Chapter 66: Found You
Andre had survived.
Unfortunately for Asphyxia.
The city had been peaceful for nearly three days.
Then Andre arrived.
The peace immediately ended.
Currently—
Andre was crouched on a rooftop.
Watching a bakery.
Not because he was planning anything criminal.
At least not according to him.
"I'm hungry."
A perfectly reasonable explanation.
A few moments later he dropped from the roof.
Walked past a display stand.
And somehow acquired two bread rolls.
The vendor never noticed.
Andre continued walking while eating.
A successful operation.
Several streets later he found himself wandering through a busy district.
Workers.
Merchants.
Travelers.
Nobles.
Everyone moved with purpose.
Everyone except Andre.
Who was mostly following whatever smelled good.
Then he noticed shouting.
A man was harassing two women near a street corner.
The women looked uncomfortable.
The man looked annoying.
Andre's eyes narrowed.
Not because he was a hero.
Not because he cared.
But because—
The man's shirt looked familiar.
Very familiar.
Black.
A black tank top.
Military pants with an almost identical design.
Only much more punk and awesome than the torn ones Andre has right now.
with a smile
Andre immediately changed direction.
Five minutes later—
The man was unconscious.
The women had left.
And Andre was wearing a new shirt and pants.
He looked down.
Perfect fit.
"Nice."
The unconscious man disagreed.
Andre continued walking.
Eventually reaching one of the city's larger food districts.
The smell was incredible.
Unfortunately.
Food cost money.
A concept Andre strongly disagreed with.
Several minutes later he was somehow eating grilled meat.
Nobody knew where it came from.
Not even Andre.
The cook certainly didn't.
As he walked through the crowd—
He bumped into somebody.
The hooded figure stumbled.
Andre stumbled.
The grilled meat survived.
Barely.
The hooded figure adjusted their cloak.
Andre froze.
The voice.
The posture.
The attitude.
Even with the hood.
He recognized it instantly.
His eye twitched.
The figure slowly looked up.
Andre pointed dramatically.
"It's you!"
The hooded figure froze.
"..."
"..."
The crowd continued moving around them.
Neither moved.
Neither blinked.
...
..
.
Then—
Elsewhere.
Far away.
The sounds of metal echoed through a massive warehouse.
CLANG.
CLANG.
CLANG.
Sparks flew.
Workers moved between towering structures.
Crates.
Machinery.
Steel beams.
Tools.
Everywhere.
At the center of it all stood a giant frame.
A machine so large that it nearly touched the ceiling.
Incomplete.
But unmistakable.
The GFR.
The Giant Fucking Robot.
Several workers carried components into place.
Others welded armor plates.
Others assembled internal systems.
And overseeing everything—
Was a man covered in grease and soot.
He adjusted a blueprint.
Yelled instructions.
Fixed mistakes.
Built components.
Then immediately moved to another task.
Nobody seemed to know how he had enough energy to do everything.
Yet somehow he did.
The workers respected him.
Feared him.
Relied on him.
As another section locked into place—
The man wiped sweat from his forehead.
His gaze drifted toward the blueprints.
Then toward a memory.
Several days ago.
He had fallen asleep at his workshop desk.
Exhausted after another long day.
Then something woke him.
A sound.
He remembered opening his eyes.
A silhouette stood inside the room.
Nothing visible beyond darkness.
No face.
No details.
Just a figure.
The figure tossed a rolled-up bundle onto the desk.
Blueprints.
Then tossed a heavy bag beside it.
Money.
Lots of money.
The engineer had immediately sat upright.
"What is this?"
The silhouette answered calmly.
"A project."
The engineer opened the bag.
His eyes nearly popped out.
"What kind of project?"
The silhouette pointed toward the blueprints.
The engineer opened them.
Page after page.
Complex designs.
Impossible calculations.
Detailed sketches.
The largest machine he had ever seen.
A giant robot.
The engineer stared.
Then looked back up.
The silhouette was already walking away.
"Wait."
"Who are you?"
No answer.
"Why do you need this?"
Still no answer.
The door closed.
The figure vanished.
Leaving only the blueprints.
And enough money to fund the project several times over.
Back in the present—
The engineer looked at the nearly completed machine.
Then shrugged.
"Paid in advance."
Good enough for him.
He returned to work.
More sparks filled the warehouse.
The giant machine slowly took shape.
And somewhere else in the city—
A certain red-haired Queen was about to have a very unfortunate reunion.