Iron City stopped pretending everything was normal.
Sirens wailed almost every hour.Police helicopters hovered low.News channels called it a "security crisis."
The underworld used one word:
War.
The war room lay beneath an old abandoned central bank—once filled with money, now filled with weapons and maps.
Aleena stood at the head of the table.
For the first time since her parents died, her face was truly calm.
Not because she wasn't afraid.But because she had chosen.
"We won't spread our forces," Aleena said firmly."We bait them."
Several senior Sagara syndicate members exchanged glances.
"Bait who?" one asked.
Aleena looked to Arlo.
Arlo continued without emotion."The Black Bird never strikes directly. He lets others die for him."
He pointed at the map."Three districts. Three shell companies. We destroy one."
Naomi nodded."And make him panic."
Aleena stared at the map.
Thousands worked there.Legal and illegal intertwined.
"How many casualties?" she asked quietly.
Arlo met her gaze.
"This is war," he said honestly. "There will be blood."
Aleena exhaled slowly.
"Make sure… it's not innocent blood."
That was her only line.
That night, the city burned.
A warehouse in the Eastern District—owned by Black Harbor Ltd.—erupted in flames.
Not chaos.
Precision.Calculated strikes.
Weapons destroyed.Data erased.Local leaders captured alive.
But retaliation came fast.
Too fast.
Aleena had just returned to headquarters when the front glass shattered.
Bullets rained into the room.
Naomi dragged Aleena down.
"SNIPER!"
Arlo was already moving.
He pulled Aleena into cover, his body shielding hers again.
"Why are you always in front?" Aleena shouted amid the chaos.
"Because I can die," Arlo replied shortly."You can't."
The words crushed her chest.
Too honest.Too deep.
The sniper was neutralized.
But before calm returned—
📞 Arlo's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
The large screen activated on its own.
A man appeared.
His face half in shadow.A thin smile.
"Good evening, Arlo. Aleena."
Aleena froze.
"The Black Bird…" she whispered.
The man chuckled."You learn fast. I like that."
Arlo stared coldly."Why did her parents die?"
The smile widened.
"Because they refused to kneel."
Aleena choked back a cry.
"But don't worry," the man continued casually."You'll be given the same choice."
The screen went black.
Silence swallowed the room.
Aleena trembled—not from fear.
From rage.
That night, Aleena didn't sleep.
She stood on the rooftop.
Arlo joined her, holding two cups of coffee.
"You'll change after this," Arlo said softly.
Aleena watched the city lights flicker like small fires.
"I know," she replied."And that's what scares me most."
Arlo studied her.
"If you fall," he said quietly,"I'll catch you."
Aleena turned to him.
For the first time, she didn't hide.
"And if you fall?" she asked.
Arlo smiled faintly.
"Don't let that happen."
The night wind swept around them.
In the distance, Iron City continued to burn.
And the war had only just begun.
That night, Iron City felt… different.
Not just because fires still burned across several districts.Not just because sirens never stopped.
But because something long hidden—finally rose to the surface.
Arlo stood alone inside the main weapons chamber beneath his corporate headquarters.
Steel walls slid open.
One by one.
Like the jaws of a sleeping monster.
Inside—
Military-grade assault rifles High-level explosives Blades, launchers, close-combat weapons Black crates marked with classified codes
None of it was new.
It had been prepared for years.
For this exact moment.
Raka stood beside Arlo, wearing a black tactical vest.
"All units active," he reported firmly."Upper world and underworld… everyone answered."
Arlo watched the massive screen.
Faces appeared.
Corporate directors.Harbor tycoons.Nightclub owners.District crime lords.Ex-soldiers.Professional killers.
One thing united them—
Loyalty to Arlo.
"How many?" Arlo asked.
Raka exhaled shortly."Thousands. More than expected."
Arlo nodded once.
"Lead them," he said."I'll oversee everything."
Raka smirked faintly."The big war is finally here."
Meanwhile—
Aleena stood inside the deepest storage vault of the Sagara corporation.
The room opened with fingerprints…then DNA.
Her parents' final safeguard.
The doors parted.
Aleena froze.
She knew the family business wasn't clean.
But she never imagined—
The vault held a private arsenal.
Naomi stood behind her.
"Your father prepared this," Naomi said quietly."To protect you… if this day ever came."
Aleena bit her lip.
Her chest tightened.
"He knew…" she whispered."He knew I'd have to choose."
Naomi nodded."And now you have."
Aleena lifted her head.
No hesitation left.
"Open everything," she ordered."Arm everyone."
Convoys moved silently.
No lights.No sound.
Black trucks rolled out from every corner of the city—corporate towers, docks, warehouses, nightclubs.
One destination.
Arlo's underground complex.
A massive structure buried deep beneath the city—a former government bunker erased from official maps.
The steel gates opened slowly.
And that night—
Iron City lost one of its greatest secrets.
Inside the bunker—
Thousands stood in formation.
Black uniforms.Hardened faces.Eyes ready to die.
Arlo's forces on one side.Aleena's on the other.
At first… tension.
Suspicion.Hands near triggers.
Former enemies.
Aleena stepped forward first.
Her footsteps echoed.
"Listen to me," she called out.
All eyes turned to her.
"We may have hated each other. Hurt each other. Spilled blood."
She paused.
"But today… we share the same enemy."
Arlo stepped beside her.
His cold authority calmed the space instantly.
"He kills," Arlo said flatly."He destroys companies, families, and this city."
Arlo scanned the crowd.
"From this moment on—you are allied."
Whispers spread.
Aleena steadied her voice.
"We will not stop until he is found."
Naomi and Raka stood behind them—two right hands.Two deadly shadows.
"And when we find him," Aleena continued, emotion shaking her words,"he will pay for everything."
Silence fell.
Then—
One man kneeled.
Then another.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands bowed.
Not to Arlo.Not to Aleena.
But to the war ahead.
Arlo turned to Aleena.
For the first time, they truly stood as equals.
"There's no turning back," Arlo said quietly.
Aleena nodded.
"I already left that road behind," she replied.
Above them, bunker lights ignited fully.
And beneath Iron City—
Two empires became one.
Ready to strike back.