The echo of the wooden gavel faded into the high ceiling of Courtroom 12, leaving behind a thick, heavy silence.Judge Choi was gone. The side door leading to his private chambers remained firmly shut. The two bailiffs had already dragged the sobbing, confessing guard out through the rear exit, removing him from the public eye before the reporters could process what had just happened.I stood alone at the defense table.My right hand rested on the polished wood. The rough fabric of the gray detainee uniform scratched against the thick layer of gauze taped over my shoulder. A fresh, slow trickle of warm blood slid down my collarbone, a sharp reminder of the sniper’s bullet. The pain throbbed in time with my pulse, a bright, searing fire that spread across my fractured ribs.I looked across the aisle. The junior prosecutor didn't meet my eyes. He shoved his legal pads into his leather briefcase, his hands shaking slightly. He snapped the latches shut, turned on his heel, and rushed out

Through the small speaker of my encrypted phone, I heard the faint clink of ice dropping into a crystal glass. CEO Cha Seung-Ho was sitting in his high-rise penthouse, watching the city burn, and treating my life like a simple line item on a corporate balance sheet."Anything you want," Cha repeated, his smooth voice entirely devoid of panic. "Ten billion won. A private jet waiting at Gimpo Airport. You just broadcast a short retraction, claim the ledger was a fabrication, and vanish."I stood in the center of the cheap Euljiro motel room. The harsh, flickering light of the bathroom bulb cast long shadows against the peeling yellow wallpaper. My right shoulder burned with a searing, steady heat beneath the thick bandages. The sharp scent of the rubbing alcohol I had just poured over the sniper’s graze filled the cramped space."You don't get to buy your way out of this," I told him, keeping my voice perfectly steady. "The public has the offshore routing numbers. Independent watchdogs

I kept both hands gripped tightly on the steering wheel, my knuckles turning stark white. Every bump on the ruined Incheon highway sent a sharp, burning shock through my right shoulder and deep into my fractured ribs.In the passenger seat, Reporter Kim Soo-Yeon sat hunched over her glowing laptop. The pale light from the screen illuminated the tight, terrified lines of her face. She typed frantically, tracking the encrypted ping we had managed to pull from the missing accountant’s smartwatch."The signal is degrading," Soo-Yeon said, her voice shaking just loud enough to be heard over the drumming rain. "The GPS pulse is bouncing off the commercial relays near the docks, but the battery is dying. It dropped from twelve percent to four percent in the last ten minutes. If the watch dies, we lose him completely.""We are close," I told her, keeping my eyes on the slick asphalt ahead."System," I commanded in the silence of my mind.The low electronic hum vibrated at the base of my skull

The engines revved. The driver of the lead SUV threw the vehicle into reverse, backing up slowly until the armored police truck shifted just enough to let them pass.The three black vehicles turned sharply, their tires spinning on the slick pavement, and sped away into the labyrinth of shipping containers.They faded into the gray rain, leaving nothing behind but the smell of burned rubber and diesel exhaust.I let out a long, shuddering breath. My knees suddenly felt weak. I grabbed the rusted edge of the shipping container with my left hand, leaning heavily against the cold steel as the adrenaline crashed out of my system.Han Do-Woon walked over to the container, wiping the rain from his eyes. He looked at my soaked, cheap suit and the pale, terrified face of Soo-Yeon behind me."You cut it close, Tae-Rin," Han muttered, his chest heaving slightly."How did you know where we were?" I asked, my voice hoarse."I didn't," Han replied, shaking his head. "I had my men tracking the Titan

I woke up to the smell of old dust and dried iron.My cheek was pressed hard against the cheap, rough carpet of the Euljiro motel room. My right arm was completely numb. I tried to push myself up, but a sharp, splitting pain shot through my temples, forcing me to drop my head back to the floor.I opened my eyes. The pink neon light from the window was gone, replaced by the dull, gray wash of late morning.I dragged my left hand to my mouth. My lips were crusted with dried blood. A dark, sticky puddle stained the carpet inches from my nose.I rolled onto my back, my chest heaving as I pulled in a shallow, rattling breath. My fractured ribs burned, but the pain in my chest was nothing compared to the violent throb inside my skull. It felt as if someone had driven a long spike behind my eyes and left it there."System," I rasped, my voice barely a whisper.There was no low, comforting hum at the base of my neck.A pale, flickering blue panel appeared in my vision. The crisp grid lines we