“Bro, where are you? Are you even alive? Mom and Dad… they were forced to jump off a building by the Four Great Families. There's nothing left of them. Everything the Armstrongs owned was stolen…”

“Grace Matthews tricked her way into seizing all the shares of Armstrong Group, and now she's marrying Ethan Knight. They're throwing an engagement party in three days…”

“We’re buried in debt to the Four Families. It’s all their trap! If I don’t pay up now, they're threatening to drag me underground and sell me like some object…”

“I don’t know where you are, bro. I’m not sure I can hold on anymore. Please, stay alive… You guys! What are you doing? Let me go, you monsters—”

“You little tramp, stealing my phone and making calls? You think some brother of yours can save you? Even God himself couldn’t help you now!”

The audio message ended.

But for Jayson Armstrong, just back from five years of brutal war, that voice was like a dagger through the heart.

His sister Ida’s message hit him harder than anything he's faced on the battlefield.

His parents, gone.

The Armstrong Group? Taken by his ex-fiancée, who’s now tying the knot with the man who ruined him.

His little sister, the only family left, treated like merchandise and dragged into the underworld. Who knows if she’s even alive?

That was his home. His blood.

If his family’s gone, what’s the point of power, of soldiers, of being a war hero with a title?

Each word from the message stoked a fire so furious it could burn cities.

Jayson’s eyes turned bloodshot; in that one moment, he wasn’t a general—he was death itself.

“Isla, get the jet ready. I’m going home.”

The command came out like a storm, cold and final.

“Yes, Commander!” Isla Reeds snapped into action without hesitation.

In no time, the fighter jet roared into the sky. No one dared stop him.

“Commander, I’ve tracked Miss Ida’s location and alerted the Jiangcheng military base. Just say the word, and we’ll crush the Four Families.”

Sebastian Reeds had moved fast. In just moments, he had the full picture of what happened back in Jiangcheng.

He had never seen Jayson like this. Not once in these five years.

The man was a legend, the Reaper General praised by millions. One man powerful enough to silence nations.

But now… he looked broken.

Standing on the jet, Jayson stared down with eyes like dark pits, burning with rage.

As the aircraft climbed, that fire turned into something colder—something lethal.

He’d been set up five years ago, forced into a scandal with a girl. If she hadn’t shown him mercy, he would’ve rotted in jail.

He could still see her hopeless, tear-filled eyes.

Then came exile and a new name—he became Jonathan Armstrong and made war his battleground.

He once charged into an army of a hundred thousand and came out with the enemy general’s head.

He buried entire legions at the border, earning honors no one had seen in a lifetime.

By twenty-two, he was a Marquis.

Now, at twenty-five, he was about to be crowned the sole King of the Shenzhou Alliance.

He'd planned to wait—just three more days—then return, triumphant, to his family. To ask forgiveness from the girl he hurt.

But now?

“Four Great Families of Jiangcheng… your time is up.”