2026-09-07 08:39:00
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 24: Mid-Level Bleed
"My hands are slipping, Deyvorn," Tazvik gasped, his boots scraping uselessly against the rusted rungs of the vertical shaft. "The iron... it’s sweating.""Don't look down," Deyvorn muttered, his own fingers raw and bleeding where the flaking rust had sliced through his worn leather gloves. "Zervik, grab the guide rail. If that cart slips, it takes all three of us down to the sump.""I am currently prioritizing my own skeletal integrity," Zervik called down from five feet above, his voice muffled by the narrow concrete neck of the ventilation column. "But if it reassures you, the cargo is secured to my belt by a highly durable, corporate-grade nylon strap. If you fall, I will simply cut it.""You cut that strap, and I’ll use my last breath to drag you with me," Deyvorn snarled, throwing his shoulder against the underside of the heavy metal cart wedged between them."Save you
Chapter 23: Vertical Scale
"If my lumbar spine gives out before we reach the top, Zervik, I’m making sure your body serves as my landing cushion," Deyvorn growled, his knuckles white as he hauled the heavy iron crowbar upward and wedged it into the rusted seam of the municipal access hatch."Such morbid sentimentality," Zervik replied, wiping a smear of greasy black soot from his forehead with the back of a ruined cuff. "Focus less on my impending demise and more on the latch. If the security sweep catches us down here because you lack upper-body strength, my corporate metrics will look positively stellar compared to your obituary.""Quiet, both of you," Tazvik wheezed, his breath rattling in his chest as he slumped against the damp, sweating concrete of the shaft wall. The old courier’s face was the color of curdled milk, his eyes glassy and unfocused in the pale beam of the headlamp. "The noise... it echoes up the entire ventilation column.
Chapter 22: The Ascent Plan
"Corporate codes won't open a rusted lock, Zervik," Deyvorn spat, his boots sinking another six inches into the freezing, oil-slicked sludge of the abandoned freight vault. "And unless your fancy office keys can melt through four inches of reinforced bulkhead, we are officially trapped between a corporate firing squad and a watery grave."Zervik didn’t flinch, though a drop of filthy condensation dripped from the vaulted ceiling onto his meticulously parted hair. "The lock isn't corporate, Deyvorn. It's municipal maintenance from before the district was rezoned. A standard physical override will drop the latch, provided you have enough leverage and a total lack of regard for your lumbar spine.""Leverage," Tazvik wheezed from the rear, clutching his side as he leaned heavily against the damp concrete wall. "He talks about leverage like we're sitting in a board meeting instead of drowning in a sewer. Hand me that iron crowbar before I faint, boy."Deyvorn shoved the handles of his over
Chapter 21: Whistleblower’s Ghost
The rusted iron tracks vanished entirely beneath a thick, gelatinous layer of industrial grease and black-market runoff, the bitter stench of sulfur stinging Deyvorn’s eyes with every heavy, exhausting step. Behind him, the rhythmic, metallic clatter of the delivery cart’s wheels sounded entirely too loud in the cavernous, water-logged vault of the decommissioned freight tunnel."Keep pushing, Deyvorn, or the only thing you'll be delivering is your own corpse to the municipal incinerator," Zervik muttered over his shoulder, his polished corporate loafers long since ruined by the knee-deep sludge, though he still carried himself with the irritating posture of a man inspecting an underperforming branch office."Shut up, Zervik, or I’ll leave you behind for Mara’s scavengers to strip for copper wire," Deyvorn spat back, his shoulders burning as he heaved the heavy cart over a severed rail spike that threatened to snap the axle."You wouldn't survive ten minutes without my administrative
Chapter 20: The Ledger’s Secret
"Keep your breath, old man, you're going to need every drop of it if we're making that drainage exit," Mara snapped, though the dangerous edge in her voice had softened just enough to betray a flicker of reluctant respect. She jerked her chin toward the gaping maw of the tunnel ahead, where the rusted tracks vanished into black, knee-deep sludge. "Ten minutes is all I'm giving you. If you drag your feet, I'm locking the bulkhead behind you and letting the corporate sweep turn your fancy suit into confetti.""Generous as always, Mara," Zervik muttered, smoothing down the lapel of his ruined jacket with an absurd display of mid-level corporate vanity. "Shall we?"Deyvorn grabbed the iron handles of his delivery cart, his muscles groaning in protest as the heavy wheels churned through the thick, viscous mud of the abandoned rail bed. Behind him, Tazvik shuffled along with a harsh, rattling wheeze, leaning heavily on a scavenged pipe for support. The air grew rapidly colder, smelling of s
Chapter 19: Reunion in the Dark
Mara’s knuckles whitened around the grip of her plasma-cutter, the sharp hiss of the blue flame cutting through the stagnant air of the rusted railcar. "Drones don't clear secondary exits, corporate. They seal them.""They do if you hack the grid routing before they reach the blast doors," Zervik countered, his voice remaining uncomfortably calm as he stepped right into the perimeter of her personal space. "Which I already did three miles back using your local terminal junction. We have a ten-minute window before the automated sweep realizes the bypass is looping."Deyvorn slammed his hand against the rusted iron frame of his delivery cart, the physical ledgers shifting heavily beneath their worn canvas tarp. "Ten minutes isn't enough to get through a rusted bulkhead, Zervik, especially with Tazvik moving like he swallowed an anchor.""I heard that, boy," Tazvik rasped from the dark corner of the car, his breathing coming in shallow, wheezing hitches as he hauled himself up against a
You may also like
The Consortium's Heir
Benjamin_Jnr1.7M viewsTRILLIONAIRE ON TOP
Sweet savage227.4K viewsRise Of The Disrespected Trillionaire Heir
Blaq83.6K viewsGod of War, Returned For His Wife
DoAj43285.2K viewsThe Almighty Security Guard
Moses56 viewsRevenge of the Disgraced Heir
Onaddict170 viewsThe Young Trillionaire In Shadow
SEYI322 viewsThe God of War Comeback
Sammy122 views