Adrian stared at the passage spread out before him with a flustered look.
The members who had followed behind him were just as bewildered.
A passage filled with water.
The water reached all the way to the ceiling.
It was a variable they had never anticipated.
But it was not something that could never happen.
This was a secret passage built a very long time ago.
It had not been constructed with machines and GPS, precisely and in a straight line without error, like it would be today.
It detoured according to the terrain,
avoided rocks,
and, when necessary, dug as far downward as it needed to.
This place was the same.
When the route above became blocked,
they had dug downward.
That entire section had been flooded.
Black, stagnant water had completely taken over the passage.
Adrian took a step forward.
With every step, he could feel the water growing deeper.
The cold water had already risen to his knees.
One more step, and it reached his thighs.
He did not know whether the water from the heavy rain a little while ago had seeped in,
or whether an underground water source had burst.
The problem was the length of the flooded passage.
He had no way of gauging how far it extended.
He did not know how deep it was, either.
The passage continued as if dropping sharply downward.
Looking at the water filling it,
he tried to estimate how far it went,
but even when he shone his flashlight down the passage,
he could not confirm anything.
Adrian knew about this passage,
but he had never used it even once.
This was a place to be used in an emergency.
And until now, no one had ever pursued Adrian this far.
He had never been driven into a corner like this.
That was why he had never used it.
To escape through the secret passage, they would have to pass through this dark water.
But he had no idea how long it was.
He did not even know whether there was a place to breathe somewhere in the middle.
He could not challenge it recklessly.
He could not stake his life on a foolhardy attempt.
“Who’s going to check it out?”
Adrian asked as he looked at the members.
His voice was quiet, and he spoke calmly.
But the meaning behind it was terrifying.
It meant they should break through that black waterway
and try to pass through.
There was no guarantee they would return alive.
He was asking who would die.
No one answered.
The unknown, black passage was terrifying even to the thoroughly trained members.
Perhaps it would have been different if they had equipment,
but all they had were guns and flashlights.
They had absolutely nothing that could help them breathe.
No one could readily step forward.
If the flooded passage was even slightly longer than their breath,
if there was nowhere to breathe in the middle,
then it meant certain death.
No one was confident enough to risk their life going in there.
“Is there no way around it?”
One of the members cautiously asked from behind.
Adrian did not answer.
He already knew.
There was no other choice in this passage.
There was only one path.
And that path was submerged.
At that moment.
A faint light spread through the darkness in the distance.
Barely perceptible.
Then the light grew.
One became two, and two became three.
Footsteps could be heard.
They were cautious, but firm.
They were drawing closer.
Adrian’s eyes turned in that direction.
“They’re here.”
Adrian muttered calmly.
But his pupils shook violently.
It was the first time.
The first time he had ever had nowhere to run.
*******
We continued cutting through the darkness.
Checking for booby traps as we went.
Our pace slowed a little,
but this was safer.
Even so, we continued moving forward.
A light appeared in the distance.
Adrian was the only one who had entered this underground passage.
That light meant Adrian was there.
‘Got you.’
But I did not hurry.
This was when accidents happened.
It could be bait.
Slowly, slowly.
Instead, we approached while paying even closer attention to our surroundings.
But the light neither disappeared nor moved farther away.
It remained fixed in place, as if it had been set there.
It was strange.
Something was off.
It should have moved farther away.
He should have been running from me.
And yet he was simply staying there.
We exchanged glances and approached carefully.
When we arrived, they looked completely different from what we had expected.
Their guns had been set down, and they were sitting in relaxed positions.
Some were sitting with their backs against the wall.
They were not preparing for battle.
They looked as though they were resting.
And Adrian was standing among them.
Worried that this too might be a decoy or some kind of trick,
I checked Adrian’s face.
It was definitely the Adrian I had met in Mauritius.
We did not move any closer.
We faced each other from a fixed distance.
Silence flowed between us.
Adrian was the first to speak.
“You came?”
His voice was light, as though he were welcoming an old friend.
I snorted.
