Akashic Records

Velvet Worm Chapter 4: Interlude 1 (Patreon)

Published:

2025-11-15 18:00:09

Imported:

2026-06

Content

Chapter 4: Interlude 1

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♦Topic: New Hero in Brockton Bay?
In: Boards ►Cape Scene ► Brockton Bay

BeetleMooseJuice (Original Poster)

Posted on August 11, 2010:

So, uh, guys, I gotta ask: does anyone know anything about a new Cape in good ol’ BB? Because I’m pretty sure I just got saved by a dude in funky armor.

Bruce Lao (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Posted on August 11, 2010:

Another one? Seriously?

PineNutt44

Posted on August 11, 2010:

They don’t call Brockton Bay the Cape Capitol because we’re all into fashion (though we totes should bring back capes as a thing!)

RandomFunnyGuy62 (Verified Not Funny)

Posted on August 11, 2010:

Bagrat, I summon thee!

Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Posted on August 11, 2010:

Ah, another person who’s spotted White Knight, huh? Congrats, you’re now part of an exclusive club.

BeetleMooseJuice (Original Poster)

Posted on August 11, 2010:

What, really? So, he’s real? I didn’t hallucinate a guy in blue and white armor beat up a Merchant with a baseball bat? And then run away without a word?

Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Posted on August 11, 2010:

BeetleMooseJuice Sounds like he’s branching out to hitting all the major gangs, then. But yes, he’s real. In the last week, people have claimed to have seen a cape wearing armor running around and beating up gang members. Unpowered so far, and always with a baseball bat. People are calling him ‘White Knight’ because of, you guessed it, the mostly white armor he wears.

CheeseoftheLog (Mouse Protector Fan Club Member)

Posted on August 11, 2010:

The police and witness reports do confirm he’s using a baseball bat to bust some heads, but he’s also been spotted throwing around ice, wind, and in one case, using sparkles to heal somebody’s broken arm, good as new! But so far the White Knight hasn’t been photographed or caught on video. He just jumps in, beats up baddies, and then dips. A true legend.

XxVoid_CowboyxX

Posted on August 11, 2010:

It’s Eidolon! He’s decided on a new costume and is trying it out by beating up the thugs in the one city nobody gives a damn about! And then, once he’s confirmed that he can get away with it, Alexandria and Legend will do the same, donning new disguises so they can do the PRT’s dirty work with nobody the wiser!

Feychick

Posted on August 11, 2010:

Uh-oh, somebody let Void off his leash. And his meds. Come on, better abandon the thread before he turns our brains to goop with his conspiracy theories.

End of Page 1

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■

♦Topic: White Knight Speaks!

In: Boards ►Cape Scene ► Brockton Bay

PartyPalace245 (Cape Groupie) (Party Girl) (Original Poster)

Posted September 5, 2010:

Oh my god, guys! I was just mugged last night! But I was saved by White Knight! And get this: he actually stayed around and spoke! I even managed to snap a pic or two with my phone! Here!

[Link] [Link]

Shinywhiny

Posted September 5, 2010:

Whoa, no way! The White Knight didn’t just dip? Gimme the deets, gurl!

PoisonedDonyets

Posted September 5, 2010:

Wait, that’s what he looks like? What the heck is with that dumb as hell helmet?

Dirtyshovel (History Groupie)

Posted September 5, 2010:

PoisonedDonyets That, my friend, is indeed a real kind of helmet known as a ‘Frogmouth Helm.’ It’s a type of Great Helm from the 15th century, though it fell out of favor in the mid to late 17th century. However, it was typically only worn for jousting. That is to say, tournament armor, not for the actual battlefield.

GossipBunyun

Posted September 5, 2010:

Sooo… it’s like somebody wearing a football helmet instead of a motorcycle helmet while riding a Harley?

Lolitup

Posted September 5, 2010:

He actually looks kinda cool. His armor is a lot more professional than I thought it’d be for a newbie cape. Think it’s part of his power?

