2025-11-17 23:53:08The hotel Ethan chose was deliberately ordinary—an old, eight-story building with flickering corridor lights and peeling wallpaper. A place no one would expect a war.
Ethan checked in under the name Daniel Gray.
No luggage.
No questions asked.
Commander Hale waited by the stairwell, pretending to read a newspaper.
“Room 608, sir,” Hale whispered as Ethan walked past.
“Scorpion Unit has been sighted three blocks away.”
“Good,” Ethan replied.
“I want them to find me.”
THE SCORPION UNIT ARRIVES
Three black vans stopped in the alley behind the hotel.
Twelve men stepped out—uniform black gear, reinforced suits, dual weapons. Their movements were synchronized, disciplined, silent.
These were not street thugs.
They were assassins, trained in eliminating high-value targets.
Their captain, a scarred man with cold eyes, spoke into his mic:
“Objective confirmed. Eliminate Ethan Cole and retrieve proof of kill. No survivors. No witnesses.”
They split into formation:
Team A: Roof penetration
Team B: Stairwell sweep
Team C: Elevator breach
Professionals. Efficient. Lethal.
But they didn’t know—
Ethan had already mapped their every step.
ROOM 608
Ethan stood inside the small room, hands in his pockets.
He didn’t bother locking the door.
He didn’t need to.
He simply waited.
A soft vibration reached his ears—the sound of boots on the rooftop.
Another—elevator cables shifting.
Another—breathing from the lower stairs.
Hale’s voice whispered through the earpiece:
“Sir, they’re surrounding you.”
Ethan exhaled slowly.
“No, Hale.”
His eyes sharpened.
“I’m surrounding them.”
THE STRIKE BEGINS
8th Floor – Rooftop Access
Team A sliced the lock and moved in silently.
The first operative stepped through the doorway—
Only to freeze.
Ethan was standing right there.
As if he had been waiting for them.
Before the man could lift his weapon, Ethan’s palm slammed into his sternum.
A dull thud.
The man flew backward, crashing into two others.
Ethan grabbed the last operative by the vest and dragged him into the rooftop doorway, slamming the metal door shut behind them.
Four seconds.
Team A was neutralized.
Ethan re-entered the hallway without breaking stride.
TEAM B — THE STAIRWELL
Footsteps thundered as the second squad stormed upward.
“Move to six-oh-eight! Now!”
One operative kicked open the stairwell door—
But a shadow moved faster.
Ethan slid down the railing, flipping over the squad as he descended. Before they could react, he struck with ruthless precision:
Elbow to the throat
Knee to the ribs
Two open-palm strikes
One disarm
A spinning kick that sent another man crashing into the railing
Six men dropped like dominos.
The captain of Team B gasped for air.
“Wh-What are you…?”
Ethan leaned down, voice cold:
“Your mistake… was coming here.”
He flicked the man’s own stun baton, hitting him across the temple.
Team B: eliminated.
TEAM C — THE ELEVATOR
The last four men waited inside the elevator, gripping weapons tightly as they reached the 6th floor.
Ding.
The doors slid open.
Dark hallway.
No one there.
One operative muttered,
“He ran.”
But the moment they stepped out—
The elevator panel behind them sparked violently.
Ethan had rerouted the power.
The doors slammed shut, trapping the men outside—and cutting off their escape.
Ethan walked forward with calm footsteps.
One of the operatives panicked and fired wildly.
Ethan moved with terrifying precision—dodging, closing distance, and snapping the rifle in half with his bare hands.
Two seconds later, the last of Team C was on the floor.
THE CAPTAIN’S REALIZATION
Only one man was left—the captain of Scorpion Unit.
He staggered backward as Ethan approached him, step by step.
“You… You were supposed to be retired,” the captain whispered.
Ethan grabbed him by the collar.
“I was.”
A cold pause.
“Now I’m awake.”
The captain trembled.
“Slate… Slate said you were overrated. Said the Ghost Commander was nothing but hype—”
Ethan slammed him against the wall.
“That was his last mistake.”
He let the man drop unconscious.
AT THE DAWSON HOUSE
Lila stared at the photograph she found earlier.
Ethan in military gear.
Dust, blood, fire behind him.
The emblem.
The words Ghost Commander.
Vivian paced.
“So Ethan was some kind of soldier?”
Lila’s voice was barely a whisper.
“No soldier looks like that.”
Her fingers traced the emblem.
“Ethan… Who are you?”
MARCUS SLATE’S OFFICE
Slate stared at the destroyed video feed.
All units: neutralized.
His jaw locked.
“So. He really is the Ghost.”
He turned toward his enforcer.
“Prepare the Black Serpent. Full mobilization.”
The enforcer stiffened.
“But sir—that’s a war declaration.”
Slate smiled darkly.
“Exactly.”
ETHAN LEAVES THE HOTEL
Commander Hale met Ethan outside.
“All twelve operatives neutralized,” Hale reported. “What next, sir?”
Ethan adjusted his sleeves calmly.
“Next? We send Slate a message.”
Hale nodded.
“And the content?”
Ethan’s eyes hardened.
“One sentence.”
He walked away as Hale typed the message.
