My Milf Conqueror System

[Jake’s POV]

The blast shook the entire building.

For half a second everything went weightless. Dust fell from the ceiling in a fine white cloud. Plaster cracked and rained down on my shoulders. The heavy steel shutters on the front windows rattled in their frames, bolts screaming, but they held. The tables and sandbags shuddered but didn’t collapse.

My teeth buzzed. My ears were already ringing from the anticipation. Now it was worse. A high, flat whine.

"They blew the alley gate," Ethan yelled over the ringing in my ears. His voice was rough. He was already moving.

Before I could respond, the front doors of the parlor shattered inward.

Not exploded. Shattered.

A modified delivery truck had reversed at high speed down the street. No lights. Just engine noise and tires squealing. It smashed through the glass and slammed into the barricade of tables and sandbags.

Wood splintered. Sandbags burst. Dust went everywhere. The impact pushed the barricade back three feet, gouging lines into the concrete floor. But the truck’s rear axle caught on the concrete steps. Metal screeched. The engine choked and died. Its momentum stalled.

The back doors of the truck kicked open with a bang.

"Fire!" I shouted.

The ground floor erupted.

The sound was physical. A wall of noise that hit my chest. The ten Golden Koi soldiers opened up as one. Muzzle flashes lit the room in short, angry bursts. The air filled with cordite and the sharp tang of burnt gunpowder.

We poured a concentrated volley of lead into the back of the truck.

The first wave of Iron Fists thugs didn’t even make it out of the vehicle. They were cut down instantly. Bodies jerked and dropped onto the shattered glass. Glass crunched under them. Blood was black in the low light. It pooled and ran toward the drains.

But Han and Lin hadn’t sent their best men in the first wave.

They had sent cannon fodder. To test the barricade. To see where we were shooting from.

"Rear hallway!" a soldier near the back of the room screamed. His voice cracked.

I spun around.

The heavy metal door leading to the loading dock was gone. Twisted on its hinges. Smoke poured into the hallway in thick, gray billows. It smelled like burned plastic and explosives.

Followed immediately by a dozen Jade Tiger soldiers. Shotguns. Heavy pistols. They came in fast, using the smoke as cover.

They were trying to flank us.

I didn’t hesitate.

I stepped out from behind the oak pillar. The wood was still warm from my back. I raised the USP. Two hands. Steady. I fired four rapid, suppressed shots into the smoke.

Thwip. Thwip. Thwip. Thwip.

I didn’t aim for center mass. Too much armor. I aimed low. Knees. Thighs. The shots were cold and precise.

The front line of the Jade Tigers collapsed. Screaming. Grabbing at legs. They became a physical tripping hazard for the men pushing in behind them. The narrow concrete hallway instantly became a chaotic, tangled mess of bodies and weapons and blood.

"Hold the front!" I yelled to Ethan, already moving toward the rear hallway. My boots slipped slightly on a tile that had been knocked loose.

I dropped to one knee behind a heavy mahogany desk. The wood was solid. Old. It smelled like polish and fear. I used it for cover as the Jade Tigers blindly returned fire.

Bullets chewed through the wood above my head. Splinters rained down on my hair and neck. Sharp. Stinging. One caught my cheek. I ignored it.

I leaned out. Acquired targets. Breathing slow. Cold, mechanical precision.

Two more shots. Two more hostiles dropped. One clutched his stomach. The other didn’t make a sound.

The Golden Koi soldiers near the back of the room rallied. Three of them. They added their firepower to the choke point. The hallway lit up.

The Jade Tigers realized it. They were trapped in a fatal funnel. They couldn’t push forward over their wounded. And they were taking heavy casualties.

The surviving attackers broke.

They scrambled back out through the loading dock doors. Boots slipping on concrete. Shoving each other. Disappearing into the alley and the smoke.

"Rear is clear!" I shouted. My voice was hoarse. I dropped the empty magazine from my pistol. It hit the floor with a metallic clatter. I slid a fresh one into the grip. Click.

I turned back to the front of the room.

The delivery truck was riddled with bullet holes. The windshield was gone. Smoke poured from its engine block in thick black plumes. It smelled like burning oil and rubber.

The initial assault had been repelled. But the street outside was swarming with movement. Shadows. Shapes darting between parked cars.

"They’re falling back," Ethan called out. He was peering over the top of his barricade, squinting. "They’re taking cover behind the parked cars across the street."

"They’re regrouping," I corrected. I wiped a layer of plaster dust from my face. It came away gray on my hand. My mouth was dry. "That was just the probing attack. They know our positions now."

I tapped my earpiece. "Overwatch, give me a thermal scan of the street."

Static. Then Claire’s voice. Tight. Fast.

"You have forty hostiles massing across the avenue," she reported. "And another thirty regrouping in the rear alley. They’re bringing up heavy weapons, Noah. I’m seeing thermal signatures consistent with assault rifles and light machine guns."

"They’re going to try and suppress us and breach the walls," I said. I looked around the damaged parlor. Bullet holes in the pillars. Blood on the floor. The barricades had held against the truck, but they wouldn’t hold against sustained automatic fire. The wood would be shredded.

"Roof team, status," I barked into the radio clipped to my belt.

Static hissed for a second. Then a breathless voice replied. Young. Scared.

"We held the fire escapes, sir. But they’re shooting up at us from the alley. We’re pinned down."

"Keep your heads down and hold the high ground," I ordered. My voice didn’t shake.

I looked at Ethan. He was checking his magazines. One. Two. Three. His face was pale under the dust, but determined. The reality of a full-scale triad war was settling in behind his eyes.

"We can’t stay on the ground floor," I told him. I was already moving toward the stairs. "If they bring up heavy machine guns, they’ll tear this room to shreds. We fall back to the second floor. We use the stairwells as the primary choke points."

"Falling back!" Ethan yelled to the Golden Koi soldiers. His voice carried.

The men didn’t panic. They moved with the discipline I had drilled into them. Covering fire. Leapfrogging back. Boots on wood.

I stayed behind the oak pillar. Last man. My weapon trained on the shattered front doors. Waiting. Watching for movement in the dark street.

The street outside suddenly went completely dark.

The streetlights. The neon signs. The traffic signals. Everything shut off simultaneously. One second light. The next, black.

A cold feeling went down my spine.

"Grid is down," Nia announced in my ear. Her voice was calm. Too calm. "You are operating in total darkness."

I pulled the night vision goggles from my tactical vest. The strap was cold against my skin. I pulled them over my eyes. The world shifted.

Green. Crisp. Clear.

I could see the street. I could see the shapes behind the cars. I could see the barrels of rifles being raised.

I exhaled. My breath fogged the inside of the goggles for a second.

"Let them come," I whispered.