“You’re a dead man walking, and you’re still talking big. I told you you’d be dead if I caught you. I told you to hide really, really well. I said I’d find you. So what are you going to do now that you’ve been caught like this?”
“Heh heh. You did say that.”
Even in this situation, Adrian did not seem tense at all.
“So, shall we kill you now?”
“If I die, does everything end?”
Adrian looked straight at me.
“What?”
“I’m asking whether you really think it ends with me.”
Adrian began playing word games.
“Whether you’re the end or not doesn’t matter. If I kill you, and someone else comes, I’ll just kill that bastard too.”
I cut him off decisively.
I answered as though it were nothing important.
If I let myself get drawn into this, it would never end.
No matter what happened, Adrian would die by my hand today.
But Adrian continued speaking without caring.
“The problem is the Phantom Grid. Anyone who has it would have no choice but to act like me, wouldn’t they? Just as I’m not the first, I won’t be the last.”
His voice was relaxed and comfortable, as though he were trying to reason with me.
It was the same appearance he had shown in Mauritius.
I hated seeing that face.
“That thief sure talks a lot. So when are you going to die?”
“I’ll tell you how to use the Phantom Grid properly. How about I tell you how to sell it, too? Tempting, isn’t it?”
“No? You really don’t listen to a word I say. I told you I don’t need that kind of pocket change.”
“Heh heh. Putting on airs, are we? Well, a man ought to have that much bravado. I like it.”
“Our Adrian certainly has a long tongue. Are you afraid to die? Getting cold feet?”
“How about this? If you spare me, I’ll give you a reward worthy of it.”
“A reward? I believe I just said I have plenty of money.”
“A reward doesn’t have to be money. I’m offering money because I can’t give you what you want, but I can give you what you need.”
“What I need…”
“I’ll protect you. I’ll protect you so you can conduct your business without worry, prevent disputes, and even grant you a partnership so you can take part if there’s a war. How does that sound? Isn’t it a good deal?”
“Protect me… Isn’t that a little shameless coming from someone who ran away, got cornered, and is now on the verge of being killed? You’re looking pretty pathetic.”
“I’ll also give you a portion of Parallax’s shares. If we divide shares between us, wouldn’t that be proof that we’ve become one? With the two of us, I think we could dream of something even greater. Conquering Earth wouldn’t be a dream, either.”
Adrian spoke boldly.
“If I take that, will Dennis come back? I’m asking if Dennis will come back if I conquer Earth.”
Adrian fell silent.
“…Wasn’t that all in the past anyway? And I’ll say it again: we weren’t the ones who killed him.”
I snickered.
“If I push you off a cliff, I suppose it wouldn’t be my fault either, right? You’re the one who fell.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
He seemed to realize that neither persuasion nor negotiation would work.
“…”
“And I can kill you and take Parallax for myself, so I don’t see why I should go through the trouble of forming a partnership with you. Stop clinging to this life and go ahead and die.”
“I felt this back then, too, but you really are impossible to reason with.”
As Adrian spoke, he carefully moved his body.
He took one step backward.
Bang.
A gunshot rang out.
The step Adrian had taken backward
was preparation to conceal himself and fire.
At the same time, he gave the Parallax members a low command.
“Attack.”
The members who had been sitting opened fire at Adrian’s command.
Bang! Bang-bang!
They fired at us.
We hid our bodies and returned fire.
Bang-bang!! Bang-bang-bang!!!
Gunshots rang out through the narrow space.
Muzzle flashes flickered, and bullets ricocheted off the walls.
It was the worst possible place for a firefight.
Narrow, close, and dark.
I wanted to fire an Airis,
but using it here could cause the passage to collapse,
and since it was a weapon that deprived the area of oxygen, we could be harmed as well.
Here, we had nothing but guns and grenades.
.
.
.
In the meantime.
Adrian was already on the move.
The moment the firefight began,
he was the first to leave his position.
He did not even look back.
Splash.
He entered the flooded passage.
Cold water swallowed Adrian’s legs.
