The thick reek of sulfur, boiling foul water, and cheap incense fused together the moment the sewer grate was heaved open, welcoming Gilang, Renata, Nara, and Rania with anything but a warm reception. They had just left the secret base and descended the old concrete stairs into the city’s belly, navigating the labyrinth of colossal drainage tunnels forming the beating heart of the subterranean nightlife.

"Put on your air-filtering mask, Rania," Gilang warned in a whisper, handing a small carbon mask to the young girl. "If you breathe the air down here too long, your lungs will fill up with low-tier curse residue and demon cigar smoke."

Rania nodded obediently, quickly putting on the mask while tightly gripping the edge of Renata's jacket. They walked side by side down a wet concrete pathway flanked by green, mossy stone walls. Overhead, the muffled roar of modern city traffic rumbled like distant thunder trapped beneath a thick crust of earth.

The further they pressed on, the scenery ahead gradually shifted from a quiet corridor into a surreal, bustling ocean of life.

"Welcome to the Astral Artery," Renata said softly, halting her steps for a moment and gesturing toward the sprawling view before them.

Beyond the narrow tunnel stretched a massive underground night market extending as far as the eye could see. The place existed in eternal darkness, illuminated by the glow of blood-red paper lanterns, cheap blue neon, and flashes of magical light from various street vendor stalls.

Along both sides of the path, dozens of creatures from various mystical races bustled to hawk their wares. A three-eyed youkai grilled skewers of glowing green bone shards, a group of blue-collar demons in rumpled suits smoked in front of a dice gambling table, and occult tech smugglers flaunted computer motherboards laced with ancient talismans. The sounds of gravelly laughter, clinking digital coins, and mystical electronic music blended into a noisy roar filling the air.

Nara stared around in wonder, her thick glasses reflecting the market's multicolored neon lights. "Whoa... this is incredible. This place feels more like a cyberpunk cultural festival in another dimension than a black market."

"Don't let the scenery fool you, Nara," Gilang cut in coldly, his right hand hovering near the salt-lined sword on his back. "Every creature here would sell your kidneys for a black-magic sacrifice before you could even finish a cup of coffee."

"Gilang's right," Renata added gravely, taking the lead through the crowd of strange beings eyeing them with probing gazes. "The Astral Artery isn't for tourists. We're here for one objective: finding a military-grade Quantum-Decoder before Ant Corp's security hounds catch our scent."

"Then where are we supposed to look for this tool, Madam Director?" Nara asked, pulling her steps in closer behind Gilang. "This market is the size of a city district. We could wander around until hell freezes over searching stall by stall."

"We don't need to search stall by stall," Renata answered calmly. "We only need to meet one person—a legendary smuggler who controls the illegal tech distribution routes in this sector. His name is Zoran, a former mercenary turned information broker."

They plowed through the dense crowd, dodging a minor brawl between two wolf-headed thugs fighting over a vending spot. Not long after, Renata stopped in front of a rundown tent covered by thick black velvet curtains. Hanging above the tent was an old wooden sign bearing a one-eyed symbol encircled by fiber-optic cables.

"This is the place," Renata said.

Gilang parted the velvet curtain with his fingertips and stepped inside first, followed by the others.

Inside the dimly lit tent, a burly man with a jagged burn scar slashing across the right side of his face sat cross-legged atop an old iron chest. The man—Zoran—was cleaning the barrel of a modified energy rifle with a clean cloth, while scattered around him were various cyber components and ancient magical artifacts.

Hearing footsteps, Zoran slowly looked up. His sharp eyes scanned the four newcomers. The moment he spotted Renata leading the group, the corners of Zoran’s lips curled into a cynical smirk.

"Well, well... what wind blew a respectable former Ant Corp Director of Operations to soil her fancy shoes in the gutters of the Astral Artery?" Zoran grumbled in a deep, gravelly voice, setting his rifle down atop the chest. "I heard your head's carrying a ten-billion-rupiah bounty on the corporate fugitive exchange, Renata."

Renata stepped forward calmly, unbothered by the smuggler’s taunting tone. "Save the small talk, Zoran. I didn't come to discuss my head's market value. I need your gear."

Zoran chuckled softly, glancing back and forth between Gilang standing guard beside Renata, Nara clutching her computer bag, and Rania looking terrified in the back. "My gear is expensive, lady. And I don't take payments in sweet promises or worthless stock options from your bankrupt company."