“You wanted war. Now you have it.”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 114
The vibration didn’t fade.It deepened.Not louder—heavier.Like the ground itself had accepted a command it didn’t want to obey.Hale’s fingers froze above the console.“Sir… Founder access layers are opening. Manual clearance.”Riker’s jaw tightened.“That’s impossible. Those levels require—”“—a human,” Ethan finished calmly.The tunnels beneath the safehouse began to glow.Not with light.With presence.Lila felt it immediately—a pressure behind her eyes, a tightening in her chest. Not pain. Not fear.Recognition.“They’re not sending machines,” she said softly.Ethan didn’t look away from the descending holo-map.“No.”The map shifted—layers peeling back until only one designation remained.FOUNDER NODE: ACTIVEAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL: EXECUTIVE TIERA single access signature pulsed beneath it.Not Slate.Not Marian.Not the Council.An older mark.Deeper.Riker stared.“That clearance… it predates the Ghost Program.”Hale’s voice dropped.“It predates the Conglomerate.”Silence pre
Chapter 113
Ethan didn’t rush.That was the first thing the retrieval units miscalculated.They were built to respond to speed, to spikes in aggression, to predictable escalation curves. Every Ghost-trained operative reacted the same way when cornered.Ethan didn’t.He stepped forward once—slow, deliberate—and the floor beneath his boot cracked.Not from force.From control.The lead unit adjusted its stance, servos whining softly as it recalibrated threat levels.THREAT REASSESSMENT — SUBJECT ZERO: ELEVATEDEthan’s eyes flicked over the machine, cataloging weak points the way he once cataloged human enemies.Joint lag in the right shoulder.Micro-delay between visual lock and response.Ghost lattice node exposed at the collar.Outdated.“Level Zero,” Hale breathed behind him.“No,” Ethan said quietly.“Lower.”He moved.The first strike wasn’t aimed at the unit.It was aimed at the floor.Ethan slammed his heel down, sending a shockwave through the Ghost runes embedded beneath the room. The symb
Chapter 112
The timer didn’t tick.It pulsed.A slow, deliberate glow on the central holo—each beat echoing through the room like a second heart.05:59No one spoke.Ethan stood motionless, one hand still wrapped around Lila’s. His breathing was steady, measured—every part of him already calculating trajectories, probabilities, sacrifice points.Riker broke the silence first, voice low.“Retrieval units won’t be conventional. Founder Directive means autonomous frames. No negotiation. No retreat.”Ethan nodded once.“I know.”Hale glanced at the structural schematics scrolling beside the countdown.“They’ll come from below. Leviathan-era tunnels. If they surface inside the perimeter—”“They won’t,” Ethan said calmly. “They want her conscious.”Lila felt the weight of that statement settle into her bones.05:31The floor hummed faintly now—a deep vibration, more felt than heard.Riker cursed under his breath.“They’re waking something big.”Ethan finally released Lila’s hand—but only long enough to
Chapter 111
The lights didn’t fail.They recalibrated.A subtle change—cooler tones, sharper contrast—like the room itself had decided to pay closer attention.Hale felt it immediately.“They’ve switched from observation to interaction.”Ethan didn’t move.“Of course they have.”A new interface unfolded across the main holo—no alarms, no threats. Just a clean, sterile display.FOUNDER DIRECTIVE: NEGOTIATION PHASERiker scoffed. “They really think this is a discussion.”Ethan’s gaze stayed locked on the screen.“It is. Just not the kind they’re used to.”Lila stood beside him, shoulders squared. The air pressed in again—not fear, but that same invasive awareness, like invisible hands testing boundaries.The text scrolled.VESPER: You misunderstand the offer.Ethan replied without hesitation.“No. You misunderstand refusal.”A pause.Longer than before.Then:VESPER: The anchor’s presence is destabilizing the Ghost lattice. Emotional interference is increasing deviation risk.Lila felt the words li
Chapter 109
The observation flag didn’t disappear.It deepened.FOUNDER OBSERVATION: ACTIVEBEHAVIORAL DEVIATION: INCREASINGHale stared at the readout.“That’s not a warning,” he said. “That’s confusion.”Ethan remained motionless, eyes on the data stream as if staring back at whoever was watching.“They’re recalculating,” he said. “They didn’t expect resistance without violence.”Lila stood beside him—no shaking hands, no frantic breathing. Just stillness. Deliberate. Measured.The countdown continued.05:28:4405:28:43Riker shifted uneasily. “Sir… Founder units don’t like uncertainty. If the model breaks too far, they escalate.”“Yes,” Ethan replied. “That’s the point.”He reached out and muted the auxiliary feeds—everything except the Founder channel.“From this moment on,” he said calmly, “we control what they see.”Hale frowned. “You’re proposing a controlled exposure?”“I’m proposing a pattern break,” Ethan corrected. “They trained me to respond to threat vectors. To pressure. To loss.”H
Chapter 109
The countdown burned quietly in the corner of the holo-screen.05:41:5805:41:57No alarms.No dramatics.Just time bleeding away.Ethan stood absolutely still, eyes fixed on the line Hale had highlighted. The data didn’t flicker. It didn’t change. It didn’t care what it meant.Lila Dawson — External VariableStatus: ACTIVEOverride Dependency: ABSOLUTERiker broke the silence first.“That’s not a fail-safe,” he said slowly. “That’s a hostage mechanism.”Hale nodded grimly. “A living one.”Ethan didn’t respond.His mind had already moved past the shock—past the rage—into calculation. The Ghost training did that. Emotion surfaced, acknowledged, then locked away until the mission was finished.But this—This cut deeper than any conditioning ever had.“They didn’t just tie my autonomy to her survival,” Ethan said at last. “They tied my compliance to her fear.”Lila’s voice was barely audible.“So they’re watching me.”“Yes.”“How?”“Doesn’t matter,” Ethan replied. “If there’s a sensor, w
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