Chapter Fourteen · The Greywing Undercurrent
Section One · The Greywing Faction Loses Control
The night was like cold iron, pressing down in a deathly silence over the ruins.
In the distance, the broken city skyline jaggedly tore at the night sky.
Jason stood alone atop a damaged tall building,
His private terminal silently flickered,
Displaying the latest data flow situation in the southeastern sector of the ruins.
Harvey's defection,
Was originally just a tiny pebble.
But in Jason's hands,
That pebble,
Had already stirred the first ripple within the Greywing Faction.
[System Fuxi Prompt]
Hexagram of Wind Over Water (Huan) Appears: "Huan signifies Dispersion; breaking form and momentum, softening stubborn resistance."
Jason's gaze was cold and steady.
He lightly swiped a fingertip across the virtual interface,
The interface displayed a diagram of the faint fluctuations in the Greywing Faction's internal communication chain.
Clearly visible——
Harvey's incomplete list,
Was spreading anxiety and suspicion within the Greywing Faction,
In some uncontrollable manner.
On the other side of the ruins,
Inside the Greywing Faction's temporary stronghold.
The interrogation room was dim and damp.
Harvey was sprawled on the ground,
Covered in dust and bloodstains.
A mid-level Greywing cadre growled in a low voice:
"Who else is there?!"
"The list is incomplete! Where are the remaining details?"
Harvey gasped,
His voice hoarse:
"I... I only know so much... really!"
Thwack!
A heavy punch landed on his face,
Splattering blood.
The air in the interrogation room was thick with the desperate stench of blood.
—
However,
The real danger was not here.
But rather—
When the Greywing high command reviewed the list,
They discovered several unexpected peripheral node markings.
Among them,
Some,
Belonged to peripheral points secretly controlled by other semi-core factions.
In that moment,
A clear thought surfaced in the minds of the Greywing leadership:
"There's a mole inside."
"Someone is infiltrating us in the dark."
Suspicion began to spread rapidly from the Greywing Faction's nerve endings.
Accusations, buck-passing, concealment, probing,
Silently festered among the various teams.
Even without concrete evidence,
It was enough to make an already loose alliance fragile as ice.
Jason quietly observed all of this.
[System Dynamic Projection]
Greywing Faction Trust Index has dropped to 61%.
Greywing Internal Fissure Latency: Medium-High.
Probability of initially triggering the next stage of chaos: 78%.
Kyle leaned against a spot not far behind Jason,
Lowering his voice:
"Harvey... he likely won't live much longer."
Jason's tone was calm:
"He wasn't meant to be saved in the first place."
Kyle was momentarily speechless.
He suddenly understood,
In Jason's eyes,
Resources, nodes, pawns,
Were essentially no different.
Only the fluctuation of value existed,
No weighing of emotions.
In the southern section of the ruins,
A small secret meeting of the Greywing high command was underway.
Five or six small faction leaders sat around a worn-out circular table,
Each gaze was vigilant, cold, and hard,
Distrusting each other.
Harvey's leaked list,
Had become an invisible sword hanging above their heads.
"Who leaked the list?"
"Did someone deliberately guide Harvey?"
"If the Greywings have problems, who benefits most?"
Every question,
Was like a needle,
Pricking at each other's hearts.
Jason received the latest data stream.
The Greywing Faction's command frequency,
Had subtly fractured from its original unified, centralized state,
Into at least three sets of localized links.
[System Fuxi Prompt]
"Huan, though dispersed, is not extinguished; the beginning of disintegration; Move into the gaps, lay groundwork deeply and subtly."
Jason narrowed his eyes.
The opportunity, had arrived.
He quickly issued commands to the peripheral undercover teams:
✅ Create small-scale transaction anomalies,
✅ Disseminate specific node intelligence,
✅ Fabricate peripheral node leakage records.
The objective was singular:
Accelerate the chain of distrust within the Greywing Faction.
Not head-on confrontation.
But rather——
Let suspicion, ferment on its own.
Let the interior, collapse on its own.
[System Layout Dynamic Summary]
Harvey ignites → Greywings suspect → Small factions become wary → Peripheral undercover guidance → Internal connections break.
A clear dark line traced through Jason's mind.
This was a truly strategic layout of covert warfare.
Not a close-quarters battle amidst a hail of bullets,
But a silent erosion that crept into the very marrow.