PartyPalace245 (Cape Groupie) (Party Girl) (Original Poster)

Posted September 5, 2010:

Lolitup Dunno, but I got a good look at what he could do when he took down that goon! He was able to shoot a gust of wind that knocked a guy over, and then summoned up a bunch of ice to freeze the other mugger! The last guy got the ol’ baseball to the brain treatment, but get this! He healed me! Healed! Me! Just waved his hand, said something like, ‘Bea,’ and bam! The scrapes I’d gotten falling on my ass when I was jumped were all gone!

PartyPalace245 (Cape Groupie) (Party Girl) (Original Poster)

Posted September 5, 2010:

Oh! And before I forget! He said his name was ‘Quest!’ So we have an actual name for him now!

Laser Augment

Posted September 5, 2010:

Quest, huh? That’s… not terrible, I guess. Is he trying to emulating a questing knight with that name and look?

But those other abilities… do you think he might be able to get new powers if does things like finishing a quest?

Grobus The Annihilator

Posted September 5, 2010:

What, like one of those terrible Gamer systems that only loser incel neckbeards write about? Puh-LEASE! No way there’d be somebody with a power that dumb and lame!

End of Page 1

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111 &&& 111

■

♦Topic: ABB Farm Liberated!

In: Boards ►Brockton Bay ► Cape Shit ► News

Bagrat (Veteran Member) (Guy in the know) (Original Poster)

Posted October 11, 2010:

Well, folks, it seems that Quest is moving up in the world. And by that, I mean he’s gone from targeting low level street thugs and lone criminals to busting up one of the ABB’s Farms.

That’s right, you heard me: Quest singlehandedly took down one of Lung’s infamous Farms, freeing a dozen trafficked women from a terrible fate. Link to the official story, [Here].

Also, seems like we can confirm that Quest does indeed have summons of some sort. Apparently, he was able to call upon some sort of ghost maid, a fairy, and a ball of slime and just absolutely wrecked the ABB goons guarding the Farm. None died, but two suffered severe frost bites to certain extremities. It’s unknown if Panacea was able to fix them. Though I won’t be sad if she couldn’t.

Some footage of the monster was captured from security cameras and a few other sources, so check ‘em out [here] and [here].

EDIT: Seems like the manager of the Farm confessed everything to the police around the same time as Quest’s takedown. Our boys in blue now have testimony on some of the darker things the ABB has been doing, and the gang members Quest caught will be going to jail for a long time. No getting out of what he fingered them with!

LasagnaLover (Hates Mondays)

Posted October 10, 2010:

Huh. Maybe this won’t be such a bad Monday after all.

SenorEel

Posted October 10, 2010:

God damn! Go Quest, go! Those Farms are sick! Shit, how many of them do you think there are? Will he be able to get them all?

Bruce Lao (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Posted October 10, 2010:

I think we should be worrying about what Lung is going to do in retaliation. The Farms provide his illegal brothels with women, and they’re the ABB’s biggest money maker. The Rage Dragon won’t let something like that go unanswered.

White Fairy (Veteran Member)

Posted October 10, 2010:

Bruce Lao I mean, yeah, fair nuff, but I can’t stop thinking about the fact that Quest can summon monsters and fight with them! And did anyone else notice they were able to use some of the same powers he could?

Laser Augment

Posted October 10, 2010:

I wonder if perhaps Quest’s Blaster powers are tied to his summons. The ghost maid was throwing around ice (she’s why two gangsters won’t be having any more kids ever) and the fairy was throwing sparkles that seemed to heal the women. Didn’t see the slime ball do anything like that, but it did tank that grenade without so much as flinching.

Lavender Bulb (Cape Groupie)

Posted October 10, 2010:

Where the hell did the ABB get a grenade?! Was Oni Lee there?!

RobtheBob

Posted October 10, 2010:

Lavender Bulb I mean, probably. Though honestly, that just raises the question of where does Oni Lee get his supplies?

Magneto (Veteran Member)

Posted October 10, 2010:

Laser Augment Yeah, I think that might be it. Quest can use the same powers of his summons. Which is interesting. Does he have limits? Can he summon non-monsters? Is his armor and baseball bat summons as well? And why does it even manifest this way?

