The room inside the Zlatan palace was dim, shadows crawling over the stone walls. Jack sat with Victor and Luis, the weight of their revelations still heavy in the air.
Luis sat quietly, his old eyes glistening. A life lived alone. A man of science and war — but never of love again. After Martha, he had never married, never let anyone nearby. Now, hearing the truth, his heart sank under regret.
Victor's voice broke the silence, deep and steady.
"Maybe Martha knew. Maybe she waited for this moment. Something great... something terrible... was always coming. And through him" — he looked at Jack — "she left her destiny behind."
He leaned forward, his eyes sharp and cold.
"All of this... is written. By her hand. And it leads here."
The air grew heavy with his words.
And then—
The frame shifted.
Far away, beyond the Zlatan walls, a vast research compound loomed in the night. A white fortress of steel and glass. On the outer walls, the name burned in bright light:
DAXLER GROUP.
Inside, scientists moved like ghosts, their faces pale under sterile white light. Machines hummed, data streamed across screens, and in the center of the main lab, a column pulsed with a terrible glow.
The light was green.
Zytheron.
Its energy seeped into the air, alive, dangerous.
Patrick's hands flew across a keyboard in a dark safehouse nearby, his face lit by the glow of monitors.
"I've cracked them," he muttered. "The men in white — they're Daxler. A syndicate filthier than most. Weapons, drugs, human trafficking. Dangerous. Cruel. And now... Zytheron."
The mission became clear.
Jack, Victor, and Luis sat together, maps spread before them. The plan was precise, every step calculated. That night, Jack would go in.
By evening, the compound loomed over Jack like a beast. He moved like shadow, slipping past the outer walls. A guard vanished into the bathroom with a single blow. Jack pulled on the man's uniform, strapped on the stolen ID, and stepped into the lion's den.
Inside, the air was cold and sterile. Security cameras swept the halls, guards paced in silence. Jack moved with practiced ease, but his stolen ID only got him so far. To reach the inner lab, he needed more. Only researchers had that clearance.
He pushed into a side room, starting to strip the uniform, preparing to take another disguise.
Then he froze.
Someone was watching him.
Slowly, he turned.
His breath caught.
"...Natasha?"
Her eyes widened. Her hand flew to her mouth.
"Jack?" Her voice trembled. "What—what are you doing here? You—everyone thought you were dead! You were shot... you fell into the sea..."
Jack stepped closer, urgency in his voice.
"I'll explain later. Right now, listen. Inside this lab, there's something called Zytheron. A green substance. I need it. The world needs me to take it."
Natasha's face was pale, disbelief fighting with memory. She had been his closest friend, once. She swallowed.
"I'm doing a summer internship here... I don't know much, but I know where the lab is. I can get us inside."
Jack's eyes softened, just for a moment.
"Then help me. Please."
She nodded, silently.
The chance came at dinner. While scientists filed out toward the mess hall, Natasha swiped her card, pulling Jack with her. Together they slipped into the research lab.
Before that Jack entered the device given by the Patric, he was outside of the research Centre in a van.
Patrick's voice crackled in Jack's earpiece.
"Camera control is mine. Go. You're clear."
The door slid open.
Inside, the room was alive with green light.
The Zytheron pulsed in a containment column at the center, its glow casting shadows across the walls. Jack and Natasha froze in awe. For the first time, they saw it — the heart of everything.
There was no time. Patrick jammed the alarms, blocking every alert. Jack ripped open the casing, slipped the Zytheron into a containment capsule strapped beneath his shirt. His heart pounded.
He turned to Natasha. His voice was quiet, hurried.
"Thank you. For everything. But now, I must go."
Her eyes lingered on him, a storm of feelings she never voiced. She only nodded.
But security was already stirring. Guards found breaches in the system. Alarms refused to sound, but suspicions rose. Whispers turned to shouts.
"Check Zytheron!"
The order rang out. Moments later, the truth was known. It was gone.
Chaos exploded.
"Enemy inside!"
Jack's cover shattered. Guards swarmed, rifles raised. Jack fought with brutal speed, weaving through bullets, his stolen uniform tearing away. Over three hundred armed men surged into the compound.
And then—
The walls shook with fire.
A missile tore through the gates, erupting in flame. The Zlatan forces stormed in, roaring with fury. Victor himself strode through the smoke like a warlord, his men laying waste to the guards.
It was war.
Bullets tore the air. Explosions ripped the ground. Jack fought beside the Zlatans, his body moving with desperate precision. The compound became a slaughterhouse.
By night's end, Daxler's guards lay broken. Fire consumed their fortress. The survivors fled into the darkness.
Jack, Victor, and Luis emerged, battered but alive. And with them — Zytheron.
Back at Luis's hidden lab, the capsule was set onto a steel table. Cameras whirred silently from above, unnoticed. Somewhere, far away, an unseen figure watched every frame of the destruction. His face cloaked in shadow. His voice silent.
But his eyes burned.
For now, Zytheron was safe. Luis locked it away, deep within the vaults of his laboratory.
The storm, however, had only begun.
The mission was done. The fire, the blood, the chaos of Daxler — all of it lay behind him now. Jack walked through the quiet streets of his hometown, the night air heavy with the smell of rain. His body ached, his mind burned, but his heart carried something heavier still.
Home.
The door creaked as he stepped inside.
For a heartbeat, silence. Then—
"Jack?"
Voices trembled. Faces froze. His family stared at him as if they'd seen a ghost. Tears welled in their eyes. In their hearts, he had been lost forever. And now, here he stood, scarred but alive.
His mother's hands shook as she touched his face. His sister clung to him, sobbing. Their cries filled the house, joy and disbelief tangled together. Jack's chest tightened. For the first time in a long time, he felt warmth. He was home.
Later, under the pale streetlight, Natasha stood waiting. When Jack came to her, their eyes locked.
She listened as he told her everything — the chains, Victor, Luis, Martha, Darian, the war against Daxler. Every secret, every truth that had nearly broken him. Her heart softened, regret filling her eyes. The boy she thought she lost was standing before her, changed forever.
Silence stretched between them. Then Natasha spoke, her voice shaking.
"You're here... but..."
She hesitated. Then, softly, the question fell:
"Where is Ryan?"
Jack froze.
His face tightened. His eyes locked on hers — and in them was fear, tension, and a truth he could not speak.
The night went still.
The end, But not an "END".