NOVEL WEB Chapter 3: A Room of Answers
Alex Kane moved with grace. Spider Sense and assassin's training turned the advance into a lethal dance. He flowed through the covers, not running but stalking. His guns blazed with the guidance of the electric tingle.
Tingle! Left, Low. 'Slow'.. Bang! A bullet straight to the peaking mercenary. Tingle! Front, 2 o'clock. Two more. Targets down.
He drove the team back towards the ravine, where Henderson and Reyes lay down suppressing fire. Smoke rolled low over the ground.
Behind cover, Richard crouched with his rifle, fully covered. His sharp eyes followed Alex-his precision, his calm under fire. He seems like a new person. Herderson stole glances too, his grip tightening on the rifle every time Alex moved like a ghost.
Alex's gaze snapped toward the treeline. A black SUV roared to life and broke cover, speeding towards the forest's edge. Dust spiraled up in its wake.
A getaway vehicle.
Alex raised his rifle in one fluid motion. He'd done this too many times to count.
'Driver. Windshield not armoured. 80 meters. Wind right, slight.'
Three crisp shots. The windshield cracked in two shots, and the third round found the driver's neck. The SUV lurched, tires screaming, then slammed into a pine.
Alex was already moving.
He advanced on the crashed vehicle, weapon raised. The passenger door burst open- someone stumbled out, bloodied and dazed, gun in hand.
Alex didn't wait. He slammed his boots into the man's wrist, sending the pistol flying. A clean elbow strike sent him crashing to the ground.
"Secure him," Alex said flatly. Henderson rushed forward and zip-tied the unconscious captive.
"Six KIA, four wounded," Reyes reported. "Miller didn't make it, Sir. He was hit when the ambush started."
Richard's jaw tightened. Miller was one of his close bodyguards. "Load Miller. Tend to the wounded. Henderson, get that bastard in the SUV. Alex... " He looked at Alex, a brief hesitation flickering across his face before he steeled himself. "We move now."
[Congradulation. First mission is complete. Calculating... Primary Objective: Complete... Secondary Objectives: Complete... Reducing the Early Claimed Reward...]
Alex waited for a brief period. The screen flickered in front of him, with the system speaking.
[Mission Reward: Telekinesis (level 1). Max capacity:10kg. Neural integration complete.]
A subtle pressure bloomed behind his eyes. He focused on a broken branch- it trembled, then levitated from the ground. Alex quickly withdrew his focus.
[System Upgrade: Storage Dimension Unlocked. Capacity 1 cubic meter. Non-living things only.]
He felt it - a small, cold, silent void only he and System could access.
[Additional Reward For Completion of All Objectives. Anti-Gravity Engine Blueprint. Data Integration Complete. Host may download schematics into any digital container.]
A rush of incomprehensible physics poured into Alex's mind. Quanum matrices, field equations. He stagged.
'I can't understand any of this...'
[Host knowledge can be increased after System Shop is upgraded.] Alex felt a slight mocking in the system's tone. He sighed and ignored it.
Safehouse Gamma sat buried in the spine of the mountains. Thick steel doors and reinforced walls muffled the outside world. Inside the command room, Richard sat in a chair, no longer wounded, but the weight of revelation aging his expression. Henderson secured the captured mercenary leader in the interrogation cell. Reyes tended the wounded.
Richard issued quite orders. A team would be send to recover and will inform their respective families. Miller, though without family, would receive full honor and a proper funeral. The families of the fallen operatives will fully compensated. Richard sighed. 'This is the only thing I can do for them.'
When the logistics were set in motion, Richard remained behind with Alex. The hum of machines filled the silence.
"I don't know how much your father has told you, but it's time for you learn everthing" Richard said hoarsely. "Kane International Security Solutions was a company that evolved from humble beginnings as a small security firm founded by your grandfather. We, Marcus and I took it and built it into some thing real. We grew it together, from domestic patrols to International Contracts. From 10 members into a global force of more than 100 personnel and more 1000 contracted operatives worldwide. Its our blood. A brotherhood."
Richard continued, voice turning grim. "Marcus wasn't satisfied still. He wanted to grow even more, and I... I trusted him with my life. Because his decisions were never wrong. That was when he took the contract of Stark Industries. But even before we can start we failed. He didn't buy the official story about Tony's kidnapping. He had sources - quiet ones. He started digging. Following bank trails, intercepted transmissions, and off-record chatter."
He reached into a drawer and pulled out a photo and handed it to Alex.
In the image a tall, bald man with white beard stood beside a lean, bearded warlord with a hard stare. if Tony Stark was here, he'd recognize the man immediately. One was his mentor - Obadiah Stane. The other was the man who tried to force him to build a missile for terrorists - Abu Bakaar.
"This photo is from an arms broker in Dubai. This was the turning point. Marcus was building a case. Then came the news of Tony stark's return."
Richard exhaled. " Stane was going after Stark's empire. Marcus had the proof - fund trails, recordings, even a confession from a Ten Rings lieutenant. He changed his original plan, whatever it was. Even without discussing with me, he was going to deliver it directly to Tony. But Stane caught wind of it somehow. The ambush... it was meant wipe out all the evidence against Stane."
Alex processed the facts. He might not understand technology or science, but he understood politics and business. Marcus kane - no... his father - was an ambitious man. He wasn't just gathering intel to help Stark Industries. He was positioning himself - maybe for leverage, maybe to stir chaos within the Stark Industries, to make the price fall. Alex seen it too many times, He'd even done it.
"And me? Why target me?"
"You're Marcus's son. Somewhere in the chaos, he might've left clues - maybe even left a message for you. Stane didn't take any chances. If we hadn't responded when we did, our entire family might be... I've been digging ever since, tracing how the breach happened, how Stane got ahead of us, and what Marcus might have seen coming. Every lead points to something deeper... and far from over."
The interrogation room door hissed open. Herderson stepped out, along with Reyes, with grim faces.
"He's dead. Cyanide molar. Took it before we can stop him."
Richard slammed a fist onto the console. "damn it!"
Alex didn't flinch. "We still have what we need. Stane won't cover his tracks perfectly."
Richard looked over hesitantly. "Alex... how... how did you save me? One second I was dying, the next... it was like it never happened."
Alex knew this moment would come. "Uncle, I..." Alex hesitated.
Richard sighed and gently raised his hands. "I understand, Alex."
He turned away for a moment before continuing. "Your father was also like that. So many secrets. But I trusted him with life. But I hope you'll trust me enough to share the important things when it matters."
He looked back at Alex. "After all, you are the only family I have left."
There was no judgement in his voice, only the quiet sadness of a man who had lost too much already.
It's been a long day. Rest, Alex. We'll talk more soon. Whatever happens next... Kane will always prevail"
He left the room in silence.