Zarek’s brows rose in confusion, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the vial. Even with the recording playing, the gaps in his history were massive. He knew his father was a man of secrets, but the scale of this, being hunted by a private army for a sliver of liquid, didn't add up. How could his father have known he’d even be alive to find this box? Was it a calculated masterstroke or merely a dying man's desperate gamble?"Vital research?" Zarek muttered, his brow furrowing. "What the hell is this supposed to do, Dad? Fix the world or burn it down?""Save the philosophy for later!" Shaw yelled, jerking the wheel as a hail of gunfire peppered the rear bumper.Through the shattered rear window, the headlights of the pursuing SUVs crested the ridge behind them like predatory eyes. The retrieval team was back on track, and they were closing the gap with terrifying efficiency."The scanners are screaming, Zarek!" Shaw shouted over the roar of the engine. "They’re flanking us. We’re b

It didn’t budge.Zarek pulled a small high-explosive breaching charge from his vest, the last of his gear, and slapped it onto the lock.“What are you doing, Boss?” Shaw hissed, reaching for his gun as the factory’s internal alarm began to wail, not a standard fire alarm, but a sharp digital shriek that sounded like a dying bird.“I’m opening the lid,” Zarek replied, thumb hovering over the detonator. “I want to see what’s being fried in all that oil.”The alarm didn’t just ring, it clawed at the air, a high-frequency assault that made nearby windows tremble in their frames.It was a sound engineered to trigger primal panic.Shaw flinched, hands flying to his ears before he grabbed Zarek’s shoulder, trying to drag him back into the shadows.“Boss! Stop!” Shaw shouted over the piercing wail. “This is going to draw every patrol in a five-mile radius! We’re burning our cover, we’re burning the mission, and we’re practically handing our GPS coordinates to Chimera tactical teams!”His mind

Shaw, seeing the guards' knuckles go white on their weapons, stepped out from behind the truck. He held his hands where they could see them, though he didn’t drop his pistol."Easy!" Shaw yelled, trying to bridge the gap. "We aren't here for the oil! We were with a blonde-haired man… Tae-hyun. He’s the one who asked us to come here. He said this was the heart of the operation."The mention of the name acted like a physical blow. The lead Sentinel flinched, his head snapping toward Shaw. "Tae-hyun? You were with the Section Leader?""Yeah," Shaw pressed, sensing a momentary opening. "We were in the SUV with him. Things got messy on the mountain, and he gave us the coordinates. He told us to bring the Box here. We’re just following the Masterpiece's orders."The lead guard looked from Shaw to the Black Box in Zarek’s hand, then back to the horrific, clawed hand still twitching in the gap of the door. A slow, mocking laugh erupted from his respirator."Tae-hyun asked you here?" the g

Zarek didn’t hesitate. He didn’t pour the vial into a port or offer it to the creature’s outstretched, silver-slicked palm. Instead, he gripped the glass cylinder in his fist and slammed it downward, crushing it directly against the biometric scanner of the Black Box.The glass shattered. Shimmering silver-blue liquid flooded the box's circuitry."WARNING: CRITICAL SYSTEM OVERLOAD. BIO-SYNC DESTABILIZED," the Harvest’s voice glitched, its harmonic whispers fracturing into a screech of digital feedback.The blue fluid didn't just sit there; it surged, drawn into the internal components by a magnetic pull. Suddenly, a pillar of blinding azure light erupted from the casing, arcing through the air like a localized lightning strike. It slammed into the chest of the Harvest, tethering the box and the monster together with raw, unstabilized energy."Zarek! The whole place is going to blow!" Shaw screamed, shielding his eyes as the surrounding crates began to vibrate and hum."Get to the c

Hearing the woman, Zarek finally turned his head. He looked at her, and the cold, dead light in his eyes made the woman’s dismissive sneer falter for a fraction of a second.Zarek took a step forward, his shadow stretching across the plush crimson rug. He opened his mouth, his voice low and steady. "We don't need a lecture on your inventory. We need—""I don't care what you think you need!" the woman snapped, her voice rising an octave, cutting him off mid-sentence. She slammed her leather-bound ledger shut with a crack that echoed through the silent showroom. "I am not interested in a word out of either of you. Look at you! You are tracking filth onto hand-woven silk. Do you have any idea what the cleaning fees alone cost?"Zarek’s brow furrowed, a rare flash of genuine irritation flickering behind his eyes. He tried again, his hand moving toward the roll of cash in his pocket. "Listen to me—""No, you listen!" she hissed, stepping out from behind the counter and pointing sharpl