In a nearly empty room, surrounded by weight plates and hanging ropes, the sound of a drop hitting the floor marked the passage of time. Constant. Methodical. Like a pulse untouched by fatigue. At the center, the Exterminator was doing push-ups.

  Several iron plates were stacked across his back. Every descent made his arms tremble. Every rise stole the air from his lungs. His breathing turned harsh, broken, but he did not stop. He did not look at the floor. His gaze remained fixed forward, hard, impenetrable, as if nothing from the outside could pull him from that state.

  As he lowered himself, images burst into his mind.

  A wide sky stretching over a small town. Him, still a child, watching it slowly darken, not fully understanding why the air was growing heavy. Then the same place reduced to rubble. Him, now an adult, standing before the ruins of a destroyed house, motionless, the silence weighing more than the dust and debris around him.

  Then the memories shattered into fragments: his body training to the limit, muscles taut, breathing controlled; moving alongside a platoon; eliminating targets without hesitation. Precise movement. Immediate decisions. Blood. Nothing to regret.

  He pushed up one last time.

  His arms gave out. He tilted sideways. The plates slid off his back and crashed onto the floor with a dry thunder that made the room vibrate.

  He rose slowly. Sweat ran down his skin.

  He inhaled.

  His expression shifted just slightly.

  “There you are…” he murmured.

  He sniffed the air, like an animal recognizing prey at a distance.

  “Your scent is still bitter.”

  He fell silent for a second.

  When it stops being so… I’ll end this.

  Far from there, the city woke without knowing it. Kael went down the stairs. Turning right, he caught sight of Aiden sitting on the porch, still, his gaze lost. He said nothing. Instead, he headed to the kitchen.

  Nicole was already there.

  Kael paused for a moment before speaking, as if wanting to preserve that instant intact.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “Morning,” she replied, placing a cup in front of him. “Black.”

  Kael smiled faintly.

  “You didn’t forget.”

  “How could I?” she answered, returning the smile.

  Kael wrapped his hands around the cup and lowered his gaze.

  “I try… but I always end up pushing away the people I care about.”

  Nicole watched him closely.

  “I never understood why you do it,” she said. “Or why you did it with me.”

  Kael slowly rotated the cup on the table.

  “Because what I do is dangerous,” he replied. “And I couldn’t bear someone paying the price for my mistakes.”

  He lifted his eyes toward the porch.

  “Look at him… you’re right. He’s just a kid. And I’m putting him in danger.”

  Nicole took one of his hands.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t,” she admitted. “But when I saw him earlier, I noticed something. Even if you told him not to go with you… he wouldn’t listen. He’s stubborn.”

  Kael let out a brief laugh.

  “Probably.”

  Nicole looked at him intently.

  “And I’m not someone you have to protect. You know that. Sometimes you underestimate people.”

  Kael opened his mouth to respond, but Nicole’s phone vibrated on the table, cutting the conversation short.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Looks like it.”

  Nicole walked into the living room and turned on the television. She switched to Channel 12.

  On screen, a formal setting appeared. The presenter spoke in a solemn tone.

  “Following the council’s decision and after listening to the voice of the people, we announce that candidate Andrick has been appointed as the next district chief. His official appointment will take place in the coming days. Today, he will be presented to the public as part of the transition process.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Andrick appeared on stage, climbing the steps to the podium amid applause. He greeted confidently, smiling at the cameras.

  “Joining us today,” the presenter continued, “are the four families who have driven our city’s progress, to show their support for the new district chief.”

  Andrick shook hands, exchanged brief words.

  At that moment, Aiden entered the house. He walked with his head down, his gaze unfocused, as if he saw nothing around him.

  “And finally,” the presenter said, “the Nova family.”

  A man and a woman approached Andrick and shook his hand in front of the cameras.

  Kael, watching the broadcast, sensed something. He turned.

  Aiden was completely still. His gaze was locked on the screen. The light had drained from his eyes.

  Kael walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Aiden… are you okay?”

  Aiden blinked, as if snapping back suddenly.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Of course.”

  Nicole turned off the television.

  “He finally moved up,” she commented. “Everything should improve with him.”

  “I hope so,” Kael replied. “I really do.”

  “Even if that means more action on the streets,” he added with irony.

  Nicole gave him a light punch on the arm. Kael laughed.

  Aiden remained staring at the dark screen for a few seconds. Then he headed to the dining room.

  “The shipment will arrive at the warehouses on Tuesday,” he said. “Two days from now.”

  Kael nodded.

  “This time I’m going to request support,” he added. “We can’t afford to lose the trail. This might be our only chance to reach Cobra.”

  He turned toward Aiden.

  “I’ve already involved you too much. You did a great job… but I can’t keep risking you.”

  Aiden smiled and gave him a light tap on the arm.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m going with you. I still have things to settle.”

  He knew he couldn’t stop now.

  Kael rubbed his arm, pretending to be annoyed.

  Nicole watched them and smiled.

  Kael didn’t respond right away.

  He leaned back against the chair and slowly let out a breath.

  He had crossed too many lines to keep pretending this was his burden alone.

  He took the keys resting on the table. The metallic sound was brief, but final.

  “I need to see someone,” he said. He knew exactly who.

