CHAPTER 79

It's funny how one tiny clue can change everything. I was rummaging through what was left of the secret hideout after that deadly ambush—feeling as if every step I took was guided by fate—when I stumbled upon a hidden corner behind a collapsed bookshelf. There, buried under dusty crates and forgotten tech, lay a battered USB drive. It was almost as if it was meant for me to find it. My heart thumped in my chest as I picked it up, the weight of unspoken secrets pressing down on me.

I'd always been wary of surprises, but this one felt different—more personal, like a whisper meant just for me. "What do you got there?" I mumbled to myself, half-laughing at the absurdity. I knew better than to trust my gut entirely, but there was no denying the pull. I hurried back to my makeshift lab—a cluttered room filled with mismatched gadgets and second-hand computers—and plugged the drive into an old laptop that had seen better days.