CHAPTER 6: The 60-Second Betrayal
00:56...
The countdown echoed through the underground arena.
Every second sounded like a gunshot.
Panic exploded.
Gamblers trampled one another toward the locked exits.
Armed guards abandoned their posts.
The empire Marcus had built collapsed in less than ten seconds.
Emma grabbed Richard by the collar.
"Where are the bombs?"
Richard looked strangely calm.
"They're everywhere."
Victoria pulled a compact device from her jacket and scanned the room.
Five blinking red dots immediately appeared on the screen.
"There are five charges," she shouted.
"If one explodes, the support pillars will collapse!"
Emma didn't hesitate.
"You take the west side. I'll get Noah."
Victoria grabbed her wrist.
"You don't even know where he is."
"I'll find him."
Richard suddenly laughed.
"You still think this is about Noah?"
Emma froze.
Richard slowly raised a remote detonator.
"He's already gone."
Before anyone could react—
A huge steel wall slammed down, separating Emma from Victoria.
"Mom!"
Victoria pounded against the barrier.
"Emma! Don't move!"
Richard smiled from the opposite side.
"This is the real test."
Emma looked around.
She was trapped inside a narrow corridor.
At the end of it stood two identical metal doors.
Above the first door:
SAVE NOAH
Above the second:
SAVE YOUR MOTHER
A digital display flashed beneath them.
00:38...
A mechanical voice filled the hallway.
"You may only choose one."
"If you open one door..."
"...the other room will flood with gas."
Emma's breathing became frantic.
"No..."
"This isn't real..."
Richard's voice echoed through hidden speakers.
"You've always wanted the truth."
"Now prove who matters more."
Emma rushed toward Noah's door.
Then she heard Helen screaming behind the other one.
"Emma! Please!"
Tears filled her eyes.
Her entire life had been built on lies...
Yet both voices sounded real.
00:21...
Victoria was still pounding on the steel wall.
"Emma!"
"Don't choose!"
"It's another trap!"
Emma stared at both doors.
Her hand trembled over Noah's handle.
Then...
She noticed something almost invisible.
A tiny engraving beside the lock.
A phoenix.
The exact same symbol she had seen inside Operation Phoenix.
Emma stepped back.
A realization hit her like lightning.
"There aren't two prisoners..."
"There are no prisoners."
Richard's smile disappeared.
Emma looked directly at the hidden camera.
"You expected me to think with my heart."
"But you forgot..."
"...you trained me to think like a soldier."
Instead of opening either door...
Emma fired a single kick into the hallway's electrical control panel.
The lights exploded.
The countdown froze.
00:09...
Every electronic lock in the compound clicked open at once.
Richard's confident expression vanished.
For the first time in years...
His plan had failed.
Then a voice came over the emergency speakers.
It wasn't Noah.
It wasn't Helen.
It wasn't Victoria.
It was someone no one expected.
"Override accepted."
"Welcome back, Commander Carter."
Emma's face turned white.
She had never heard that title before.
May you like
Yet somehow...
The system recognized her as its highest-ranking commander.
