Somewhere in the southern highlands, a village slept.
It was called Nhamo. Two thousand people. Farmers, mostly. Weavers. Mothers and fathers and grandparents who had lived on the same red soil for generations. They had one old church with a cracked bell. A school with no roof. A monument of stone and bone that marked the place where their ancestors first breathed.
They had no idea what was coming.
***
Three days earlier.
Solomon Vhara sat in his penthouse overlooking the capital. He was a businessman. Imports, exports, mining concessions, a few shell companies that funneled money into accounts no one could trace. He was also, unofficially, the most powerful warlord in the region.
He didn't carry a gun. He didn't command soldiers in the field. He wrote checks. That was far worse in this case.
The report on his desk was thin. One page. A single paragraph circled in red ink.
Seismic survey indicates approximately 112 billion Spirit Nether equivalent of gold deposits beneath Nhamo village. Estimated depth: 80-120 meters. Extraction feasible within six months.
Solomon lit a cigarette.
The village was in the way. Two thousand people who would refuse to leave. They always did. They had "ancestral ties" and "cultural monuments" and "large families" that made relocation impossible. He'd seen it before. Farmers who would rather die than sell their dirt.
Fine, he thought. They can die.
But he couldn't just bomb them. Not directly. The government would investigate. The media would scream. His business partners would get nervous.
He needed a story.
***
Two days earlier.
Solomon met with a man named Dube. Dube ran a local gang—thirty thugs with rusty AKs and a terrible grudge against anyone who had more than them.
"I need you to scare the people of Nhamo," Solomon said. "Burn their crops. Slash their livestock maybe a few beatings here and there. Nothing fatal. Just enough to make them want to leave."
Dube scratched his chin. "What's in it for us?"
"Hundred and fifty thousand upfront. Another hundred and fifty when the village is empty."
"And if they don't leave?"
"They will." Solomon smiled. "And if they don't, I have a backup plan."
Dube took the money. The next night, his men burned three fields and killed a cow.
The villagers did not leave.
***
One day earlier.
Solomon made a phone call.
General Matsika owed him. A lot. Gambling debts, mostly, but also the kind of secrets that could end a career. Matsika listened to Solomon's proposal in silence.
"An air strike?" Matsika said.
"A surgical strike in a small village in the south suspected of terrorist activity. We'll plant evidence—weapons caches, rebel flags. Your planes go in, wipe it out, and you're a hero for protecting the nation."
"And the civilians?"
"What civilians? The terrorists are using them as human shields very tragic, but necessary."
Matsika was quiet for a long time.
"The pilots will need to believe it."
"Then make them believe it. That's your job."
The general agreed. The air strike was scheduled for dawn, three days from now.
Meanwhile, Dube's gang grew impatient. They hadn't been paid the second half. They started taking matters into their own hands. A beating became a killing. A burning field became a burning house.
Solomon watched the news with satisfaction.
Chaos, he thought. Perfect. Now the government has a reason to intervene.
***
System Notification – Asset Deployment
[Threat Detected: Nhamo village – Imminent air strike. Estimated casualties: 2,000+.]
[Primary Target: Solomon Vhara – Businessman/warlord. Status: Untouchable (political connections).]
[Direct assassination not yet authorized. Alternative solution: Disarm explosives, neutralize gang activity, prevent air strike.]
[Deploying Assets:
· Asset 1: Bomb Technician (Human, female, 15 years experience)
· Asset 2: Speed Demon (Non-human, bound to System, 300 years servitude remaining)
· Asset 3: Reincarnated Weight Lifter (700 years cumulative strength cultivation)
[Objective: Clear minefields, disable planted explosives, contain gang violence. Prevent government intervention.]
[Failure Contingency: If assets fail, Decapitator (Kin) will be activated. Target: Solomon Vhara. Method: Decapitation.]
***
Asset 1 – The Bomb Technician.
Her name was Mira. She was forty-two years old, with grey-streaked hair and hands that had touched more explosives than most soldiers had seen. She had been with the System for thirteen years—recruited after she disarmed a bomb that should have killed a hundred children.
