The clock hands pointed to 11:02 PM. Amidst the pitch black, a flash of lightning struck the clock face, accompanied by the roar of rain echoing louder than before.

  While the wind whipped against his leather sleeve, causing it to flutter slightly, Ark, who had just pulled his sleeve down, looked up.

  Four blocks away, a brightly lit building stood amidst the dark, pouring rain. And at the edge of the building where he currently stood,

  revealed Vic, clad in a long-sleeved brown leather jacket, peering through binoculars. Seeing this, he walked toward him, causing the other man to turn slightly.

  As I approached him, he handed me the binoculars and spoke.

  "That masked guy just went into the building."

  Seeing that, I took the binoculars from his hand with my right hand and raised them to look.

  The image of the brightly lit building's facade came into view. At the front entrance, two heavily armed soldiers stood guard in the glare and rain, clutching assault rifles.

  Inside, Stone could be seen just walking in, carrying a black case. Taking this in, I panned the binoculars to the left.

  It revealed the building adjacent to the target building. At the very top, a lantern provided illumination, while soldiers in cloaks patrolled with assault rifles.

  Seeing that made me speak up.

  "Don't forget what we talked about, Vic."

  Vic crossed his arms, turning his head slightly before looking back at the distant building.

  "You have until exactly 11:40 PM to infiltrate before I send the bomb truck to blow up the base of the building. Once I've sent the truck, I'm pulling out and waiting at the base. If you're not back by 1 AM, I'm assuming you're dead."

  I lowered the binoculars and turned to nod at him.

  "Yeah. If I'm not back by 1 AM, it means my luck ran out."

  Vic turned back slightly, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the exposed skin of my neck. It revealed a creeping black mark spreading from his neck up to his jawline.

  Seeing that, he turned his attention back to the building and spoke.

  "You know the door is almost fully shut, right? If you go any deeper, not even God can save you."

  I raised the binoculars to look at the building ahead again, scanning up the target building, and spoke.

  "God doesn't care about us. But the Devil might."

  "I suppose."

  Vic gave a short reply as the two of them stood in silence. Only the sound of the rain and the chill of the wind lashed against their faces and bodies.

  Until I lowered the binoculars and handed them to Vic. As he took them, I turned my back to him and walked away. Still staring at the building, he spoke.

  "You haven't forgotten why you became a courier, have you, Ark?"

  After walking only a few steps, I stopped, falling silent for a moment before speaking.

  "My body might be failing me, but my brain hasn't rotted yet."

  Hearing that, Vic fell silent as the sound of footsteps behind him grew fainter. He smiled slightly when the footsteps completely faded away.

  Ark walked all the way down to the bottom floor of the building. Looking out at the street where the rain was coming down in torrents, he glanced back at the target building before raising his right wrist to check his watch.

  It read 11:07 PM. Seeing that, he lowered his hand and looked down at the gun holstered on his right thigh before drawing it to check the last round in the chamber.

  Seeing that it was loaded, he released the slide, turned to face the street on his right, and walked out of the parking lot, his boots hitting the standing water on the asphalt.

  He waded through ankle-deep water, heading for the opposite street, his clothes already soaked, the rain still pounding down.

  Reaching the other side, he looked down at a drain covered by an iron grate. He drew the knife from his right hip, pried the grate up, and pulled it aside.

  The surrounding water immediately cascaded down with a loud, echoing roar from below. Crouching down to examine it, he looked up and glanced at the towering target building amidst the storm.

  It reminded him of Stone's words about a secret passage leading inside. He turned back to the sewer, decided to go down immediately, and pulled the grate closed behind him.

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  His boots hit the freezing water as the sound of rushing waves continuously echoed in the darkness.

  A small beam of light appeared, hitting the wall about 3 meters away. Ark was now using a flashlight in his right hand to scan his surroundings.

  He crouched lower, sinking halfway into the raging water. Even so, he kept the flashlight steady in his right hand, sweeping the area.

  It revealed a pipe on the right with water flowing toward the left. Turning to his left, he headed in that direction immediately.

  Crouching down until his body was half-submerged, he used his left hand to steady himself against the bottom to keep the current from sweeping him forward.

  He moved ahead, feeling the fierce drag of the water against his back, constantly trying to wash him away.

  To his left, he felt the slick, muddy surface, while the roar of the rushing water filled his ears constantly.

  Only the flashlight in his right hand illuminated the path ahead.

  He kept crawling, checking his right wrist as time ticked away relentlessly, before hearing the sound of water crashing down into the stream just ahead.

  Trying to find the source with his flashlight, he spotted water plunging from a pipe shortly after he had continued on. Seeing that, he clicked off the light.

  He relied on the faint light from the sky filtering through tiny holes. He crawled through the waterfall crashing over his body, continued walking for a bit, then flicked the light back on.

  But not long after crawling along the pipe, he gripped the flashlight in his teeth, shifted from crawling to sitting on the ground, and extended both legs forward.