—
In the ruins, the night deepened further.
The Greywing Faction's temporary stronghold,
Was no longer an impenetrable iron barrel formation,
But a glacier riddled with cracks.
And Jason,
Was that invisible undercurrent,
Beneath the glacier,
Quietly prying at the earth that was about to collapse.
Section Two · Internal Fracture Points
The first wisp of grey light of dawn cut across the skyline of the ruins.
In the southern section of the ruins, within the Greywing Faction's temporary stronghold,
A hidden but sharp storm, was brewing.
In the temporary command hall, a few half-broken old hanging lamps swayed, casting light,
Under the lamplight, five small faction leaders sat in a circle.
Piled on the table were several encrypted data chips, resource lists, and fragments of Harvey's interrogation record.
The air was heavy as a thunderstorm that had not yet broken.
Marcos Grey, one of the Greywing Faction's number three figures,
Wearing a dirty, old bulletproof vest,
His hands clasped on the table,
His hawk-like eyes fixed intently on the person opposite him.
He spoke coldly:
"The list leak... this couldn't have been accidental."
His voice was low, like a blunt knife scraping across sheet metal, carrying a subtly painful sense of oppression.
Opposite him, a medium-built mid-level leader with old scars on his face——Roy Savage——sneered:
"Oh? Marcos, you sound like you're questioning me?"
His eyes held a hint of gunpowder.
At the edge of the table, another taciturn old man——Raven——slowly spoke,
His voice hoarse as wind blowing through rusted wire mesh:
"Whoever it was, the list has been leaked.
We must first stabilize the external lines, then discuss internal matters."
His words were rational, but couldn't hide the fatigue and wariness in his eyes.
The situation,
From the very beginning,
Was not one of cooperation.
Everyone had skeletons in their closet.
Everyone was calculating.
This was exactly what Jason had precisely calculated——
The human nature volatility chain.
[System Fuxi Prompt]
Hexagram of Wind Over Water (Huan)'s dark thread spreads: "Dispersed at heart, inevitably collapsing in form; Advance through the fissures, control the large with the subtle."
Jason, from a distance via his private terminal,
Quietly observed this internal clash.
He knew,
Without his intervention,
The Greywing Faction would tear itself apart.
Marcos slammed his hand onto the table.
Dust flew up.
He angrily said:
"Continue arguing? The outside resource nodes are already having problems!"
"Our people are being targeted by other semi-core factions!"
"And you still want to keep biting at each other?"
His roar silenced the scene for a moment.
But this silence,
Was merely a deeper layer of suppression.
Raven coldly looked at Marcos,
His voice low and deep:
"You're in a hurry."
"Is it because——in this list incident, Your peripheral points were exposed the most?"
The air felt frozen.
Everyone's gaze uniformly snapped towards Marcos.
Suspicion, like an invisible hand,
In this small space, it rapidly spread, seized, and tore.
Marcos's expression shifted slightly.
But he quickly suppressed his anger,
And sneered:
"My points exposed more? That's because I control more."
"Unlike some people, Who can't even hold onto their own periphery, and then blame others."
Turning the pointer,
He threw the accusation back at Roy and Raven.
Jason watched this covert battle,
A faint curve lifting at the corner of his lips.
[System Dynamic Projection]
Greywing Faction High Command Trust Index: Dropped to 43%.
Internal Division Intensification Rate: 72%.
The undercurrent, was forming.
On the other side of the conference table,
A young leader wearing silver-rimmed glasses, named Miller,
Suddenly gave a light cough, and suggested softly:
"Perhaps... we can temporarily reintegrate, Jointly manage the peripheral nodes to avoid further loss of control."
His voice sounded rational and restrained,
But everyone present understood the hidden meaning——
To use the chaos to reallocate power.
As expected, Raven sneered:
"Reintegration? Is it to integrate into your hands?"
The atmosphere instantly became tense and volatile.
Chairs scraped against the floor with a harsh sound.
It was almost predictable,
If someone drew a gun now,
This room would immediately become a slaughterhouse.
—
In the depths of Jason's eyes,
Reflected the solidified killing intent in the temporary command hall.
The Fuxi System whispered:
"Huan creates gaps, gaps give rise to change."
Jason quietly issued new commands on his terminal.
