Chapter 132 – The Queen

The next hour passed with a flurry of exchanges between Ceres and Cardenia. Cardenia had not talked to anyone related to the incident in the last six years. She had gone completely underground, changing her identity to that of the Queen and building her own fortress deep in Rockhold.

It wasn’t easy for her. The last six years had been fraught with uncertainty and danger lurking at every step she took, but she gritted through it all, surviving at any cost.

Cardenia had been left out to dry the moment the mass riots began at the hospital. When the news of Ceres’s death was released, a sudden wave of news emerged from the mass media in New Saint that she was to be investigated as the main suspect for causing Ceres’s death.

Her personal starship had been impounded by the enforcers, and even her own private guards had unknowingly been ordered by the family not to assist her. Senia was nowhere to be seen in the midst of this chaos, and she was universally hated by everyone.

The inners wanted her blood for even pandering to the outers, while the outers wanted her dead for killing Ceres.

However, the outers lumped the inners together with Cardenia, and the inners assumed the same of the outers. This invariably led to large-scale fights across the city, creating casualties numbering in the thousands.

With no one to rely on and no Dynasty to lean on, Cardenia became the most wanted criminal on the planet. Naturally, she knew she could not let herself be captured, lest whoever twisted this scandal onto her wins.

It took some days of escaping and survival for Cardenia to truly comprehend the scale of her fall. It felt as though the world was conspiring against her.

She was now a commoner, a criminal who would be arrested anywhere in the Loeric Empire. Could she ever regain her authority on her own?

She eventually concluded that she could not, not even with a large enough force. With the lack of support from the Dynasty, she no longer could rely on them for support. This meant she was going up against the entire planet including all of the Dynasty of Hawthorn’s military forces, alone.

“Fucking cunts, dumping me on a resource planet and then stripping me of everything!” Cardenia was not one to give up easily – no one in the Dynasty was. Any child of the Dynasty who made it to adulthood was ingrained with the will to survive and prosper, no matter the cost.

In Ceres’s mind, Cardenia was like a dainty princess who was frivolous and arrogant, with nothing to show for it, but it could not be further from the truth now.

Despite their seemingly normal appearance, all the Dynasty’s members benefitted from the increased resources they could accumulate across the Loeric Empire. This meant designer babies, cybernetic and mechanical implants as well as chemical enhancements to boost the capability of their offspring.

Cardenia may not have received as many resources as Kyle Hawthorn did, but compared to the average fighter on Athen, she was leagues above them.

With the enhancements, implants and training she received from birth, Cardenia was easily able to survive outside the city, fighting her way and dominating the local area.

However, even that was not good enough. There was only so much she could do on her own in the vast outskirts beyond the city. Despite her dire situation, Cardenia always considered menial work or working under somebody else as beneath her.

From that point on, she did not go by Cardenia, but rather by the nickname ‘The Queen’. Her identity became a closely-guarded secret that she never told anyone, not even those she worked with.

She used her previous gambling connections to find targets that were easy to take. She physically bullied small-time gangs and shops in minor towns, slowly kicking up a racket about a newcomer lady who was disturbing the balance of criminal gangs.

The major gangs in Rockhold who control most of the illegal trade that flows through the underbelly of Athen all began to take notice of her, intending to recruit her into their ranks or eliminate her. However, her arrogant attitude and lack of respect for authority proved to be a huge problem.

Though her reputation began to increase throughout the criminal network, the threat of being exposed and captured by the enforcers was higher than ever.

With a large separate bounty on her nickname of ‘The Queen’, major gangs were now considering selling her information or outright capturing her for an in-road with the enforcers.

One of the major gangs, however, had a radically different idea. Within a few days, she was surprisingly given full reign of the gang, renaming it to the Queen’s Guards.

Each of the major gangs that used to split up Rockhold was immediately put on alert, afraid that she may instigate an all-out war against them. Instead, nothing happened for a few months, making them lower their guards, but still, they wondered what happened to the Queen’s Guards.

The council of the major gangs was convened on the threat of the Queen’s Guards, and even Cardenia herself was invited as a possible solution. However, she rejected it. To her, it was all or nothing, there was no compromise. The major gangs began to do their best to stall or restrict the growth of the Queen’s Guards.

But, the damage was already done insidiously. With Cardenia’s inherent knowledge of all the laws, enforcers, and different channels of the city of Athen, the Queen’s Guards were able to expand their business of trade much more effectively than any upstart gang in Rockhold before.

