A pause.
"And then — oh, then we'll see what else I can take."
His voice dipped lower.
"I haven't even started showing her the things I plan to do."
He straightened again, composed and clean as he turned off the bulb. The room fell into shadow.
Only the faintest glint of teeth showed in the dark as Boran whispered one last thing:
"Let the games begin."
The search had taken them through every hallway, every fractured room, and every shadowed corridor the bunker allowed.
But there was nothing.
No footprint.
No trail.
Not even the faintest trace someone had passed through.
Qingran stood at the far end of one corridor, her arms folded tightly across her chest. Her shoulders ached with tension, her thoughts already grinding toward the worst.
Everyone else looked just as drained, some leaning against the wall, others crouched with heads down, sweat streaking their brows.
