."

Sol's grin widened. "Now that sounds interesting."

Azuran's form pulsed in amusement, but then he stilled. "Ah, but you know the rules, Sol. It's your turn first. Information isn't free."

Sol chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course. Ask away."

Azuran's many eyes gleamed with delight. "This is why I enjoy doing business with you, my dear boy. No pointless haggling, no time-wasting. Just straight to the exchange."

The gelatinous broker shifted slightly, as if settling into a more comfortable position, before continuing. "First question—where have you been? And don't give me the vague 'training' answer. I want details. What exactly were you up to in that month of silence that has half the underworld shaking in their boots?"

Sol smirked, leaning against the counter. "You already have your answer, Azuran. I was training. Refining myself, strengthening my control over my abilities. But if you want something more specific... let's just say I learned a few new tricks."

Azuran hummed, his color shifting into deep shades of violet, a clear sign of curiosity. "New tricks, you say? Care to elaborate? Or do I have to be more specific?"

Sol tapped his fingers on the counter, considering. "I suppose I can give you a little preview." He raised his hand lazily, and the air around them shimmered for a fraction of a second. Then, in an instant, the entire Emporium vanished.

Suddenly, Sol and Azuran were no longer in the crowded market but standing in an endless expanse of ocean. The water was impossibly clear, shimmering under a sky painted in an ethereal blend of colors. On the horizon, schools of luminous fish leaped gracefully from the water, their forms twisting in the air before disappearing beneath the surface. The air smelled of salt and something else—something unexplainable, ancient, and untouched.

Azuran, usually composed, was speechless. His gelatinous form rippled in genuine surprise as he absorbed the breathtaking scenery.

And then, just as suddenly, Sol snapped his fingers again. The ocean disappeared, and they were back in the Emporium, standing as if nothing had happened.

To the others in the room, it seemed like nothing had changed. They had only seen Sol snap his fingers, no grand illusion, no shift in reality. But they felt something—an eerie, inexplicable sensation that sent a shiver down their spines. Some of them exchanged wary glances, their suspicions growing. They had all heard of the "Nightmare Snap," but no one knew exactly what it did. This only added to the legend.

Azuran let out a deep, gurgling laugh, breaking the heavy silence. "Amazing! Even I had no idea what just happened!"

Azuran's eyes widened slightly, an unusual display for the usually unflappable broker. "Ah. Now that is fascinating. Mind manipulation? Or something even more insidious?"

Sol simply smiled. "Who knows?"

Azuran let out a delighted chuckle. "You truly are a treasure trove of surprises. Very well, next question. What are your plans now? And don't give me the usual 'I'll see where things take me' nonsense. You must have something in mind."

Sol thought for a moment, his fingers idly tapping against the counter. Then, with a smirk, he answered truthfully, "Honestly? I just got bored. So I came out to see if there's any mess I can go around making even messier."

Azuran's many eyes gleamed with amusement as his gelatinous form pulsed. "Good, good! It's truly been a bit too peaceful without you around."

As soon as those words left his mouth, several patrons who had been eavesdropping immediately got up from their seats and left, not even bothering to be subtle about it. They wanted to be nowhere near Sol if he was planning to cause trouble again.

Azuran clicked his many eyes in annoyance. "You really know how to make someone lose business, huh?"

Sol merely shrugged, unfazed. "Not my fault they scare so easily."

Azuran let out a deep hum, his color shifting between shades of violet and blue, a clear indication he was mulling something over. "Alright, final question before I hold up my end. You've made enemies, Sol, that much is obvious. But tell me—do you actually care? Are you worried about the weight of all these names piling up on your back? DreamCorp, syndicates, bounty hunters, me—surely you know that even for someone like you, there's a breaking point."

Sol laughed softly, leaning back against the counter. "Worried? Not really. Everyone's just playing their part in a game they don't even understand. They think they have power, that they control the board. But me? I'm just enjoying the show. So no, Azuran, I don't care about who's coming after me. They should be the ones worrying about me."

Azuran's form pulsed as if laughing, though a certain sharpness remained in his gaze. "A fascinating answer, as expected. Alright, Sol, you've given me enough to chew on. Now, as promised, let me tell you about this mysterious figure who claims they can make all your problems disappear."

Azuran's form pulsed as he gathered his thoughts, his many eyes shifting in different directions as if sorting through an overwhelming amount of information at once. Finally, he settled, his tone carrying a weight that even Sol had to respect.

"This person—whoever they are—doesn't operate in the usual circles. They don't belong to DreamCorp, any syndicate, or even the mercenary groups sniffing around for you. They exist in the shadows, the kind that even the underworld avoids speaking about too loudly. They are a broker of absolution, someone who erases debts, clears identities, and makes people vanish—whether they want to or not."

Sol's smirk remained, but his eyes sharpened. "Sounds like a myth."

Azuran let out a gurgling chuckle. "Maybe. But myths don't reach out to information brokers like me unless they have a reason. And this one? They specifically asked about you. Offered payment just for the opportunity to speak with you. That's not normal."

Sol tilted his head, considering. "Did they give a name?"

Azuran pulsed a deep indigo, the equivalent of a frown. "No name. No face. Just a message relayed through six different channels, each more encrypted than the last. They want to meet—neutral ground, no strings attached."

Sol chuckled softly, rolling his shoulders. "And let me guess, you don't believe in 'neutral ground.'"

Azuran's form darkened slightly, his tone lower. "Not in this business. Everyone wants something, Sol. The real question is—what does this one want with you?""