✅ Activate peripheral proxy teams, leak a batch of "false intelligence" to Greywing Faction peripheral strongholds;
✅ Intensify small-scale harassment actions against Greywing Faction resource nodes, allowing external pressure to continue to rise.
Not direct attack.
But a continuous pressure like boiling a frog in warm water.
Until this fragile Greywing network,
Fractured on its own.
Kyle stood beside Jason, unable to help but whisper:
"If they completely split... Won't the semi-core immediately realize we were behind it?"
Jason gently shook his head:
"No."
His voice was calm as frost:
"Until the first shot is fired within their ranks, No one will believe—— That they were already being corroded from within."
Kyle paused,
Then a shock ran through him.
—
In the southern section of the ruins,
The Greywing Faction's temporary stronghold,
The cracks, were irreparable.
[System Dynamic Summary]
Greywing Faction Internal Structure Stability: Critical Point (38%).
Estimated Fission Time: Within 48 hours.
Jason quietly closed the terminal interface.
In the next two days,
The undercurrent in the ruins,
Would be violently turbulent because of this layout.
And he,
Would be the only one standing at the center of the storm,
Yet remaining untorn.
Section Three · Dark Line Implantation
Over the ruins, grey morning mist slowly rolled,
Like a loosened, torn giant spiderweb.
The cracks in the Greywing Faction,
Were no longer small fissures hidden in the dark.
But tangible,
Subtle fault lines running through the entire organization.
Jason stood quietly on the platform of a ruined tall building,
Letting the cold wind blow the hem of his coat.
His private terminal vibrated ever so slightly in his palm——
The peripheral dark line units,
Had completed the first phase of the layout.
[System Fuxi Prompt]
Hexagram of Wind Over Water (Huan) deepened prompt: "Huan signifies deployment through gaps; Soft entering the firm, subtle controlling the large."
Jason's gaze was serene,
His fingertips slid quickly across the virtual screen.
Small-scale peripheral nodes → Infiltrate Greywing Faction peripheral strongholds
Disguise as scattered members → Deliver resources, intelligence
Bind trust curves → Establish implicit data chains
Not a forceful assault.
But like a trickling stream,
Silently seeping into every crack.
Kyle stood nearby,
Seeing all this, his heart was inexplicably shocked.
He couldn't help but whisper:
"Is it that simple? A few peripheral lines, and you can control them?"
Jason smiled faintly:
"Simple?"
His eyes were cold and sharp:
"True control, is never achieved with muzzles. It relies on——information. On who can first, occupy the air they breathe."
Kyle trembled slightly.
In this moment,
He vaguely realized,
What Jason was constructing,
Was far more than just an organization.
But an entire controllable ecosystem for the future.
Scene cut back——
In the southern section of the ruins, within the Greywing Faction's peripheral stronghold.
Several peripheral members,
Under the banner of "self-salvation," "self-preservation,"
Quietly defected to the chaotic Greywing small factions.
They brought:
Resource supplies;
Intelligence leads;
And more importantly——controllable information.
Every dark line,
Was like a tiny but lethal virus,
Quietly spreading within the Greywing Faction's body.
One of these peripheral dark line members——codenamed [Crow]——
Pretended to be a soldier scattered from Marcos's former unit.
During the initial screening,
He deliberately exposed "partially true experiences,"
Mixed with fabricated intelligence.
The deputy responsible for the initial screening stared at him vigilantly,
At one point demanding to postpone acceptance.
But due to tight peripheral node resources,
The high command finally had to relent:
"Use him for now, keep a close eye."
Just like that,
The first batch of dark lines,
Was implanted into the Greywing Faction's core peripheral network without hindrance.
[System Dynamic Projection]
Dark Line Penetration Success Rate: 71%.
Greywing Peripheral Node Control Rate increased to 32%.
Semi-Core External Perception Risk: Extremely Low.
Jason's gaze was calm.
All of this,
Was within his layout calculations.
Kyle couldn't help but ask:
"What if they discover it? What if someone checks our identities later?"
Jason slowly closed the terminal,
Answering softly:
"In a mire of mutual suspicion, No one dares to easily trace things back to the source."
His voice was utterly calm:
"Everyone will only care more, Whether they have resources today, Whether their heads will roll tomorrow."
Kyle's heart was filled with unceasing turmoil.
