I decided that my team needed to gain some "combat experience," so I deliberately had the computer in my suit given to Grue a convoy route for the next batch of homeless that would inevitably intersect with the Ward team, which included Aegis, Clockblocker, Kid Win, Vista, Gallant, and Browbeat. I was somewhat unsure if this encounter would be enough to start a conflict, but the bums unintentionally helped. One of them started shouting that they were all going to be killed and that the capes should save them. Naturally, Gallant demanded the release of the people, and the Undersiders, receiving my direct order over the radio at that moment, refused.

As a result, a brawl erupted with everyone fighting everyone else. There was no time to think, and all my minions had to give it their all. Taylor especially stood out. At first, she held back, but after Browbeat knocked her out, she got angry and started attacking seriously, using "heavy aviation" in the form of hornets. Under such pressure, Clockblocker, Kid Win, Vista, and Gallant quickly "folded," retreating. Aegis and Browbeat could somewhat resist the insects, but Bitch's dogs tore them apart like rags. As a result, Gallant ignominiously retreated, and the Undersiders did not pursue them.

This victory instilled confidence in the Undersiders. Another important factor was that all of them escaped with at most bruises. The suits performed excellently. They couldn't protect against blows from massive objects, but any pinpoint strikes were completely blocked and distributed over the area.

In the evening, I awarded the Undersiders another bonus for a well-fought battle. Throughout the day, we managed to "clear" the area near the Dockers' Association territory and around the warehouse where the replicators delivered components through underground tunnels. By this point, two hundred people were already assembling equipment, so my "business" was gradually reaching operational capacity.

News that a new cape named Black Cloak had appeared in the city, taking over the Docks, Bee, and the Undersiders team, spread through the city like wildfire. There were also rumors that Black Cloak had managed to kill Lung, who had disappeared without a trace about a week ago. This last detail especially displeased the remnants of the ABB. They were still trying to find out what had happened to Lung after Bee's attack, and now rumors emerged that the new cape was to blame for everything.

The Asian Bad Boys group was not having the best of times. Lung was missing, and Bakuda, whom he had invited only a month ago, unexpectedly took his place. Oni Lee was a "loyal dog" by nature and had never aimed for leadership roles. However, the tinker was happy to seize control. But the core of the gang was not particularly willing to obey "that crazy woman." So, she had to come up with two "brilliant ideas." First, she declared that Lung was likely alive but captured by Black Cloak. After all, no one had seen his body.

Secondly, she started planting bombs in her subordinates' bodies, turning them into fanatically loyal followers. Try not to become a fanatic when your life depends on the whims of a madwoman. But this wasn't enough for Bakuda, and around the time it became clear who was responsible for Lung's death, she began actively recruiting "followers" among ordinary people. At night, her gang would break into ordinary citizens' apartments, grab everyone indiscriminately, and shove remote-controlled bombs into their noses and guts.

Additionally, Bakuda decided to resort to a strategy of mass terror, blowing up all the more or less significant places or major firms. The Dockers' Association was protected by patrols of replicators, so no suicide bombers reached us. But the rest of the city experienced the full horror of terrorist attacks.

I did what I could to stoke protest sentiments online and among ordinary people. I needed to show that neither the PRT nor the Protectorate intended to do anything. The police switched to working without days off, the army was brought into the city, and the heroes only made grandiose speeches on TV and patrolled areas where there had never been any criminals.

Then, one "fine" day, Bakuda decided that she had recruited enough suicide bombers and sent them towards the Dockers' Association to die. She correctly assumed that I wouldn't sit back and watch her "undermine the foundations of my business." And indeed, I didn't. It's just that my way of solving problems didn't occur to the local capes for some reason.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

There were quite a few hostages, and Bakuda drove them all on foot. This slowed down the entire "army," giving me time to prepare a trap along their route. As I recalled from "last time," Bakuda had a remote detonation system in her glasses and on her legs. Plus, there was a detonator linked to her heart. I positioned seven sniper replicators in suitable locations, who could shoot Bakuda simultaneously. The targets were her knees, shoulders, heart, and both hemispheres of her brain. This should guarantee the villainess's instant death.

