Chapter 16 - The Hidden Vault
Dominic approached the locked steel door behind the ruined painting, quickly analyzing its sophisticated biometric lock.
He pulled a small explosive charge from his tactical belt, pressing it directly against the digital keypad.
He pulled Hannah behind a heavy marble pillar just a second before the charge detonated with a deafening roar.
The thick steel door blew inward, revealing a dimly lit, narrow stone staircase leading deep underground.
They descended carefully, their weapons raised and their senses dialed up to absolute maximum alert.
The air grew significantly colder, smelling of ancient damp stone and modern, sterile machinery.
At the bottom of the stairs, they found a massive underground bunker that looked identical to a high-tech medical laboratory.
Rows of empty surgical beds and terrifying extraction equipment lined the pristine, brightly lit room.
Arthur stood at the far end of the lab, desperately trying to open a heavy vault built into the solid rock wall.
He spun around as they entered, holding a massive silver revolver with two completely trembling hands.
He screamed that they were ruining decades of brilliant planning and unprecedented scientific profit.
He claimed that the medical data they possessed could change the world, making them literal gods among men.
Hannah stepped forward, keeping her gun aimed directly at the center of her father's chest.
She fiercely told him that he was not a god, just a pathetic, greedy old man who had completely destroyed his own soul.
Arthur laughed hysterically, his mind clearly snapping under the immense pressure of losing his entire empire.
He pointed his heavy revolver directly at Hannah, screaming that he could easily make more children if he needed to.
Dominic did not even blink, instantly raising his weapon to shield Hannah from the unhinged madman.
But Arthur suddenly shifted his aim away from Hannah and pointed the gun directly at a massive, pressurized oxygen tank.
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He smiled wickedly, declaring that if he could not leave with the wealth, nobody was leaving the bunker alive.
He pulled the trigger, completely ignoring the absolute certainty of his own violent demise.
