Chapter 5

Ethan stared at the old scar beneath Louis's collarbone.

No expression crossed his face.

Not even his eyes changed.

Louis watched him quietly for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

"Still the same."

Then he reached behind his back and slowly drew a long blade.

The knife was matte black from handle to edge, narrow and almost soundless as it left the sheath.

—

Meanwhile, inside the command layer—

The atmosphere had changed completely.

Raven and Kane stood facing each other across the room.

Neither moved first.

But the tension between them had become razor-thin.

"You think I'm not Kane anymore?" Kane asked softly with a faint smile. "Or are you hoping I'm not?"

Raven's voice remained calm.

"The real Kane would never place the third ignition point under Shadows Bridge."

Kane tilted his head slightly.

"And why not?"

"Because Ethan is best at handling exactly this kind of situation," Raven answered immediately. "If your goal was really to kill him, there were easier ways."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"You built this entire operation around forcing him to make a choice."

"That means the bridge was never the objective."

Kane said nothing.

Raven continued:

"You're using Ethan to confirm something."

—

At the same time—

Lena finally reached the second blast gate.

Without hesitation, she slammed the black access chip into the recognition slot.

The system paused briefly.

Then a message appeared.

TOP-LEVEL AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED

Beside her, the technician's face turned pale.

"Lena... if we open this gate, command layer security will detect it immediately."

Lena never even looked at him.

"Not your concern."

Then she grabbed the release lever—

And pulled it all the way down.

CLANG.

The entire underground maintenance route lit up at once.

Emergency lights flashed alive one after another deep inside the tunnel system while heavy mechanical locks disengaged through the walls with thunderous metallic echoes.

The path was open.

—

Under Shadows Bridge—

Ethan fired first.

Louis tilted his head slightly.

The bullet screamed past his ear and exploded into the bridge pillar behind him, shattering part of the steel support plate.

Both men separated again beneath the rain.

One held a long blade.

The other carried a combat knife and pistol.

Water flooded the bridge floor beneath their feet.

Louis's breathing had become uneven now.

That restrained emotion inside him was finally surfacing.

Excitement.

Almost uncontrollable.

"Yes," he murmured. "That's it."

His eyes locked onto Ethan.

"Forget the bomb for a second."

"Finish this first."

Ethan glanced briefly at the countdown.

00:43

Then he answered quietly:

"You still want to die that badly."

Louis laughed.

The sound carried something twisted inside it.

"What does death matter?"

Rain streamed across his face.

"If dragging you back into what you used to be costs my life..."

His smile widened slightly.

"Then it's worth it."

This time—

Ethan moved first.

The two men collided again beneath the massive support beam.

Louis fought brutally.

Every strike from the black blade aimed to cut straight through flesh and bone.

Ethan stayed close.

Too close.

His knife and pistol rotated seamlessly between attacks, every movement precise and economical.

No wasted motion.

No hesitation.

After several brutal exchanges, Ethan suddenly stepped inside Louis's right side and drove an elbow directly into his chest.

The impact slammed Louis backward two full steps.

But Ethan didn't pursue.

The instant Louis lost balance—

Ethan turned sharply and lunged back toward the bridge support beam.

His hands locked onto the outer plate covering the structure.

Then he ripped it open.

The bridge support contained three internal layers.

The first was camouflage.

The second was a pressure-buffer shell.

The real cutting charge was hidden inside the third layer.

The first plate tore away immediately.

The second became visible underneath.

Behind him, Louis regained his footing slowly.

His expression darkened.

"Even now," he said quietly, "you still choose the mission before yourself."

Then he raised one hand toward the device behind his ear.

At almost the exact same moment—

A faint red light appeared beneath the old bullet scar on his chest.

Ethan spun around instantly.

For the first time tonight—

His expression actually changed.

"You have a trigger chip inside you too?"

Louis grinned.

But now the smile looked genuinely unstable.

"Kane gives everyone a final purpose."

His breathing became heavier.

"I'm no exception."

And suddenly Ethan understood.

Louis had never intended to survive.

He was the final failsafe.

The moment Ethan reached the core explosive mechanism—

Louis would rush him and detonate himself directly against the support beam.

The bridge.

The device.

And Ethan himself.

Gone together.

"You're insane."

Louis stared at him with bloodshot eyes.

"I've been insane for a long time."

Then he charged again.

Ethan reacted instantly.

A brutal kick drove directly into Louis's chest.

The impact launched him backward through the rain.