Jason,
Had not only mastered the situation,
But had also mastered human hearts.
Mastered——
Fear.
Mastered——
Desire.
In the ruins, the morning mist gradually dispersed.
Throughout the Greywing Faction's stronghold,
Those newly accepted peripheral members,
Were quietly completing their first resource exchanges.
One exchange,
One binding.
One binding,
One silent netting.
—
Jason murmured in a low voice:
"This is not a battle."
"This is, The first layer of roots of a nascent empire, Sinking into the soil of a decaying world."
[System Dynamic Summary]
✔️ Greywing peripheral node penetration first round completed.
✔️ Dark line implantation success rate is high.
✔️ Within the next 48 hours, the Greywing external resources will show initial signs of being controllable.
—
The Fuxi System, in his ear, summarized in a low voice:
"He who controls people, first controls the heart; He who controls the situation, first controls the subtle."
The setting sun of the ruins began to rise.
Jason stood atop the ruined platform,
His gaze piercing through the broken steel forest,
Falling upon the semi-core Greywing network that was about to disintegrate.
His figure was solitary and cold,
But in the morning light,
It was like an invisible blade about to cleave open a rift in the world.
Silent.
Yet irreversible.
Section Four · Beside One's Couch
The morning light faintly appeared, painting the ruins with a layer of pale, cold light.
Within the Greywing Faction's temporary stronghold,
A silence heavier than night permeated the air.
The small Greywing factions, originally bound together tightly,
Like cracks spreading across glass,
Were silently tearing apart from each other.
Jason sat quietly inside a small relay station beneath an abandoned transmission tower.
On his private terminal, data streams flickered rapidly.
The peripheral proxy teams sent back the first batch of detailed reports:
Area | Turbulence Index | Remarks
------------------------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------
Eastern Peripheral Stronghold | Turbulence Value 82% | Command lost, small factions acting independently
Southwest Warehouse District | Turbulence Value 91% | Internal conflict escalating, small-scale gunfight erupted
Southern Temporary Command Post | Turbulence Value 67% | High-level conflicts intensifying, command chain broken
Reports from the peripheral dark line teams arrived continuously.
[Crow] Team Observation Record:
Signs of peripheral members fleeing from the Eastern B3 stronghold;
Two small faction leaders accusing each other and isolating their own personnel;
Some peripheral nodes requesting authorization for independent actions.
[Fox] Team Dynamic Monitoring:
Communication chain severely disrupted, command delay rate increased to 79%;
Greywing western supply line broken;
Key intelligence nodes unmanaged, in a state of paralysis.
[Mirror] Team Psychological Feedback:
Greywing internal trust chain has collapsed;
Team members are generally anxious and extremely emotionally unstable;
Some small factions are privately contacting other semi-core forces seeking refuge.
Jason narrowed his eyes slightly.
The fissures, were irreparable.
A Greywing,
Had finally been broken.
And this is just the beginning.
In the center of the ruins, TRACE's peripheral monitoring node,
Finally noticed the abnormal data fluctuations in the southern section.
A TRACE peripheral monitoring officer frowned:
"The Greywing Faction... something happened?"
But quickly, he lowered his head to handle other, more urgent intelligence.
In TRACE's eyes,
The Greywing Faction——
Was merely a small, replaceable cog in the semi-core structure.
They had not yet noticed——
This small-scale fission,
Would, in the future, ignite turmoil across the entire semi-core pillar.
[System Dynamic Summary]
✔️ Greywing Faction localized disintegration completed.
✔️ Semi-core Greywing system initially lost control.
✔️ Jason's dark line control rate over peripheral resource nodes increased to 51%.
✔️ TRACE initially sensed the anomaly in the southern district, but did not intervene directly.
Jason quietly recorded the new situation nodes.
Beneath his feet,
An old era's Greywing,
Was collapsing.
In his heart,
The nascent form of a brand new empire,
Was slowly rising.
The Fuxi System whispered:
"The foundation of an empire, Is not built by brute force, But by penetrating subtle fissures."
Jason looked up,
His gaze piercing through the broken steel forest,
Falling upon the semi-core Greywing network that was about to disintegrate.
His figure was solitary and cold,
But in the morning light,
It was like an invisible blade about to cleave open a rift in the world.
Silent.
Yet irreversible.