The System dropped her two kilometers from Nhamo. She landed in a ditch, rolled to her feet, and checked her gear. Wire cutters. Multimeter. A roll of electrical tape. And a small device that could detect the chemical signature of landmines from fifty meters.
She walked toward the village.
The first mine was on the main road. A pressure plate, Russ-made, buried under fresh dirt. Someone had placed it recently—the soil was still loose.
Mira knelt. Her fingers moved quickly. Cutting the fuse and disarming the trigger. The red light on her detector turned green.
One down.
She found twelve more in the next hour. All on the paths the villagers used to reach the river. Whoever had planted them wanted to trap the people inside, not keep them out.
They want to herd them, she realized. Keep them in the village for the air strike.
She kept working.
***
Asset 2 – The Speed Demon.
It didn't have a name. It didn't want one. It had been a creature of shadow and hunger once, until the System caught it and bound it to service. Three hundred years left on its sentence. It moved faster than sound and faster than sight. Faster than the missiles to be used in that strike.
The System sent it to the gang camp.
Dube's men were celebrating. They'd burned four more houses tonight. Killed two people who tried to fight back. They were drunk on cheap whiskey and the thrill of violence.
The demon appeared in the middle of their circle.
They didn't see it. They felt it. A rush of wind. A crack of displaced air. Then their guns were gone—all thirty of them, snatched from their hands and stacked in a neat pile twenty meters away.
"What the—" Dube started.
The demon moved again. This time, it grabbed each man by the collar and threw them into a pile. Thirty bodies, stacked like firewood. None of them died. But none of them would be waking up for a while .
The demon stood over them, breathing slowly.
[Task complete: Gang neutralized.]
[Remaining threat: Air strike. Mines partially cleared. Continue to support.]
The demon vanished.
***
Asset 3 – The Reincarnated Weight Lifter.
His name was Goran. Or had been. He'd lost count of his rebirths somewhere around number forty. Each death and rebirth made him stronger. Each life taught him new ways to control his body to push hs limits spending time bench pressing chariots , carriages, horses and even trains for fun over the centuries , he was greedy for strength and life gave it to him. After seven hundred years, he could lift a truck with one hand and crush steel with his thighs.
The System sent him to the minefield.
Not the one Mira was clearing. The one the government had planted. Twenty artillery shells buried around the village perimeter, wired to a single detonator. Whoever had set them up wanted to make it look like the villagers had stockpiled weapons.
Goran walked into the field.
He didn't disarm the shells. He pulled them out of the ground. One by one. His fingers dug into the dirt like shovels. His back barely strained. He carried each shell to a nearby ravine and dropped it into the water.
The villagers watched from their doorways. They didn't run. They didn't scream. They just stared at the giant man with the impossible strength, pulling bombs from their soil like yams.
When the last shell was gone, Goran sat down on a rock and waited.
***
System Notification – Mission Update
[Assets status:
· Bomb Technician: 87% of mines cleared. Estimated completion: 2 hours.
· Speed Demon: Gang neutralized. No further threat.
· Weight Lifter: All artillery shells removed. Perimeter secure.
[Air strike still scheduled for dawn. Government pilots have been briefed. They believe they are attacking a terrorist stronghold.]
[Recommendation: Asset intervention insufficient. Target Solomon Vhara remains active. Political cover intact.]
[Contingency: Prepare to activate Decapitator. Target: Solomon Vhara. Method: Decapitation. Time window: 36 hours.]
***
In his penthouse, Solomon Vhara poured himself a glass of whiskey.
His phone buzzed. A text from Dube: Something attacked my men. Guns gone. Men unconscious. What the hell is going on?
Solomon frowned. He called General Matsika.
"The air strike," Solomon said. "Move it up to tonight ."
"Impossible. The pilots aren't ready."
"Make them ready."
The general hung up. Solomon stared at his phone.
He had a bad feeling.
Far away, in his small apartment , Kin woke from a dream about yellow flowers and pulled Lina closer. He didn't know it yet, but the System was already watching his clock.
[Next mission: 147 hours.]
[Potential early activation: If Nhamo assets fail, Decapitator will be summoned within 36 hours.]
Kin opened his eyes sniffed Lina's neck kissed it ,and went back to sleep.
He didn't see the notification.