Personally, I think it’s all magnets.

Pear and Partridge (Cape Groupie)

Posted October 10, 2010:

Magneto Not how magnets work, buddy.

Lavender Bulb Probably from military surplus. You’d be surprised what you can find.

SenorEel I sure hope he does, for the women’s sake if nothing else, but nobody knows how many there even are, let alone where. Still, Quest found one, so I think we can keep on hoping and praying he takes the rest down.

Xx_VoidCowboy_xX

Posted October 10, 2010:

The Farm’s manager turned himself in? And then the Farm is taken down by Quest a little bit later that same evening? Does anyone else find that really suspicious? Like, could the manager’s sudden and unexpected change of heart be due to Quest, I dunno, messing with his mind or something? I mean, he’s got so many other powers…

Feychick

Posted October 10, 2010:

Xx_VoidCowboy_xX Oi, watch it, Void! Don’t go throwing around those sorts of accusations without any basis! Can’t just claim somebody is a Master like that!

End of Page 5

Page 5 of 61

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Piggot POV:

“What do we know about this new parahuman?” Emily Piggot, Director of the East-North-East PRT division of Brockton Bay, inquired, glaring at the other people in the room.

Waking up this morning to find out that the latest member of her city’s superhuman circus had done another raid on an ABB Farm was not what she’d wanted to hear about, nor had she wanted to call a meeting, but it was what it was.

“The individual, who PHO has dubbed ‘White Knight’ but according to his own words goes by ‘Quest,’ is a heroically inclined rogue with a seemingly eclectic set of powers,” Armsmaster began without preamble.

Another one of the problem children of the bay, Armsmaster was far too stiff for his own good, and far more focused on his Tinkering than leading the Wards. But he was good at ferreting out useful information from piles of data, and was thus the best person to compile what they knew about today’s topic.

“While it is unknown when Quest initially started as a cape, as we only have rumors that start around August of an individual matching his appearance, his first confirmed appearance is on September 4th, where he stopped a mugger at 10:19 p.m. He did so with his baseball bat, breaking the thug’s legs before calling the cops. As this happened, some people nearby, including the woman he rescued, took pictures of him. This is also when we first learn his cape name.”

Nodding heads greeted him at this. A fairly ordinary start for a parahuman, though it was clear he’d been active before that based on claims made on PHO.

“After that, Quest began to appear more and more, usually at night, and showing no discrimination in the criminals he went after. He has stopped and captured ABB and E88 members, as well as Merchants and unaffiliated thugs.” At this, Armsmaster looked up, his helmet hiding his gaze but not the intensity. “Recently, though, at least since the start of October, he has begun focusing more on the ABB, managing to take down two of their Farms in the last week alone, which, for those who might not know, are locations where kidnapped women as ‘trained’ to work in the ABB’s brothels.”

Everyone scowled in disgust at the mention of those foul places. It was these Farms and the brothels that made the ABB so reviled in Brockton Bay. Protection rackets and illegal casinos were one thing, but human trafficking was utterly vile. It was what elevated them to such a ‘prestigious’ position in the city alongside the Neo-Nazis. Well, that, and Lung.

“Quest rescued twelve women from the first Farm on Sunday, and brought in eight gang members. Then, last night, he rescued seven more women and brought in three members of the ABB, including the Farm’s manager,” Armsmaster said, listing off the rogue’s achievements. “One of the gang members died in the altercation, though.”

“Was Quest responsible?” Piggot asked.

A parahuman killing someone was always bad optics. Even most villains, outside of psychopaths like the Teeth and Slaughterhouse Nine, tried to limit their causalities.

But, incidents like this also made them easier to recruit, distasteful as it was to sweep certain incidents under the rug. That was how they got Shadowstalker after all, though Piggot was unsure if that was actually a good thing, yet. The Ward was… abrasive, to say the least.

