One hundred thousand spectators stared down at the dirt. They had just watched a scrawny unarmored grunt wrestle a piece of heavy industrial machinery and literally crush its steel neck with his bare hands. It was biologically impossible. It was mechanically insane.

Then, the announcer finally found his voice.

"HE... HE BROKE HIM! THE GRUNT BROKE THE JUGGERNAUT!"

The crowd erupted. It was not a cheer of joy. It was a roar of awe. They screamed his fake name, chanting it over and over as they threw credits and betting slips into the air.

Sebastian stood in the center of the arena. He looked up at the VIP box. He gave Commander Sterling a slow lazy two finger salute.

"Easiest money I ever made," Sebastian muttered. He turned his back on the roaring crowd.

He had won the tournament. He had his VIP pass. It was time to go steal a server.

The noise of the Vanguard Arena faded into a dull echo as the heavy iron blast doors slid shut behind Sebastian.

He stood in the dimly lit victor’s tunnel, surrounded by the scent of dried blood and leaked hydraulic fluid. He leaned his back against the cold concrete wall and purposely let his shoulders slump. He forced his breathing to become ragged and heavy.

He was not tired. His thirty percent synchronized Demigod body could have wrestled ten more cyber golems without breaking a sweat. But a Level 42 grunt who just choked out a Level 65 mechanical juggernaut was supposed to be exhausted.

He had to play the part.

"Haa... haa..." Sebastian wheezed. He rested his hands on his knees and stared down at his boots.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Fast and incredibly arrogant footsteps.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Commander Sterling practically glided down the tunnel. The Vanguard officer was positively glowing. His white and gold armor was spotless, a stark contrast to the dirt of the arena. He was holding a sleek holographic datapad. His pale blue eyes were wide with the joy of a man who had just won a huge amount of digital currency.

Sterling stopped in front of Sebastian and clapped his white gloved hands together.

"I knew it! The moment I saw you stare down the Inquisitor, I knew you were an absolute psychopath!" Sterling laughed as he tapped the datapad. "Do you have any idea how much money I just made, Trent? The odds were fifty to one against you! The entire Executive Board bet on Drax. I just bankrupted three rival commanders in a single match!"

"Happy to help, sir," Sebastian panted. He purposely let a slight tremor enter his voice.

He slowly stood up and leaned against the

wall for fake support. "Just doing my job."

"And you did it flawlessly," Sterling beamed.

His smile showed far too many perfect teeth.

"You did not use flashy magic. You did not rely on expensive gear. You used raw physical violence. It was disgusting. It was entirely barbaric. It was perfect."

Sterling reached into his flowing midnight blue cape. He pulled out a small heavy geometric badge made of polished platinum and glowing blue Ethereal crystal.

It was the Vanguard Elite insignia.

"As promised," Sterling said. He stepped forward and firmly pressed the badge directly onto the chest of Sebastian’s black tactical suit.

The moment the badge made contact, the green runes of Corbin’s Server Spoofing Drive bolted to Sebastian’s arm flared warmly beneath his sleeve. The system registered the new item and instantly updated his fake profile.

BEEP.

[Status Updated: Vanguard Elite (Upper Ring Access Granted)]

"You are no longer a slum grunt, Trent," Sterling announced. His voice dripped with pride. "You belong to my personal retinue now. You have full clearance to the Inner Spire. Go get cleaned up. Tomorrow, you start your real work."

"Yes, Commander," Sebastian nodded respectfully.

Sterling turned on his heel and glided back down the tunnel. He was already barking into his comm-link about organizing a massive victory gala in his penthouse.

Sebastian watched him leave. The moment the Commander rounded the corner, Sebastian’s slumping posture vanished. His breathing instantly steadied. The exhausted loyal soldier was gone, replaced entirely by the cold and calculating Sovereign of Laws.

"Idiot," Sebastian whispered.

He pushed himself off the wall and began walking in the opposite direction. He was not going to the barracks. He was not going to get cleaned up. He was going straight to the heart of the server.

The transition from the dirt of the arena to the Inner Spire of Server 112 was shocking.

Sebastian stepped out of a private high speed transit elevator and into a world that felt entirely disconnected from the reality of the Ethereal Plane.

The Inner Spire was not a military base. It was a paradise built on the crushed bones of the lower sectors.

The air here smelled like blooming jasmine and artificially purified oxygen. The corridors were impossibly wide. They were lined with pristine white marble and flowing rivers of contained glowing blue mana. Gentle ambient music played from invisible speakers.

NPCs and high tier elite players wandered the halls wearing ridiculous gravity defying silk robes and glittering jewelry. They completely ignored him. The Platinum Elite badge on his chest acted like an invisibility cloak. To them, he was just another high level guard dog meant to blend into the background.

"This whole place makes me want to vomit," Sebastian muttered. His silver tinged eyes scanned the displays of wealth.

He navigated the winding luxurious hallways and followed the subtle localized pull of the server’s center. He did not need a map. His Demigod architecture could literally feel the massive gravity well of raw data anchoring the planet.

He finally reached the end of the grand concourse.

Standing before him were two massive doors made of solid polished diamond. They were not guarded by heavy borgs or automated turrets. They did not need to be. The doors were sealed by a biometric scanner that only accepted Elite command clearance.

Sebastian stepped up to the panel. He pressed his gloved hand against the glowing blue reader.

BEEP.

[Scanning... Elite Badge Recognized. Welcome, Trent.]

The massive diamond doors silently slid open and glided on frictionless hinges.

Sebastian stepped through the threshold, and his breath actually caught in his throat.

The room was a massive dome constructed entirely of dark glass. But it was not the room that demanded attention. It was what sat in the very center.

The Server Pillar.