They could strike now and catch the leader of Sigma Networkpletely by surprise. It was a brilliant n.


    "Boss, get some rest. We''ll wake you when we get there," Baldy said, urging the driver to speed up, clearly eager for the fight. Years of animosity were finallying to a head.


    At the abandoned factory, Shanley confirmed from hisptop that this was thest known location of Subterra Vanguard''s signal. Furthermore, a search of the parked vehicles outside had turned up items linked to the organization.


    "Boss, we have the perimeter secured," Felton reported. "He''s likely inside."


    "Good." Shanley checked the time, closed hisptop, and elegantly rolled up his shirtsleeves. He put on a mask and a cap. "Give me my rifle," he ordered coldly.


    "Yes, sir." Felton handed him an M200 sniper rifle, identical to Juniper''s.


    "Be careful during the operation," Shanleymanded, adjusting the rifle''s scope. "Whoever captures Specter alive gets a private vi in the north district of Era City."


    A property worth at least 80 million!


    "If he dies..." Shanley paused, his voice low. "The reward is twenty million."


    It wasn''t a vi, but it was still a fortune.


    The promise of such a reward sent a jolt of anticipation through the Sigma Network assassins. They all had one goal: to be the one to take down Specter.


    "Move out," Shanley ordered.


    Felton and Flint nked him like loyal guards as they exited the vehicle. The other members melted into the shadows of the factory, beginning their search.


    Meanwhile, Juniper led her team in through an undiscovered underground garage.


    "Boss, there''s movement upstairs," Baldy whispered, positioning himself in front of her.


    "BANG!"


    The word had barely left his mouth when a loud shot echoed from around the


    corner.


    Juniper''s eyes turned to ice. She shoved Baldy to safety just as a bullet whizzed between them, burying itself in the wall behind.


    “Thanks, boss,” Baldy gasped, shaken. “Damn, I almost cashed in my chips at twenty-five."


    That single shot ignited a fierce battle. As two of the world''s most formidable.ndestine


    vel


    organizations, both sides wereposed of elite operatives. Gunshots rang out, but no one could see their targets. The factory, long abandoned, was thick with dust, severely impairing visibility.


    "Watch out!" Juniper spotted the barrel of a rifle poking out. She raised her own weapon with her right hand while pulling a subordinate behind her with her left.


    "BANG!"


    "BANG!"


    Two shots rang out simultaneously. Juniper''s bullet shattered her opponent''s rifle barrel.


    Flint, now holding a useless firearm, was stunned. “Boss, it''s.Specter!" he velled, cradling his broken rifle like a ed child. "It''s that old


    bastard!"


    The precision was unmistakable; it was the same expert marksmanship he''d faced before.


    "I''ll handle this. You two deal with the others," Shanleymanded.


    To be able to spot Flint from that distance and disable his weapon so effectively...


    his old rival had clearly improved. He had underestimated him.


    "Boss, you alone..." Felton hesitated, unwilling to leave.


    Shanley shot them a look that silenced any further protest. They would be no match for Specter in a direct confrontation.


    "Be careful, boss," they said, before moving to engage the other hostiles.


    Shanley slipped to a new position


    under the cover of chaos, cing himself at a diagonal angle from where he presunted Specter was hiding it was a fatal game of peek-a-boo. The first to make a mistake would die.