A ghost in the steel jungle

In the night, the abandoned industrial park stood silently in the cold wind like a vast graveyard of steel.

There were no lights here. The only illumination came from the faint glow of distant Manhattan's brilliant neon reflected off the low-hanging clouds. An unsettling stillness filled the air, as though even the chirping of insects had been strangled by the aura of death buried beneath this land.

"Zzt... zzt..."

A faint electrical crackle sounded in Zhao Fan's earpiece, followed by Benjamin's voice. "Brother Zhao, perimeter scan complete. Things are... livelier than we expected."

Zhao Fan lay prone on the roof of an abandoned factory, watching the movements below through thermal binoculars. He wore black-and-gray tactical camouflage and the mask ground from that Chitauri fragment. Old Dog hid at a ventilation duct opening ten meters behind him, holding a modified nail gun and keeping a wary eye on their rear.

Through the binoculars, shadowy figures were faintly visible at the industrial park's various entrances.

"I've spotted at least three groups," Benjamin reported. "The eastern entrance has those Vulture Gang scavengers, about a dozen of them, carrying heavy breaching tools. A bunch of idiots making a huge show of themselves."

Zhao Fan shifted his binoculars and, sure enough, saw a gang of thugs in battered armor trying to force their way through the perimeter wire fence with chainsaws and hydraulic cutters.

"On the south side... damn it, it's Rick." Benjamin's voice grew tense. "He brought a lot of men, and those exoskeletons."

Zhao Fan trained his binoculars on the south side. Rattlesnake Rick stood smugly beside a modified off-road vehicle, a crude mechanical exoskeleton fitted over his arms and a large-bore shotgun in his hands. Beside him, along with his familiar lackeys, were several mercenaries with cold expressions and professional movements.

"Looks like he's really gone all in this time," Zhao Fan said coldly.

"And on the north side..." Benjamin paused. "Just one heat signature. Moving fast, extremely fast... gone! He's entered a blind spot!"

"It's Kestrel." Zhao Fan's heartbeat quickened slightly. That ghostlike opponent had come after all.

"Wait, new development!" Benjamin suddenly exclaimed. "A D.O.D.C. convoy is coming! It's the special operations team! Leading them is... Dr. Evelyn Reed's command vehicle!"

On the distant main road, a convoy of black armored vehicles with flashing blue lights came roaring toward them, slicing through the night like a black blade.

"She's here sooner than expected." Old Dog cursed under his breath. "Does that crazy woman never sleep?"

"The plan stays the same." Zhao Fan's voice did not waver in the slightest. "Let them tear each other apart at the main entrance. We're taking the sewers."

"Understood. I've already blocked the two vibration sensors near the sewer entrance. You have three minutes to get through."

Zhao Fan put away his binoculars and slipped off the roof like a black cat, landing silently in the shadows. Old Dog followed close behind. Though his leg hampered him, years of experience had taught him how to use his body's momentum to minimize noise.

They quickly crossed the rubble-strewn clearing and reached the drainage channel entrance hidden beneath weeds.

"That smell..." Old Dog had barely lifted the manhole cover before the stench billowing out made him wrinkle his nose. "Even stronger than that vault last time. Though honestly, we've been crawling through so many sewers lately, I'm getting a little used to it."

"Bear with it." Zhao Fan jumped down first. "It's a shortcut."

The sewer was pitch-black, with only the faint beams of their tactical flashlights swaying in the darkness.

They trudged through knee-deep sewage, their footing uneven. Zhao Fan kept [Weak Energy Perception] active the entire time. His mind was filled with a cacophony of static-the background noise of radiation that was everywhere around them.

Suddenly, a violent tremor came from overhead, accompanied by a muffled explosion.

"It's started." Old Dog glanced up at the dripping vaulted ceiling.

Aboveground.

Boom!

A rocket blasted open the industrial park's main gate, and the Vulture Gang's scavengers charged inside with bestial howls. Immediately afterward, a piercing alarm rang through the night. The D.O.D.C.'s automated perimeter defense turrets activated, pouring down a torrential hail of bullets.

"Aah-!"

Screams rose one after another. The scavengers at the very front were instantly riddled with bullets, but instead of frightening the others off, it only roused the viciousness of these desperadoes.

At the same time, Rick launched his attack from the south. Using the tremendous strength granted by his exoskeleton, he tore open a side gate and led his men inside. They had clearly come prepared, using some kind of jammer to disable several nearby turrets.

"Dr. Evelyn, the perimeter defenses have been breached."

Inside the command vehicle, Evelyn watched the chaotic surveillance feeds on the screen. Her delicate face was expressionless, but a bone-deep chill shone in her gray-blue eyes.

"A pack of rats with a death wish," she said coldly. "Activate the level-two defense protocol. Deploy the 'Hound' drones. Since they want to come in, let them stay here forever."

"Doctor, the sensors have detected anomalous fluctuations on the third basement level," a technician reported. "Apart from the known entry points, there also seem to be faint vibrations in the sewer area, but they were quickly masked by background noise."

Evelyn's gaze instantly sharpened.

"The sewers..." she murmured. "Clever little tricks. Lock down the gates in the underground passages, then pump sleeping gas into that area; I want these 'clever rats' captured alive."

Underground.

"Hurry! The gate up ahead is closing!" Benjamin's anxious voice burst through their earpieces. "You have to get through in ten seconds!"

Zhao Fan looked up. A hundred meters ahead, a heavy isolation gate was slowly descending amid the piercing scrape of hydraulic pistons.

"Run!"

With a low shout, Zhao Fan grabbed Old Dog's tactical harness and unleashed all his strength. He sprinted through the sewage, splashing the walls black.

Five seconds. The gate was already halfway down.

Three seconds. Only a meter of clearance remained.

One second.

Zhao Fan let go of Old Dog and thrust both hands beneath the nearly closed gate. Every muscle in his body tensed to its limit as Kinetic Repulsion surged to assist him.

"Go!"

Old Dog scrambled and rolled beneath Zhao Fan, sliding through.

The gate's weight bore down on him like a mountain, and Zhao Fan felt his bones groaning; gritting his teeth, he used his last shred of strength to tuck himself down and roll through an instant before the gate closed completely.

Clang!

The gate slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The two slumped on the ground, gasping for breath. From the other side of the gate behind them came the faint hiss of gas being released.

"Poison gas." Old Dog's face was pale. "One step slower, and we'd have been done for."

Zhao Fan wiped the sewage from his face, but his eyes shone with an increasingly frightening brightness.

"The more dangerous it gets, the closer we are to our target." He stood and looked ahead.

They were already on the second basement level. Unlike the filthy, chaotic sewers, the floor here was laid with metal grating, and strange conduits on the walls blended the styles of Stark Industries and Chitauri technology.

The signal in his [Energy Perception] was growing stronger and stronger. Like a powerful heart, it beat in the depths of the darkness-thump, thump-calling to him.

"Get ready to fight." Zhao Fan drew two throwing knives from his waist, his voice low.