Creation Of All Things

Who the Hell is He?

Anya lay on the cold warehouse floor, her body aching, breath coming in sharp gasps. She couldn't move. No—she could move, but it was pointless. She had lost. Completely.

Her amber eyes locked onto the young man standing a few feet away, his back turned to her as he strode toward the package they had come for.

Her mind raced. What has she just witnessed?

She had fought monsters before. Freaks. People who could punch through steel, lift cars, survive bullets to the head. But this... this was different.

Who did I just face?

Even though she couldn't see his face, she could tell—he was young. Too young. Nineteen? Maybe twenty? But that didn't make sense. No one that young should be this powerful. Even if his ability was some kind of physical enhancement, there was a limit.

Unless...

Her eyes widened. No way.

Her mind flashed back to that one moment—the day the world shook. The day everything changed. Governments panicked. Superhuman organizations scrambled. The balance of power shifted.

A new existence had appeared. One they classified as X-Rank.

Was it him? Had she just fought that guy?

Her fingers curled into a fist as she pushed herself up, her body screaming in protest. "Stop! You can't touch that!"

Adam didn't even glance at her. He didn't see her as a threat anymore. Why would he? She could barely stand.

He reached down, pushing aside the wreckage of the crate Anya had already busted open, revealing a sleek black box underneath. It had a fingerprint lock.

Adam grabbed it, his expression unreadable. "What's inside?"

Anya gritted her teeth. "Listen, kid, you don't want to do this." Her voice was hoarse, strained. "You can't even open it. So just hand it over, and we'll pretend this never happened. No one has to get hurt."

She wasn't lying. She didn't care about the fight. The mission was the only thing that mattered. If she returned to Blackveil without that package... No. That wasn't an option.

Adam smirked. He wasn't even looking at her anymore. "You say that like I wasn't planning to escalate things." He lifted the box, testing its weight. "If taking this means things get interesting, then I'm definitely taking it. So go tell your boss—I'll be at your next deal. And the next. And the next. Until I get what I want."

Then he turned to leave.

But after two steps, he paused. Looked back over his shoulder.

"And to prove you wrong about something else..."

His eyes flickered.

For just a second—just a second—they shifted. Metallic. Inhuman. Like a machine had replaced them.

Click.

Anya's heart nearly stopped.

The box unlocked.

Adam popped the lid open and looked inside. His smirk vanished. His brows furrowed.

"The hell is your boss planning to do with this?"

Anya's breath caught in her throat. He knows what it is?

She had no time to answer.

A sudden voice cut through the tension.

"Everyone freeze! Police! Hands where I can see them!"

Both Adam and Anya snapped their heads toward the entrance.

A young man stood there, barely twenty, dark-skinned, gripping a gun like his life depended on it. His hands were steady, but his eyes flickered between them, calculating, terrified.

Adam sighed.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue. "This just got annoying."

"Yeah, for you," the young man shot back, keeping the gun steady.

Adam's lips curled into a smirk.

"No. For you."

And then—he moved.

It wasn't speed. It was something beyond that. One moment, Adam was standing several feet away. The next, he was right in front of him.

Joshua's breath caught in his throat. What—

Before he could react, Adam's fingers wrapped around the barrel of the gun.

Skkrrkk!

Metal groaned. Bent. Shattered.

The gun crumbled in Adam's grip like cheap plastic.

Joshua's eyes widened in pure disbelief. His hands trembled, now gripping nothing but broken scraps.

What the hell did I just see?

His heart pounded in his chest.

His mind raced.

Who is this guy? No—

"What" is he?

His night had already taken a nosedive. But this? This was something else.

Then, reality hit him like a freight train.

The gun—his stolen gun—was gone. Not just useless. Destroyed.

He had broken into the police armory for that damn thing. He wasn't even supposed to be here.

Shit.

This was bad. Worse than bad.

His whole plan was spiraling out of control. He had snuck out of the academy, ignoring orders, chasing down a lead on the Reaper Mafia Family. The people who killed his family. The ones he swore to take down.

He had spent years digging into them. Pulling in others who had their own reasons to hate the Reapers. Gathering whatever scraps of intel he could.

And then—just when he was getting close—the academy shut it all down. Told him to stop. Ordered him to let it go.

He didn't.

Tonight was supposed to be his big break.

He got a tip. The Reapers were making a move.

So he came here. Alone.

And now?

Now, instead of finding the Reapers, he had found... this guy.

This monster.

Adam tilted his head, watching him. "Aren't you a little young to be a cop?"

Joshua snapped out of his daze. He gritted his teeth. "And?"

Adam's smirk didn't fade. "And I thought cops rolled with backup for stuff like this."

Joshua clenched his fists.

He had no answer for that.

"The kid's from the academy," Anya muttered, brushing the dust off herself. "I bet he's here against orders. Look, young man, just hand over the item, and I'll be out of your hair. I promise."

Adam barely reacted.

Oh right, she's still here.

He had completely forgotten about her.

But he wasn't interested. His focus was locked on the kid standing in front of him.

Joshua.

Adam stared at him for a long moment before his lips curled into a smirk.

"Interesting."

With that, he turned and walked past Joshua, not sparing him another glance.

As he passed Anya, he threw a casual remark over his shoulder.

"Till next time, Anya. I hope you'll be at the next deal." His voice carried a lazy confidence. "I'd love to see you again."

And just like that, he was gone.