How often was it that the owner of the planet would suddenly begin to run an underground black market personally?

The amount of cash and resources began to enrich the gang, boosting its reputation and size even more. It began slowly but started to ramp up fast. Within a year, every young punk in Rockhold was already raving about joining the Queen’s Guards, despite them not being included in the council of Rockhold.

An emergency meeting between the major gangs led to an all-out declaration of war, aimed at crippling the Queen’s Guards. Despite how large Cardenia’s gang has grown now, there was no chance that she could survive against the entrenched major gangs of Rockhold who had a few decades under their belt.

Or so they thought. As the first skirmishes broke out between gangs, the major gangs started to suffer defeats one after the other. The Queen’s Guards proved to be far more organized and well-prepared than any gang they had fought against.

The decades of balance had weakened the tooth of the major gangs, and now Cardenia’s trained gang was able to strike back hard.

In a single month, Cardenia had personally killed each of the major gang leaders, subsuming the members under her banner before moving on to the next with the help of her Dynasty exosuit.

Known as the ‘Month of Death’, blood filled the streets of Rockhold, as residents quivered in fear every day as intense fights broke out all over the city.

This, of course, did not bother Bee Strathon at all, who had their mining operations based here. No one, not even Cardenia dared to strike at the heavily defended corporate bastions, who boasted far more impressive technology than whatever the major gangs had.

In fact, the ‘Month of Death’ was the best thing to have happened to the city, as more residents flocked to Bee Strathon in search of a stable job and protection in the worker dorms. This allowed them to drive down wages due to the surge in numbers, boosting mining profits.

With Cardenia and Bee Strathon being the only two to come out on top, a new balance had appeared in Rockhold. The Queen’s Guards quickly became the de facto government and police, regulating the city loosely.

Many of the defeated gangs were left alone instead of being eradicated and allowed to continue to operate as long as they did not step on the Queen’s toes.

Naturally, this did not seat well with the enforcers in Athen. They already had many informants in place within the major gangs, enabling them to track criminal activity. With the shake-up done by Cardenia, the enforcers had lost almost all important eyes and ears.

No amount of bribery or concessions could tempt the Queen – Cardenia didn’t need the cooperation of the enforcers to expand their business through the city of Athen.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Ceres stopped Cardenia to ask. “You’re selling what to the people in the city now?”

“I sell anything, as long as it’s illegal.” Cardenia smirked. “You name it, I got it: porn, drugs, banned exotics, plants, animals, weapons.”

Ceres was stunned. He knew Cardenia was really into shuttle racing gambling last time, but he felt like she went off the full deep end now. “Are you really Cardenia? Aren’t you afraid of being caught?!”

“And are you really Ceres? If it wasn’t for the dumb mask with the initials of your name and your obvious nickname I would have not recognized you.” Cardenia retorted.

“What do you mean?” Ceres touched his black mask gingerly. Turns out Cardenia was the only one so far who recognized the original intent of the painter – which was a six-year-old girl.

“Your story is even weirder. You’re saying you woke up a year ago in a vat and you were just … buff? Taller? Stronger? Without a modicum of exercise? And some weird ass black stuff is in your body?” Cardenia scoffed.

Not even the augmentation process of the Dynasties was that miraculous. She had to work and exercise harder than ever during that phase in order for the stimulant to fully develop in her body.

“Well honestly I thought you would know about it, seeing as you hired the doctor that took care of my medical stuff before the final match.”

Cardenia frowned. “That Doctor Wu… he’s now working at the university and for the enforcers.”

“University? What university?”

“Right. Oliver set up a university on Athen as a bid to provide higher education to the people of this planet. Naturally, its only limited to inners with a few exceptions. I’ve already sold a few ‘items’ to this university.” Cardenia said bluntly.

To her, it did not matter who she sold to, even her former enemies, as long as she made a profit and boosted her own wealth.

Ceres took a mental note in his mind. Perhaps if he couldn’t find the rest of his friends, finding the doctor who checked up on him before the final match was probably a good call as well. The list of people to find was only getting longer and longer.

“So. You woke up in a vat, fought the Keepers barehanded, fell down an unknown height, dug through several hundred meters of rock, caused chaos in an entire town, met that fucking mercenary instructor, solved the town’s food crisis, massacred close to two hundred tribal humans, fought fake high-class slovesas in a weird ancient temple, saved the expedition and now you’re here on a journey of friendship. Am I right so far?”

