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The close call
Author: Karven ash
last update2025-10-12 08:07:28

Chapter Fourteen:

The fog clung to the city like a living thing—heavy, deliberate, swallowing the night one breath at a time. It coiled around lampposts and drifted across the cracked pavement, muting the hum of distant engines. Billy crouched low behind a stack of rusted crates, breath steady but eyes alive with fire. Every sound felt amplified—the faraway honk of a car, the whisper of wind against metal, Evelyn’s heartbeat trembling close to his shoulder.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Evelyn murmured, voice barely more than breath. Her fingers tightened on the silver case against her chest—the Luoshen case, the one so many had bled for.

Billy’s jaw locked, eyes fixed on the warehouse ahead. “It has to be. The ledger trail ends here. If we’re wrong, we won’t get another chance.”

The warehouse loomed in front of them like a sleeping beast. Its windows were black, save for the occasional flicker of movement inside—men pacing, shadows shifting. Liam’s crew. Efficient, quiet, unboth
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  • BLIZZARD

    CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT :The Arctic wind clawed at the station’s walls like an angry beast. Snow whipped across the frozen landscape, stinging any exposed skin and reducing visibility to a few feet. Billy tightened his coat and stepped cautiously across the metal platform outside the station. The blizzard was relentless, but what unnerved him more was the unnatural stillness inside the station—a quiet that didn’t belong in a place so hostile.Tyla moved beside him, her boots crunching in rhythm with his own. She scanned the perimeter, eyes sharp, every nerve on alert. “The storm isn’t the only thing we should worry about,” she said, her voice low but clear. “Sensors are spiking in the east wing. Something’s moving in there.”Owen, carrying extra gear, muttered under his breath. “We’re getting too predictable. Every time we step, it’s like the station anticipates us. I don’t like this.”Alice, shifting nervously behind them, shot Owen a glance. “Predictable? You mean dead predictable if

  • LINEAGE

    CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN :The hum of the Arctic station was almost deafening now, a subtle vibration coursing through the steel floors. Tyla stared at the console, the encrypted data still pulsing with energy that seemed to respond to her touch. Each node, each relic, each faintly glowing symbol—it all traced a web that connected her, Billy, and the Luoshen legacy in ways she had only begun to understand.Billy leaned against a support beam, his gaze sweeping across the room. Every line of light, every flickering screen reminded him of the stakes. The Curator’s reach was vast, and the implications of their discovery gnawed at the edges of his resolve. He was a key, yes, but the pattern was bigger than him, bigger than anyone in the room.“Billy,” Tyla said, finally breaking her focus from the console. Her voice was quieter than usual, almost reverent. “You need to see this.”He approached, eyes narrowing at the screen. There, among the holographic schematics, were records he hadn’t seen

  • ENCRYPTED

    CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX :The Arctic wind outside the station bit like knives, rattling the outer walls with relentless persistence. Inside, the hum of the engine had subsided, leaving an almost suffocating silence. Billy, bundled against the cold, watched Tyla hover over the console, her gloved fingers dancing over keys, swiping through data streams that no ordinary human could decipher.“Your name…” Tyla’s voice cracked slightly, almost in disbelief. She didn’t look up at him immediately, focusing instead on the encrypted list flashing across the screen. “Your name is… here.”Billy froze, the weight of those words pressing like ice against his chest. He had prepared himself for many things in this mission, but seeing his name linked to the engine’s core, his bloodline effectively marked within the Luoshen records—it felt like someone had reached inside his very essence and exposed it for the world to see.Owen stepped closer, eyebrows raised. “That can’t be right. These are relic designa

  • ENGINE

    CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE :The frozen air of the Arctic station was almost physical, pressing against their lungs, biting through layers of clothing with a persistence that refused to be ignored. Billy’s boots crunched against the frost-hardened metal flooring, a sound that seemed deafening in the oppressive silence. Every corner of the station throbbed with energy, subtle vibrations like a pulse moving through the walls, beneath the floors, through every surface they touched.Owen’s voice broke the quiet. “Sensors are off the charts. There’s something… massive beneath us. Something alive.”Billy swallowed hard, fists tightening around his pack straps. “Alive? Or just the station reacting to our presence?”“Both,” Tyla said without hesitation, her sharp eyes scanning the hallways, calculating. “It’s adaptive, intelligent. We’re walking into the heart of its design. Whoever—or whatever—is controlling this, it knows we’re here.”Alice shivered. “It feels… wrong. Like the walls are watching,

  • CONTROLLED

    CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR :The Arctic station was no longer silent. The corridors they had carefully mapped moments ago now throbbed with an unnatural energy. Lights flickered as if in conversation, panels humming low, sending vibrations through the floor that made the hairs on Billy’s neck stand on end.“Everyone stay sharp,” Billy murmured, voice steady despite the rising tension. His eyes flicked from the flickering lights to the shadows pooling at the end of each hallway. “If anything moves, we react. No hesitation.”Owen’s breath puffed in icy clouds. “It’s worse than we thought. Thermal readings are showing multiple signatures—but none of them are human.”Tyla paused, tracing the warped displays projected along the walls. “Not human… or heavily manipulated. Whoever is controlling this, they’ve altered the station’s internal environment. The energy, the airflow, even gravity readings—everything is wrong. This isn’t just a station; it’s a trap that thinks.”Alice moved behind them, sca

  • DISTORTED

    CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE :The Arctic station loomed ahead like a frostbitten fortress, jagged steel and ice fused into a structure that refused warmth or mercy. Billy’s breath misted the inside of his mask, each exhale hanging like a ghost. The team moved cautiously through the snow, boots crunching in rhythm with the wind, but even as he focused on the station, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the environment itself was alive.“Thermal readings are all over the place,” Owen muttered, scanning his tablet. The numbers jumped, sank, and leapt again, as if something—or someone—was interfering. “It’s like the station is… breathing.”Tyla’s gloves clenched the data scrolls. “No, it’s not just interference. Electromagnetic distortions. Sensors, communications… all of it’s dead or lying to us.” Her sharp eyes swept the frozen horizon. “We can’t even see what’s coming at us until it’s too late.”Billy nodded, his gut twisting. He hated that sinking dread, hated it for himself, but even more fo

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