Time: 11:30 PM. Intersection of 3rd Avenue.
The rain was no longer just water; it was a curtain of gray noise hammering against the asphalt. The streets of the Bronx smelled of ozone, wet trash, and the impending stench of iron.
Through that curtain came the roar of 600 engines and the screams of men hungry for blood.
Valenti's main force had arrived. They didn't stop. They didn't negotiate. They crashed into the blockade like a tsunami hitting a seawall. The glare of hundreds of headlights illuminated the barricade, blinding the defenders.
"Open fire!" Benny roared, his voice booming over the thunder.
He squeezed the trigger of the heavy Minigun mounted on the sandbags. BRRRRT! The sound was like canvas ripping, amplified a thousand times. A stream of tracers cut through the dark, turning the lead trucks of the Iron Serpent of Valenti into Swiss cheese. Glass shattered, tires exploded, and the front line of the enemy collapsed in a heap of twisted metal and flesh.
Behind the sandbags, the 250 mercenaries Solomon had hired unleashed a volley of gunfire. The street lit up like a disco from hell.
But the enemy was essentially a human wave. Valenti had promised them money, drugs, and power. Driven by greed and fear, they climbed over the wrecked trucks. They stepped over their fallen comrades. They just kept coming like a swarm of locusts.
Click. Click. Benny’s Minigun spun dry. The barrel was glowing red hot in the rain, sizzling as the water hit it.
Benny looked at the horde swarming toward them—hundreds of angry mobsters with bats, machetes, and submachine guns.
"Ammo depleted," Benny grunted, tossing the heavy gun aside like a useless toy. He cracked his knuckles, the sound popping loudly. "Phase 2. Manual Labor."
Scene 2: The Evolution of The Tank
Benny stepped out from behind the cover. He didn't stand still to take hits like he used to. He was a mountain, yes, but mountains don't move. Tonight, he was an avalanche.
He lowered his stance. His eyes were sharp, scanning the enemy movement. Kyokushin Karate Stance.
A group of ten Valenti enforcers charged at him, screaming. "Die, fat boy!" one yelled, swinging a heavy lead pipe aimed at Benny's skull.
Benny didn't tank it. He moved. SWISH. He side-stepped with surprising grace for a 260-pound man. CRACK. A devastating Low Kick swept the attacker’s legs out from under him. The sound of the tibia snapping was sickeningly dry. The man collapsed, screaming as his leg bent at an unnatural angle.
The second man lunged with a knife. Benny caught his wrist, applying a textbook Judo joint lock. "Borrowing this," Benny grunted. He used the screaming man as a human bowling ball, hurling him into three other attackers. STRIKE. Bodies flew like ragdolls, limbs tangled in a mess of pain.
Then, Benny saw it. Thirty meters away, a soldier was pulling the pin on a fragmentation grenade. He was too far to punch. Benny’s mind flashed back to the gym. To Raphaela. "She throws... I throw. She uses knives... I use physics."
Next to Benny was the wreckage of a sedan Gara had abandoned. Benny roared, gripping the driver's side door with both hands. His muscles bulged, tearing the suit fabric at the shoulders. RIIIIP! With a sound of tearing metal that screeched like a dying banshee, he ripped the car door off its hinges.
"Special Delivery!" Benny spun like a discus thrower, using centripetal force to build momentum. He released the door.
WHOOSH-THUD! The heavy steel door flew through the air, spinning violently. It hit the grenade thrower with horrific precision. It didn't just knock him down; it bisected him. The upper half of his body was severed an instant before he could throw. BOOM. The grenade exploded in the middle of the enemy squad, turning them into a red mist.
The Valenti soldiers froze. They stared at the carnage. "What... what is that thing?" one whispered in horror, backing away. "That's not a gangster. That's a damn King Kong!"
Scene 3: The CFO's Breaking Point
The line was holding, but barely. A gap opened on the left flank. Three Valenti soldiers broke through, spotting a man in a suit crouching behind an ammo crate.
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It was Daniel. He was shaking uncontrollably. He raised his pistol. Click. Empty.
"Hahaha! Look at this soft boy!" The leader of the trio, a scarred thug with a machete, laughed. "Time to die, accountant!"
He raised the machete. The blade gleamed in the lightning.
Daniel squeezed his eyes shut. Internal Monologue (Daniel): "I'm going to die. No. I can't die. The books aren't balanced. Solomon needs me. Benny needs me. Who will pay the electricity bill?! I haven't filed the Q1 tax returns yet!"
He opened his eyes. He saw the machete coming down. Panic turned into primal rage. Daniel grabbed the only thing he had: His Military-Grade Reinforced Laptop.
WHACK!
He swung it with both hands like a tennis racket. The metal edge of the laptop smashed directly into the thug's nose. CRUNCH. The sound of facial bones shattering was distinct. Blood exploded from the thug's face. He dropped the machete, clutching his ruined nose, gurgling in pain.
Daniel stood there, panting, staring at the cracked screen of his beloved device. "You... you bastard!" Daniel screamed, his voice cracking. "This is a custom build! That's $500 pre-tax! I'm adding this to your war reparations bill! Plus interest!"
