The rain came down in sheets, smearing the neon lights of the city into streaks of color that bled across the darkened streets. Naomi’s hood was up, the fabric clinging to her face as she navigated through the narrow back alley leading to one of The Red Ledger’s side entries. It wasn’t an official front those were under tight surveillance but a forgotten service door, its steel frame rusted and peeling, hiding in plain sight.Her earpiece crackled.“Check in,” Chike’s voice came, low and clipped.“In position,” she whispered, eyes scanning the shadows. “Thirty seconds to entry.”Above her, the skeletal remains of an old billboard loomed, dripping rainwater onto the cracked pavement. A lone streetlamp flickered, throwing light on a dumpster with graffiti scrawled in angry reds and blacks. Naomi’s pulse quickened not from fear, but from the razor focus that came before every dangerous move she made.“Remember,” Chike’s voice cut in again, “once you’re inside, you’ll have exactly eight m

Naomi didn’t waste time lingering on the balcony. The enforcers would sweep the upper floors soon, and every second she stayed put narrowed her chances.The rain had turned into a fine mist, coating the rooftops and alleys in a slick sheen that made the city’s neon lights shimmer. She moved along the edge of the balcony, keeping her profile low, then vaulted over to the next fire escape. The rusted ladder creaked dangerously, but she descended fast, landing in a side street behind an abandoned café.“Status?” Chike’s voice broke through the static in her ear.“Clear for now. Heading to the drop.”“Good. But you’ve got company in the area. Their sweep radius expanded after that scanner alert. Expect checkpoints.”“Perfect,” Naomi muttered under her breath.She cut through the back of the café, pushing past overturned chairs and broken glass. The place smelled faintly of mildew and old coffee beans. It was a relic from before the city’s economic collapse, one of thousands of small busin

The air inside the abandoned factory was thick with rust and the stench of oil. The shadows stretched like jagged claws along the cracked concrete floor, and the faint hum of machinery in the distance set Chike’s teeth on edge. His fists were already clenched, the veins in his arms taut as the Red Ledger operatives tightened their circle around him.“Drop the weapon, Heir,” their leader snarled, his voice dripping with false authority. The man’s mask reflected the pale flicker of the overhead light, making him look more like a machine than a man.Chike’s eyes swept the room ten of them. Each heavily armed, their formation disciplined. Behind them, a steel door was bolted shut, and beyond it… the faint sound of someone screaming. That voice raw, desperate ignited something primal in him.“You’ve taken enough from me,” Chike growled, his voice low but lethal. “I’m not surrendering. Not now. Not ever.”A gun cocked, echoing like a death knell. The leader stepped forward, close enough for

Chike stood in the dimly lit parking garage, his back pressed against the cold concrete pillar. The faint hum of fluorescent lights overhead only added to the tension gripping the air. His eyes scanned the empty rows of cars, every shadow a potential threat. The Red Ledger had been too quiet for the last forty eight hours silence was never a good sign.From the moment the Crimson Vault protocol was unlocked, Chike knew it painted a target on his back the size of Lagos Island. But what he didn’t expect was the precision of their next move disappearing completely, only to reappear when it was too late.Footsteps echoed in the distance. Steady, deliberate. Whoever it was, they weren’t trying to hide.Chike adjusted his grip on the metal briefcase in his hand. Inside it was the encrypted drive the one containing records of every covert bank transfer tied to the Red Ledger’s off-the-books operations. If this fell into the wrong hands, his war was over before it began.A figure emerged from

Chike stood in the dimly lit corridor of the Crimson Vault, the air thick with the metallic scent of iron and the faint hum of concealed machinery deep within the walls. The path ahead was lined with armored steel doors, each marked with strange, archaic symbols he had only begun to decipher. The closer he stepped to the center of the vault, the heavier the silence felt like a thousand eyes were watching from beyond the shadows.The Red Ledger’s whispers were no longer metaphorical. A low, guttural murmur seemed to echo from the walls themselves, threading into his thoughts, pressing against his will.“You can still turn back, Chike.”The voice wasn’t just in his head it was coming from somewhere deeper in the vault. But as he listened, he realized it wasn’t trying to stop him. No, it was baiting him, pulling him closer.He tightened his grip on the encrypted tablet in his hand. The device’s holographic interface pulsed faintly, scanning for the hidden lock sequence to access Vault Ch