2026-10-27 17:03:21The notification faded, and in its place came something else: a quiet replay of the last several hours, tactical decisions and their outcomes cycling through his memory with a clarity they hadn't had in the moment. The concepts that had been instinct during the fighting were settling now into something he could name and examine. He hadn't studied command. He'd learned it the hard way, in real time, with real consequences, and apparently that was enough to register.
Level one. He'd take i
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 057
Sable Plaza in the last days of summer had the unhurried quality of a city that didn't yet know it was about to have a very bad evening. The air was cool, carrying the faint promise of autumn, and the streets around the square were thick with the usual mix of tourists consulting their phones, office workers loosening their ties, and locals who moved through the crowd with the easy confidence of people who belonged there.Soren moved with them, white coat gone, right hand wrapped around the grip of his Glock 17 beneath his jacket. He kept his pace measured and his eyes moving, scanning doorways, parked cars, the gaps between buildings. He needed a clothing shop. Something with a back exit and enough foot traffic that one more person browsing a rack of jackets wouldn't register on anyone's radar.He was still running the calculation when a child's voice cut through the ambient noise of the square."Mum, look! Birds!"The woman beside the boy tilted her head back, s
Chapter 056
The first two mission achievements were straightforward enough. Thirty kills, fifteen simultaneous opponents, both brutal in their own way but at least legible. The third one was the problem.Ensure the safety of Asset X-017.Soren turned the phrase over as he moved. What was Asset X-017? A document? A drive? A person? He had no idea, and the system hadn't seen fit to elaborate. What he did know, based on the way the other doctors had greeted him this morning and the easy familiarity in their voices, was that he'd been working at Briarcrest Medical Center for a while. Long enough to have a routine. Long enough to have a home.And if he had a home, there was a chance he'd left something there worth finding.The open-air car park outside Briarcrest Medical Center was quiet in the way that places go quiet just before something goes wrong. Soren came through the hospital's side exit at a jog, his white coat still on, his personnel file tucked under one arm. He hadn't
Chapter 055
London, 2013."Dr. Hawke, are you all right?"Consciousness returned in pieces. The overhead lights came first, harsh and white. Then the smell of antiseptic. Then the room itself, assembling around him like a photograph developing in real time. Fluorescent fixtures, white coats, pale linoleum floors that reflected everything in dull, washed-out doubles.A young nurse was watching him with an expression of careful concern, her dark hair pinned back beneath her cap. She was pretty in the uncomplicated way of someone who hadn't yet learned to hide it."You don't look well," she said. "Should I call another doctor?"So. A doctor. He was a doctor.Soren kept his face neutral and shook his head. "I'm fine. Just tired." He glanced at the name badge pinned to her chest. "Thank you for asking, Nora."Nora Weston didn't look entirely convinced. "Let me get you some water, at least."She didn't wait for an answer. She was already moving toward the water
Chapter 054
The convoy made it through without incident, pulling into a gated enclave of luxury villas as the afternoon light slanted gold across manicured hedges and pale stone walls. Soren stepped out and scanned the grounds with the practiced calm of someone cataloguing exits before he'd even looked at the view.He watched Graham escort Alden and a cluster of local government officials through the front entrance, the heavy doors swinging shut behind them. No invitation was extended to the security detail. That was fine. That was expected.Soren and the others spread out across the courtyard, keeping loose formation while they mapped the space. There were sightlines to consider, choke points to note, blind corners that would need coverage after dark. He was still running the mental geometry when a flatbed truck rolled up to the front gate and killed its engine.The rear cargo door swung open."Now that," Evan said, letting out a low whistle, "is professional."He wasn
Chapter 053
Ten days passed quickly.The equipment locker swung open and Cody pulled out two tactical backpacks, setting them on the table. Beside him, Hank was working the straps on his ballistic vest, adjusting the fit with the unhurried patience of someone who had learned not to rush that particular step. Across the room, Evan had the drone on the table in front of him, running through a final systems check with his eyes close to the screen.Soren came down from upstairs in full kit, tactical vest buckled, drop-leg holster strapped to his thigh. "Wilson just called. He says we wait outside the terminal. Take both cars today, it's our first time meeting the principal in person, and showing up properly doesn't hurt."Today was the day Scott Voss arrived in Grayhaven City.Soren had decided the whole team would deploy in full gear for the pickup. Not because the airport required it, but because two hundred thousand dollars a day was a number that deserved to be taken serious
Chapter 052
In West Cascadia, in a gated estate somewhere outside the city, the morning had started badly for Warren Voss.The surface of his desk was bare now, everything swept to the floor in one motion, papers and a phone and a glass all scattered across the carpet. Warren stood in the middle of the wreckage with white hair and red eyes, his whole body shaking with a grief that had nowhere to go.The door opened. A young woman stepped in carefully, her face tight with concern. "Darling, what happened? What's wrong?"The question hit him somewhere he wasn't prepared for. His legs went out from under him and he sat down hard on the floor, both hands pressed over his face, and the sound that came out of him was not something he would have recognized as his own voice."My son," he said. "My son is gone."The news of Julian's death had taken the last thing holding Warren together and broken it cleanly. His wife had died years ago. Julian had been everything after that, th
You may also like
System Blessing For The Poor Son-in-law
Pein50.2K viewsBecome a Super Rich With Destiny Changer System
BOSSSESamaaaa34.5K viewsBillionaire's Luck System
DarkGreey28.1K viewsSupreme Territory System
Vks_sh28.3K viewsThe Fated Sword: The Duke's Second Life
Atwood Veil394 viewsThe Girl I Saved Was the Apocalypse
Santana217 viewsUNBOUND: THE DEVOURING TAMER
Gee Writes503 viewsInfinite Extraction System Can a Beast Reach Havenly Tier?
HeadlessDuckie129 views