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 183 / 191

Chapter 183 - The Broken Trigger

The concussion of the gunshot tore through the chamber. Vincent drove his forearm directly into Vance’s sternum, driving the seasoned commander backward into the primary control console. The impact shattered the secondary glass panels, releasing a spray of pressurized coolant that billowed into the room like white smoke.

Vance gasped, blood welling at the corner of his lips, but he swung the pistol upward with military precision. "I had to do it, Vincent! They took my son! The Sterling trust holds every offshore account my family owns!"

"Then you should have died fighting them," Vincent snarled.

He caught Vance’s wrist, twisting it inward until the bone popped with a sickening crunch. The firearm slipped from Vance’s limp fingers, clattering into the coolant pool below. Vincent didn't deliver the fatal blow; instead, he drove the butt of his palm into Vance's jaw, dropping the former security chief unconscious onto the perforated steel decking.

Around them, total bedlam erupted.

The remaining four private contractors in the room, disoriented by the flashing amber lights and the screeching klaxons of the compromised mainframe, raised their assault carbines. But Emma was already moving.

She rolled beneath the crossfire, the suppressed rounds chewing through the leather upholstery of the tribunal chairs and ricocheting off the titanium frame of the central pillar. Surfacing behind the central terminal, she drove the stolen combat blade through the primary fiber-optic conduit feeding Victoria’s tablet.

A blinding blue arc flashed through the room. Victoria let out an ear-piercing scream as the tablet in her hand erupted in miniature explosions, molten copper and shattered lithium scorching her palm. She threw the device against the far bulkhead, stumbling toward the blast doors.

"Seal it!" Victoria screamed into her lapel mic, clutching her blackened hand to her chest. "Seal the lower levels! Flood the Gary basin lines and bring down the south intake! I don't care if the entire Loop sinks into the marsh—bury them in this tomb!"

"Victoria!" Emma lunged over the console, but the massive hydraulic bulkhead door was already slamming down with hydraulic fury. Three inches of reinforced alloy hissed into the floor trench, severing the room from the outer corridor.

The remaining two mercenaries realized they were locked inside with Vincent Moretti. They lowered their weapons, breathing heavily, their eyes darting between the closed vault and the towering heir of the Moretti dynasty.

Vincent stepped out of the shadows, wiping blood from a shallow graze on his cheek. His eyes were cold, devoid of human mercy.

"Drop them," Vincent commanded.

The rifles clattered to the floor without a second's delay. The men raised their hands, backing slowly against the humming server racks.

Emma stood beside Vincent, her breath ragged, her hands slick with sweat and grease. On the primary screen, the name *ELEANOR* dissolved, replaced by a line of code scrolling at inhuman speeds.

*SYSTEM OVERRIDE COMPLETE.*

*LOCATION OF SOVEREIGN CIPHER-0 IDENTIFIED: WATER TOWER CATACOMBS, SECTOR 4.*

*FAIL-SAFE COUNTDOWN INITIATED: 44 MINUTES TO TOTAL GRID COLLAPSE.*