BEYOND BETRAYAL: WAR WITHOUT END

Carrick, now called V5, pretended to be brainwashed. He stared blankly at Doctor Ambrose. The doctor smiled, happy with Carrick's condition.

"You're doing well, V5," Doctor Ambrose said. "You'll be a great asset for Rambosia." He nodded to the guards.

One guard, a tall man with a scar, stepped forward. "Sir, may I talk to you?" he asked quietly.

Doctor Ambrose frowned. "What is it, Victor?"

Victor looked at Carrick before speaking. "I think we should be careful. He's not as brainwashed as we think."

Doctor Ambrose laughed. "That's impossible. The treatment always works. V5 will do what we say."

Carrick's mind raced, remembering the system's warning to level up quickly. He knew he had to play along, but he also needed to find a way to escape and start his journey to become a Mafia Lord. He knew if he remained here, he would be nothing but an experimental subject, a guinea pig for this mysterious organization.

As the guards closed in, Carrick noticed a small, almost unnoticeable nod from Victor. It was a signal, but from whom? Carrick could not help but wonder. He had spent enough time with his family to know when a conspiracy was going on.

Suddenly, alarms blared, and the room shook. "What's happening?" Doctor Ambrose shouted in confusion. The Rambosia hideout was unknown to Major Mafia families, so who would dare attack them?

Victor reacted immediately and drew his gun. "We're under attack. Get V5 to safety!"

Carrick saw his chance. What just happened made him understand that this Victor wasn't loyal to Rambosia, perhaps Victor could be his way out of this sick place. He pretended to stumble, falling to the ground. As the guards rushed to help him, Carrick whispered to Victor, "Who are you working for?"

Victor's eyes locked onto Carrick's. "Meet me in the east wing tonight. Come alone."

With that, Victor dragged Carrick away, into the chaos. Carrick saw a new group of people dressed in a different uniform shooting at the guards.

*

Disguised as a Rambosia guard, Victor pulled Carrick through the winding corridors of Rambosia's secret facility. They dodged bullets and leaping flames, the sound of shattering glass and screams filling the air.

"What's happening?" Carrick shouted above the din.

"Rebellion," Victor replied, his gun firing at unseen targets. "We have to get out, now!"

They burst through a door, slamming it shut behind them. Carrick found himself in a cramped, dimly lit room filled with computer screens and wires. The room seemed like a tech storage room.

"Who are you?" Carrick demanded, his eyes locked on Victor. Before he could decide on anything, he needed to know who Victor was.. what if he was working for his father and was here to finish the job those men couldn't.

Victor ripped off his mask, revealing a scarred face and piercing blue eyes. "I'm Victor Alistair, former helmsman of the Alistair Family. My family was almost wiped out by the joint forces of the Gale family and Giovanni family. And you, V5, might just be the key to our survival."

"What do you mean I'm the key to your survival?" Carrick questioned, but suddenly a ding sounded in his head.

«Ding!

<>

"I will tell you all you want to know, but for now. I have infiltrated Rambosia's mainframe," Victor said as he lifted his face from the computer screen, his voice urgent. "We must escape now. The facility will self-destruct in five minutes."

Carrick's heart raced. "How do we get out?"

Victor handed Carrick a small device. "This is a neural disruptor. It will disrupt any brainwash action that may have been taken against you, and it will also disrupt the aim of those guards, in other words, they won't be able to land a single bullet on us as their aims will be way off. Press the red button to also neutralize their weapons as they are making use of electrical powered laser guns."

Carrick took the device, his mind racing. "What about you?"

Victor smiled grimly. "I'll draw off Rambosia's forces so as to lessen the attention on you. You don't have to worry, I'll be right behind you."

The countdown began, echoing through the room. Carrick and Victor shared a nod before bursting into action.

Carrick charged into the corridor, neural disruptor in hand. The Rambosia guards closed in, aiming their guns at him, they didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Carrick dodged and weaved, the disruptor emitting a high-pitched whine as it neutralized the guards' mental sense as well as their weapons. The guards pulled the triggers but only the clicking sound was heard.

"You're a dead man, V5!" a guard snarled, charging at him with a knife. The guard was quick to realize something was wrong with his gun, but instead of panicking, he decided to first take out Carrick

Carrick sidestepped, using the guard's momentum against him. The guard crashed into the wall, unconscious.

<> the mechanical voice sounded in his head.

Carrick stared at the unconscious guard, he had never killed a fellow human before. He was about to refuse when he felt his emotion calming down, he realized it was the Ever-Calm passive skill taking effect. He slowly walked over to the guard, picked up the knife that was on the ground and calmly slit the guard's throat. The guard twitched a few moments before becoming still.

«Ding! Congratulations to Host for killing a level 3 hostile individual. 500 XP and 250 gold coins awarded to Host.»

Carrick stared at the small blood puddle in front of him. For someone who just killed a fellow human for the first time, he was awfully calm as if nothing happened.

"Well, it's either them or me, and besides, a weak hearted person can't become a Mafia Lord." He said to himself and smiled.

At the moment, he was seeing the guards as XP points and a stepping stone. A smile played on his lips.