Chapter 2

The man turned back toward the camera.

"Three support beams," he said calmly, "and the entire wall collapses."

Behind him, flames reflected across the warehouse ceiling.

"Kane always loved structural failures," he continued. "Tell Zero I finally learned something from him."

He lifted one hand casually.

Then—

BOOM.

A second explosion tore through the warehouse.

The camera shook violently.

Fire surged somewhere deep inside the structure as the two hostages were thrown sideways onto the concrete floor, screaming through the tape over their mouths.

The video ended.

Black screen.

Lena stared at the laptop without moving.

Her chest felt tight.

She needed to contact Ethan.

But Ethan's final warning still echoed in her head.

Trust nobody.

No calls.

No systems.

No one.

That wasn't paranoia.

That was survival.

Lena inhaled slowly and pulled open the bottom drawer beneath the desk.

Inside was an old satellite phone wrapped in black cloth.

They hadn't used it in years.

Independent signal.

Cold frequency.

Untraceable unless someone already knew where to look.

She inserted the battery and powered it on.

Weak signal bars flickered across the cracked screen.

Then she dialed Ethan's emergency code.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

No answer.

She called again.

Still nothing.

Lena closed her eyes.

Ethan had shut off communication intentionally.

If Kane was monitoring the grid, Ethan wouldn't risk being tracked.

Which meant—

Right now, nobody could find him.

The thought hit her like ice water.

She immediately pulled up the internal clearance database and opened the Level-S personnel list.

Only six names.

She checked them one by one.

Travel logs.

Access records.

Port activity.

Then she reached the final file.

Her fingers froze.

According to the record, this person had been stationed at the harbor for the last three days.

Lena's grip tightened around the mouse.

If the file was real, then Kane wasn't just hunting Ethan.

He was building something much larger.

Something designed specifically for him.

Lena stood up immediately and grabbed her coat.

Halfway to the door, she stopped.

Ethan told her to stay.

But Ethan didn't know the full situation.

And if she stayed here—

He might die alone.

Rain hammered against the apartment windows.

The sound was deafening.

Like the entire city was forcing her to choose.

Lena shut her eyes tightly.

For several seconds, memories flashed through her mind.

Gunfire.

Safehouses.

Blood on concrete floors.

Ethan walking away without looking back.

And always the same warning:

Survive first.

Lena opened her eyes again.

Decision made.

She returned to the desk, inserted the wireless earpiece Ethan left behind, and slipped the syringe into her sleeve.

Then she wiped the laptop clean.

Full system purge.

No recovery possible.

Finally, she opened the hidden bottom compartment beneath the cabinet.

Inside rested a worn magnetic access card.

BLACK GATE AUTHORIZATION.

Lena stared at it for several seconds.

"I promised not to follow you," she whispered.

"But I can still open the door."

She pocketed the card, grabbed her keys, and left the apartment.

Outside, the harbor was burning.

Red emergency lights flashed endlessly through the rain while thick smoke climbed into the night sky.

Somewhere ahead—

Ethan was already walking into hell.

Twenty minutes later.

Port Authority Command Center.

Sublevel Three.

Lena pressed the old magnetic card against the security scanner.

ACCESS GRANTED.

The heavy steel door unlocked with a deep metallic click.

She stepped inside.

Rows of server towers hummed beneath cold fluorescent lights.

Then—

Footsteps echoed behind her.

"Working late?"

The male voice sounded relaxed.

Too relaxed.

"Lena."

Her body stiffened instantly.

A man emerged from the shadows wearing a dark security jacket.

Mid-forties.

Clean haircut.

No visible weapon.

Which meant he definitely had one.

He smiled slightly.

"Easy," he said. "I just came to confirm something."

Lena kept her expression cold.

"What."

"Has Zero already entered the warehouse district?"

She stared at him.

"Who are you?"

The man ignored the question.

"Kane asked me to pass along a message."

Lena said nothing.

The man stepped closer.

"He said you remind him of one of Ethan's old shadows."

A pause.

"So he's giving you one chance."

"What chance?"

"To call Ethan."

The room suddenly felt smaller.

The man tilted his head slightly.

"Tell him Black Gate is open. Tell him to take the lower route."

Lena's voice hardened.

"And if I don't?"

The man shrugged.

"Then you die here."

He touched the earpiece hidden beneath his collar as if receiving instructions.

At that exact moment—

One of the surveillance monitors switched feeds.

Ethan's vehicle appeared on-screen.

Moving through the inner harbor road.

Lena's pupils contracted instantly.

Something was wrong.

Ethan wasn't navigating freely.

Someone was guiding him.

Traffic lights.

Road barriers.

Camera routes.

Every decision around him was being manipulated.

The man lowered his voice.

"Three hours," he said softly. "Now there's only two hours and seventeen minutes left."

He smiled.

"You should decide quickly."

Lena didn't move.

But beneath the table, her hand slowly reached the injector hidden inside her sleeve.

Thumb resting silently against the safety lock.

Then—

Footsteps exploded down the hallway outside.

Fast.

Panicked.

Not security patrol.

The man frowned immediately.

"Who let someone in?"

A soaked harbor technician burst around the corner, breathing hard.

"Lena—"

He nearly slipped on the floor.

"The explosions aren't isolated anymore," he gasped. "They're wiring the entire warehouse district together."

Lena's stomach dropped.

Then suddenly—

A voice echoed through the control room speakers.

"Zero..."

Everyone froze.

The voice was calm.

Distorted.

Familiar.

"I'm leaving you a path."

Lena snapped her head toward the surveillance wall.

No face appeared on-screen.

No feed changed.

The voice was simply there.

Inside the system.

The technician looked terrified.

"That's not coming through broadcast channels," he whispered. "Someone injected directly into the command layer."

Command layer.

Even the man across from Lena visibly stiffened.

He looked toward the speakers.

"Where are you?"

Silence.

Then a quiet laugh.

"You're not important enough to ask me that."

The man's face darkened instantly.

A second later—

The far-left monitor suddenly went black.

Then red text appeared across the screen.

B3 ACCESS CORRIDOR — RELEASED

Another line followed immediately after.

AUDIT AUTHORITY — FROZEN

The man turned sharply toward Lena.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

Her expression never changed.

But she quietly slid the injector back into her sleeve.

The man stared at her for one second too long—

Then reached behind his waist for his gun.

THUNK.

Something tore through his shoulder.

Blood exploded across the wall.

The pistol slipped from his hand and crashed onto the floor.

Lena's eyes widened.

That wasn't a bullet.

Embedded deep inside the man's shoulder—

Was a steel spike.

Thin.

Black.

Precision-fired.

And instantly, only one name entered her mind.

"Raven..."