The 12th floor of the Roxxon Energy Building was unnervingly quiet. Every office window was sealed shut — not just locked, but fused into the walls like part of the building's skin.
No one could climb from outside. No chance of scaling to the 13th floor without being noticed.
Daniel frowned. 'So, elevator it is.'
He returned to the elevator shaft. Roxxon Energy wasn't just paranoid — they'd designed this building as a fortress. The shaft was a narrow, airtight cage, offering no space to climb or squeeze through.
Normally, his plan would be simple: wait for the elevator to descend, then climb the cables and slip onto the 13th floor.
But this wasn't a normal building. He could feel the traps layered into its structure, an invisible web of alarms and failsafes. The Hand had buried their fangs here, and Daniel wasn't about to stumble into them blind.
'If this place is a stronghold, every inch of it is probably monitored,' he thought. 'One wrong move, and I'll have the entire building's kill squad on me.'
There were a dozen ways he could infiltrate the 13th floor, but only one that wouldn't leave traces behind. The Hand hunted. If he left even a whisper of his presence, they'd come for him.
Air ducts? Forget it. If Daniel were them, he'd lace every vent with infrared scanners and motion-triggered explosives. One wrong breath and—boom.
No, this needed precision.
Half a minute later, Daniel was crouched inside the elevator car, the metal floor already lifted with casual ease. For most people, this would've been impossible. For him, it was child's play.
He dropped the panel back into place and looked up at the glowing display.
"Please enter the password."
His lips curled into a smirk.
A camera hummed softly in the corner, scanning the empty space where his body would've been, but his optical invisibility kept him hidden.
Daniel's fingers hovered above the keypad. A faint arc of magical energy danced from his fingertips, slipping into the wiring like a whisper. Numbers flashed through his mind. Four digits.
'Got you.'
The elevator chimed softly. Ding.
The doors slid open.
Daniel stepped into a narrow corridor, careful to remain cloaked. Cameras dotted the walls, but they were angled toward the entrance, not the elevator door itself.
The floor was made up of black tiles, each step was designed to produce a crisp click if carelessly pressed. A perfect alarm system for intruders.
Silence blanketed the 13th floor, but Daniel knew the truth: the walls were crawling with killers. Ninjas, gunmen, assassins. They'd be invisible until the second they struck.
The Hand had learned well. Kunlun-trained, disciplined, merciless.
Daniel ghosted forward, his footsteps soundless, gliding through the dark maze of corridors until he reached the central room — a single, lavish chamber.
"…Keep an eye on him tonight. I'll do it myself after midnight."
The voice that drifted out was hoarse, carrying a cold finality. Whoever this man was, he wasn't the kind to leave loose ends.
Daniel's jaw tightened. He hadn't met this man, but the venom in his tone was unmistakable — the kind of threat you didn't ignore.
'Middle of the night… That's when they'll strike.'
Daniel's eyes narrowed. Whoever this was, they weren't leaving this room alive.
The Hand's ninjas could be trapped, even indefinitely, if he stripped them of consciousness. A permanent, dreamless coma — no resurrection, no suicide, no return. He'd done it before. There were plenty of places in Central Park where they'd never wake up.
Daniel was about to slip inside when—
"Who's there?!"
The voice roared like a whip crack.
The door burst open with a thunderous bang!
A figure in white flew through the air like a ragdoll, slamming against the far wall with bone-snapping force. Daniel's eyes sharpened — it was the same white-clad ninja who had dissolved the corpses at Empire State University.
'Annoying bastard.'
Before the ninja could recover, Daniel flicked his hand. A razor-thin arc of electricity shot forward, piercing the man's chest. His heart stopped in a single beat.
From inside the room, the sound of fighting rang out — furious, chaotic.
Daniel's gaze flicked through the crack of the door, and what he saw made his breath catch.
'Elektra?'
His pulse spiked.
What was she doing here? Why was she in the heart of the Hand's den?
—
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