*Chapter 26: Warehouse II*

Inside the Estate Shopping Complex, an old staff hallway stretched ahead. The smell of rust filled the air. Old tube lights hung from the ceiling. Some were lit, while others flickered. Footsteps echoed through the empty corridor.

Shun Aizawa moved forward with his pistol raised, staying alert. Every step was slow and careful. Beside him were Daichi Matsura and Satome Saorin. Behind them followed the SWAT squad, with Zen Yoshiro and Kai Yanagi at the rear. Although they now worked mainly as analysts, both had previous field experience as inspectors.

They reached a two-way junction where the hallway split into two dark corridors. Aizawa raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop. The squad halted instantly.

Zen glanced down both passages, his expression calm.

“There’s a saying,” Zen said. “Always choose the left.”

Daichi snorted. “That’s your strategy?”

Zen shrugged. “It worked before. Once.”

“Eh? Once!?” Kai asked, giving him a strange look.

Aizawa ignored them. He crouched, scanning the dusty floor. Scattered footprints. Faint scuff marks. Nothing clear enough to tell which way the enemy had gone.

He frowned.

“It’s almost too quiet.”

Satome looked from one corridor to the other.

“Maybe we’re searching the wrong corridor.”

Aizawa looked at her.

“Do you really believe that?”

She hesitated, then shook her head.

”…Eh?”

Silence settled over the junction.

“Satome,” Aizawa said without looking up. “You were at the briefing. What’s the priority order?”

She sighed. “You already know.”

After a brief pause, Satome answered,

“Primary objective: capture or neutralize the Abyss leadership. Secondary objective: rescue the children.”

“I think rescuing the minister’s kid ranks even higher than that,” Zen remarked dryly.

Kai let out a quiet chuckle.

“Right,” Aizawa said with a nod. He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again.

“You know why I hate priorities?”

Satome frowned. “Because they assume everything goes according to plan.”

Before Aizawa could answer, Daichi spoke.

“Well… if we catch their leaders today, maybe this finally ends. We’ve already lost too many because of them. Good officers. Good people. Some were my colleagues, friends. Some never made it home to their families.”

His jaw tightened.

“I don’t want anyone else added to that list.”

He clicked his tongue.

“Tch. I’m sick of this.”

Silence filled the junction. Aizawa looked down the dark corridor before slowly standing, brushing the dust from one knee.

”…Maybe you’re right,” he said and glanced at Satome, “We follow orders, after all.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Satome finally broke the silence.

“You really are a difficult man, Aizawa.”

Aizawa lazily let out a tired sigh. “I’ve been called worse.”

Daichi grunted from behind them. “Well… we can save the philosophy for later. We’ve got terrorists to catch, don’t we?”

Daichi stepped past the others, his heavy boots echoing through the narrow corridor.

“Daichi…” Aizawa called.

“Relax,” Daichi replied without looking back. “I know what I’m doing.”

He took another step.

Click.

The sound was tiny. Almost nothing. But in the unnatural silence of the hallway, Daichi recognized it instantly. His body locked in place. His eyes slowly dropped to his boot. A slightly raised floor tile. A pressure plate.

”…Shit…” he muttered under his breath. “Don’t tell me…”

A cold sweat ran down his back.

A landmine.

Aizawa’s head snapped toward him. He’d heard it too.

“Daichi, what was that…”

Daichi swallowed. “It’s a…”

Before Daichi could answer, a sharp metallic clang echoed through the corridor.

Then another. Heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor, followed by dozens more. Figures emerged from both ends of the hallway, dressed in the newly provided black tactical armor. Their visored helmets reflected the flickering lights as they advanced with assault rifles raised. Red laser sights danced across the NSIA team.

Abyss.

At least twenty of them. Maybe more.

Daichi’s jaw tightened.

Aizawa counted quickly. Too many. His team was badly outnumbered, and the second SWAT squad hadn’t even entered the building yet.

“Well, well…” A woman’s voice echoed through the corridor. Calm. Sharp. Irritated.