“You’re putting it very lightly, but yes.” Ceres was not too happy at that summary of a year, especially about him massacring people.

“I always thought you were an innocent naïve boy who really just wanted to win the competition.”

“Well, I always thought you were a dainty princess who was too pampered.”

“What a surprise that people change over time. Amazing.” Cardenia snorted as she got up from the seat. “Enough catching up. There’s an issue I need your help with.”

“You just said I’m on a journey of friendship. If you don’t mind I’ll like to continue on it instead.”

“Are you implying we are not friends?”

“Didn’t you say that we were in a patron contract?”

“I thought contracts didn’t apply to dead people.” Cardenia walked up to the door, opening it to reveal the two guards, signalling the end of the sensitive conversation. “Get this man a change of uniform then send him to my office later.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Ceres wanted to argue back but instead decided not to. Maybe it wasn’t so bad to stay under someone powerful, or at least someone with weight in Rockhold. It would make his goal a lot more achievable. He could even use Cardenia’s network to discover where all his friends are.

“Please follow us, sir.” The two guards led Ceres down a hallway, heading towards what he assumed was a changing room. Instead, he was provided with his own personal room, fully furnished in a luxurious fashion.

Ceres was awed. Whatever thought he had about the previous bed being the best he had in a year was long thrown out of his mind.

The room was extremely spacious, with an unblocked view of Rockhold from the top of the Queen’s Tower. Everything had a sense of wealth and glimmer to it, making Ceres more appreciative of the things money can buy.

“Okay, maybe that patron contract applies.”

***

[Good morning, Queen. I have received information that your men have recruited the exosuit designer known as ’17 Dumplings’. I would like to request a visit to your office to discuss a potential buyout.] A video call was playing in the Queen’s office, with the ‘White Fang’ on the other side.

“Hmm? Why do I have to give him over to you? Don’t you have enough exosuit designers?” The Queen twirled a pen as she rested her black boots on her desk.

[We believe he possesses critical information regarding the enforcers and requires his cooperation. A simple audience with him would suffice as well.]

“….” The Queen tapped her fingers. Cardenia knew that Ceres was looking for the White Fang, but she really did not want to hand him over.

If what he said about himself is true, Ceres could be one of her strongest playing cards on the table.

No other subordinate she has can come close to his combat prowess, not even Julia or Saater. His ability to repair and design an exosuit makes him even more desirable.

She did not know what would occur when Ceres meets the White Fang, especially when the White Fang was the first-person Ceres saw when he woke up. Cardenia tried to weigh in her mind what was important to her: what happened six years ago, or the present?

[This is an important matter that affects both the rebellion and the gangs of Rockhold. You must let me see him within…]

“Really? Don’t lump me in with you dumbasses in the rebellion. Unlike your stupid idealistic views of society, I am far more grounded in the reality. Do you really think you can fight against an entire planet? What happens after that huh? Pounded to the ground from orbit by the Legions?”

[No one is advocating for a breakaway from the Loeric Empire – a simple change of leadership and administration is what we’re aiming for.]

“Then start a political party! Run some public events!”

[You know that’s not how it works.]

“Exactly, and instead of sticking my head in the sand assuming an ideal world, I am out here making sure those who follow me prosper. Fuck the rest of the planet. If you can’t fix it, just exploit it.”

[You don’t know for sure if you can’t fix it. We believe we can, that’s why we’re doing this. There is a solution to all this madness.] The ‘White Fang’ said with a simmering tone of frustration.

“This madness is exactly what allows me to thrive here. And don’t fool yourself, there’s no fixing it here. You’re fighting against the Five Families head-on.” Cardenia scoffed.

[We have a higher chance of fixing it if you let me meet ‘17 Dumplings’. I know you have him in there. A simple 10-minute visit would..]

Cardenia slammed the table in anger. “Ordering me around? In MY TURF? Don’t push your luck, ‘White Fang’. You should consider who it is that allows you to hide your sorry ass away from the enforcers and supply you. You won’t be able to find many other criminal enclaves willing to support you.”

[And I thank you for that. If you truly want us to continue purchasing from you, then letting me talk to 17 Dumplings is for the best.] Seeing as Cardenia did not bother to reply, the ‘White Fang’ sighed.

[An… additional tip and bonus per supply order moving forward may be possible as well.] The ‘White Fang’ conceded.

Finally, a smile appeared on Cardenia’s face. “Now we’re talking.”