The night was calm.
The soft rhythm of breathing filled the room, blending with the gentle rustle of sheets. Liam lay deep in sleep, his strong arm draped protectively around Ann, who rested peacefully against his chest. Her warm skin against his, the comfort of her presence—it was like the world had faded for a while.
But that peace shattered in an instant.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A hard knock echoed from the door downstairs.
Liam’s eyes snapped open imdiately, sharp and alert. His muscles tensed beneath the sheets as his instincts flared to life. His eyes darted to the digital clock beside the bed—10:41 PM.
He slowly pulled his arm away from Ann without waking her, then threw the blanket aside and stood. His bare feet touched the cold floor as he reached for his clothes and phone on the table.
And then his face froze.
Eight missed calls. Three ssages. All from Lilith.
Every trace of sleep vanished from his eyes. He didn’t even bother reading the ssages—he already knew it wasn’t good. Lilith never called that many tis unless things were burning.
Literally.
He quickly pulled on his pants and shirt, didn’t even bother with socks or shoes, and raced downstairs.
The knocking returned, heavier this ti. He unlocked the door and opened it—
Standing there was a Black Lotus mber, face drenched in sweat, breathing hard like he had run the entire way here.
Liam didn’t speak at first. He leaned against the doorfra, exhausted and still processing.
Then he muttered, "I’m cooked, aren’t I?"
The man didn’t even crack a smile. "You need to co with . Now."
Liam’s brow furrowed. The man’s voice wasn’t just serious—it was heavy, carrying the weight of sothing gone terribly wrong.
"What’s going on?" Liam asked.
"We’re under attack," the man said. "Crimson Hand."
Liam’s world paused.
His heart dropped. That was why Lilith had been calling. That was why his phone was blowing up. And he had been in bed—sleeping.
He cursed under his breath, stepped outside without another word, and shut the door behind him. He didn’t even stop to put on shoes.
The Black Lotus mber gave him a strange look, noting the pajamas and bare feet, but said nothing. There was no ti for questions. Liam jumped into the back seat of the car and the tires screeched as they took off into the night.
---
anwhile, back at the ruined battlefield, Lilith stord into the base with fury in every step. Her eyes burning beneath the lenses of her goggle.
Her Shadows were right at her side, escorting her through the corridors lit only by dim computer screens and ergency power. The mont she stepped inside, she ripped the goggles off and hurled the gun in her hand at the ground with a furious scream.
CRASH.
The weapon shattered into pieces, fragnts scattering across the floor like tal confetti.
She was seething.
This was beyond what she expected. The Crimson Hand weren’t just hitting hard—they were hitting with full military backing. The Golden Bird wasn’t holding back anymore.
"Fucking Li..." she muttered under her breath.
But she wasn’t going to retreat. No way in hell.
She grabbed her walkie-talkie off the table and pressed it to her lips. "Snipers, RPG—report."
One of the operators patched through. "We lost all teams at the front line. The GAU shredded them. We don’t have visual on the weapon behind the light."
Lilith’s grip tightened. "Take it out anyway."
"Copy."
Atop a nearby rooftop, hidden behind reinforced sandbags, one of Lilith’s best snipers lay flat against the cold tal of the roof. His scope aid directly at the center of the blinding light in the distance.
He squinted.
Pressed the trigger.
POP.
The sniper round whistled through the air, striking the light dead center—but nothing happened. No flicker. No dimming. The lens on that floodlight was reinforced, probably bulletproof glass or so kind of military-grade cover.
The sniper cursed under his breath.
"Light didn’t go out. Switching to RPG."
He pushed the rifle aside and reached for the launcher next to him.
The RPG wasn’t standard. It was modified—longer range, heavier impact, designed for urban warfare. He locked in the tube, snapped the sights into place, and slid the rocket ho with a chanical clunk.
He stood up into a crouch and locked on to the brightest part of the light.
"Target locked."
The mont was heavy.
All the Black Lotus forces still alive crouched behind debris, blood staining the ground, bodies everywhere. No one could see what was behind the light—just the blazing white wall of energy and the monstrous roar of the GAU-19.
And now?
They would answer back.
Lilith stood in the heart of the base, breathing hard, her eyes locked on the distant glow as she pressed the walkie again.