Scene 4: The Bulldozer (The Panic Acceleration)
The other two soldiers looked at their fallen leader, then at Daniel. They roared and charged.
Daniel panicked. He turned to run, but his back hit the wall. He looked at his own reflection in a puddle. 1 meter 95. 100 kilograms. He remembered Benny's voice in the gym: "You are big, Dan. Don't hide. Use your weight. Be a truck."
"Be a truck..." Daniel muttered, his eyes wide with fear. "I am a truck. I am a Bulldozer!"
He lowered his head. He had no technique. No martial arts grace. He was simply 100kg of meat moving with the acceleration of pure panic.
"AAAAAHHHH!"
He charged. The Tackle. SLAM! Daniel hit the second soldier with the force of a runaway freight train. The impact was brutal. The soldier flew back five meters, his ribs shattered, landing in a heap of trash, wheezing for air.
The third soldier tried to stab him. Daniel, fueled by adrenaline, grabbed the man by the lapels. He lifted the man up and slammed him down. The Takedown. Then he sat on him. Daniel started punching. Wild, flailing, uncoordinated punches. THUD. THUD. THUD. "Stay down! Stay down or I'll audit you! I'll audit your whole family!"
In the Control Room: Solomon was watching the feed from a street camera. He saw Daniel pummeling the unconscious man. He pressed the comms button. His voice was calm, cutting through Daniel's frenzy.
"Daniel," Solomon said. "You are engaging in a Sunk Cost Fallacy. You are wasting energy on a liquidated asset. The opponent is insolvent. Stop punching. Withdraw immediately."
Daniel froze mid-punch, his fist trembling. He blinked, snapping out of his berserker rage. "Oh. Right. Yes, Boss."
Niko's Perspective: High above on a fire escape, Niko was repositioning after blowing up the water tower. He looked down at the street. His jaw dropped. He saw Benny throwing car doors like Frisbees. He saw Daniel—the soft, coffee-sipping CFO—headbutting a thug and screaming about taxes.
"What the hell..." Niko whispered, lowering his rifle. "Since when did that bulldozer become a special forces unit? They are evolving too fast. I need to step up my game."
Scene 5: The Retreat & The Fear Factor
The enemy was stalling, terrified of the "monsters," but their sheer numbers were overwhelming. 600 men were pushing hard, climbing over the mounds of their own dead.
Solomon’s voice crackled again. "Efficiency limit reached. Benny, Daniel. Withdraw to The Exchange immediately. Don't be greedy."
"Copy," Benny grunted.
He looked over at Daniel, who was trying to wipe blood off his ruined suit. Benny walked over and grabbed Daniel by the back of his tattered collar, lifting him up like a kitten.
"Dan. We go."
"Wait! My laptop!" Daniel reached for the broken device on the ground.
Benny looked at the laptop. Then he looked at the approaching army. He grabbed a rusty iron pipe and stabbed it into the ground like a grave marker. Then, he grabbed the laptop from Daniel’s hand and tossed it onto the pile of debris.
"Hey!" Daniel protested.
"Leave it," Benny said, dragging Daniel away. "Walk faster."
As they retreated into the shadows, Benny looked at the bruised, bloody, and messy Daniel. A rare, genuine grin appeared on Benny’s face. "You fight messy. Like a girl. But..." Benny nodded approvingly. "Good hits. Good bulldozer."
Daniel blinked. He touched his bruised face, then puffed out his chest, adjusting his torn tie. "Well... obviously," Daniel sniffed, regaining his arrogant 'rich kid' persona despite the blood on his nose. "I had an excellent instructor. Though I must say, my form was impeccable. Did you see the trajectory on that tackle?"
He smiled. He felt... alive.
The Aftermath: The Valenti soldiers finally overran the intersection. They cheered as they took the position. "We won! They ran away!"
But the cheers were hollow. The air was thick with the smell of blood and fear. They looked at the headless body next to the car door. They looked at the guy whose face was caved in by a laptop. They looked at the iron pipe standing defiantly in the middle of the road.
"Did you see that big guy?" one soldier whispered, his hand shaking as he lit a cigarette. "He tore a car door off... with his bare hands." "Yeah. And the suit guy... he was crying while he broke Tony's ribs. He looked like a demon possessed by a banker." "What kind of freaks are waiting for us at the main building? This isn't a gang war. It's a slaughterhouse."
The fear had been planted. They were marching forward toward The Exchange, but their souls were already trembling. They weren't hunting anymore; they felt like they were walking into a lion's den.
End of Chapter 35.
Solomon Gats always says: "Don't let your assets sit idle." Tonight, Daniel and Benny just showed you what happens when the accounting department loses its mind. ????
What’s your favorite "Liquidated Asset" in this chapter?
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A: Benny’s "Expedited Shipping" (The Car Door Frisbee).
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B: Daniel’s "Hard Reset" (The $500 Pre-tax Laptop Bash).
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C: The "Sunk Cost Fallacy" lesson mid-combat.
Drop a comment below and let me know! The most creative comment might just get an 'Audit' from Solomon himself.
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Copyright ? 2026 by Gats VII. All rights reserved. This story is officially published only on Royal Road, Scribble Hub, and Patreon. If you are reading this elsewhere, it has been stolen.