KUNPENG_DING

In the power meat grinder that is Washington, D.C., the Blackstone Group controls political scavenger Emily Watson through barcode tattoos. When avenger Victor Stone scorches her skin with an electromagnetic pulse, a dying Emily scans the barcode on her collarbone, accidentally activating a nerve gas canister buried in an underground pipeline on Capitol Hill.Within 72 hours, a toxic fog containing genetically-targeted technology envelops Washington, specializing in killing politicians registered in the DNA bank. Victor discovers that the biochip under his burn scar is counting down, and a jailed and reborn Adam Crawford holds the key that will shut off all the gas valves-but that will permanently lock tens of billions of the Blackstone Group's dirty money into a blockchain tomb. The trio must choose from the ruins of power: destroy all evidence and be reborn, or save their arch-enemy in exchange for a filthy immortality.

black balance sheet

As the searchlights of Ravenloch Prison pierced the fog of the Atlantic, Adam counted the spots of blood on the warden's tie. Not red wine stains, but real human blood from the Minister of Energy who'd had a "heart attack" last month.

"Welcome to the purification ceremony." The warden tapped his collarbone with an ivory handle, "VIP services here include cleaning the former Attorney General's dentures with a toothbrush, hand-washing the gangster's godfather's underwear, and..." He suddenly ripped open Adam's shirt, "learning how to deliver Morse code with nipple clamps."

The walls of the cell are covered with counting symbols scratched by fingernails, and somewhere in the corner Adam finds a mysterious number: $750,000, a price that has just been updated on the black market - the latest offer for bribing guards to let a politician die "accidentally," complete with a fake autopsy report and a package of tweets and eulogies.

At midnight, there's a knocking in the air vents. Some unseen neighbor is delivering a message to the beat of "The Star-Spangled Banner Never Fell. When Adam finally deciphers "check the toilet tank," his fingers touch the condom-wrapped satellite phone.

Twenty-three video thumbnails pulsed simultaneously as the screen lit up. He saw the Secretary of Defense writhing on top of a minor like a stranded orca, and heard a Supreme Court Justice reciting Satanic Verses in Latin. In the last video, Emily Watson was signing papers on the top floor of the Blackstone Tower, the barcode tattoo on her collarbone glowing green in the camera.

"First game changer." The phone suddenly vibrated with an anonymous text message accompanied by a 3D anatomical drawing-exactly showing the model of the warden's pacemaker, "Stab the handle of a toothbrush just below his third rib and you get ten minutes to escape."

Adam's tongue tasted rust, and it was only then that he realized he was biting through the flesh of his cheek. As he unscrewed the head of the inferior toothbrush, the broken surface of the plastic glowed fang-cold in the moonlight. Footsteps came down the hallway; the warden had deliberately changed into a pair of soft-soled leather shoes tonight, like a jaguar approaching a dying antelope.

Chapter 2: The Black Stone Communion