But he could not stop.
No matter how he thought about it, this was the only way to get out alive.
No matter how much he talked, that bastard could not be persuaded.
Money and honor meant nothing to him.
He did not seem to have any intention of making a deal.
So for now, there was no choice but to run.
While his subordinates held Alex back,
Adrian fled through the flooded passage.
Of course, he knew it would not be easy.
But this was the only way.
Staying here meant certain death.
Adrian slowly steadied his breathing.
He inhaled slowly and deeply.
Then once more.
He steadily filled his lungs with air until they were full.
It was a breathing technique he had learned long ago.
He pushed his body beneath the water.
Silently, slowly, lowering himself as far as possible.
No one could see Adrian escaping.
So he had to be careful.
The water was cold.
Water as cold as ice surrounded his entire body.
His breath tightened reflexively.
The light disappeared.
Complete darkness unfolded around him.
Only the flashlight in his hand faintly illuminated what lay ahead.
But.
The underwater world was very different from what he had imagined.
His sense of distance collapsed, and his sense of direction blurred.
Up and down became confused, and his senses began to waver.
His lungs slowly began to tighten.
His breathing grew labored.
It was still all right.
For now.
Adrian gritted his teeth
and stretched his arm into the darkness.
.
.
.
“Clear.”
The brief firefight was over.
A few grenades.
Then the gunfire that followed left the Parallax members collapsed without giving them any real chance to fight back.
“Check the surroundings. And find Adrian.”
We searched every corner with our flashlights,
but Adrian was nowhere to be found.
There was nowhere for him to hide, either.
Our gazes naturally turned toward the end of the passage.
Black, submerged water.
If Adrian had disappeared, this was the only possible place.
We walked toward the water.
Cold water began to swallow us from the legs up.
It was colder than I had imagined.
“Did he go in there?”
“It seems so.”
Allen, who was beside me, answered.
“How long do you think this passage is?”
“I have no idea at all.”
Allen and the other members had no sense of it, either.
“Chen Zihao. Can you find out how long this is and where it leads?”
“No. We have no information about that area whatsoever.”
We had captured Adrian’s team,
but Adrian was gone.
He had probably escaped through the water.
We had to catch him.
If he escaped from here today, he would hide even more thoroughly.
We had no idea when he might stab us in the back.
We had to catch him at all costs.
There was no time to deliberate.
“Do we have a rope?”
One of the members rummaged through a backpack and pulled out a climbing rope.
It looked to be about thirty meters long.
I took one end and tied it around my waist.
Then I handed the other end to Allen.
“I’ll go.”
“I’ll go.”
Allen answered.
“I feel like swimming. I’ll go.”
I answered Allen with a smile.
“Don’t come in after me. Absolutely not. If I tug on the rope, pull me out immediately.”
“Yes.”
“If I don’t come out after two minutes, pull me up immediately.”
“Understood.”
I checked the knot one more time,
then drew in a deep breath.
Splash.
I entered the water.
The cold water wrapped around my entire body and sank into me.
It was not merely cold enough to sting my skin—it was pain that pierced into my flesh.
My breath caught for an instant.
The light disappeared.
Only the faint light of the flashlight remained.
A narrow passage stretched ahead.
The ceiling was low.
It was completely filled with water.
It was barely wide enough to swim through.
I moved forward, keeping one hand against the wall.
It was narrow, exhausting, and cold.
It felt as though my muscles were hardening.
My legs grew heavy, and my lungs tightened.
I had no idea how far I had come.
All I could do was rely on the rope tied around my waist.
Adrian was nowhere to be seen.
‘Did he escape?’
‘Am I too late?’
My thoughts grew more numerous.
And my body crumbled in equal measure.
My body was sending me signals that it was running out of oxygen.
I wanted to breathe right away.
At that moment.
I saw something floating ahead.
I widened my eyes.
It was Adrian.
He wasn’t moving.
It seemed he hadn’t managed to get out.
I grabbed Adrian.
He was cold.
He had no strength.
He was already unconscious.