The Abyss soldiers stepped aside, making way for their squad leader.

Unlike the others, she wasn’t wearing the newly issued tactical armor. She didn’t get one. Instead, she wore a black combat uniform with a pistol holstered at her right hip. Her face remained hidden behind a helmet, its dark visor concealing her expression.

“Look at this,” she said, scanning the NSIA team with obvious disdain. “The mighty North State Intelligence Agency… all dressed up with nowhere to go.”

She stopped a few meters away and folded her arms.

""Here’s how this is going to work. You’re surrounded. You’re outnumbered. Every rifle in this hallway is pointed at you.” She tilted her head slightly. “So let’s not waste each other’s time. Drop your weapons and put your hands where I can see them.”

Satome’s grip tightened around her weapon.

“Who the hell do you think you’re giving orders to, bitch?”

A faint, annoyed smile appeared beneath Sao’s visor.

“I think…” she said calmly. ”…You don’t have a choice.”

Her gaze swept across the trapped NSIA team.

“Master’s orders are clear. Surrender yourselves to Abyss.” Her voice remained flat. “No one has to die tonight.”

The SWAT squad didn’t lower their weapons. Neither did the Abyss soldiers. The air between them was taut as a drawn wire.

Daichi remained frozen on the landmine, sweat beading on his forehead. His eyes darted across the corridor, counting soldiers, measuring distances, calculating every possible outcome.

And then he spoke.

“Hey.”

His voice cut cleanly through the silence. Every head turned toward him. Daichi’s face was calm. Too calm.

“Let’s negotiate.”

Aizawa blinked. Satome stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. Even Zen’s usual composure cracked for a brief moment.

Aizawa started to speak. “Daichi…”

Daichi met his eyes for only an instant. It was enough. Aizawa saw it. There was something behind that look. Deliberate. Intentional.

He swallowed the rest of his words. His grip tightened around his pistol, but he said nothing.

“What?” Sao raised an eyebrow. “Negotiate? You’re in no position to…”

“I said let’s negotiate,” Daichi repeated, his voice steady. “You want something from us. We want something from you. That’s how negotiations work.”

Sao studied him for a long moment before letting out a short, humorless laugh.

“Fine. I’ll humor you. What are you offering?”

“Us,” Daichi replied without hesitation. “We leave. You continue whatever you’re doing. NSIA won’t interfere with your business.”

“And in return?”

Daichi held her gaze.

“One child.”

Silence.

“One child,” Sao repeated.

“One specific child,” Daichi said calmly. “The Health Minister’s son. Hand him over to us. That’s it. You keep the others. We walk away. No one else dies tonight.”

Aizawa frowned. None of this made sense. His eyes drifted to Daichi. Only then did he notice it. Daichi hadn’t moved. Not even an inch. His shoulders were rigid. Sweat trickled down his temple despite the cold air.

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed.

Sao’s gaze sharpened.

“The Health Minister’s son…” she repeated slowly.

She reached for the radio clipped to her vest, pressed the transmit button, and turned slightly away from the group. She spoke quietly into the radio. A brief pause. She listened.

”…Understood.”

Sao turned back toward them, a cold smile forming beneath her visor.

“Well…” she said. “My Master finds your offer… interesting. And he grants permission.”

“What?!” Satome snapped. “Daichi, what the hell are you saying? You can’t just…”

“Trust me,” Daichi said quietly. “This is our only option.”

Satome glared at him.

“Have you lost your mind? We don’t negotiate with terrorists. And you’re not the one giving orders.”

“Aizawa. Daichi’s eyes met his. “Please.”

Aizawa looked at him in silence. Something was wrong. Daichi wasn’t bargaining because he believed in it.

He was buying time.

“Daichi…”

“Trust me,” Daichi repeated. “I know what I’m doing.”

For a long moment, Aizawa held his gaze. Every instinct told him to refuse. Yet Daichi’s eyes never wavered.

But Daichi’s eyes were pleading. And Aizawa had known him long enough to recognize that look. He’d seen it once before.

