King of the UndergroundChapter 21 – Smoke Over SteelPeace was a lie they told in the aftermath of war.Jaxon knew better.Peace didn’t come in treaties or in blood-soaked handshakes. It came in silence—and even that silence never lasted. Not here. Not in a city where the ground itself remembered every gunshot, every betrayal, every name whispered before a bullet ended a legacy.From the rooftop of the old courthouse, Jaxon looked down on the skeleton of the city he had fought to take. The skyline was broken—steel frames half-built and never finished, glass reflecting nothing but ghosts. Fires no longer raged, but the smoke hadn’t cleared. It just settled into the bones.The war had ended three months ago.But the war inside him had never stopped.Footsteps approached behind him. He didn’t need to look.“Lira,” he muttered.“You’ve got that look again,” she said, stepping beside him, arms folded. “Like you’re watching the next fire start.”“That’s because I am.”She didn’t argue. She

King of the UndergroundChapter 23 – The TunnelsMidnight came dressed in fog.It rolled across the concrete like a veil, swallowing headlights and footsteps alike. The reservoir tower loomed ahead, its corroded pipes groaning beneath decades of rust and secrecy. Hidden beneath it was the old utility tunnel—long sealed, long forgotten.Until now.Jaxon crouched at the tunnel’s edge, flanked by Lira, Luca, and the trembling runner from the holding cell. The man’s name was Devon. He hadn’t stopped shaking since the van ride over.“You sure this is it?” Jaxon asked, voice low.Devon nodded, sweat streaking down his brow. “I swear, this is where they said the drop would be. Midnight. Same crates, same crew.”Jaxon exchanged a glance with Lira. She gave a sharp nod. The team moved into position—four shadow units fanned out into the surrounding access halls. No lights. Only comms. No sound louder than breath.“Go,” Jaxon ordered.Devon stepped forward, stumbling toward the center of the tun

King of the UndergroundChapter 25 – Rats with TeethThe sewers beneath East End didn’t smell like rot anymore.They smelled like rust and electricity.Jaxon knew that wasn’t normal. The tunnels had always stunk of decay, piss, and memories. But now? The air down here buzzed. Hummed like something alive.He gripped the rusted ladder and dropped down into the dark. His boots hit sludge. Lira followed close behind, then Nico, then two of his best—Kellan and Dax, both ex-Blackburn enforcers who’d bled with him during the purge of South Line.The tunnel walls were sweating. Thin trails of condensation slid over the old graffiti and crumbling cement.Ahead, the Spiral relay bunker waited—buried beneath a forgotten pumping station, shielded by a nest of old tech, motion sensors, and silent-kill drones.Jaxon’s voice echoed low through his comm. “How many inside?”Luca’s voice replied from the van parked three blocks above them. “Four guards, one tech operator, at least two drones. They rota

King of the UndergroundChapter 27 – The Spiral NestThey called it The Nest.An old banking hall buried beneath the financial district—abandoned when the war drove investors out and blood replaced currency in the streets. But Spiral had claimed it. Reinforced the vaults. Wired every exit. Built a nerve center in the city’s dead heart.And Jaxon was going to crack it open.He stood in the back of a stolen ambulance parked two blocks from the target. Dressed in black combat fatigues, hands wrapped in tactical tape, pistol holstered but within reach. Across from him, Lira checked her rifle and popped her neck. Nico leaned against the back doors, silent, calm, as if preparing for a funeral.“Five entry points,” Luca’s voice came through the comm. “Main lobby, utility tunnel, two rooftop vents, and a service stairwell through the parking structure. Thermal scans show at least twelve hostiles. Possibly more underground.”“Chimeras?” Jaxon asked.“One confirmed. Big one. Tagged as Unit 05.”