He was curious if dogs could detect his true nature.

Carefully, he slowed his heart rate. Not fully, just enough to flatten the rhythm.

The dog reached the door.

It stopped.

Its nose pressed against the gap between the window and the frame, pulling air in short, rapid bursts.

Then it paused.

Francis did not look at it directly. That was the mistake most people made. He looked at the dashboard instead.

The dog sniffed again. Longer this time.

The handler’s grip tightened on the leash by a fraction.

Francis caught it through his peripheral vision.

’So you noticed something.’

He kept his expression flat, maintaining a composed face.

If he got caught, he could just make a mess here, and they would assume he was part of the Covenant.

Then he would change his face and disappear into the crowd.

Fortunately for everyone, the dog pulled back.

The handler studied the animal for a second, then gave a small shake of his head toward the checkpoint soldier.

The soldier stepped back to the window.

"You work nights or days?"

"Days," Francis answered. "Seven to four. Sometimes longer if something breaks down."

"How long have you been at that plant?"

"Six years."

The soldier looked at him once more.

"Alright. Move through." He handed the ID back without ceremony.

Francis took it and drove forward at the same pace he maintained since joining the line.

He did not speed up until the checkpoint was well behind him.

Bypassing the entire outer district, he stayed on the highway toward the central city.

Roughly thirty minutes later, the edge of the central area came into full view as he crested a long, gradual rise in the road.

He wasn’t really surprised by it, since he had already seen the place from an aerial view before.

The buildings here were much taller than those in the industrial district, around six floors, but they still carried an older style from four to five decade-old area.

It was different from where Samantha’s condo was located, where almost everything was modern skyscrapers.

However, this place was perfect for him.

Crime was more common here, which also made it the best place to gather information about Dark Chain.

Or so he thought.

Under normal conditions, it would be filled with low-level criminals and other small-time offenders.

Right now, however, the federation had already cast its net across the city.

Military vehicles sat at major intersections. Barriers had been placed across side streets, funneling all traffic through monitored routes.

Foot patrols moved in pairs along the main roads. None of them looked relaxed.

It made him reassess his original plan of targeting criminals to get info.

Francis drove slowly and listened to the radio again.

— no confirmation yet on the number of bombs or their locations. The Covenant’s statement gave a seventy-two hour window before the first detonation in our city. Government has not issued a public response as of—

’What are they aiming for? If its taking over the country, then this approach won’t work.’

As someone who worked with CIA operatives tasked with bringing down countries from the inside through insurgency, he knew the ins and outs of it.

An ultimatum was designed to create panic, force a public response, and fracture the trust between the government and its people—not to win the war outright.

But ultimatums had a shelf life. The moment the window closed and the first bomb went off, there would be no going back.

A country only remained a country because the majority of its people believed in it. What they were doing now was painting a target on their backs.

Which meant they either had something capable of backing that threat completely — or they were counting on the government blinking first.

Either way, it wasn’t the best approach for them.

The pieces did not fit together cleanly. He let it rest there and refocused on the road.

Then he found what he was looking for.

Midway down a side street, wedged between a closed hardware store and a shuttered laundry, stood an old structure.

Four floors. Stone facade darkened by weather. A hand-painted sign above the entrance in lettering that had once been gold.

He pulled the car to the curb and cut the engine.

Inside, an elderly man sat behind the front desk reading a folded newspaper, unbothered by everything happening outside.

He looked up when Francis entered.

"Room."

"How many nights?"

"Undecided."

The old man reached under the counter and produced a key with a worn plastic tag.

"Third floor. End of the hall. Bathroom works. Hot water after six in the morning only." He paused. "Cash up front."

Francis set the notes on the counter and took the key.

The room was small and smelled faintly of old cement and cleaning product.

One window faced the side street below. A single bed, a chair, a table with a lamp that buzzed when he switched it on.

There was a 24-inch TV mounted on the wall, and he hoped it had cable so he could check the national news.

But that could wait. For now, he stood by the window, looking out.

There were still around three days left before the covenant’s set time, which gave him few options.

The first was to wait for the bombs to go off and join the chaos afterward, harvesting free livers in the aftermath.

However, that would only work if they followed through on their threats.

A giant beast appearing and causing massive destruction could work too.

But for some reason, beast attacks over the past few days had become almost nonexistent. It was starting to make him wonder if they simply vanished from the face of the planet.

All these unknown variables didn’t sit well with him, so he took a deep breath to think.

What mattered now was focusing on what he could actually control in order to reach the next category faster.

He opened his eyes and finally made a decision.

’It will be messy, but it’s the fastest way to rank up.’