Chapter Title: No Man Crosses the Blackwood Line

Chris's POV

The soft crackle of flames from the fireplace didn't distract me. Neither did the faint hum of the city beneath my tower. My mind was elsewhere—at the outer edges of the empire. The borders. The lines that separated order from chaos. That distinguished the Blackwood Union from the broken, corrupted world outside.

And I had just received intel that shook me to my core.

Non-Blackwood citizens had stepped foot into my empire.

Not through invasion, not through force. But through access—smuggled permissions, bought visas, unauthorized school admissions, and even trade agreements that never crossed my desk.

I stood.

"Henry. Get me the Supreme Commander."

The line connected instantly. A man's voice, grizzled with age and hardened by war, responded. "Your Majesty."

"I want ten thousand of our finest soldiers at the North-Western, Southern, and Central borderlines. Deployed immediately."

"Understood. What about the South-East flank?"

"That remains under naval lockdown," I said coldly. "No need to waste bodies there—they wouldn't dare touch that water again after what happened last year."

"Roger that."

"Next," I said, "Give me the list of every personnel in charge of those borders—guards, patrol units, command supervisors, intel officers, even the port cleaners. Every. Single. One."

There was a pause. "All of them, Your Majesty?"

I turned to face the sealed map on the wall behind me. A flick of my fingers opened a digital blueprint of the empire. The border zones pulsed in red.

"Every one of them. I want their full bios. Their family history. Their spending patterns. Their last ten years of military or civil service. Their connections, their affiliations, their unexplained wealth. Track everything."

I pressed harder.

"Go back five years. Any interaction with non-Blackwood citizens—trades, friendships, social media, gaming accounts, wedding invitations, I don't care. If they ever had unapproved communication, I want to see it."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Then go through the educational systems."

I was pacing now, the fury controlled but rising.

"Start with every Blackwood school that receives government subsidies—especially those in border zones. Cross-reference student admissions with their national records. If any non-Blackwood child is registered, even under a fake identity, I want them arrested. And the principal, admission officer, and regional supervisor detained immediately."

"Yes, sir."

I kept going.

"Now let's talk money. Who's been funding this access? Who approved allocations for border development projects that mysteriously 'overran' budget? Find the black money trails. The bribes. The fake tenders. The offshore accounts. The manipulated tax waivers."

"Any specific financial network to focus on?"

"Start with the Unity Bank of West Docks. They've been unusually silent lately. Then follow the trail through the Borderland Trade Authority's last 3 quarterly reports. Any anomalies—flag and isolate. And anyone who signed off the approval—bring them in."

"Yes, sir."

"Henry," I called again, switching channels.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You're leading this sweep alongside the Supreme Commander. Create three divisions—Military Enforcement, Financial Audit, and Civilian Intelligence. They will move at the same time, within the same 48-hour window. No leak must escape. Operate like the Black Hand—swift, quiet, thorough."

"It will be done."

I turned toward the window. Outside, the wind swept across the towers. But in the distance, far off on the horizon, I could see the faint line of light—the border.

"That land is sacred," I whispered. "I built it from dust and sacrifice. No outsider steps foot on it without my word."

And then I roared loud enough for the guards outside to flinch:

"Seal the Empire.

No entry. No exit.

Until we know the rats, no man moves."

A final thought hit me.

"And when you find those responsible?" I said, calmer now.

"Strip them. Titles, land, family rights, citizenship. Everything.

And give their families front-row seats to the execution."

Silence fell over the room again, but it was the kind of silence that only came before a storm.

And that storm had already begun to gather at the Blackwood border.