On that screen, a young guy, smeared in blood, his eyes flamed with anger, was just too mad to cool down.
The alpha stood high, clutching a gun in his hand. His face was scary dark, like some monster from a spooky movie.
He raised his gun, aiming steadily at the screen. Even though the picture shook, the gun's color was bright, always clear to see.
From off-screen, voices drifted in—people's last cries, begging for mercy mixed with choked-up sobs.
The pleas kept coming, crying out, just hoping for mercy.
From the viewer's point of view, it was a sad sight.
It was clear that the alpha had killed the owner of the brain. And now, the killer was strung up on a hangman's post.
"I'll give it all to you, everything."
"It's worth loads, loads of dough. It's all yours, just let me live."
"Let me live, set me free."
"Please, I'm begging you...sob."
The dead guy's hands kept reaching out, shaking, over and over offering a fist-sized, honey-colored gem.
The gem was drop-dead gorgeous, something seemed to wiggle inside. The guy offered this super valuable treasure, begging the alpha for mercy.
But the alpha's gun was steady, didn't care one bit, slowly getting closer.
Then, the screen turned pitch black.
After some static, the picture started over.
The whole video was just this little clip, playing again and again.
Begging, crying, shaking victim.
Cold-hearted, stern alpha.
The super dark gun slowly moved closer, bringing hopelessness.
Hopelessness and death playing on a loop.
People watching felt like they were right there, feeling sorry for the victim.
One of the alphas recognized the gem and gasped, "Is that an insectoid stone?"
"Yup, a kind of energy rock, really valuable."
"Such a big, living insectoid stone, I've never seen before. How much could it be worth?"
"A living insectoid stone? No surprise. For this, he hurt his whole team without a second thought."
Suddenly, the room was buzzing with the alphas.
Rumor had it that a whole team of alphas had gone into the polluted zone. When it was all over, everyone, even the scientist sent by the Empire, was dead.
Only a young and strong team leader made it out alive.
At first, no one knew what went down. After all, it was not weird for a team to get wiped out in the Polluted Zone.
But by luck, a rescue team came in right after and found the dead scientist near the exit, shot down.
They brought the scientist's brain back, and by the skin of their teeth, they uncovered the bad guy's crime.
Stuff like this happened a lot.
The Polluted Zone was a place totally cut off from the outside world. Once someone went in, whatever happened inside, whatever they did inside, was hard for anyone outside to know.
Places like these were like real-life nightmares. Before stepping in, everyone was a regular person. But once inside, in the crazy dark world, some folks turned into real monsters.
"One whole team of his own pals, all hurt by him, that's just plain evil." An older alpha clenched his teeth as he spoke. He was an old hand, had led teams, and had seen too many of his buddies die. He couldn't stand to watch this.
Another person in the crowd spat, "I've been beaten by this guy before. I looked up to him and thought he was something special. He was called Ice Edge, and the Empire's Blade. I used to think he was so cool. Now, I see I was just fooled."
"The Ice Edge? Ha!"
"I never liked him. He's just a bit stronger, a bit higher up, but so full of himself, so annoying. Look at him, doing all this shady stuff in the No-Man's-Land."
"I say, Mr. Investigator, the evidence is crystal clear. What's there to even question? Sentence him to death, let him pay with his life."
The more the alphas complained, the more worked up they got. As soldiers who'd faced the battlefield, they couldn't stand traitors.
"In my book, death's too easy for him." The sergeant in charge of the execution leaned on the table full of tools, telling everyone.
He'd grilled the prisoner for days, using every trick he knew. But this guy was tough as nails, no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't squeeze out any info about what his alphas wanted to know.
The guy was steaming mad.
Right now, with all the alphas all riled up, it was the perfect time to let off some steam, so he drawled out, "I think a bad guy like this should be sent to serve at Rose Camp. Let him pay his dues to the country, working off his guilt until he drops."
There were all sorts of codes in the alpha quarters, but there was no real place called Rose Camp.
But, everyone there knew what it stood for without anyone saying.
The alphas busted out laughing all at once, and a bunch started to whistle.
Soldiers loved dirty jokes, especially when it meant a big shot they once couldn't beat got embarrassed.
"From now on, the Ice Edge will be called Ice Flower." The one who said it was a female alpha, tall with broad shoulders. She stared at the prisoner without holding back.
"Don't worry, we'll look after you," said another burly alpha with big muscles and thick arms. He had once lost to the prisoner in a school contest. Now, seeing his rival in hot water and being able to openly make fun of him, he seemed happier than anyone.
Just as he was about to spout more mean words, he suddenly got a bone-chilling shiver.
A scary feeling of dread bubbled up inside him.
It felt like he was all of a sudden at the icy, dark bottom of the ocean, bearing a huge pressure.
Off in the distance, in the deep blue, it was like a huge, scary whale was swimming slowly, giving him a look from far away.
Under that look, a force as big as the sky came rolling over. Like a rabbit under the gaze of a wolf, he felt a fear he couldn't control. His bones felt like jelly, his legs could barely hold him up, and he wanted to fall flat on the ground.
The muscle-bound alpha went ghost-white, sweat poured down his face, and he clenched his teeth in pain, barely stopping himself from falling right then and there.
Shaking, he looked up, only to lock eyes with the cold stare of the alpha strapped to the execution frame.
That look, slicing through the bloody curtain covering his face, was as cold and sharp as a bloody knife. It didn't seem like it could come from a guy who had been tortured for days on the rack.
"Is this... the pressure of a top-level alpha? How can it be so crushing? What tier was he at now?" Fear took root in the alpha's heart. Even though he couldn't believe it, he finally backed down, sneaking away from the crowd, no longer daring to spit out insults from the safety of the group.
Already far from the yard and climbing the stairs, Kestrel suddenly thought he heard something and turned around.
It was like... she heard the familiar sound of sea waves.