Dawn hadn't yet surrendered the sky when the team mobilized. The city still smelled of night — exhaust, rain, and distant cooking smoke — but the streets around Phoenix were already alive with movement. Yujhae watched from the office window, Dojin and Taejun checking gear, Kang Jisu barking terse orders into his earpiece. The eight-man security squad moved like a single animal: trained, calm, and hungry.
"This is the day we show them what we are," Yujhae said, voice low. He didn't need to lead every fight now. He had built men who could finish it for him.
SYSTEM ALERT:
> New Mission — "Show of Force"
Objectives:
1. Security team to neutralize Suwon gang leaders and remaining enforcers
2. Protect all Phoenix properties during sweep
Reward: Reputation Increase + Team Skill Progress
---
They split into three squads.
Squad Alpha: Dojin, two ex-bouncers and Kang Jisu — brute force with refined technique.
Squad Beta: Taejun, two tactical fighters — speed, counters, and stealth.
Squad Gamma: Four guards — containment, medical, and perimeter control.
First target: a thicket of alleyways where a Suwon lieutenant and his crew had been consolidating weapons and selling stolen goods. The team moved like a shadow through the back streets, cameras feeding live to the Phoenix control room. No sirens. No chaos. Precision.
Dojin led the breach.
A wooden door crashed open and the lieutenant's men spun into action, knives flashing. Dojin didn't hesitate. He stepped into their line, let a knife glance off his forearm, then executed the Heavy Throw he'd perfected — an opponent flew over a crate and slammed into a stack of metal drums. The other men hesitated; the sight of their comrade crumpling snapped something in their morale.
Taejun slipped through a side gap and, with Lightning Counter, turned a reckless swing into a direct takedown. His hands moved before the attacker finished his motion; the thug hit the floor, dazed. The ex-bouncers followed Dojin's momentum, moving with brutish efficiency. Within a minute, the lieutenant's crew lay restrained, their leader bleeding and bewildered.
SYSTEM UPDATE:
> Target 1 Neutralized — Lieutenant captured. Territory stabilized.
---
The second strike was surgical. This time Squad Beta hit a known stash-house where enforcers loyal to the Suwon King were planning night raids. Cameras caught the entry as Taejun and two guards slipped inside; silent, fast, and lethal.
Inside, a group of hardened men met them, swinging with practiced aggression. But Phoenix had practiced too. Taejun danced through attacks, his Lightning Counter turning one man's aggression against another. He disarmed two men before a third realized the fight had already been lost. The guards secured the room — no fatalities, only incapacitations and cuffs. Efficiency over vengeance.
Meanwhile, Dojin and Kang Jisu intercepted a squad of motorized enforcers trying to flank the restaurant. The bikers revved; metal met metal, and then human. Dojin met the first rider with a crushing Heavy Throw, sending rider and bike into the curb. Kang Jisu's military discipline turned the alley into a funnel; his strikes were precise, economical, and brutal. One by one the bikers were forced to surrender or flee.
SYSTEM UPDATE:
> Target 2 Neutralized — Enforcer cell dismantled. Vehicles seized.
---
The final confrontation came at the old market — where three gang leaders had been meeting to coordinate a counterattack. Word had spread: Phoenix security had cleared the minor cells; the leaders decided to gamble everything.
Phoenix sent Squad Gamma as a perimeter and moved Alpha and Beta to converge. Cops were conspicuously absent; this was street justice, swift and public.
The leaders fought with experience. These weren't green thugs — they were commanders with techniques and callused resolve. The combat was messy, brutal, up close. Dojin absorbed a brutal hook and returned it with a shoulder-driven throw that broke a man's guard. Taejun's counters scattered two attackers in succession; his Lightning Counter was a ballet of violence. Kang Jisu disarmed a leader with a single joint-lock that left bones misaligned and pride shattered.
In the middle of the melee, Yujhae stepped forward and unleashed the Shockwave Strike he had learned — a purposeful radial blast that knocked weapons from hands and staggered the crowd. It wasn't about showing off; it was about control. The leaders, now separated from their men and stunned, fell to coordinated restraints. No cheers — just the iron silence of enforced order.
SYSTEM ALERT:
> Mission Complete — Major gang leaders captured or driven out.
Reward: Reputation +35% | Team Skill — Iron Guard Mode (Lv.2) Progress +50%
---
Aftermath was tidy. Injured were attended; civilians left with eyewitness accounts that repeated the same message: Phoenix swept the streets. Local merchants came out, offering nods and cautious thanks. The post office vans, the gaming hub booths, and the restaurants reopened with minimal disruption — precisely as planned.
Yujhae stood with his team on the Phoenix rooftop, watching the district breathe easier than it had in months.
"You all did great," he said. "This isn't just about knocking heads. It's about building a system others can rely on."
Dojin grinned, knuckles raw. "They tested us. They lost."
Taejun, breathing evenly, added, "They won't regroup the same way again. We taught them how it ends."
SYSTEM LOG:
> Phoenix Territory — Secured
Team Combat Efficiency +85%
Iron Guard Mode Lv.2 Unlocked (Team Buff: +Defence & Morale during coordinated operations)
Yujhae Unspent Stat Points: 15
---
The sun climbed higher, and with it the hum of the district returned — but different now. People moved freer. Markets buzzed without the nervous edge. Phoenix's presence was no longer rumor; it was enforcement backed by discipline and skill.
Yujhae watched, satisfied but wary. The King of Suwon would see the ripple. The next moves would be political, financial, and brutal. For now, though, his security team had proved a simple, powerful truth: they were no longer defenders only — they were the ones who dictated how the streets were fought.
"Rest up," he told them. "We keep building. They'll send better men next time."
They all knew the truth: security had become Phoenix's spear — and it was only getting sharper.
---
End