“Forensics seem to back up Quest and the arrested men claim that a struggle for the gun caused it to go off and it killed a nearby gang member,” Armsmaster replied, and she blew out a sigh. Well, there went that avenue of recruitment. For now.

“Remind us, what sort of powers does he have?” Piggot asked instead, changing the topic.

“Regarding his powers, Quest has shown the ability to shoot weak bolts of lightning comparable in strength to multiple tasers, exactly voltage unknown but likely around 150 thousand volts, based on the electrical burns on some of his victims,” Armsmaster stated. “In addition to this, he has shown the ability to cause mental distress in targets, making them act ‘stupid,’ from standing in a daze to erratically attacking others. This takes the form of a greenish-purple spiral, also fired off in a similar manner of the lightning bolts.”

He flipped a page. “Additionally, Quest can summon projections. These beings are quite powerful, with their own varied and esoteric abilities. While neither we nor the police have seen any of these for ourselves the rescued women and captured gang members have given us descriptions of them. One is a pale, ethereal woman in a maid’s outfit who floats and can summon ice and gales of wind, and the other is a small fairy-like creature who can heal.”

“These projections seem to be able to act independently to a degree, as some claimed to see and hear them conversing with Quest as if they were fully self-aware, but how far this goes is unknown, or even if it’s just an act on Quest’s part. But they are able to be summoned and dismissed at will.” Armsmaster looked up. “That is not all. Quest can seemingly disappear at will. Every time he’s been encountered, he has vanished afterwards, in one case down a dead end.”

“Could it be a Stranger power?” Rennick, her vice-director, inquired, and Armsmaster nodded slowly.

“It is possible, but without more information we aren’t sure,” he said. “Then, there is his… equipment.”

A projector turned on, revealing several pictures of the latest ‘hero’ to hit the streets from phone and security cameras.

His white armor with gold and cobalt blue highlights struck a mix between looking fierce and noble, like a fantasy novel paladin. The helmet was a little odd, as it was strangely bulbous, but it worked with the overall theme, matching the large pauldrons.

“Quest wears a suit of full plate armor with a blue cape that does not appear to impede his movement, despite something like this weighing somewhere between 50 to 80 pounds if made of actual steel,” Armsmaster continued. “He wears a Frogmouth helmet which completely conceals his face, and the visor is protected by a sheet of gold material that seems to be capable of being seen through. It also does not impede his voice at all, as everyone claims that he sounds perfectly audible, as if he wasn’t wearing it at all.”

“I’ll say this, he has style,” Assault whistled, nodding in appreciation at the knightly costume design, though some weren’t as impressed.

Triumph, in particular, seemed offended at how the rogue had decided to go with the ‘white knight’ aesthetic.

“What is it made of?” Militia asked. “I know armor like that should be heavy, but people all say he could run with ease in it.”

“Running in full plate is doable, and even possible, but not for long, and not at the speeds and ease he has displayed,” the head of the Wards claimed. “Thus, I believe it might be a projection as well, and not Tinkertech as we initially assumed.”

“And his weapon?” Piggot inquired.

“As far as we can tell, it’s looks to be a normal baseball bat,” Armsmaster replied. “Without a closer look and some tests, we cannot confirm it for sure, but based on examinations of the injuries left behind… it’s a completely mundane – if durable – bat.”

“So, he can summon armor and monsters, but not weapons?” Dauntless inquired, tilting his head. “That is an odd limitation.”

He has not yet displayed above average levels of physical exertions, so he is not a Brute, that much we are sure of,” Armsmaster added.

“Does that mean he’s a self-Trump if he can use Blaster powers alongside his minion summoning ones?” Velocity wondered.

“It could be the lightning and ‘confusion’ powers are connected to the armor, and thus his projections,” Battery suggested.

“As of this moment, the Blaster powers Quest has displayed are likely to related to his projections,” Armsmaster confirmed. “However, as it could still be something he himself is capable of outside of the armor, he is being given a rating of Blaster 4 just in case.”

“I see. And what about the fact that several of the criminals Quest has brought down have all had what can best be described as mental breakdowns and total shifts in personality?” Triumph asked, eyes blazing with suspicion.

