The morning atmosphere in Sector District 4 looked like a ghost town draped in a thin, purplish mist. Boundaries between districts were strictly partitioned by three-meter-high concrete barricades strung with high-voltage barbed wire. At every major intersection, towering military watchtowers loomed, sweeping blinding searchlights across the pavement without pause.

Zulfa, Naya, and Captain Danu hunkered down behind the shattered concrete wall of a ruined old cafe, regulating their breathing in absolute silence. Across the street, a primary military checkpoint was heavily guarded by dozens of newly hired corporate mercenaries clad in dark-gray combat armor bearing The Foundation Council's crest pinned to their chests.

"Look at that checkpoint," Captain Danu whispered half-aloud, sweeping his mini binoculars toward the main gate. "Those mercenaries aren't regular city troops anymore. They're a new elite private strike force recruited directly by the syndicate to enforce martial law."

Naya pressed her body against the wall, glaring toward the checkpoint where several panicking civilians were being dragged forcibly into a quarantine truck by the mercenaries. "They're treating our people like prisoners of war... If we try crossing through that main gate, we'll get captured or shot on sight."

"We aren't going through the main gate," Zulfa said calmly, his eyes tracking the patrol rotation of an unmanned surveillance drone buzzing softly overhead. "Watch the patrol drone's sweep cycle. Every four minutes, there's a ten-second window where their thermal sensors are blocked by the shadow of a damaged digital billboard."

Captain Danu glanced briefly toward the overhead street-space, nodding in understanding. "Good pattern, Engineer. Our window is razor-thin. The second that drone shifts left, we make our move into the underground utility drain behind the guard post."

"Get ready," Naya hissed, gripping her backpack straps tight. "Three... two... one... NOW!"

True to Zulfa's precise calculation, the three of them bolted from cover, sprinting lightning-fast across the cracked asphalt road without generating a whisper of sound precisely as the surveillance drone pivoted the other way. They slid straight down into an underground utility maintenance hatch covered by a rusted iron grate.

Once inside the damp, dim utility tunnel, Naya let out a long breath, smoothing down her slightly disheveled hair. "Phew... that was close. Almost thought those heat sensors picked up our heartbeats."

"Don't celebrate yet," Captain Danu chimed in, clicking on his mini flashlight as he swept down the concrete pipe corridor. "We're still inside the military quarantine zone. This sector's crawling with infrared sensors and close-range patrols."

They marched down the underground tunnel with extreme caution, following an old fiber-optic cable route unlogged by the security systems. Yet barely a few meters in, Captain Danu's stride froze abruptly. He raised his right hand, signaling Zulfa and Naya to halt entirely.

"Footsteps ahead," Danu whispered sharply, leveling his rifle barrel.

From around a slightly widened utility corridor bend ahead, the faint, scuffing stomp of approaching military boots drifted over, accompanied by hushed, tense dialogue.

"This sector's supposed to be sterilized, but the commander says there's a report of intruders slipping past the western post," a man's voice echoed dimly off the concrete walls.

"To hell with the intruders, I hate pulling duty down in this damp basement. Feels like smelling the apocalypse," the second voice grumbled lazily.

Zulfa motioned for Naya and Danu to press close behind a massive pipe recess along the left wall. They held their breath, bracing for a firefight if their identities blew.

Two corporate mercenaries rounded the tunnel bend, walking casually while toting plasma rifles. Yet right as they crossed before the pipe recess where Zulfa hid—

Thud! Thud!

Captain Danu's lightning reflexes were unstoppable. Before the first soldier could raise his rifle, Danu lunged from the shadows, smashing his rifle butt into the trooper's neck to knock him out instantly. Simultaneously, Zulfa vaulted forward, clamping a hand over the second soldier's mouth and guiding his body to the concrete floor without a sound.

"Nice, fast work, Captain," Zulfa praised quietly, releasing his grip on the unconscious mercenary.

Naya hurried over to check the uniform of one of the fallen guards. "Hey, look at the collar badges... They aren't regular mercenaries. They're part of the core engineering division's personal security unit."

Suddenly, a small handheld radio comms unit in the breast pocket of an unconscious soldier buzzed to life.

"Sector 4 Unit, report security status in the lower utility path. Any anomaly movement?" the checkpoint commander's voice crackled from the radio.

Captain Danu locked eyes with Zulfa instantly. Zulfa nodded sharply, gesturing for Danu to answer the call in a calm tone.

Danu snatched up the handheld radio, bringing it close to his mouth as he mimicked a heavy mercenary drone. "All clear, Commander. Utility route is clean, zero sign of intruders. Continuing routine patrol."

"Good. Sweep up to the sector seven boundary. Stay sharp."

Click. The radio fell silent again.

Naya exhaled a breath of relief. "That was dangerously close..." she murmured, wiping sweat from her brow. "Though wait, if they're engineering division guards, that means we're terrifyingly close to the primary access path leading into the city center."

"Right," Zulfa added, standing straight and dusting off his jacket. "Let's keep moving before their buddies get suspicious."

They resumed trekking down the tunnel until they located a vertical iron ladder leading straight up to the surface behind a sector boundary wall. With utmost care, Zulfa pushed open the upper hatch cover and peeked outside.

They now stood within the deserted backyard of the city archives building, far from the crowds of the primary military checkpoints. Yet as they climbed out of the hatch and hugged the building wall, the outdoor atmosphere felt eerie and dead.

Suddenly, from around the shadows of the archive building's side alley, a human silhouette hurried out. The man wore the uniform of a high-ranking city military officer, but his shoulder insignia had been forcibly ripped away, and his face was slick with anxious cold sweat.

"Who's there?!" Captain Danu reacted instinctively, leveling his rifle at the officer.

The middle-aged man gasped in shock, throwing both hands into the air as he took a step back. "Wait! Don't shoot! I'm not your enemy!"

Zulfa narrowed his eyes, studying the officer's pocket badge and facial features. "Hold on, Captain... lower your weapon. I recognize him. He's Colonel Hendra, the idealistic military officer who opposed the martial law execution order at the city council yesterday."

Colonel Hendra lowered his hands slowly, staring at Zulfa, Naya, and Captain Danu with ragged breaths. "You... you're the resistance group hunted by that corporation, right? Thank God I managed to find you before it's too late."

"What are you doing in a hidden place like this, Colonel?" Naya asked cautiously, stepping closer to the officer. "The city military has handed over all control to The Foundation Council. You should be at the central command post."

Colonel Hendra smiled bitterly, shaking his head slowly. "The central command post was seized long ago by the syndicate's higher-ups. I defected because I refuse to become a butcher for my own city."

Colonel Hendra fumbled into his military jacket pocket, pulling out a confidential physical document stamped with a red corporate seal, handing it directly to Zulfa.

Zulfa accepted the document with slightly trembling hands, flipping open the first page under the beam of Naya's mini flashlight.

Colonel Hendra stared intently at Zulfa with a gaze mirroring profound terror. "Engineer Arditama, what you saw in the sky and that dimensional anomaly chaos in the streets... that's only the opening act of their rotten plan."

Colonel Hendra drew a deep breath before dropping the most shocking intel that made their blood run boiling hot:

"The syndicate's supreme leader—the master puppeteer behind The Foundation Council—is currently building a giant ritual temple atop the city's highest tower, using cosmic dimensional energy to transform into a new god entity that will wipe out all of humanity!"