The rain hadn't stopped. It hammered East London's bones, turning every street into a mirror of neon and blood.
Ali shoved a man into the ruins of an abandoned café. Broken windows gaped like missing teeth, and the floor was littered with shattered glass. The man's coat was soaked through, his hands shaking as Ali pressed him against the crumbling wall.
"Tell me," Ali growled, voice low but urgent. "Who runs KH in NG? Names. Faces. Where do they hide?"
The man's eyes darted around the shadows. "You… you don't understand," he stammered. "NG is just a mask. KH isn't a gang—it's the streets, the cops, the judges. They control everything. Everywhere you turn, they'll be waiting."
Ali's grip tightened on his collar. "Then give me something. Anything."
The man shook his head violently. "Knowledge won't save you. KH doesn't forgive questions. They'll burn you, your family, everyone you've ever known. You'll disappear."
Ali's chest heaved, his pulse thundering in his ears. He wanted to deny it, but deep down, he knew the man wasn't lying. Still, fear wouldn't stop him. He needed answers. Answers were survival.
And then he heard it.
Engines.
The sound was low at first, a vibration running through the bones of the city. Then louder. Closer. Fifteen engines growling in unison, steady as drums of war.
The man's face drained of color. "They're here…"
Headlights cut through the storm. Black silhouettes rolled down the street, water spraying beneath their tires. *Fifteen black Rolls Royces*, lined like an armored procession.
Doors opened. Guards in black stepped out with military precision, their presence radiating danger. They didn't need to shout, didn't need to brandish weapons. Their silence said enough.
And then he appeared.
Rizwan.
Immaculate, deliberate, calm as stone in the downpour. His eyes swept the ruins, calculating, dissecting. When they landed on Ali, the weight of his gaze was suffocating.
Ali's breath caught. This was the man the streets whispered about. A ghost, a myth—and now, standing in front of him, real and terrifying.
Rizwan entered the café slowly, boots crunching glass underfoot. He studied the cracked walls, the overturned tables, the man pinned in Ali's grip.
"You've stirred the hornet's nest," Rizwan said at last, his voice measured and low. It wasn't anger. It wasn't approval. It was fact.
Ali swallowed hard. "I needed to know who KH really is. I can't fight blind."
Rizwan stopped inches away. His presence filled the room like smoke, impossible to ignore. "You want truth. But truth costs blood. This path doesn't end in peace, Ali."
Ali met his gaze, fear twisting in his chest. "Then teach me how to walk it."
Rizwan studied him for a moment, the storm raging behind them. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"You'll learn. But understand this—once you step into the shadows, you don't come back."
Outside, thunder shook the sky. The convoy engines growled, waiting.
Ali's hands trembled, but his voice didn't falter. "I've already stepped in.
Cliffhanger: Rizwan has agreed to lead him—but into what kind of darkness?