  He placed his hands against the left and right walls to push himself. The fierce current from behind

  caused him to start sliding forward rapidly. As he leaned back, his body suddenly accelerated!

  He saw pipes flash past him in a fraction of a second, water splashing his face. Wiping the water away, he looked ahead

  and saw a manhole cover fast approaching. Seeing that, he threw his left hand up and managed to grab the top edge of the wall.

  He jerked to a halt while the water fought to drag him further. But he used his right hand to grip the top, then used both hands to haul himself up to his feet.

  Standing up, he used his right hand to take the flashlight from his mouth, then used both hands to push up slightly on the manhole cover above, causing more water to flood in.

  He peeked his head out slightly, spotting the towering target building not too far away.

  Glancing left, he saw the building with lights on top and soldiers standing guard. Seeing this, he quickly ducked back down and pulled the cover back into place.

  Crouching until half his body was back in the water, he resumed crawling forward, flicking the flashlight on to illuminate the path until he hit a three-way intersection.

  Seeing this, he swapped the flashlight to his left hand, grabbed the right wall with his right, and headed down the right pipe immediately.

  Continuing on, he encountered another three-way split. He glanced left and pressed forward.

  Crawling onwards, he shined the flashlight up to look for a manhole cover. Just then, he spotted one with no water flowing out.

  He turned off the light, clipped it to his right hip, walked over to the cover, stood up, and pushed it open.

  Poking his head out to look around, he spotted two wheels right in front of him. Glancing up slightly, he realized he was currently underneath a vehicle.

  Looking left, he saw light hitting the concrete floor along with other parked cars. He then turned his gaze to the right.

  Seeing cars all around, including one that looked like a jeep parked waiting right in front of him, he slid the cover aside, hoisted himself up, and quickly leaned forward.

  Crawling forward, he looked back at the manhole he'd just exited, quickly slid the cover back into place, then crawled to the back of the car, looking left and right before standing up when the coast was clear.

  Touching the back of the jeep, he leaned right and peered ahead.

  Seeing the way was clear, he immediately tiptoed toward it, water dripping from his clothes and beginning to wet the dry floor.

  Ark peeked outside and saw that the area was entirely devoid of soldiers. Glancing to his left, he spotted a door.

  Seeing it, he quickly stepped out of his hiding spot, scanning the surroundings, seeing only large 4-wheel vehicles on his left and right.

  Reaching the door, he went up the stairs, crouched beside it, and twisted the knob. The door clicked open slightly, and he pushed it.

  He poked his head inside, revealing a white corridor illuminated by overhead lights. Ark looked up.

  Seeing nothing above, he hurried out of the room, closed the door, and stealthily made his way to the next door.

  Standing in front of the door, he reached for the knob. But then, the door swung open, right toward his face. He instantly dodged to the left, flattening himself against the wall.

  The door swung past his face. As he peered through the crack, he heard footsteps from the side just as the door was pulled back.

  It revealed a soldier in a cloak holding the door, staring right at him with a deadpan expression. Ark lunged, slamming his left hand into the man's windpipe!

  The soldier let out a small wheeze, grabbing his throat. He stared at Ark, who was now pushing the door closed.

  Ark stepped right in front of him and smashed a fist into his face! The man collapsed to the floor instantly.

  Ark stepped over him, bent down, scooped him up, and dragged him back to the parking lot.

  Opening the door back to the garage, he dragged the man behind the car on the left, laid him down, and began stripping his clothes.

  Shortly after, the breathless, naked black-haired man was tossed into the vehicle, followed by wet leather clothes and pants thrown in to cover his body.

  Ark stood before the car door, clad in a gray military uniform with an assault rifle slung over his back. He shut the door, turned around, pulled on a balaclava, and yanked his hood up.

  He raised his right arm to check his watch: 11:21 PM. Seeing the time, he looked up, walked back to the door, opened it, and stepped through. The sound of the door closing echoed behind him.

  Ark walked back down the same corridor. He approached the door ahead, opened it, and looked outside.

  Seeing a wall further down, he stepped out and looked left and right, finding the corridor empty.

  He headed right immediately. Reaching the corner, he rounded it and looked to his right.

  He found an elevator on his left with a security camera right in front of it. Ark merely glanced at it before walking steadily toward the middle elevator.

  Reaching the elevator on his left, he stopped and looked up at the floor indicator, showing the elevator descending from the 12th floor.

  Standing still, he rotated his right shoulder slightly, rolled his neck, and crossed his arms.

  He stood staring as the elevator reached the 5th floor, steadily coming down. When it reached the 1st floor, he uncrossed his arms and stood perfectly still.

  The doors opened, revealing two soldiers inside. They gave him a slight nod.

  Ark nodded back as they walked past him. He stepped into the elevator, turned to face the doors, and shifted his gaze to the floor buttons.

  He pressed the button for the 57th floor out of 60. The doors slid shut, and the elevator began its ascent.