Contents
CHAPTER 36: What You Deserve
Overview
Mudt confronts Bero over betrayal and theft, then executes a calculated double-cross: drugging Bero, overdosing him with SN1, and stripping his jade. The power imbalance flips as Mudt claims agency and resources, likely ending Bero’s arc and shifting the underworld’s dynamics in Janloon.
Summary
In Bero’s sweltering, powerless apartment, Bero and Mudt drink and practice Channeling on trapped rats. Bero proposes cooking street shine to control supply, while Mudt dismisses the plan as low-quality and reminds Bero that his clients expect premium product. A Channeling contest shows Mudt’s growing competence, unsettling Bero.
The conversation erupts when Mudt accuses Bero of stealing shine from Mudt’s late father and exploiting him without intention of vengeance. Bero, enraged, lunges to attack, but sudden vertigo exposes that Mudt has drugged his beer, mirroring a trick Bero once bragged about using on a Green Bone.
Reeling, Bero attempts a Deflection and fails. Mudt calmly injects Bero with a triple dose of concentrated SN1, pins him using Strength, and removes Bero’s jade necklace for himself. As Bero’s body shuts down from poison, overdose, and jade loss, Mudt asserts Bero is only getting what he deserves and leaves.
Bero, alone and failing, crawls to the door and collapses, his final perceptions narrowing into darkness. Mudt’s betrayal ends their partnership, likely killing Bero and transferring Bero’s jade and influence to Mudt.
Who Appears
- MudtBero’s young accomplice; confronts and betrays him, drugging and overdosing him with SN1, then steals his jade.
- BeroSmall-time thief and jade wielder; argues with Mudt, is poisoned, injected with SN1, and left to die.