On the Yamal, Pierce stared at the flames soaring into the sky from the harbor and listened to the relentless bursts of gunfire. His entire body shook violently, the color draining from his face in an instant as his pupils contracted in utter horror. He could almost feel his heart skip a beat.
"What—what does this mean?!" he snarled into the phone, his voice warping slightly with shock.
Odin's voice remained calm through the receiver, even carrying a trace of detached indifference, clearly cutting through the sounds of battle in the background. "Someone within the Federal Security Service of Russia wants to claim the secrets aboard the ship for themselves. They arranged personnel to take it over."
He paused, as if admiring the blazing fire in the distance. "But I believe the Gate leading to the Kingdom of God should not become any one person's private property."
Pierce's breathing suddenly quickened as a possibility surfaced in his mind.
Odin's voice continued, like a devil's whisper, pounding against the deepest Desire in his heart. "We need a new Ferryman—one who will serve all of us. In the future, he will carry us to the Promised Land."
With almost no hesitation, driven both by his towering ambition and the display of power before his eyes, Pierce blurted out in a hoarse, feverish voice of desperate resolve, "Sir! I—I am willing to serve you! Do you think I could—become the new Charon?" A faint, nearly imperceptible chuckle came from the receiver, seeming both approving and mocking.
"That is precisely what I mean." Odin's affirmation was brief and forceful. "Now, leave the harbor immediately. Don't worry. This explosion—and everything that happens next—will have nothing to do with you. It will merely be an unfortunate, violent clash between the Federal Security Service of Russia and