Power Plays
Maximus King was twenty years old, too young to be called a warlord and too dangerous to be called a soldier. Raised in the forgotten streets of Rookhaven, Max became the....
Maximus King was twenty years old, too young to be called a warlord and too dangerous to be called a soldier. Raised in the forgotten streets of Rookhaven, Max became the tactical lead of the Orphan Wolves, a legendary orphan-born network built from loyalty, survival, and chosen family. To the battlefield, he was known as Mad Max. To the underworld, whispers would one day call him King Max. But Max’s life changes when a mysterious executor reveals the truth: Max is tied to the ancient King Family, one of the most powerful dynasties in the world. To claim his place, he must enter the King Family’s brutal empire game, a trial system where heirs are tested through poverty, humiliation, business warfare, and power. His first trial sends him into the home of the Dominguez Family, a wealthy Rookhaven house secretly drowning in an old blood debt to the Kings. There, Max must live as a powerless outsider, endure humiliation, marry the family’s cold granddaughter, and receive $100,000 from the very people who look down on him. But the Dominguez Family does not know the truth. They are not humiliating a useless man. They are being judged by a King. Before entering the trial, Max awakens an ancient path after saving Liang Shen, the dying Last Meridian Saint, who opens his meridians and passes down the Sovereign Meridian Codex. While Max trains in secret behind closed doors, the Orphan Wolves gather in Rookhaven and begin taking over the city from the shadows. Law firms. Medical clinics. Security companies. Logistics routes. Investigators. Underworld contacts. The Wolves do not just fight. They replace systems. As Max endures three years of silence, betrayal, and insult, Rookhaven slowly begins to change. The family that thinks they are breaking him never realizes his people are already surrounding the city. When the trial ends, Max will not beg for respect. He will collect what is owed. And when King Max finally returns to the underworld, two cards will decide every fate. The black card means the King has noticed. The white card means the King has promised. In a world where every family plays for power, Maximus King was raised to change the rules.