Apocalypse Trade Monopoly
Chapter 132: – The Territory Between

Chapter 132: – The Territory Between

Ava rode down the ridge slow and smooth, the matte black bike kicking up a controlled spiral of dust behind her. She didn’t rush. The anomaly was dead, Kai was still standing, and Lucas—was watching her with the kind of intensity that made it feel like the temperature had dropped ten degrees.

She dismounted in a single fluid movement, pulled off her helmet, and shook her hair out with practiced ease. A few silver-streaked strands clung to her cheek. She let them. Made it part of the look.

She smiled. Not her usual half-smirk, not the narrow-eyed suspicion. This one was wider. Almost playful. Almost warm.

Lucas tensed.

Kai, to his credit, tilted his head, eyeing her like someone trying to place an old song. "I know you."

"Do you?"

"That voice. The eyes. Back in Threadspace. The girl with the sharp mouth."

"You left out the deadly aim," she said. "You’re slipping."

Lucas made a sound—low and not entirely polite.

Kai caught it, smiled faintly. "Didn’t realize you were his. Should’ve guessed by the teeth."

Ava walked straight past Lucas, close enough for her shoulder to brush his arm.

"I’m no one’s anything," she said sweetly.

Lucas didn’t move.

But his jaw locked.

She stopped in front of Kai and extended a hand.

"Ava Zhang. My. Partner that’s all you need to know."

Kai shook it, lips twitching. "Kai Ren. Diplomatic saboteur. Information thief. Occasionally polite."

"Occasionally useful," she added.

Lucas stepped forward. Not too fast. Not aggressive. But closer.

Ava felt the shift in his presence before she even saw him move. A flare of heat under the calm. Not acting. Not for show.

He was possessive.

And not remotely subtle about it.

He came to stand behind her, one hand brushing the small of her back.

Kai noticed.

His expression didn’t change, but the weight of the moment did. His stance shifted half a degree. His body leaned more into neutrality.

"She your synced," Kai said quietly.

Lucas didn’t answer.

Ava felt the tension coil tighter.

She smiled again, slow this time, eyes flicking up to meet Kai’s. "He’s not a fan of surprises."

"Neither am I," Kai replied. "But I have a high tolerance for damage."

Lucas exhaled through his nose. "Let’s make something clear. You walked here, unexpected. Now you’re standing in front of my partner like you’re interviewing for something."

Kai lifted a brow. "Isn’t that your entire model? Recruiting trouble and calling it opportunity?"

"She’s not trouble," Lucas said.

His voice was steady.

But Ava could feel the weight in it.

His hand hadn’t moved.

She let herself lean back—just slightly. Enough for her shoulder to rest against him. Like she belonged there. Like she chose it.

Lucas’s breath caught for half a second.

Kai watched. Said nothing.

"I didn’t come to threaten your arrangement," he said. "Only to survive mine."

Ava tilted her head. "You came to join routes. But what you want is protection."

"I want cover," Kai said. "The kind that comes with shared threats and mutual firewalls."

Lucas looked at him flatly. "And if I say no?"

Kai shrugged. "Then I vanish again. Burn the rest of the threads. Go solo until I’m dead or irrelevant."

Silence stretched.

Ava could feel Lucas thinking.

His fingers moved against her back—subtle, tracing a pattern her system responded to with a spike of synced feedback.

He wanted her opinion.

She didn’t give it.

Not yet.

Instead she smiled up at Kai.

"You cook," she said lightly. "That counts for something."

Kai blinked. Then laughed.

Lucas did not.

The laugh faded. Silence returned, broken only by the faint wind dragging dust along the ridge.

Kai glanced at Lucas. "She’s a wildfire. You sure you can hold her?"

Lucas didn’t smile. "She doesn’t need to be held. Just respected."

Ava shot him a side glance, eyes narrowed. "That almost sounded romantic."

Lucas’s fingers pressed a little firmer at the small of her back. "Almost?"

She smirked. "Don’t ruin the moment."

Kai watched them with the air of someone remembering something. Then he looked away.

"Your routes are unstable," he said. "Bunkers are consolidating. The Black Market has fractures three levels deep. The eastern block’s anchor system is being siphoned. I have a thread on that too, by the way. The only reason you still hold power is because no one dares call your bluff."

Lucas’s jaw flexed. "You’re calling it now?"

Kai shook his head. "I’m here to remind you what you are. Not convince you. You used to plan five moves ahead, not five steps behind."

Lucas stepped forward, his presence a blade even without a weapon. Ava stayed still.

"Say that again."