Piggot’s eyes were already narrowed, but her brow’s furrow grew even deeper at that. Yes, that was the question, wasn’t it? It wasn’t many. Eight people – four ABB, three Empire 88, and one Merchant – had turned themselves in, confessing to a host of crimes and pointing fingers at a bunch of other people.

One of the Empire men that had decided he wanted to go clean had actually killed two other E88 thugs beforehand, claiming they had actually been members of Gesellschaft who were tasked with the German criminal syndicate with locating ‘potential talent’ for recruitment. That is to say, people they could kidnap off the streets and then torture and break, and hopefully force to Trigger.

Investigations on that front were slow because they had to contact the German government for this, but there was definitely some worrying evidence that yes, that had been the case.

All of the criminals who made these confessions were semi-important, knowing things they shouldn’t have wanted others to find out about normally. In fact, the two managers of the ABB farms recently arrested had experienced this exact same change of heart, although one hadn’t managed to confess, as his sudden personality shift had occurred around other ABB who didn’t have the same abrupt empathic realization that they were gutter scum.

And, wouldn’t you know it, but Quest had shown up at the very same places the confessors had claimed to have known about, breaking legs and busting heads. In the case of one of the E88 members, he’d been an overseer of a gun stash. And for the Merchant? A drug lab.

Said guns and drugs were mysteriously missing, now, after Quest had struck them, and the thought of a single person in possession of a dozen assault rifles, shotguns, and thousands of rounds of ammo alongside a fully functioning meth lab wasn’t something Piggot liked.

“Quest having a Master power not related to his projections is unconfirmed, as of now,” Armsmaster stated. “However, evidence does in fact point to this being the case.”

He took out some files. “Given that Quest also attacked locations important to the individuals and their gangs around the same time, usually five minutes to an hour before the confession to the police. Right now, our best guess is that he somehow cornered the individuals in question and used a yet-unknown ability to cause them to feel deep, overwhelming sense of guilt and remorse which made them reveal the locations of the gang’s supply depots.”

Armsmaster then shook his head. “However, some things do not add up. Of the eight – now nine – individuals in question, two of them were at the location in question at the exact same time as Quest attacking it. Four others were at home claiming to have been asleep before waking up and confessing to their many crimes. The remaining three were in public settings – one a restaurant, another at the mall, and the third at a bar – with alibis and plenty of chances for other witnesses to have just seen them go missing or Quest approaching them.”

“Are we sure this is the work of Quest?” Rennick, her Vice-Director, inquired, leaning in a little.

“Not definitive proof,” Armsmaster admitted, teeth gritted like it galled him to admit this, “But the four people who’d been asleep beforehand claimed to have seen Quest ‘in a dream’ upon waking up.”

“That sounds highly circumstantial,” Miss Militia frowned.

“It is. But unless Quest just somehow knew of the locations he attacked and somehow the people in charge of them had a sudden and abrupt personality shift that saw them feeling immense, soul-crushing guilt for all their past crimes, then it is clear we are dealing with somebody who is, in fact, a Master in the more traditional sense,” Piggot said with a dark look flashing through her eyes.

“Okay, but, isn’t somebody who can make people feel guilt about what they’ve done a good thing? I think getting villains off the streets would be easier if we had somebody who could do that.” Assault asked, and it annoyed Piggot that Battery, the person who normally reigned in her husband’s idiocy, actually seemed to agree with him on this matter.

“We don’t know that is all he can do,” Piggot stated firmly. “It could be Quest is capable of reversing personalities entirely. That is to say, making hardened career criminals into model citizens and innocent people into maddened rioters. Or, he is able to twist their perceptions of right and wrong and make it so they believe what they are doing is the ‘right’ thing for the sake of their gang.”

There were a myriad of other effects that could cause the exact same outcome, too. Heartbreaker, the most reviled Master in the world and the main reason they were so often seen in a bad light, could force somebody to confess their crimes if he wished. Even Nice Guy, whose Master effect made him always appear to be your best friend, could have made somebody tattle on the gangs, just to please him.