I violently tugged on the rope tied around my waist.
Whether Allen had received my signal or not,
the rope began to pull taut.
I started being dragged out at great speed.
My body was pulled along.
My vision blurred.
I felt as though I was about to lose consciousness.
But I didn’t let go of Adrian.
Absolutely not.
I tightened my grip.
Just as I thought I was going to lose consciousness like this, I saw light.
I saw Allen.
“Puaaaah!!!!”
I burst out of the water.
I expelled my breath.
I gulped in air like a madman.
Huff. Huff, huff.
Even as I struggled to catch my breath, I asked about Adrian’s condition.
“What about Adrian?”
“He’s in cardiac arrest.”
Without even steadying my breathing, I spoke.
“Perform CPR.”
“What?”
Allen froze for a moment.
“I said perform CPR.”
“··· You mean, save him?”
“That’s right. Save him.”
I answered briefly and firmly.
Allen, having heard my order, looked confused.
We had come all the way here to kill Adrian.
Adrian was dead.
Everything was over.
And yet I was telling him to bring Adrian back to life.
Even in this contradictory situation, Allen did not hesitate.
He simply did as ordered and began performing CPR on Adrian.
He stripped off Adrian’s clothes.
Adrian’s body temperature had fallen too far.
The water had been too cold.
If he stayed like that, he would suffer from hypothermia.
Allen removed his clothes and wiped away the cold water.
All the while, he continued performing CPR.
The Obsidian Unit took turns administering cardiac massage and artificial respiration.
“Cough!!”
Adrian’s body jerked.
He spat out water and opened his eyes.
But there was no focus in them.
Even when he looked at me, he didn’t seem to understand the situation properly.
He seemed confused about where he was,
and who I was.
Only after a considerable amount of time had passed
did Adrian come to his senses.
“··· Did you save me?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
Adrian asked coldly.
“To kill you.”
“What?”
Adrian’s expression twisted.
“You can’t die like that. I’m going to kill you with my own hands. At the very least, you should know who killed you.”
I drew my knife.
Then I thrust it into the area around Adrian’s right ribs.
Adrian’s body trembled violently.
Having only just regained consciousness, Adrian could not resist my knife.
He had no choice but to accept it completely.
The blade I thrust in pierced a hole in the lower part of Adrian’s lung.
Psssh.
I heard air leaking out.
A short groan escaped Adrian’s mouth.
“Cough···”
I did not pull out the knife.
That way, he would live longer.
That way, the pain would last longer.
That was how the lungs worked.
When a hole was made in the lung, air escaped and pressed against it.
The more he tried to breathe, the more his lung would shrink.
He could breathe, but oxygen would not be supplied.
The helplessness and despair would continue for a long time.
He would die feeling as though he were drowning in water.
The longer he held out, the more painful it would become.
“If I stabbed your heart, it would end too quickly. Stay here and reflect on your life as you die. At most, you have two hours to reflect. Goodbye, then.”
Leaving those words behind, we turned around and retraced the path we had come by.
Adrian couldn’t even grab at us as we left.
He couldn’t stretch out a hand.
All he could do was lie there and barely breathe.
All he could do was stare at us as we departed, his eyes filled with lingering regret.
There was nothing but darkness in Adrian’s eyes.
He could hear nothing.
He was utterly alone.
He lay in a secret passage built hundreds of years ago
that no one used anymore.
There was absolutely no way to call for help.
Nor was there any possibility of surviving and escaping from here.
With trembling hands, Adrian grasped the knife embedded between his ribs.
Then he pulled it out.
Shluck.
The air escaped even faster.
His breathing grew more labored.
“Ha··· huff···”
Gasping harshly, he gathered the strength he had left.
He couldn’t die like this.
He gripped the knife again.
Then he brought it toward his own neck,
toward the spot where the carotid artery lay.
There was no hesitation.
Thuck.
Blood burst forth.
At the very least, he did not want to be killed by Alex.
Adrian wanted to decide his own death for himself.
It was the last of his pride.