Chapter 391 - 391: Anonymous Tip
Jayden frowned. "Luna, what happened?" he demanded silently. "Why wasn't the recruitment successful?"
[The breakdown is structural] Luna's voice answered with perfect clarity. [Jacob's psychological blueprint is heavily defined by his identity as your father figure. His core consciousness views himself as your protector and guardian. The Sub-Pack structure demands a foundational acceptance of your absolute dominance. His subconscious mind automatically rejects the subconscious submission required to form this bond. You can try again when his admiration meter reaches a higher threshold. That should override his resistance]
"I see," Jayden thought, closing the interface. He wasn't upset. At least Harleen was safely integrated, meaning he could monitor her status and boost her stats in an emergency. He would just have to keep working on Jacob.
After finishing breakfast and spending some time talking with Jessica and Tasha about
"Alright, girls, we need to head out if we're going to beat the morning rush-hour traffic," Jacob said, standing up from his stool and grabbing his briefcase. "Harleen, you ready?"
"Yes, let me just grab my coat," Harleen smiled, kissing Jessica and Tasha on the cheek. "Be good today, you three. Don't tear the house apart."
Within ten minutes, the front door clicked shut, and the sound of their parents' hover-car faded into the distance as they left for work.
The moment they were gone, the casual atmosphere in the kitchen shifted. Jayden stood up from his stool, locking eyes with Jessica and Tasha. "I'm going up to check on the Winter Wolf."
The girls nodded seriously, instantly moving into guard positions near the hallway.
Jayden walked to the upper closet, pulled down the hidden wooden ladder, and climbed into the cramped, dusty space of the attic.
He navigated past rows of old storage boxes until he reached the far corner. Beneath the heavy black blanket, the Winter Wolf was still perfectly encased in her massive, absolute-zero ice sphere.
Jayden stepped closer, placing a hand against the freezing, crystalline surface. He could feel the raw power humming deep within the cocoon. The beast's evolution was progressing beautifully, her vitals rock-solid and stabilizing by the hour. Satisfied that Harleen and Jacob hadn't disturbed the area and that the hiding spot was still secure, Jayden pulled the blanket back over the glowing ice, climbed down the ladder, and sealed the attic shut.
He spent the rest of the morning in the park, doing his daily quests and putting his body through a brutal physical routine of high-intensity exercises to build his durability and endurance. By noon, he returned home to rest after four long hours of relentless exercise.
With his physical maintenance out of the way, Jayden decided to play the part of a normal teenager. He showered, changed into some streetwear, and headed downtown to the local pod den.
The neon-lit arcade was packed with kids from his school and neighboring districts, all plugged into rows of sleek, sensory-immersion VR pods.
Jayden rented a pod for the entire afternoon and dove into the simulated combat arenas of EverRealm. It was the perfect cover. No one would ever suspect that the teenager currently setting high scores on a virtual racing simulator was the same monster who had slaughtered a squad of assassins the night prior. He spent hours there, genuinely enjoying the decompression, letting his mind rest from the constant, heavy calculations of his vigilante life.
By the time he returned home, the sun had fully set, casting the house in long, quiet shadows.
After a peaceful dinner with the family, Jayden retreated to his bedroom. He locked the door and collapsed onto his mattress. He wasn't planning on going out tonight. He had made a massive statement at the docks, and the smartest tactical move was to let the EVA and the underworld exhaust themselves chasing ghosts while he laid low and enjoyed a rare night of rest.
He pulled out his holotab to do some light reading, intending to go to sleep early.
But as the screen illuminated, a sharp, jarring chime echoed through the silent room. A priority notification flashed on the screen, bypassing his standard firewalls. It was a ping from a dark-web channel he used to monitor the latest happenings in the criminal underworld.
Jayden sat up, his brow furrowing. He tapped the notification, opening the message.
It was an anonymous tip. No sender ID, no digital footprint. Just a set of GPS coordinates pointing to a decommissioned kinetic-reactor facility on the industrial outskirts of the city, followed by a single line of text:
[Last seen location of Black Cobra Pioneer 'Silas'. Unescorted]
Jayden stared at the coordinates pulsing on the digital map, the red light reflecting off his sharp features.
His tactical mind immediately tore the information to pieces. It was obviously a trap.
The whole message was entirely too clean, too perfectly timed right after he had established dominance over the bounty hunters. Besides, Black Cobra wouldn't just leave a Pioneer level asset completely unescorted in the middle of a massive citywide manhunt. And an anonymous source wouldn't just hand over a high-ranking target without a massive price tag attached.
Someone was trying to lure the Hunter out into the open.
Jayden slowly lowered the holotab, his gaze drifting toward the sliding doors of his closet. Behind those doors sat his tactical suit. He'd left it there to dry after giving it a quick clean that evening.
The logical, safe option was to ignore it, turn off the tab, and go to sleep. But Silas was a priority target on his hit list. He was responsible for supplying the heavy weaponry that kept the lower districts swimming in blood. He'd been trying to get a lead on him since the start of his crusade. Because he believed he took out Silas, then it would cripple the syndicate's weapon distribution.
But he never got any additional info on the Pioneer. Even Fred said Silas was a hard man to find, just like the rest of the other Pioneers that were still walking free.
If he ignored this opportunity, Silas might leave the city and slip back to Geneva, out of his reach forever.
Jayden stood up, his jaw tightening with absolute certainty. Trap or not, he was the apex predator of this city now. And couldn't let anyone intimidate him. Not ever.
They thought they were baiting a mouse, but they were inviting a monster through their front door.
He walked to the closet, equipped his tactical gear and confirmed the tracker disabler was active in his inventory. Pulling his dark hood over his head and sliding the black mask into place, he unlocked the balcony doors.
The cold night air rushed into the room. With a single fluid movement, Jayden vaulted over the railing, vanishing completely into the darkness of the city below.