"Stop messing around. Mission first." The middle-aged leader’s tone cut like cold steel as he addressed the woman.

At that moment, the tech at the computer snapped like a crow alarm: "Crap! We got a situation!"

"What is it?!"

The leader sprang toward him, quick as a hawk wheeling.

"The life sensors I planted on the mercs outside are glitching. Their vitals are fading like candles in wind."

"How?!"

Anger and doubt knotted in him, storm rumbling under a thin calm. He’d struck a deal: police would surround, not storm.

"Boss, what do we do..."

"Open a spatial gate. You—and you—go check if the cops started a hard assault."

He pointed at a tall youth with a massive blade, and a lean one with twin pistols, gestures sharp as spearheads.

"Yes!"

The operator worked the console, fingers tapping like rain. A semi-transparent door rippled on a lobby wall, pale as water. The two stepped through.

"Boss, opening the spacetime gate is spiking Aim’s drain, like a battery bleeding."

"Mm... don’t close it yet. We wait for their report, steady as stone."

"Got it."

"Finally out. That pocket space is a pain, like damp cloth clinging," the lean youth said on the rooftop, night air cool as ash.

"Quit griping," the tall one sighed. "Big Bro’s always cautious. First run for us rookies. He’s guarding us, like a cat testing ice."

"Fine, fine. Let’s see what’s up."

He gripped both guns, metal cold as river pebbles. They left the stairwell and reached the top floor. The hotel’s bright halls had turned to a swallowed cave.

"What the hell? Power cut?"

"Careful," the tall one warned, brows drawn like bows. "I doubt they’re regular cops. Could be Abnormals."

Thump-thump-thump—

"What’s that?"

Footsteps rolled toward them, close as a drum in fog.

"Damn it! Eyes shut!"

A flashbang blinked into his palm like a white seed. He lobbed it.

Bang!

The corridor flared white, a tidal sheet. The tall one couldn’t open his eyes. The lean one, lit by his Anomaly Power, could still see. What he saw froze his breath like ice on glass.

A figure in black Armor stood beside the tall youth. A black-crystal mask erased her face, night pooling in the facets. Her dagger already kissed his throat, a cold crescent.

As if to make him watch, a thin red line lit across the Mech’s mask, a killing sigil. Then the blade slid in without hesitation. His throat opened like paper. Dark bloom spattered the floor.

"No!!!"

He screamed and raked both pistols at her, bullets buzzing like wasps into a black well. The flash’s glare died. Darkness swallowed the hall again.

"Not good."

Fear bit first, then instinct. He bolted for the stairs to the rooftop. The moonlit doorway hung ahead like a silver blade. A slender silhouette flowed into his path.

He looked up. The Mech stood on the steps, moon dim behind her like tarnished jade. On the black faceted mask, a V-shaped red crystal, eye-like, pressed on him like a weight.

"Damn!"

He snarled and dropped his hands to his sides. A rocket launcher manifested, heavy as a tombstone. She was faster.

Her right hand lifted. Red particles swarmed along her forearm, a fire of motes. They fused into a high-tech hand cannon. No charge. No windup. A red shell leapt out like a comet.

Boom!!

The blast blew him and the hotel room behind him to pieces, shockwave rolling like thunder. The explosion rattled everyone outside and stirred a ring of chaos.

"They’ve started the firefight?"

Under a tree behind the hotel, Gu Xin and Meng Yuting watched, the shade pooling like ink.

"We can’t wait for Hawkeye’s call. Let’s go in," Gu Xin said, urgency tight as a drum.

"Mm."

Gu Xin’s pocket buzzed then, a phone’s tremor like a trapped bee.

"Hold on."

She answered.

"It’s me."

"Sis-in-law, I’ve got it. They’re Black Dawn. Not that strong," Hawkeye’s voice came through, crisp as wire.

"Oh... I see. What’s their goal?" Gu Xin asked, her voice low, like storm under glass.

"They likely have quiet ties with the U.S. government. They probably want to control key personnel to force talks."

"So that’s it..."

"But... Sis-in-law, there’s something I need to tell you..."

Hawkeye’s tone turned heavy, clouds lowering over the line.