The heat inside the garage was thick, clinging to the air like a heavy blanket.

"Wait!" Marcus yelled, glancing at the screen. 85%... 90%...

"Goodbye, Marcus," Vance raised his gun.

But Marcus wasn't waiting for mercy. He was waiting for a distraction.

Elena, despite her injuries, suddenly kicked the knee of the guard holding her, driving her elbow into his throat. At the exact same moment, Marcus hit the deck, sweeping his leg to knock over a massive server rack.

Gunfire erupted, shattering the glass panels of the servers.

Marcus drew his suppressed MP7 from his jacket, firing from the floor. He took down the two guards flanking Vance. Vance scrambled back out of the vault, abandoning his men.

99%... 100%. BROADCAST COMPLETE.

The ledger—every bribe, every murder, every offshore account—was instantly transmitted to every major news outlet, federal database, and public server in the world. Vance’s empire was dead.

Marcus grabbed Elena, pulling her behind the fallen servers. "The broadcast is done. We need to go!"

"He locked the vault door!" Elena shouted over the gunfire. The heavy steel door was slowly swinging shut, trapping them inside.

Marcus reached into his jacket and pulled out a brick of C4. "I didn't come to crack the vault this time. I came to break it."

He slapped the explosive onto the structural hinges of the vault, grabbed Elena, and dove into the reinforced corner of the server room. "Fire in the hole!"

The explosion was deafening. The sheer concussive force blew the massive steel door completely off its hinges, sending it crashing into the hallway.

Marcus and Elena stumbled through the smoke, coughing, their ears ringing. The estate was in absolute chaos above them as sirens began to wail in the distance. The VIPs were fleeing.

In the hallway, Silas Vance lay pinned beneath the heavy steel vault door, his legs crushed. He looked up at Marcus, spitting blood.