Two Years — The World Moves, the King Grows**
Two years passed.
The world did not become peaceful—
It became quieter.
And that silence was paid for in blood.
Zoo — The Long Strangulation
One base after another vanished.
Businesses collapsed overnight.
Shell companies were seized.
Routes were burned.
Zoo was hunted by everyone.
Intelligence agencies.
Private forces.
Syndicates betrayed by old deals.
Under relentless pressure, Yusaku Kudo made his final gamble.
APT-X 4869.
Atsushi Miyano completed the drug in desperation.
At first—
It worked.
Ministers.
Powerful families.
High-ranking figures.
They used it and survived.
For months, Zoo regained balance.
Attacks slowed.
Confidence returned.
Then—
People started dying.
Not immediately.
Not violently.
Heart failure.
Organ collapse.
Neurological decay.
Different causes.
Same result.
APT-X 4869 killed its users over time.
Yusaku noticed.
And adapted.
He shifted locations constantly.
Burned old sites.
Abandoned businesses.
Where others would collapse—
Yusaku survived.
Zoo did not die.
It endured.
Wounded.
Cornered.
But alive.
Runcandel — The Golden Ascension
While the world burned—
Keith lived.
At nineteen years old, Keith Argus Runcandel stood at the peak of everything.
Power.
Wealth.
Control.
And love.
One by one, they came to him.
Grayfia.
Sylpha Langlis.
Saya Takagi.
Albedo.
Gamma.
Chisato Hasegawa.
Kuroka.
Yor Forger.
Yukiko Fujimine.
Eri Kisaki.
Mizunashi Rena.
Curaçao.
Jodie Starling.
Ayako Suzuki.
Akemi Miyano.
Each confession was sincere.
Each acceptance was calm.
Vermouth and Tomoko watched—
And agreed.
No jealousy.
No fear.
Because this was Keith.
But not everyone could join yet.
Sonoko Suzuki (14).
Mouri Ran (14).
Shiho Miyano (15).
They were quiet.
Sad.
Keith knelt before them and spoke gently.
"I'll wait."
"Until you're seventeen."
Their faces lit up instantly.
Promise made.
Promise kept.
Sign-In Rewards — Silent Accumulation
Keith never forgot his system.
Over two years, he received—
Shares in global corporations.
A private yacht.
A private jet.
SSJ-9000 combat system (Aaron Stone).
Billions in liquid assets.
A 20-acre seaside mansion.
Medical and cosmetic patents.
Dozens of movie scripts.
Mizunashi Rena.
Chris Vineyard.
Yukiko Fujimine.
They became top actresses.
Runcandel Group surpassed 50 billion dollars.
No noise.
No boasting.
Just inevitability.
Cleaning the Black Organization
Keith looked at Rum one evening.
"One hundred and fifty," he said.
Rum nodded.
Keith gave orders calmly.
Some were sent on "missions."
Dangerous ones.
Impossible ones.
They didn't return.
The last spy—
Barola.
Keith placed him in charge of mission assignments.
So the spies would kill him themselves.
Rum agreed.
Gin was ordered to observe.
No emotion.
Only efficiency.
Chianti — The Unexpected Gain
Renya asked one day:
"Anyone worth keeping?"
Keith checked the list.
One name stood out.
Chianti.
A sniper.
Talented.
Unstable.
Keith took her in.
"Change your hairstyle," he told her.
She did.
Long hair.
No tattoos.
Beautiful.
Kuroka and Yor trained her personally.
Her skills skyrocketed.
And Keith noticed—
Chianti's eyes followed him.
She had fallen.
Keith didn't reject her.
He simply acknowledged it.
A Quiet Thread
Keith never forgot Ooka Momiji.
They chatted.
Often.
Long messages.
Quiet understanding.
Keith could tell.
She liked him.
And she didn't hide it well.
Zoo survived.
Barely.
The world was poisoned slowly.
And Keith—
Had grown into something no one could stop.
Not yet.
But the board was set.
And the final act—
Was approaching.