Chapter 146 : The Hunt in a Rusted District

Two days after the exhausting three-way battle in Gym Gamma, I received the call. It wasn't from Aizawa-sensei or my friends. It was an encrypted signal from Ryukyu. I left the bustle of the Alliance Heights dorm, where my friends were busy preparing for a return to normal school life, and went to the private training room that now felt like my second office.

"It's time, Tyrant," Ryukyu's voice came through the communicator, her professional tone leaving no room for pleasantries. "Your first target has been confirmed."

On my secure tablet, a file appeared. Its contents made my stomach feel cold. The target wasn't an ordinary villain. He was one of the most dangerous Tartarus escapees, a man named Kageyama 'Kain' Jin, with a Mercury Quirk that allowed him to manipulate molten metal. Before being imprisoned, he was a crime syndicate boss known for his cruelty, who would execute his rivals by drowning them in drums of hot lead. Since escaping, he had taken over a derelict industrial district on the outskirts of Hosu, turning it into his personal fortress and enslaving the remaining workers there.

"The local pro heroes have tried to get close, but they were overwhelmed," Ryukyu explained. "The entire district has been turned into a minefield of molten metal. Kain can control every pipe, every steel plate, every drop of metal in his territory. A frontal assault is suicide."

"So you're sending me," I said, more as a statement than a question.

"You are a ghost," she replied. "You can get in undetected. And your power... that armor, is probably the only thing that can withstand his attacks. Your mission is infiltration, neutralize Kain, and free the hostages. I will place a recovery team on the outer perimeter, but they will not move in unless you give the signal that the main target has been neutralized. You will be alone in there."

"I understand," I replied curtly.

"Be careful, Tatsumi," she added, her tone softening slightly. "This isn't training anymore."

That night, I set out. The journey to the industrial district was quiet and heavy. I no longer felt like a student going on an internship. I felt like an agent being sent into enemy territory. I remembered my dream, the feeling of the original Tatsumi as he went on a mission for Night Raid. A mixture of cold determination and constant awareness of danger.

Under the cover of night, I arrived at the border of the rusted district. The scene was like a painting from an industrial hell. Rusted factory towers rose to the sky like giant skeletons. Smoke smelling of chemicals and burnt metal billowed from countless chimneys. There was no light of life, only the sporadic flashes of welding or electrical sparks from broken cables. And above all, there was an oppressive silence.

I began my infiltration. I moved between the shadows, every movement calculated. I climbed large steam pipes, leaped across rusty rooftops, my eyes constantly scanning the environment. Sure enough, this place was full of traps. I saw silvery pools that looked like rainwater under the moonlight, but I knew it was molten metal waiting to ensnare an unwary foot. I saw thin, nearly invisible wires stretched between alleys, likely connected to alarms or other traps.

I spent almost an hour just observing from a distance, mapping the patrol routes of Kain's guards and identifying the locations of his traps. The dragon's heartbeat in my chest pulsed slowly, acting as a danger radar, giving me a warning every time I got too close to something amiss.

In a small, grimy apartment in the heart of the district, a man named Kaito was calming his hungry, crying daughter. They were one of the hundreds of worker families trapped here, enslaved by Kain and his thugs. They were forced to work in the factories in exchange for food rations that were barely enough to survive. Every day was a struggle filled with fear and despair. Hope was a luxury they had long since forgotten.

That night, looking out from a crack in his boarded-up window, Kaito saw something strange. A shadow. A dark figure moving with an unnatural speed and agility on the roof of the factory across the street. It wasn't one of Kain's men, who moved with a brutal arrogance. This figure moved with a silent purpose, like a panther on the hunt. For the first time in months, Kaito felt something other than fear. He felt a flicker of curiosity.

While I continued my hunt, in another distant city, Akame also continued her own. Her investigation of Yozakura had led her to an abandoned safehouse in a red-light district. She moved inside like a ghost. The place was empty, left in a hurry. But they had left something behind. On a table lay a laptop that had been smashed. With her skills, Akame managed to retrieve its hard drive.

She took it to an underworld information hacker, someone who owed her a favor. A few hours later, the hacker managed to break the encryption. The contents made Akame's blood run cold. It wasn't just financial data or target lists. It was research data. Data about Teigu. She saw detailed diagrams of her own sword, Murasame. She saw an analysis of the Incursio armor. And most terrifyingly, she saw data on "Primal Factor extraction" and "subject compatibility from the Gate."

She finally understood. Yozakura didn't just know about Teigu. They were actively trying to reverse-engineer them, perhaps to create their own army of assassins. And they had been working with Dr. Garaki and All For One, trading "subjects" from her world for Quirk technology. This was a conspiracy far deeper and more horrific than she had ever imagined. She knew she had to warn Tatsumi. The threat to them was much greater than they thought.

I finally reached my destination: the central smelting tower, the tallest building in the district. I knew Kain, with his massive ego, must be at the top. I climbed the rusted steel structure, using the Incursio claws I manifested for a moment to get a grip. The night wind whistled around me.

I arrived at a ledge near the control room at the top of the tower. Through a dirty window, I could see him. Kain was sitting on a makeshift throne made of melted metal, surrounded by a few of his most trusted lieutenants. He was laughing, clearly enjoying his power as the king of this scrap kingdom.

I couldn't go in through the door. Too many guards. I had to make my own entrance.

I backed up a few steps on the narrow ledge. I took a deep breath, focusing all my strength into one point. I manifested the Incursio gauntlet on my right arm, feeling the familiar heat envelop my fist. I wasn't aiming for the window. I was aiming for the thick steel wall beneath it.

I charged forward, leaped from the ledge. For a moment I was airborne, with the entire oppressed district spread out below me. Then, I slammed my fist into the wall.

The first sound of my real battle in this new, broken world was not a war cry. It was the deafening boom of steel hitting steel, an echo that signaled a tyrant was about to fall.