This made Assault wince. “So, we have somebody with the ability to Master people as well as summon creatures with their own abilities, plus Blaster stuff and however he gets around town?” he asked. “Damn. At least he seems to be on the side of angels right now.”

“For now,” Armaster said, voice almost a growl as another slide was brought up. “Which leads to the current rating we’ve assigned Quest. Master 5 for his projections and potential personality altering ability, Blaster 4 for his esoteric projectiles, and Mover 4 for his currently unknown method of moving around the city.”

“I figured they’d be higher,” Dauntless admitted. “Multiple summons, each with their own esoteric abilities, and the ability to control them? Plus the whole forcing people to confess thing? Seems like we should have him bumped up a bit.”

“None of Quest’s abilities have proven to be beyond the current ratings,” Armsmaster said dismissively. “Furthermore, he has not engaged any parahumans yet, so increasing his classification is unnecessary at this point.”

“Do we know their age?” Miss Militia asked, shifting the topic away from whatever his powers might be.

“Our best guess is between 15 and 18,” Armsmaster stated, pulling up a new chart containing speculation based on height, weight, and vocal patterns. “Caucasian, and with a chip on his shoulder if the brutal way he takes down criminals is any indicator.”

“Let me guess, you want us to get the kid to join the Wards?” Assault inquired, his gaze on Piggot instead of Armsmaster’s rather creepy slide full of data on a minor.

“Obviously,” she replied, giving the troublemaker a curt nod. “He’s kicking several hornets’ nests without any care for how they will spill out into the rest of the city. Already, we’re seeing ABB and E88 out in bigger numbers since last month, and it’s only going to get worse. We need to reel him in before he pisses of Kaiser – or God forbid, Lung – and provokes them into open conflict.”

“Yeah, we don’t want that to happen,” Velocity agreed with a grimace. “But what are the odd he’ll want to?”

“We simply show him the statistics regarding the outcome of those who remain Rogues after getting into conflict with any of the gangs,” Armsmaster declared, as if it was, indeed, that simple to change the mind of a teenager.

Piggot doubted that. And, from the expressions on the others in the room, save the man in question, the rest of the PRT didn’t believe Quest would be so willing to stop doing things like this just because of some charts.

“What do we know about his personality?” she asked instead of voicing her doubts.

“Quest shows no qualms in engaging in violence and leaving gang members needing Panacea’s aid to heal them. He also has no interest in healing the injuries he causes, despite one of his projections being confirmed to be capable of doing so,” Armsmaster stated. “However, he has shown restraint, never going far enough to cause permanent damage, as anything he’s dealt can be healed back up fully in time, and he has held back from more lethal attacks despite likely being capable of it. It is my belief that despite his callousness towards criminals, Quest could make for a good addition to the Protectorate.”

‘Great, another Shadowstalker,’ Piggot thought with a scowl, and clearly Miss Militia thought so too going by the minute frown on her face.

Still, another hero was desperately needed in this cesspool of a city, and at least this one seemed to have some care towards people, if how he healed the victims of the ABB’s trafficking. However…

“What are the odds that Lung is going to retaliate against Quest for interfering in the ABB’s business?” Piggot asked, earning a grimace from Armsmaster.

“Very high,” he admitted. “Which is why recruiting Quest before that is absolutely necessary.”

The Tinker looked over at the other heroes of the Protectorate. “If you encounter him, impress upon him that joining the Wards will be the only means of protection he’ll have from the gangs once they decide to come after him for his transgressions.”

“Will do, boss man,” Assault saluted, earning a smack from Battery.

“If that is all?” Piggot inquired, glancing around the meeting room. Nobody spoke, so she nodded. “In that case, dismissed.”

Everyone rose from their seats and went back to doing whatever it was they did around here when they weren’t causing her headaches. Rubbing her temples, Piggot decided to get back to her own duties, and finish off the paperwork that always seemed to be cluttering up her desk.