”…Everyone stand down,” Aizawa said. His voice was hollow. “We’re not negotiating. We’re… regrouping.”

Satome spun on him. “Aizawa, you can’t seriously—”

The SWAT squad lowered their weapons slowly, reluctantly. Zen and Kai followed suit.

Satome’s face was white with rage, but she said nothing.

“Get your hands up, wide open, now,” Sao ordered Daichi.

Daichi did, but he didn’t move from his position. The Abyss soldiers moved forward toward Daichi.

Sao gestured to one of her men. “Find whoever the minister’s kid is. Bring him with you.”

“Understood,” the soldier said, stepping back.

“And you,” Sao said to the soldiers approaching Daichi, “watch your step carefully, dumbasses… There are possible landmines scattered around, or so I heard.”

Sao turned back to Daichi, a smirk playing on her lips. “You’re smarter than you look. Maybe we’ll have more dealings in the future.”

“I bet,” Daichi said. “Come here and take my soul, bastards.”

And then, as the Abyss soldiers approached and the NSIA team began to withdraw under Aizawa’s orders, they were finally far enough.

Daichi’s hand moved. Subtle. Almost invisible.

And Aizawa realized what Daichi was planning.

He turned, his body tensing to lunge forward. But it was already too late. The soldiers were surrounding Daichi, and the corridor was too narrow for him to reach him in time.

“No!” Aizawa shouted. “Daichi, don’t—”

Daichi’s face twisted into a grin. Not a happy grin. A defiant one. The grin of a man who had nothing left to lose.

“You really think I’d let you take a single child, you bastards?” Daichi said, his voice carrying across the corridor.

Sao froze. “What did you say?”

Daichi laughed. Low. Harsh. Broken.

“I’m not letting you take anyone.”

Aizawa’s chest constricted. He knew what was coming.

“EVERYONE, GET DOWN!” Aizawa shouted. “NOW! MOVE!”

Sao’s face went white.

“What are you—”

“Take care of my wife,” Daichi said, turning to Aizawa, his voice suddenly soft. Almost gentle. “Tell her… tell her I…”

He paused. His eyes met Aizawa’s.

“I’m counting on you, Aizawa.”

If this is how it ends… at least it ends meaning something, Daichi thought.

“Wait. Hold on. Wait… could it be…? Fuck—”

Sao suddenly realized what Daichi was planning, but it was too late. Sao screamed her orders.

“SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM!”

But Daichi was faster.

He lifted his foot off the landmine.

Everyone dropped to the ground, hands over their heads. The soldiers nearest to Daichi scattered in panic.

And then…

Nothing.

A beat of silence.

Daichi blinked. He looked down at his foot. Then at the floor.

The pressure plate remained intact.

No explosion. No shrapnel.

Just…

Nothing.

Daichi’s grin faltered. He stomped on the plate once. Hard.

Click.

Still nothing.

“Agh…” Daichi muttered. “It’s… a dud.”

The corridor fell completely silent.

Aizawa stared. “Daichi… you son of a…”

Zen let out a wheezing laugh that he quickly suppressed. Kai’s mouth hung open. Satome’s face went through about twelve emotions in two seconds.

Sao opened her eyes, thinking she had already died twice. Her expression shifted from terror to fury, then to something that might have been disbelief.

”…You absolute bastard,” she snapped.

Tch. Well… I guess Master Renji really does this kind of shitty thing intentionally. Psychological warfare… Testing our discipline, I guess. Sao Thought

Daichi rubbed the back of his neck, looking almost embarrassed.

Sao’s eye twitched. “How dare you…”

“Kill him,” she said flatly.

The Abyss soldiers raised their weapons.

And then…

Zen Yoshiro’s pistol was suddenly pressed against the back of Sao’s head. She froze.

No one saw when he got there.

“Bingo. Gotcha,” Zen said with eerie calm and mockery. “That’s three minus points, Miss Princess.” His voice was calm, almost cheerful.

“Your move, Commander,” Zen said to Aizawa.