His body slammed violently into the steel framework before collapsing onto the flooded concrete.

Unconscious.

The countdown continued.

00:31

No time left.

Ethan immediately tore away the second buffer layer.

And the second it broke open—

He realized the trap.

The entire interior was packed with microscopic fiberglass threads.

The moment the panel split apart, the fibers scattered everywhere, embedding instantly into his exposed skin.

At first—

Only irritation.

Then pain.

Violent pain.

The fibers were nearly invisible.

The deeper his muscles moved, the deeper they buried themselves beneath the skin.

Burning.

Then stabbing.

Then something that felt like needles grinding into bone.

Ethan's hand twitched involuntarily.

His face darkened immediately.

Even from the ground, Louis saw it and laughed weakly.

"You thought Kane would only build one shell?"

Ethan ignored him.

He forced himself to steady his breathing.

But every movement drove the fibers deeper.

His arm trembled again.

No choice.

The decision came instantly.

Ethan rolled up his sleeve completely.

Fiberglass covered the exposed skin of his forearm like glittering dust.

Without hesitation—

He pressed the edge of the combat knife directly against the worst section.

And cut downward hard.

The motion was savage.

Skin and flesh tore away together with the embedded fibers.

Blood poured instantly down his arm.

Pain exploded through his body.

The muscles along Ethan's jaw tightened violently—

But he never made a sound.

He immediately wrapped the wound tightly using torn fabric from his sleeve, forcing the shaking under control.

When he raised his hand again—

Blood still covered his fingers.

But the tremor was gone.

He inhaled slowly.

Forced his breathing steady.

Then finally looked down at the exposed device structure inside the third layer.

And what he saw made his pupils narrow slightly.

Three wires.

Red.

Blue.

Black.

All connected to the same trigger node.

A standard three-choice trap.

But Kane never used standard methods.

Ethan's eyes moved rapidly across the internal layout.

Then he noticed it.

A nearly invisible transparent membrane beneath the black wire.

Hidden underneath—

A fourth wire.

White.

"There you are."

Using the tip of the knife, Ethan carefully peeled away the membrane.

The hidden wire emerged.

His movements became impossibly steady.

He slowly stripped part of the insulation.

The timer hit:

00:18

Ethan inhaled once.

Then positioned the blade directly against the center of the white wire.

One clean cut.

The red light vanished instantly.

The countdown froze.

00:11

Silence.

Ethan finally released the knife and leaned back heavily against the bridge support.

Blood still dripped steadily from his arm.

"It's over," he said quietly.

—

He sat there for several seconds before forcing himself back to his feet.

The blood had already soaked through the fabric wrapped around his arm.

But the injury no longer affected movement.

Rain continued pouring across the bridge.

Louis lay several meters away.

Still alive.

Barely.

Ethan walked over slowly and crouched beside him.

Two fingers pressed briefly against Louis's neck.

Weak pulse.

Stable.

Without a word, Ethan searched Louis's body and removed a miniature communication device hidden beneath the raincoat.

He stared at it for a few seconds.

Then crushed it in his hand and threw the pieces into the floodwater below the bridge.

Afterward, he stood again.

And looked toward the distant command layer towers through the rain.

Water ran down his face mixed with sweat and blood.

Then—

The earpiece crackled alive.

"Ethan... finally... got through..."

Lena's voice.

Broken by interference.

"How bad... over there?"

Ethan answered while walking.

"I fought Louis. He's unconscious. Send someone to collect him."

Static exploded through the channel again.

Then Lena's fragmented voice returned.

"Ethan... listen..."

"Raven is still... trapped..."

"The real... control room... isn't..."

Most of the sentence vanished beneath heavy distortion.

Only a few words survived.

"...not in the command layer..."

Then the signal died completely.

Ethan stopped for less than a second.

Then turned immediately toward the old refrigeration district.

He began walking faster.

—

Ten minutes later—

Ethan entered the western maintenance shaft beneath the abandoned cold storage facility.

The tunnel was narrow.

Rust-covered pipes lined both sides.

The air smelled like iron and old water.

Ethan moved quickly through the shaft without slowing.

The injuries across his shoulder, arm, and back still bled beneath the rain-soaked fabric.

But pain no longer mattered.

He'd lived with worse.

At the very end of the tunnel—

A heavy iron door waited in the darkness.

No electronic lock.

Only an old mechanical handle.

Ethan grabbed it.

Twisted hard.

The door opened slowly inward.

Beyond it—

Darkness.

Except for a single weak light glowing somewhere deep inside.