BAM! BAM! BAM!

The loud sound of something heavy slamming against metal echoed repeatedly until a sharp snap followed. The man breaking down the navigation deck door kicked it open before stepping aside while the others rushed in, armed and ready.

But the second they flooded the room, they all paused.

All they saw were bodies sprawled across the floor, but Ashley was nowhere in sight.

"Find her," one of the men hissed, snapping everyone back into motion.

The men searched through the captain’s deck, checking cabinets and corners to see if she was hiding. After several minutes of searching, they turned to the man standing near the control panel.

"Fuck," he breathed out after seeing several controls smashed to pieces, including some of the levers.

Then, one of the men shouted, "She’s not here!"

"The steering wheel’s broken too!" another uttered, trying to twist the remaining fragments of the wheel, but it was jammed.

The man in the middle snapped his eyes toward them. "Then what the hell are you still waiting for?"

Without another word, the men quickly rushed for the door to continue searching for her.

But just as they did, a voice suddenly crackled through the radio.

"Found her!" came a shout. "She’s in the lower deck — fuck!"

As soon as the distress call cut off, the faint sound of gunfire echoed all the way to the upper deck.

Knowing where she was, the men shouted all at once.

"Move!"

"Corner her!"

"Cover every possible entrance and exit!"

Without a second of hesitation, the men moved in organized sync.

*****

Meanwhile, in the lower deck of the ship, the sound of gunfire echoed loudly.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

One man fired at Ashley’s silhouette as it disappeared behind storage areas and workshop spaces. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Hey — what the fuck are you shooting at?!" one of the men shouted at the reckless shooter. "Don’t fire around here! Do you all want us to die!?"

Then, he turned to the others.

"Go after her and force her away from these decks!"

After all, these were hazardous sections of the ship. If they fired recklessly, they could hit a vital engine component or critical machinery and trigger an explosion.

At that thought, the man leading the group suddenly gasped as realization struck him like a truck.

Reaching for his radio, he shouted, "She’s heading for the engine room! Stop her!"

Because if Ashley got inside, they would have to cease fire and confront her directly. One stray bullet was all it would take to hit a pump or some machinery that could kill them all.

As more information spread through the radios, everyone came to the same realization.

Whatever that madwoman was planning, she had to be stopped.

Because if they were right, she was probably heading toward the lowest deck inside the hull.

If she reached that place, she would definitely sink the ship.

Didn’t she mention Titanic?

*

*

*

They weren’t entirely wrong, because Ashley did have other plans.

But she wasn’t heading toward the lowest deck at all, nor did she plan to fry herself along with them.

Instead, she headed straight for the engine room, which the men had correctly guessed.

"There she is!"

Ashley ducked while running at full speed, weaving through boilers and generators to avoid getting trapped. Thanks to her time spent on the navigation deck and countless cargo rides — as she always got shipped in it during her time in the Di Carpios — she had memorized the map of the cargo ship.

The noise inside the engine room was deafening, forcing her to press herself against the wall.

"Find her!"

The muffled shouts of the men entering the engine room echoed beneath the roar of machinery, but she could still hear them.

Ashley crouched in one corner, peeking toward the exit. After a quick calculation in her head, she huffed and nodded.

"Let’s do it."

The moment she muttered that, she sprang from her spot and ran.

"There she is!"

Everyone turned toward the voice, spotting a figure running along the upper corridor platform. Some pointed their weapons at her, but with the maze of machinery surrounding them, they hesitated to fire.

Some still tried.

But the bullets only clanged against the railing, sending sparks flying.

Once Ashley reached the stairs leading upward, she looked back and pulled out the rifle she had taken from one of the men she previously dealt with.

"Fuck—" one of them breathed out. "Watch out!"

Just as the warning echoed through the engine room, Ashley opened fire at several pumps.

The moment the bullets punctured them, scorching steam burst out with a violent hiss. The men closest to it screamed as the burning steam blasted directly into them.

The others who managed to avoid it immediately grabbed their radios, shouting her location to the rest.

"She went —"

One of them suddenly stopped as he caught the suffocating smell of gas.

For a moment, everyone froze wide-eyed.

Then the realization hit.

"Shit!"

BOOM!

A massive explosion engulfed the entire platform, consuming everyone standing on it. Even those running away were hurled through the air by the impact.

*****

The explosion was so violent that part of the cargo hull burst apart, causing alarm bells to ring throughout the entire ship.

BOOM!

Rus, who had just crossed paths with several soldiers, flinched at the deafening blast nearby. Not just him — even the men surrounding him jolted violently.

When they turned, all they saw was blazing red fire erupting from somewhere inside the cargo area.

Rus’s eyes widened in shock, wondering what in the hell Ashley had done.

However, he had no time to dwell on it as he noticed the men around him were distracted.

Grinding his teeth, he lunged forward and tackled one of them, ripping the rifle from the man’s hands before taking down the others.

Whatever Ashley was doing... he didn’t care anymore.

Because at this point, the importance of securing a boat had just skyrocketed.

*****

At the same time, both in the air and across the ocean surface, three helicopters swept spotlights over the waters while smaller, faster boats searched desperately for the ship.

They had been following the active tracker the entire time.

"Damn it!" Red hissed, eyes burning as he scanned the darkness while driving at full speed. "Where the fuck is it?!"

The tracker insisted Ashley was somewhere around here.

But there was no sign of any ship.

"Don’t tell me she’s in a submarine—"

BOOM!

Red nearly bit his tongue when another explosion thundered across the ocean. He flinched, and everyone else paused before snapping their heads toward the source of the blast.

And there it was.

A ship that had been hidden within the darkness finally revealed itself. Now illuminated by raging fire and thick smoke, it stood out like a sore thumb against the night sea.

"Those little shits!" Rum hissed from his own boat. "Don’t you dare sink before I do it —"

Rum never got to finish his sentence as another boat suddenly sped past him so fast it nearly flipped his vessel over.

"What the—"

He gasped upon seeing Red and Tank speeding toward the cargo ship without hesitation.

Rum clicked his tongue and prepared to follow after them — no way in hell was he getting left behind — when a helicopter overhead nearly blasted him backward with its wind pressure.

Rum grabbed onto a handle to steady himself against the violent gusts. The moment he looked up, his mouth parted slightly as his expression twitched.

"Damn it," he breathed out, already knowing who was inside that helicopter.

Lucian.