"Fire."
On the rooftop, the sniper didn’t hesitate.
WHOOSH.
The RPG fired.
The rocket scread through the night sky, cutting a line across the battlefield like a cot.
BOOOOM!!
The explosion shook the very earth beneath them.
A brilliant burst of fire swallowed the blinding light, and for the first ti since the chaos started, the battlefield was montarily visible. Flas danced in the darkness, sending shards of tal and debris flying in all directions. Smoke rose in thick waves, curling into the air like serpents.
And when the smoke began to clear... Lilith finally saw what was hiding behind that relentless light.
Her breath hitched.
Five military-grade vehicles, their steel plating painted jet black, sat like monsters at the edge of the field. Each of them was mounted with a GAU-19/B—a tri-barrel .50 caliber beast of a weapon. The GAU looked like death incarnate: three thick barrels spinning slowly, housed in a reinforced turret, mounted atop a shock-absorbing cradle. Long ammo belts fed into its hungry chamber from storage boxes bolted to the side of the cars, and the barrels shimred with heat from earlier fire. The scent of burning tal and blood hung in the air.
Behind and around the vehicles, at least fifty Crimson Hand gang mbers stood, armored and ard to the teeth. They weren’t ordinary gangsters. These were militants—elite enforcers from the Crimson’s inner circle. Eyes cold. Faces unreadable. Waiting.
At the base, inside the command room, Lilith sat frozen. Her fingers twitched, her eyes locked on the live feed displayed across multiple screens. The RPG had done its job—it revealed the threat. But now? Now the silence was more deafening than the gunfire had ever been.
The Black Lotus had lost too many. They were outgunned, outnumbered, and cornered.
Lilith sighed deeply, her hand sliding across the table, finally resting there, limp and helpless. For a brief mont, her iron will cracked, and she whispered to herself:
"...This might be it."
None of the Crimson Hand had fired. Not yet. They stood by their vehicles like executioners waiting for the final order.
And Lilith knew—the mont they pulled those triggers, the Black Lotus would be erased.
Then, cutting through the eerie stillness of the battlefield...
Headlights.
A pair of headlights pierced the darkness, coming from the road at the far end of the field.
A single car.
Lilith’s eyes widened. She leaned forward.
"No... no, no, no..." she muttered.
The car rolled to a slow stop on the edge of the field—right within the Crimson Hand’s kill zone.
She knew that vehicle. One of her scouts. One of the n she’d sent to look for Liam.
That could only an one thing.
Lilith stood abruptly, heart pounding against her chest.
"Shit."
Her eyes locked onto the screen, and she stared in horror as the door of the car opened...
Liam stepped out.
Hair ssy. Pajamas still on. Barefooted.
He blinked as he took in the scene before him—burnt-out cars, bullet holes in the dirt, the silence. He assud the battle was over. There was no shooting, after all.
He didn’t realize... they were only watching.
Waiting.
The mounted GAUs slowly turned. One of them swiveled toward Liam. A spotlight clicked on, beaming directly into his face.
The Crimson Hand soldiers narrowed their eyes.
They saw a barefoot, tousled-haired young man in sleepwear. He looked so out of place, so harmless, that for a mont, they didn’t know what to think. They whispered among themselves. Confused.
But Lilith?
She was trembling.
"No. Don’t move. Don’t speak..." she murmured at the screen.
Then—a voice rang out from the Crimson Hand’s side.
"That’s him! That’s the guy that killed Khan!"
Ti stopped.
The mont the na Khan was spoken, another GAU-19 rotated—locking onto Liam like a predator spotting its prey.
Back at the base, Lilith’s hand flew to the comms.
"Open fire! Take out that gun before they shoot Liam! Do it now!"
Her people didn’t hesitate. Gunfire erupted from the side lines of the field as Black Lotus survivors scrambled from behind wrecked cars and fired at the advancing vehicles.
Bullets flew.
Shells clanged.
But Lilith knew the truth—you don’t stop a GAU-19 with rifles. You delay it. You hope.
On the field, the Crimson Hand mber manning the GAU pointed directly at Liam. His lips curled into a grin.
He pulled the trigger.
RATATATATATATATA—
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