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Kaiser POV

Kaiser swirled his whiskey around in the tumbler slowly, contemplating the state of the city – his city – as he sat in the Medhall building, looking out from the office window.

Things were good. But they could be better. And all of his current problems revolved around that newcomer who thought he could do as he pleased.

‘This new rogue, this ‘Quest,’ is becoming a thorn in my side,’ Max Anders mused to himself.

Yes, he’d now given the ABB a black eye with two of their farms shut down, but the new parahuman had also gone after the Empire. Stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of guns and ammo wasn’t something Max could tolerate.

‘Oh, and I suppose he removed those two Gesellschaft agents, but I won’t spill any tears over them,’ he mused.

Yes, his ‘friends’ from overseas were angry about it and demanding he do something, but frankly, those fools in Germany were a means to an end for him. He’d take Quest out of the picture, but because he’d dared to strike at his Empire, not theirs.

The fact he’d somehow Mastered several people to do all of this meant he had to put Quest down as quickly as possible. He did not like Masters, and the idea of Quest somehow getting to him and forcing him to spill his guts, revealing all the things he’d done?

No. Absolutely not. He would not allow his Empire to crumble!

And so, the rogue had to die. Who to send, though? After some thought, Hookwolf would be the best choice. Collateral damage would be unpleasant, but it would ensure Quest would die. The rogue was strong against normal people, but compared to other parahumans? Quite lacking.

‘How to find him, though?’ Max wondered.

Due to his ability to seemingly travel all across the city without being seen or spotted, just sending Brad out to hunt the streets would invite reprisal from the PRT. The best way would be to lure Quest in, perhaps with one of the low value supply caches. Creating a trap wouldn’t be easy, especially if Quest managed to Master one of the people he planned to use as bait. It would have to be a multiple staged plan. Set up would require some work. Perhaps a Thinker as well.

‘Could I get Gesellschaft to loan me a Thinker?’ he mused, before dismissing it.

Getting further indebted to them wouldn’t be a good thing. He’d have to solve the Quest problem himself. After all, how hard could it be to bring down a brat who dressed like a knight?

111 &&& 111

Lung POV

The ceramic bottle in his hands creaked ominously within his grasp, and it took a great deal of effort to unclench his fingers and allow the container to be freed from the crushing pressure of his rage.

Two. Two Farms, and several of his men had turned out to be traitors. Or Mastered. Regardless of what the outcome was, it was an insult to him and to the ABB. This White Knight, this Quest, had to die.

Kenta knocked back the contents of the container and let the sake numb his throat for a moment before his thoughts turned further to the mysterious new rogue who’d become a thorn in his side.

Contrary to what many may have thought, the ABB did not have dozens of Farms and thousands of slave-girls waiting to be turned into prostitutes. No, Lung had only possessed four Farms who’d supplied a dozen brothels under his patronage, as well as a few ‘clients’ who would make purchases for the best or the excess.

In the end, the ABB was just one link in a long chain of human trafficking that spanned not just the United States but also Europe, Asia, and South America. Thousands of pieces of flesh passed through his hands, but rarely did they linger before being shipped off elsewhere. Lung preferred it that way.

Yet that was why losing even a single Farm was a crippling blow to his bottom line, but more importantly, to his legitimacy. If this continued, Lung would lose face, and he could not afford that. He ruled through fear, but the more a brand-new parahuman opposed him, the braver some of the stupider elements of the gang would become.

‘Oni Lee will find the man who did this,’ the Dragon of Brockton Bay decided. The gaijin would die, and then business would resume.

A trap would be laid. One of the remaining Farm overseers would be selected to be bait. Lung thought it over and figured that the man who’d thought embezzling his funds would be the perfect scapegoat. He’d been planning to remove the fool for a while, this was the perfect opportunity.

Just because the rogue dressed like a knight did not mean Quest would be able to slay this dragon.

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Author's Note: Looks like Velvet Worm won the monthly poll! I hope you enjoy the chapter! And for those Star Wars lovers, don't worry about missing out this month. There will be a bonus chapter this Thanksgiving as a thanks for all of the support I've gotten!