Apocalypse Trade Monopoly
Chapter 101: - A little Secret

Chapter 101: - A little Secret

Ava didn’t say anything as they talks. She just reached for the bottle closest to her—some dark, unlabelled liquor that smelled like ethanol and citrus—and poured herself a drink. Something sharp to warm her hands while she listened.

"The Black Grid lines are shifting," he said, tilting his head toward Keel. "South Belt lost three intel runners last week. Either the East is buying loyalty again, or someone’s copying mutant core signatures."

Keel nodded once. "We had a mimic system pop in Zone 4. Not logged, not synced, but definitely artificial."

"You want eyes on it?" Rhys asked, cracking his knuckles. "I’ve got two runners running point."

"I want confirmation." Lucas’s voice softened, which only made it more dangerous. "Too many fake syncs floating around. If someone’s printing them, we need to know who’s funding it."

Ava leaned back in the couch, one leg crossed over the other, eyes half-lidded but focused listening to every word. Lucas was already sliding into his element—talking shop with the kind of people who respected what he did, not who he was.

This was Lucas in motion, weaving threats into offers, wrapping his steel in silk.

Cassi grinned across the table. "And what do we get for playing fetch?"

Lucas barely glanced at her.

"Access to a map to a dormant Tower vault."

Elias raised an eyebrow, lips quirking with that familiar knowing curve."You’re generous when you’re half-drunk."

Lucas gave a slow blink. "Or just cocky enough to believe no one can use the info better than me."

Elias swirled his glass but didn’t drink. His tone shifted—cooler, more curious."Speaking of bad decisions made at cocktail tables... Angel’s off-grid now. Her name’s been scrubbed from two factions’ internal rolls."He glanced around the room. "Word is someone got her good. Some say it was Locke."

Cassi frowned, sitting forward."Locke doesn’t make direct moves. Too pretty, too careful."

"Exactly," Elias said. "Which is why I think it wasn’t him. Someone else knifed her career right out from under her. Clean. Final."He turned to Lucas. "You’d know. You two used to circle the same fire."

Lucas didn’t rise to it. He reached lazily for another drink, swirling the bottle with one hand."Angel built her house out of mirrors. Eventually someone throws a stone."

The mood shifted again—soft, predatory curiosity in the air.

"Right," Rhys said, sitting back. "Let’s pivot. What does your system actually do, Bai?"He gestured vaguely toward Lucas with the rim of his glass. "’Monopoly’ sounds corporate, but we’ve never seen it in use."

Keel added flatly, "It’s not listed in the Sync Registry. Just the name. No function, no range, no classification."

Cassi’s eyes flicked between Lucas and Ava."And your girl’s got a system too, right? Ava Zhang. Not in the records either."

Lucas’s smile returned—sharp and deliberate.He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he met their gazes one by one.

"I paid good money," he said, voice smooth as ever, "to keep my little secret."

A beat passed.

Then Ava, sipping her drink without looking up, added coolly,"Secrets are only expensive if they’re valuable."

Ava’s tone was casual, but the weight behind it cut cleaner than the glass in her hand.

Lucas chuckled under his breath, eyes still on the others—waiting, measuring, never quite still.

She nudged his knee lightly with hers under the table.

"Stop playing," Ava said, not bothering to lower her voice. "You’ve danced around it enough."

Lucas turned his head slowly, lips twitching into something between amusement and warning.

"Beauty, you know how I feel about mystery. Kills the mood if I give it all away."

"It’s a table of sharks," she said, setting her glass down. "They already smelled the blood. You might as well toss them a bone before they start chewing on your ankles."

Cassi leaned back, smirking.

"I like her more every second."

Rhys grinned. "So do I. Come on, Bai—just a peek behind the curtain."

Lucas sighed dramatically, tilting his head like he was giving in to peer pressure at a high-end poker table.

Then he looked at Ava again, eyes gleaming gold.

"Fine." He tapped his temple once. "Monopoly isn’t strength. It’s valuation."

He paused. "Everything I touch—gear, core, weapon, person, bond—I see what it’s worth. Not just in credits. Strategically. Socially. Long-term."

The table went quiet.

"It doesn’t give me power," Lucas continued. "It tells me where the power is."

Ava narrowed her eyes, watching the way the room shifted in response—more cautious, more curious.

Lucas leaned back, finally at ease again.

"And now that you know that much?" He smiled. "You get to wonder what I’ve already seen in this room."

Cassi’s grin was feral.

"Now that’s annoying."

Elias raised his glass.

"And worth every drop of the secret."

Cassi tilted her head, eyes gleaming like a cat catching movement in the dark.

She swirled the liquor in her glass once, then turned fully toward Ava, elbows resting on her knees.

"Alright then, Miss Mystery," she said, voice all velvet edge, "what do you see?"

Ava didn’t blink. She met Cassi’s gaze straight on, calm, unreadable.

"I’m synced," she said simply. "So I see what Lucas sees."

It was the kind of answer that gave nothing but suggested everything. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t elaborate. Didn’t offer her system’s name or function. Just let the silence fill in the gaps.

Cassi leaned back with a slow whistle.

"That’s either the hottest deflection I’ve heard all year, or the most dangerous."

"Why not both?" Ava replied, tone flat.

Rhys chuckled under his breath, glancing at Lucas. "She always this good at saying very little with a lot of threat?"

Lucas smiled without looking away from Ava.

"It’s one of her most profitable traits."

Keel muttered something under his breath—probably a note to himself.

Elias just grinned into his drink, satisfied as always when someone new figured out Ava wasn’t just the quiet one in the room.

The mood shifted as Keel sat forward, resting both elbows on the edge of the table. His drink was untouched now. Focused. Sharp.

"I need help," he said plainly, cutting through the static of half-smiles and liquor haze. "System users are tearing through our outer clients. Even with stealth gear, even with decoys—we’re getting read, tracked, and dropped in under two minutes."

Lucas leaned back, folding his arms behind his head, gold eyes gleaming under the dim lights.

"That’s because you’re playing blind," he said, voice calm. "You don’t win if you don’t know their skill set. They have a map you don’t have—and you’re walking straight into it."

Keel’s jaw tightened slightly. "You’re saying to fight systems, I need a system?"

"No," Lucas said smoothly. "I’m saying you need to understand one. Countering a system isn’t about gear. It’s about timing, pressure, and knowing what they rely on. System users have patterns. Most of them don’t even realize how predictable they are."

Elias raised a brow, sensing where this was going.

"And how exactly do you suggest Keel learns that?"

Lucas turned his head slowly toward Ava, a smile already forming.

"Experience."

Ava blinked once.

"No."

"Oh, come on," Lucas said, playful but firm. "He needs to fight you. Just a demo. No blood, just bruises. Think of it as education."

"You want me to teach someone how to avoid being killed by someone like me by... trying to kill them?"

Lucas shrugged. "How else is he supposed to learn the language?"

Keel didn’t flinch. He stood, calmly removing his coat and setting it over the back of a chair.

"If that’s what it takes," he said, **"then I’ll learn."

Ava sighed, finishing her drink before standing slowly. "Fine. Outside. I’m not breaking your table."

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