Gilang stepped forward, locking eyes with Zoran with a sharp, challenging smirk. "How about payment not in cash, but with a much more interesting gamble?"

Zoran frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Oh? What kind of gamble can a down-on-his-luck street freelancer in a tattered jacket offer?"

Gilang slipped off his tactical gloves, walking over to the iron chest table where Zoran sat. Reaching into his jacket pocket, Gilang pulled out a large, pure digital gold coin—the final treasure from a mid-tier monster hunt he had been saving for an absolute emergency. He tossed the coin into the air, and Zoran caught it deftly with one hand.

"I challenge you to a classic underground card game," Gilang stated firmly, staring straight into Zoran's eyes. "One round. If I win, you hand over that Quantum-Decoder for free along with the transit route info. But if I lose..." Gilang smirked slightly, "...this gold coin is yours, plus I'll pay off whatever information debt you want."

The tent plunged into dead silence. Nara widened her eyes, elbowing Gilang frantically. "Lang! Are you out of your mind?! Gambling with a black-market kingpin? Where is our bank account supposed to go?!"

Zoran paused, weighing the gold coin in his palm, then burst into a booming laugh that filled the cramped room. "Ha-ha-ha! Remarkable guts for a mortal human! Fine, freelancer. I love a risk-taker."

Zoran produced a deck of worn-out playing cards made of fire-resistant synthetic leather, shuffling them with blinding sleight-of-hand speed. He dealt three face-down cards onto the wooden table before Gilang, and three for himself.

"The rules are simple," Zoran grinned slyly. "Whoever gets the highest card value combination amplified by spiritual energy takes the pot. Lay your cards down, kid."

Gilang didn't rush. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second to sense the spiritual energy vibrations surrounding the table. As a freelancer who frequently danced along the edge of death, intuition was his primary weapon. With a calm motion, Gilang flipped his three cards over one by one on the table.

Ace of Hearts, King of Spades, Queen of Clubs.

Nara covered her mouth with both hands, letting out a stifled gasp. "An occult-modded Royal Flush! Holy madness, talk about insane luck!"

Zoran narrowed his eyes, the smile vanishing from his face instantly. He slowly flipped his own cards: Jack, Jack, Ten.

"Damn it..." Zoran muttered under his breath, then huffed in defeat as he tossed his cards onto the table. "Cheater. What kind of sleight-of-hand trick did you pull, kid? You've got dumb luck."

"No luck, Zoran. That's just street survival experience," Gilang replied casually, crossing his arms with a crooked smile. "So, where's my Quantum-Decoder?"

Zoran grunted in annoyance, but as a professional, a deal was a deal. He reached into the bottom drawer of his iron chest and tossed a small, matte-black metal box equipped with a blue-glowing quantum port cable straight into Gilang's lap.

"Here, take your damn toy!" Zoran snapped petulantly. "That thing can pierce any quantum firewall out there, but remember, the battery only holds twenty minutes once activated. Don't come crying to me if that tower blows up in your hands."

Gilang caught the metal box adeptly, checking its indicator light flashing a steady neon green. "Thanks for the cooperation, Boss Zoran. Your night coffee smells great."

"Get lost before I change my mind and call the outer guards!" Zoran shooed them away.

Gilang, Renata, Nara, and Rania turned immediately, stepping out of the tent and breathing a sigh of relief at having secured the tool they needed. They retraced their steps through the bustling Astral Artery night market toward the drainage exit.

However, no more than a few meters past Zoran's tent, something bizarre happened.

Nara, holding her mini signal-scanner tablet, froze mid-step. The girl's face turned white as a sheet within seconds. Her eyes bulged wide as she stared at the tablet screen displaying a wildly flashing radar graph.

"Lang... Renata..." Nara whispered in a voice trembling with fright, clutching Gilang’s jacket sleeve tight.

Gilang snapped his head around, furrowing his brow. "What is it now, Nara? Don't tell me the decoder battery's dead."

"It's not dead..." Nara's voice caught in her throat as she pointed to the red dots swarming onto the radar screen, closing in on their position from every direction of the corridor. "Foreign tracking signals... there are dozens of them, and they're closing in on our spot at full speed!"

Renata whipped around, her eyes sharpening as they pierced through the crowd of mystical beings slowly parting to clear a path for a squad of black-uniformed troops bearing the red ant logo marching purposefully toward them.

"An ambush," Renata hissed sharply, reaching into her suit pocket to draw her energy pistol. "We're cornered."