Everyone watched Victoria raise her hand against a helpless elderly woman, but only one waitress dared to stop her—and seconds later, Chicago’s most powerful billionaire walked straight toward them. / Chapter 180 / 191

Chapter 180 - Infiltration of City Hall

"Hayes is locking down the city to purge every terminal that downloaded the leak," Emma said, her analytical mind cutting through the shock as she stared at the screen. "If IronClad takes over the municipal grid, they can rewrite the digital public records. In three hours, the Sovereign files will be branded as a deepfake cyberattack, and anyone who possesses a copy will be hunted down and executed."

"There’s only one central node capable of overriding the IronClad takeover," Vincent said, turning to the blueprints on the table. His mind was calculating, sharp, and lethal once more. "The Primary Infrastructure Hub beneath City Hall. Edward Ward designed it directly beneath Daley Plaza."

"It's a fortress," Vance warned. "Hayes has stationed three battalions of IronClad mercenaries in the plaza. The streets are barricaded with armored APCs. You’ll never get within two blocks of City Hall."

"We don't go through the streets," Emma stated firmly, stepping forward and laying her hand over an old, yellowed architectural map from 1982. "Chicago’s old freight tunnels. The coal tunnels run forty feet below the subway lines, connecting Pullman directly to the basements of Daley Plaza. The city forgot they existed fifty years ago—but my grandfather didn't. He used them to lay the fiber-optic fail-safes."

Vincent looked at her, a fierce, proud smile touching the corners of his lips despite the exhaustion weighing down his limbs. "A waitress who knows the city better than the men who claim to own it."

"I was never just a waitress, Vincent," Emma said, loading a tactical magazine into a compact sidearm Vance provided. "I’m an engineer’s daughter. Let's go take our city back."

One hour later, submerged in the pitch-black, abandoned tunnels beneath the Chicago Loop, a strike team of six moved like ghosts through the subterranean labyrinth.

Vincent, his shoulder tightly bound and numbed by field adrenaline, took point alongside Vance, while Emma navigated using her grandfather’s handwritten schematics. Above them, the rhythmic, heavy rumble of tanks and armored vehicles patrolling the empty, curfew-bound streets shook dust from the brick archways.

They reached the rusted maintenance hatch marked *STATION 0-ALPHA*.

Emma entered the mechanical override code: her grandfather’s birthdate combined with the original patent number of the Chicago lock system.

With a soft, pneumatic hiss that had not been heard in four decades, the heavy steel seal released.

They pushed through into the primary server chamber beneath Daley Plaza—a sprawling, circular cathedral of humming mainframe towers, bathed in cool green phosphor light.

"We're in," Vance whispered, gesturing his men to secure the four perimeter entry doors.

Emma ran to the master console, sliding the Sovereign drive into the primary terminal. "It’s accepting the hardware. Decryption is initiating... but I need the dual biometric input. Vincent, your palm."

Vincent stepped beside her, placing his bloodied, scarred palm on the left scanner. Emma placed her slender hand on the right.

The terminal flashed:

**BIOMETRIC RECOGNITION CONFIRMED: MORETTI / WARD DUAL-KEY ACTIVE.**