Chapter 314: How to Revenge (6)

"I knew all about the explosives."

The Guild Master scoffed in disgust. "I literally just told you about them thirty seconds ago! Why are you trying to act tough and bluff your way out of this?!"

Solomon tilted his head. "You asked me earlier how I managed to get inside this room. You asked how I knew the path through the sub-levels, and how I knew the code to unlock your bunker doors."

The color instantly began to drain from the Guild Master’s face.

"After the dungeon tragedy in District Seven, and after you miraculously dodged all the legal troubles and public lawsuits, you desperately wanted to build this guild headquarters as fast as humanly possible," Solomon recounted, his tone conversational. "You were rewarded an obscene amount of money, and the hoarded resources from the dungeon clear were astronomically valuable. Money was not an issue for you. But finding enough discreet manpower was."

Solomon watched the Guild Master’s hands begin to tremble.

"You hired multiple different construction companies to work on the build simultaneously," Solomon continued. "They were tasked with entirely different structural sectors and managed by separate corporate entities so you could extract the maximum labor from everyone and build this skyscraper in record time."

The Guild Master’s face turned completely pale. He took a stumbling step backward, his voice cracking. "Do not tell me..."

Solomon scoffed. "Yes. I was one of the crew members."

Solomon kicked his boots up onto the glass table. "Even though I was only sixteen years old at the time, the desperate construction companies did not care. They hired as many undocumented laborers as they possibly could so they wouldn’t have to pay high union wages or provide benefits."

"At one point, there were over five thousand workers swarming this site at the exact same time, working completely different shifts under entirely different management teams. There was absolutely no oversight. There were never any real safety checks or structural inspections from the legal authorities, because you paid all the city inspectors off to look the other way."

Solomon leaned forward, his silver eyes locking onto the terrified man. "And since you bribed the authorities, they never looked closely at what you were secretly building underneath the foundation... this fortified bunker, the hidden underground interrogation facilities, the illegal explosive rigging, and the automated self-destruct mechanisms."

A terrifying, predatory smirk stretched across Solomon’s face. "I was here when this place was built. I know absolutely everything about this building’s layout. I have been patiently waiting for this exact moment ever since the final brick was laid. And now, it is finally happening."

All the remaining life and arrogant defiance completely drained from the Guild Master’s eyes. His fingers went numb, and the mace slipped from his grasp, crashing loudly onto the floor.

Solomon’s smirk widened into a cold, ruthless grin. "I could not do anything to stop you back then. But now, everything is different. I have nothing to worry about."

Solomon chuckled softly, almost talking to himself. "I still cannot believe I was able to be patient for so long. At the same time, I cannot believe this is finally happening. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to learn how to use my talent. But I was planning to get stronger and stronger to bring this entire guild down, no matter how many years or how much time it took."

He laughed. "That is why I risked my life wherever and whenever I could. I fought in underground arenas, I took illegal mercenary jobs... I just needed an opportunity. I finally got one, I took it, and now I am here."

The Guild Master stuttered and stammered, stepping backward. "It... it changes nothing! So what if you know everything about the construction?! It changes nothing! The self-destruct sequence cannot be stopped mechanically! No matter what you try to do, if the hardware is messed with, the three-minute countdown will automatically decrease to only sixty seconds! You might have guessed the code for the bunker doors since it was a static set code, but the self-destruct override is completely different! Only I know it!"

Solomon raised a brow. He pushed himself off the chair and dropped from the glass table. He walked slowly toward the red button mounted on the wall and stared at it.

The Guild Master followed him with his eyes, panic rising in his chest. "There is no use in touching that! Even if the electrical connection is cut or the physical switch is destroyed, the self-destruct sequence will begin immediately!"

"Thanks for letting me know," Solomon replied smoothly.

He drew his arm back and smashed his fist directly into the red button. He hit it so incredibly hard that the switch was buried deep into the wall socket, shattering the internal mechanisms and the surrounding plaster.

Instantly, every single light in the bunker turned a glaring red. A loud, mechanical siren blared through the speakers, and an automated voice announced that the self-destruction sequence had officially commenced. The three-minute countdown began ticking over the intercom.

The Guild Master’s jaw dropped open. He yelled in horror. "What the fuck are you doing?! Why the hell did you press it?!"

Solomon turned to him and shrugged his shoulders effortlessly. "Were you not the one who said you were going to begin the self-destruct sequence to kill us both? I just helped you out a little and did it for you."

"You have gone mad! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" the Guild Master screamed, grabbing his own hair. "You do not understand what you have just done! Is this some kind of joke to you?!"

"Wait... don’t tell me...." He gasped in sudden realization, pointing a trembling finger at the teenager. "Don’t tell me you think I was bluffing about how it cannot be stopped?! Do you think you can somehow hack the mainframe and stop it?!"

Solomon stepped forward. He kicked the iron mace off the floorboards, popping it up into the air, and grabbed the handle with style.

He swung the heavy weapon directly at the Guild Master.

Relying on his S-rank super strength, the Guild Master raised his left arm, fully intending to block the blunt strike with his bare forearm.

However, Solomon intentionally dropped the angle of his swing. Instead of aiming for the man’s head or chest, Solomon aimed the iron head directly at the device strapped to the Guild Master’s wrist.

The mace smashed into the device, completely obliterating the electronic monitor along with the bones in the Guild Master’s hand.

"ARGH!" The Guild Master screamed in sheer agony. Dark blood dripped rapidly from his shattered fingers. He looked down at his ruined, hanging hand and the pulverized remains of the biometric device, yelling even louder in pure terror.

"W-What the fuck did you just do?!" the Guild Master shrieked, falling to his knees. "You just destroyed the only device that could interface with the override terminal! You destroyed the only thing that could stop the sequence!"

Just then, the automated system crackled over the intercom. [Hardware tampering detected. Sequence override activated. Countdown protocol adjusted. Detonation in sixty seconds.]

Solomon rested the iron mace casually against his shoulder. "Who said anything about stopping it?"