Kai’s expression flattened. "I think you’re slipping. And you’re scared. Not of them—of her.

Lucas didn’t blink.

Ava’s voice cut through. "Then you really don’t know him."

She stepped around Lucas, just slightly, blocking that line of sight between them.

"Lucas Bai is many things. Scared isn’t one of them."

Kai’s gaze darted between them. "Then prove it. Take the deal. Secure the southeast. Give me the routes."

Lucas’s voice was a whisper. "And if I do... and you betray me?"

Kai smiled without humor. "Then she kills me."

They all stood there a moment. Breathless.

Then Lucas reached out his hand.

Kai took it.

The handshake was short. Measured. Fragile, and sharp.

Ava turned toward the bike without waiting.

"I’ll tell William we have a guest."

Lucas didn’t stop her. But as she passed, his hand brushed hers, fingers catching for just a second longer than they had to.

That was the only answer she needed.

Kai stepped through the threshold with a low whistle, scanning the high-arched ceilings, sensor-framed corridors, and soft ambient lighting that didn’t come from any source he could spot. The Bai Manor wasn’t a fortress in name only—it breathed order and calculation. Every hallway was a corridor of intent. Every camera blinked like it already knew your secrets.

William waited just inside, expression cool as ever. He nodded once to Lucas, then to Ava—but when his eyes landed on Kai, they sharpened. Not hostility. Not suspicion. Just awareness.

"Guest quarters have been prepared," William said. "Secondary wing. Monitored access. Limited network permissions."

Kai offered a lazy grin. "You’re as charming as they said."

William didn’t blink. "They were wrong."

Lucas handed off his coat without comment. Ava peeled off her hoodie and followed them through the main hall. She didn’t speak, but she watched.

Kai, for his part, didn’t press. He walked like a man comfortable in someone else’s territory—but only because he knew how to count exits.

"Nice place," he said as they passed a gallery of old-world paintings, untouched by ash or ruin.

Lucas replied without turning. "It isn’t a place. It’s a firewall."

"Even better."

Ava finally broke the silence. "So, what now? You tag along like a rescued stray, or do you have an actual plan?"

Kai gave her a sidelong look. "Plans require data. And I just walked into a system with more encrypted layers than a dead god’s journal. I figured I’d listen. Watch. Adjust."

Lucas slowed near a junction. Turned. Faced him fully.

"You follow the rules. You keep to your wing. You don’t interface with the manor systems. You don’t go near the eastern vault without clearance."

Kai raised a hand. "Scout’s honor."

"You’re not a scout."

"No," Kai agreed. "But I am good at surviving."

A beat passed.

Then Lucas nodded once. William stepped forward and gestured down the hall.

"This way."

Kai followed.

Ava waited until they turned the corner, then looked at Lucas.

"You trust him?"

Lucas didn’t answer right away.

He looked at the hallway where Kai had disappeared.

Then at her.

"No."

Lucas didn’t say a word until the footsteps had faded.

Then he turned to Ava, nodded once toward the west wing, and walked. Not fast. Not tense. Just quiet and deliberate, his steps echoing in the dim corridor light.

She followed without asking.

They entered their room—door sliding closed behind them with a soft hiss. It was quieter here. Insulated.

Lucas shrugged off his gloves and set them on the table by the window. His eyes weren’t on her. Not yet.

Ava crossed to the bed, sat on the edge, and watched him. "So. You ready to talk?"

Lucas didn’t move for a long moment. Then he turned.

"Kai wasn’t always a broker. He used to run with me. Back in school, before the Fall. Just kids who figured how to trade. Business man."

Ava waited.

He exhaled. "There were three of us. Me, Kai, and Angel. Helping the other."

The name hung in the air.

Lucas glanced at her. "Angel was Beautiful. Sharp. Always two lies ahead of the truth. She played it well. He liked her more than liked me. "

Ava didn’t interrupt.

"When the top man started mapping out the trade routes, he picked me to run the west line. But he had a soft spot for the southeast corridor. Called it the ’spine.’ Said whoever controlled it controlled future leverage."

Lucas’s voice turned hard. "Kai made a deal behind my back. With her. Handled it quitely. And Kai took the route. They cut me out."

Ava’s expression didn’t change, but something in her spine straightened.

Lucas paced once. "It wasn’t just betrayal. It was personal. When the Syndicate came looking for bloodlines, she gave them mine. That’s how Kai kept his system clear. He sold me to wipe his own slate. I piad for being naive."

Ava stood slowly, coming to him.

"So why let him in now?"

Lucas looked at her pointedly.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.