The air over Blackridge simmered with tension. Streetlights flickered. Distant sirens echoed like a warning bell only the smart ones could hear.
Elias crouched over the rooftop of a crumbling tenement across from the Syndicate's safehouse. It looked like any other abandoned block—graffiti-tagged walls, broken windows, a rusted fire escape—but the thermal lens Dizzy rigged told a different story.
Six heat signatures. Two on the upper floor. Four below.
Elias glanced sideways. Dizzy knelt beside him, chewing gum like it helped him think faster.
"All right, Kane," Dizzy whispered. "We playing loud or quiet?"
"Quiet first. Loud if they force it."
Elias tapped his HUD and summoned the gloves' overlay.
******
[Silent Fang Gloves Active]
– Passive Bonus: Melee Attacks Silent
– Buff: +10% Melee Speed | +5% Melee Damage
******
They descended the fire escape in practiced silence. Elias's boots didn't even creak.
First entry point: a boarded side door.
Dizzy took a breath, nodded, and jammed the crowbar into the edge. With a careful pry, the wood split. No alarms. No sensors.
Inside smelled of mildew and cigarette ash.
Elias moved first. One hall. Two doors. Voices beyond the second.
He signaled three fingers—three targets.
Dizzy drew a suppressed pistol from his hoodie. Elias flicked the butterfly knife open.
They burst through.
Chaos. Screams. A crash of chairs.
Elias took the left—jabbed the knife into a man's kidney and slammed him to the ground. Dizzy dropped one with a double tap. The third went for a shotgun—
Too slow.
Elias's gloved fist struck his temple, then another to the throat. Silence.
******
[Enemies Neutralized: 3]
+6 Crime Points
+1 Temporary Skill Shard (Stealth)
Loot: $480 cash | Unregistered Sidearm | Syndicate Safehouse Keycard
******
They cleared the lower floor quickly. Nothing major. Just sleeping cots, some burner phones, and empty dope baggies. But the card mattered.
Upstairs, they paused again. Footsteps.
Elias held up a hand. "Wait for it…"
The door creaked open ahead. One Syndicate thug stepped out, yawning.
Elias surged forward, covering the man's mouth and dragging him backward. A quiet struggle. One stab. No scream.
They breached the upstairs room.
Gunfire burst out—wild and inaccurate.
Elias dove sideways, flipped the table over for cover. Dizzy returned fire. One of the men caught a round in the leg, another dove for the window.
Elias sprinted across the room, drove a knee into the shooter's chest, and slammed his head into the wall.
The last man shouted, "We're made! We're—!"
A bullet cut him off.
Dizzy exhaled, lowering his pistol. "Guess we're loud now."
******
[Enemies Neutralized: 6/6]
+9 Crime Points
Loot: Hard Drive (Encrypted) | Tactical Vest (Damaged) | Intel Document – Supply List
New Node Secured: Syndicate Safehouse B-North
Resource Control Increased
******
They swept the place. Intel files, burner routes, and a half-destroyed map showing upcoming drops. Elias took everything. Left nothing behind.
On their way out, Elias burned the edges of the map, then left it on the rooftop to smolder in the wind.
Back at their own safehouse, the system buzzed.
******
[Territory Control Updated]
– Vire Alley Sector 3C: 100% Secured
– Resource Nodes Controlled: 2/2
– Underlings: 1/1
[Main Objective Complete]
– Time Remaining: 1:19:12
– +15 Crime Points | +2 Skill Points | Rank Promotion Opportunity Unlocked
[Crime Shop – Tier II Now Available]
New Items Added…
******
Elias leaned back in the cracked desk chair and stared at the glowing screen. His empire, for now, held. That safehouse takedown didn't just complete a mission. It sent a message.
He checked the system shop again—new gear, new tools, and one item marked in red:
[Rank Evaluation – Available: YES]
Warning: Rank Upgrades are Permanent. Consequences May Vary.
"Now we're getting somewhere," Elias muttered.
Dizzy leaned in from the doorway. "What's that glow in your eye? You look like a man about to bet big."
Elias smiled thinly.
"I'm not betting. I'm building. And we've only just laid the foundation."
The city didn't know it yet.
But Blackridge had a new predator.