Chapter 4

The traffic light ahead blurred behind the curtain of rain.

Red light smeared across the windshield like blood beneath water.

Ethan never slowed down.

The car cut hard along the guardrail, tires scraping through standing water with a violent screech. The rear fishtailed briefly across the slick pavement before he pulled it back under control with one hand.

Still nothing in the earpiece.

No response from Lena.

That wasn't normal.

She wasn't the kind of person who froze under pressure. And she definitely wouldn't disappear completely after he entered the harbor zone.

Unless something had already gone wrong on her side.

Something worse than he'd expected.

Ethan glanced at the harbor map glowing across the center console.

His expression darkened slightly.

Everything had been too smooth.

Every road open.

Every checkpoint clear.

It no longer felt like pursuit.

It felt engineered.

As if someone had removed every obstacle in advance just to guide him exactly where they wanted him.

The moment that thought surfaced—

He jerked the steering wheel sideways.

The car instantly broke away from the navigation route and cut into an abandoned freight access road.

And the second he entered it—

Every streetlight died at once.

Darkness swallowed the entire lane.

Then—

Three heavy cargo forklifts burst from behind stacked containers on both sides, sliding sideways to block the road completely.

No escape gap.

No braking distance.

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

But instead of slowing—

He pushed the accelerator harder.

Gunfire exploded from the darkness.

Bullets hammered into the car in rapid succession.

Ethan kept one hand on the wheel while the other reached beneath the seat and drew a compact pistol.

He never even looked back.

Three shots.

Precise.

Controlled.

Fast.

A scream immediately tore through the darkness behind him.

Someone collapsed beside the containers.

But the ambush wasn't finished.

The moment Ethan forced the vehicle onto the elevated cargo ramp, a blinding white light erupted ahead.

Not headlights.

A transport hauler.

Its roof-mounted floodlights burned like a moving wall of white fire as it accelerated directly toward him.

No attempt to avoid collision.

It was coming to crush him head-on.

Ethan stared into the approaching light.

For the first time tonight, real violence surfaced in his eyes.

"Kane."

He spoke the name quietly.

Like something being ground slowly between his teeth.

Still—

He didn't brake.

Didn't turn.

The vehicles collided violently.

Metal screamed.

Ethan's head slammed against the side window frame hard enough to split the skin above his eyebrow.

Blood immediately ran down the side of his face.

He barely blinked.

The second the car stabilized again, he accelerated forward.

Because he'd already seen it.

At the far end of the elevated bridge—

Beneath the main support beam—

A single red light was flashing rapidly.

Ignition Point Three.

Behind him, the transport hauler finally stopped moving.

Its driver-side door opened slowly.

A man wearing a black raincoat stepped out into the storm and watched Ethan disappear toward the bridge.

Then he touched the earpiece beneath his hood.

Only one sentence.

"He's here."

—

Deep inside the command layer—

Kane sat alone in a steel chair.

An entire wall of surveillance monitors glowed in front of him.

Rain.

Fire.

Movement.

Countdowns.

Every angle of the harbor played across the screens.

A black ring rotated slowly between Kane's fingers.

The inverted triangle engraved into the surface reflected faint silver beneath the lights.

After hearing the report through his earpiece, Kane finally stood up and walked toward the center monitor.

Ethan's figure moved through the storm on-screen.

Kane smiled slowly.

He understood Ethan better than anyone.

The calmer Ethan became—

The more dangerous he was.

"Zero."

Kane repeated the codename softly.

A name nobody had dared speak openly for years.

"I gave you three paths," he murmured.

"The warehouse."

"Shadows Bridge."

"Or the woman."

His smile deepened slightly.

"But no matter which road you choose... eventually, they all lead back to me."

Then—

A cold voice emerged from the shadows behind him.

"So you think you've already won?"

The smile on Kane's face paused briefly.

Then he turned around.

Raven stood in the doorway.

No one had heard him arrive.

The long folding blade in his hand unfolded slowly with a metallic click, its edge flashing beneath the pale overhead lights.

Neither man moved immediately.

They stood several feet apart in complete silence.

Watching each other.

Kane studied him carefully.

There was surprise in his eyes.

But not much.

"I knew you weren't dead."

Raven stepped forward slowly.

"As long as you're still breathing," he said quietly, "I couldn't leave first."

Kane actually laughed softly.

Then clapped twice.

Almost amused.

"Too early."

He tilted his head slightly.

"At this point, you can't save Lena."

"And you definitely can't save Ethan."

"I'm not here to save anyone."

Raven's voice stayed flat.

"I came to confirm one thing."

Kane's eyes narrowed slightly.

"And what's that?"

Raven looked directly at him.

"I want to know if there's still anything left of the Kane I used to know."

For the first time—

The smile vanished completely from Kane's face.

—

Meanwhile.

Below Shadows Bridge—

Ethan finally reached the main support beam.

The flashing red indicator was embedded deep inside the steel structure itself.

Only minutes remained on the countdown.

He crouched beside the beam and pressed two fingers lightly against the soaked metal surface.

Immediately—

He felt vibration beneath the steel.

Not ordinary explosives.

Something larger.

The rain hammered endlessly against the bridge.

Water streamed across the steel supports in sheets.

Ethan slowly lifted his head.

At the far end of the bridge—

Inside the darkness—

Someone was standing there.

Watching him.

Ethan stared for several seconds before finally speaking.

"So it really is you."

His voice was quiet.

But the figure in the darkness still heard him.

The man stepped forward slightly beneath the rain.

His entire body remained hidden beneath a black raincoat.

Only the outline was visible.

"Looks like you survived too," Ethan said coldly.

The figure stopped moving.

Then finally answered:

"You survived too, Zero."

The instant Ethan heard that name—

His eyes turned cold.

"Don't call me that."

For several seconds, neither man moved.

Then Ethan began walking forward slowly.

Rainwater mixed with blood along the side of his face.

But somehow—

He looked calmer now than before.

Finally, he spoke again.

"Louis Cox."

The name cut through the storm.

"I thought you died on the Northern Line."

Louis showed no reaction.

He simply pulled open the collar of his raincoat and exposed an old collapsed scar beneath his collarbone.

"A lot of people wanted me dead," he said quietly.

"Kane wanted it."

"The command layer wanted it."

Then his eyes locked onto Ethan.

"And back then... you wanted it too."

Ethan stopped walking.

His gaze stayed on the old wound.

"That wasn't my order."

Louis stared at him for half a second before replying.

"But you were the one who pulled the trigger."

He tapped the scar lightly beneath his collarbone.

A faint smile appeared at the edge of his mouth.

"You know what's funny?"

"That shot was almost perfect."

His eyes darkened beneath the rain.

"Half an inch lower..."

"And I wouldn't be standing here talking to you now."