Then, I just had to wait and see what would happen. Bakuda hadn't yet entered my territory, so if all the hostages blew up, I wouldn't be involved. I was at the Dockers' Association base with the Undersiders, so my alibi was guaranteed.

The special operation went off without a hitch. Seven simultaneous shots from armor-piercing explosive bullets literally tore Bakuda to pieces. The replicators fired charges so powerful that hitting a hand would tear off the arm at the shoulder. As I had hoped, the scale of the destruction was such that Bakuda's equipment couldn't handle it, and the detonation signal didn't reach the symbiote. As for ordinary radio signals, the replicators jammed them.

Oni Lee followed the group of suicide bombers from the rooftops. When he saw his accomplice's ignominious death, he decided to flee as quickly as possible. But I had other plans for him. No one noticed how Oni Lee, on one of the roofs, was hit by a paralyzer shot. He immediately lost consciousness, and the replicators that appeared seconds later packed his body, injecting a strong sedative into his blood.

I wanted to find out if I could develop my shard by absorbing another's. It will be very useful a teleportation ability like this maniac's. So, Oni Lee was placed in a special shelter from which he definitely couldn't escape. Moreover, I planned to keep him unconscious because the process didn't require his consent or cooperation. However, I wasn't in a hurry and intended to simply observe how my shard reacted to the proximity of another shard connected to a person. I had already found out that it didn't react to "free" shards.

Once I confirmed that Bakuda was neutralized and all the hostages survived, I informed the dockers and the Undersiders of her approach, then went alone to "deal" with her. Meanwhile, a replicator, which I controlled remotely through the neural network, appeared next to the hostages and the rank-and-file ABB members. As a result, everything should have looked to the surrounding people as if I had discovered Bakuda, killed her, and then started rescuing the hostages from the remaining ABB members. A slight "desynchronization" of events could easily be attributed to the distorted perception of time by tortured people.

So, half an hour later, I brought the survivors to the Dockers' Association, gathered the people, and asked for volunteers to help with the final cleanup of the ABB and rescue the people. An important point was that I promised a protective suit to each helper, and as the dockers had already seen, these suits couldn't be pierced even by an automatic weapon.

As a result, I managed to recruit seventy volunteers, plus I enlisted the heroes, meaning the Undersiders, for this noble quest. We all piled into vehicles and headed towards the populated part of the Docks, where the ABB's and Lung's lair was located. Along the way, I also "mixed" a hundred replicators into the crowd of dockers. I concealed the significant increase in forces by dividing the people into groups and spreading them across the city. Each group had at least a couple of replicators to ensure the safety of my charges. After all, these were ordinary men who had volunteered to rescue the hostages, not cold-blooded killers who were supposed to clear out the ABB's soldiers.

In addition to the mixed teams, there were also teams entirely composed of replicators. Today's operation was supposed to be the "last Chinese warning" for all criminal elements in the city. We weren't just rescuing hostages today; we were also capturing active ABB members, tying them up, loading them into buses, and taking them out of the city. Each deportee was personally told that if they returned to the city, next time they would be taken straight to the cemetery.

Of course, an operation of such scale couldn't go unnoticed. People raised a clamor. Some complained about lawlessness, others said it was high time to restore order, some were simply glad to be alive, and of course, there were those who claimed they were innocent and it was all arbitrary, and they would complain to the sports lottery.

As soon as the Protectorate learned that Bakuda and the ABB were defeated, they immediately headed to the scene in full force to bask in the glory of this victory over crime and at the same time condemn the rampant masked villain gangs. But here they faced another setback. As soon as they got out of the truck, they were surrounded by reporters filming everything, and I appeared in front.

Then came a circus performance worthy of an Oscar. I declared that I am the new hero of Brockton Bay, who had decided to save the city's residents from the lawlessness of the ABB and... the Protectorate. I accused them of inaction, of hiding in the shadows like cockroaches when it was necessary to fight Bakuda. But as soon as the problem was solved, they immediately appeared to bask in the glory at the expense of the suffering of ordinary people.