  Nicole didn’t ask whom.

  The constant sound of paperwork, overlapping calls, and ringing phones filled the police station. Foreman was focused on reviewing documents when he sensed movement at the edge of his vision. He looked up.

  Kael was leaning casually against the doorframe. When he noticed he’d been seen, he brought two fingers to his forehead and flicked them outward in an informal salute.

  Foreman watched him a second too long, as if already bracing for bad news.

  “Come in,” he said, resigned.

  Only a few minutes had passed when Foreman’s voice rose, thick with disbelief.

  “You did what?”

  Kael tilted his head and let out a sigh.

  “You said there was no law at the Palace,” he replied. “I figured it didn’t apply to me either.”

  Foreman ran both hands over his head, closing his eyes for a moment.

  “I should’ve known,” he muttered. “This could only come from you.”

  Kael straightened slightly.

  “There’s a real chance to catch Cobra,” he said. “And I’m not going to waste it. That’s why I’m here… I need support.”

  Foreman studied him. There was no surprise left in his expression now, only something more serious.

  “If you’re asking for open support,” he said, “then this must be important.”

  “It is,” Kael replied without hesitation.

  Foreman was silent for a few seconds. Then he sighed.

  “Don’t expect much. This is already going beyond any protocol,” he warned. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

  Kael nodded. That was all he needed.

  Several hours later, Kael returned to Nicole’s house. He carried a small, rigid black case, as if its contents could not afford impact or mistakes. He placed it carefully on the table, without making a sound. Nicole was the first to notice.

  “So… you did get support?” she asked, watching the case.

  Kael nodded once.

  “The bare minimum.”

  He unzipped it. Inside were few objects, but none looked casual. Aiden stepped closer and picked one up: a small metallic block, cold to the touch, palm-sized. At one end, a red light blinked in a steady rhythm. The casing showed faint wear marks, edges smoothed by use.

  “And what is this?” he asked.

  Kael watched him for a second before answering.

  “A tracker,” he said. “Courtesy of the department. They’ve been used in other operations.”

  He then pulled out another device: a compact monitor. The dark screen lit up when he pressed a button. Lines, coordinates, and a pulsing glow began to move, like a radar searching for something not yet there.

  “As long as the device keeps transmitting, we’ll see its location,” he explained. “When it stops… it’s over.”

  He put the monitor away and closed the case halfway. Aiden watched it for a few seconds before speaking.

  “So… what’s the plan?”

  Kael took the tracker from his hands and held it between his fingers, studying it before replying.

  “It’s actually simple,” he said. “We’ll go to the South Ring warehouse. Foreman will send another officer to the Atlas warehouse.”

  He leaned lightly against the table.

  “We’ll arrive before dawn and wait from a safe position. We don’t know what time the shipment will arrive, so we won’t move until we see it.”

  He raised the device.

  “When the truck shows up, we place this and pull back. If we lose visual contact, we track it from here. We can’t take unnecessary risks.”

  Aiden frowned slightly.

  “And just like that, we find them?”

  Kael looked straight at him.

  “That’s the plan,” he replied. “If nothing goes wrong.”

  He placed the tracker back inside the case.

  “But there’s something you need to know,” he added. “Things rarely go the way you plan them. And if we can’t place the device… we’ll be in trouble.”

  Silence fell for a moment.

  Aiden squeezed the tracker before handing it back. He thought of the Exterminator. Of what he still lacked. Of that invisible barrier he didn’t know how to break.

  Maybe there — in the risk, in the narrow margin, in having no safety net — was the answer he was looking for.

  He looked up and smiled. Not lightly. With resolve.

  “We won’t fail,” he said.

  Kael watched him in silence. He didn’t answer right away.

  He simply closed the case completely.

  And the click of the latch sounded like a countdown.

  Far from there, they weren’t the only ones preparing.

  In a spacious office submerged in controlled dimness, Cobra lay back in his chair. He didn’t move. In front of him, a man spoke carefully, recounting the events with precision: the ambush, the chaos… the death of the Accountant.

  When the report ended, a brief silence took hold of the room.

  Then Cobra began to laugh.

  It wasn’t a sharp laugh, but a low, contained one that slowly expanded, as if the news pleased him more than expected.

  “So the wolf and the brat went into the Palace alone…” he murmured. “And not only did they come out alive, they also eliminated the Accountant.”

  Interesting.

  He slowly rose, turning his back on the man. He clasped his hands behind his neck and walked a couple of steps, thoughtful.

  “That makes them more dangerous than we thought,” he added. “And also more daring.”

  With a measured, almost ceremonial gesture, he brought his fingers to the back of the mask and began to untie the knots holding it in place. He didn’t turn around. He didn’t need to.

  “This is getting more fun,” he said calmly.

  The mask fell into his hand.

  “Reinforce security,” he ordered. “All operations. All establishments. Nothing is exempt.”

  The man nodded.

  Still facing away, Cobra tilted his head slightly, gazing through the stained-glass window at the city spread out before him, as if savoring the idea.

  “Let them come closer,” he continued. “Let them think they’re making progress.”

  An invisible smile shaped his voice.

  “I’m eager to see them try… so I can finish them, once and for all.”