end
Hesh and Logan, disguised as staff members, successfully infiltrated the theater's backstage network of complex wiring and intercepted an encrypted communication from the target bodyguard team regarding "warehouse security upgrades" and "final testing of biological samples."
The device in Elaine's handbag successfully recorded the vague conversation between the Eastern European oligarch and the Middle Eastern prince regarding "security of special cargo" and "immediate shipment after the summit".
However, beneath the calm surface lurked a whirlpool. The next day, in the summit's media center, two efficient-looking men who identified themselves as "special envoys from the International Energy Agency" approached Elaine, who was reviewing documents. Their questions were professional and probing, seemingly discussing energy policy, but in reality, they were pressing her for every detail of the "Dr. von Holz and Dr. Weber's" background. Just as they asked an extremely obscure industry standard question that exceeded their pre-set database, her heart suddenly tightened.
At the critical moment, Keegan, like a knight appearing at the right time, calmly intervened in the conversation with a composed smile. He not only perfectly answered the questions with fluent German and extensive industry knowledge, but also skillfully steered the conversation towards areas the other party might be interested in, seemingly casually mentioning a "weekend fishing appointment" with a high-ranking member of the German Federal Parliament. This background and composure successfully intimidated the other party, temporarily allaying their suspicions, and they politely took their leave.
That evening, in a safe house overlooking the city skyline, all the clues were laid out on a virtual screen. "Makarov appeared in the opera house's VIP area, and the cold chain logistics warehouse in Vienna's 23rd district, owned by an oligarch with whom he had close contact, has recently exhibited abnormal power consumption patterns consistent with a large-scale bio-temperature control system," Elaine quickly pieced together the information. "Meanwhile, NATO, like headless flies, seems only focused on potential commercial fraud and sanctions violations." A bold plan rapidly coalesced in the silence.
Elaine leveraged her experience as a former NPO executive writing influence reports, fabricating a fragment of a confidential email that appeared to have been leaked from within an oligopoly. The email subtly mentioned that a warehouse contained "highly sensitive biological materials requiring preservation in extreme environments," and that this material was "accidentally" leaked to a publicly available intelligence source routinely monitored by NATO investigators through a hard-to-trace network node linked to hackers.
The bait had been cast. Less than forty-eight hours later, external surveillance confirmed that NATO's covert operations team had begun intermittent electronic monitoring and manpower deployment over the suburban warehouse.
Just when the Ghost Squad thought their plan was going smoothly and were ready to sit back and watch the showdown, an unexpected incident occurred.
On the eve of the NATO team's planned raid, a muffled thud suddenly came from the direction of the target warehouse, followed by orange flames shooting into the night sky! — Makarov's men preemptively detonated a pre-set fuse, intending to burn all the evidence!
The sudden explosion disrupted all plans. The NATO team was forced to act ahead of schedule, rushing towards the warehouse engulfed in flames.
From a more distant, pre-selected observation point, Hesh used a super telephoto lens to clearly capture several armed men taking advantage of the chaos to quickly board an unremarkable black van through the back door of the warehouse and speed away.
Ajax immediately mobilized all available urban traffic monitoring resources, tracing the vehicle's every step like combing through a strand of hair. Ultimately, the signals showed that the black van entered the underground parking garage entrance of a consulate of a small Middle Eastern country located in the heart of District One, a place enjoying full diplomatic immunity, and disappeared.
All the clues converged at this moment into a chilling conclusion. Makarov not only dared to hide in Vienna, but also used complex international politics and the sacred and inviolable diplomatic privileges to place his stronghold in the most conspicuous and protected location.
“The consulate…” Price’s holographic image appeared in the room, his voice coming through the encrypted line, carrying an unprecedented solemnity, “This means that we are no longer facing simple terrorists, but rather state-level asylum and a complex labyrinth of international law. Any rash move could no longer be a secret war, but could trigger an international earthquake.”
The opera house curtains had fallen, but the real drama was just beginning. The stage shifted from shadow to blinding light, while their enemies, hiding behind the shield of civilized rules, silently mocked them.
In Vienna's late autumn, the sky was a chilly gray-blue. Inside the safe house, the air was so heavy it felt like it could be wrung out of water. Weeks of intense surveillance had pushed everyone to their limits. On the screen, the thermal image of the top floor of the consulate's east wing remained motionless; the dot of light representing a sign of life, like a venomous snake lurking in the deepest part of a fortress, patiently flicked its tongue.
“Diplomatic immunity is his shield,” Price’s voice came through the encrypted channel, carrying a cold, metallic quality. “NATO is in an uproar; they want to take action, but they’re afraid of triggering a diplomatic earthquake.” A stalemate, a suffocating stalemate.
Elaine rubbed her throbbing temples, her gaze sweeping over the complex signal spectrum. She suddenly detected an extremely faint, regular encrypted pulse signal emanating from inside the consulate, pointing to a server jump pad located in North Africa.
“He’s still active,” she whispered. “Trying to make contact. The signal is very covert, but the pattern… is very similar to the backup communication protocol from the ‘Ark’ era.”
Just then, Hesh, who had been silently monitoring the physical environment, suddenly reported: "Attention! There is unusual activity inside the consulate! The number of guards at the entrance to the underground parking lot has been increased!" Almost simultaneously, Keegan, through high-powered binoculars, saw a black van with specially modified windows silently slide into the entrance of the consulate's underground parking lot.
"Is he going to run away?" Logan asked, his voice filled with doubt.
“It doesn’t seem like it,” Ajax interjected, monitoring the city’s transportation network. “There are no signs of a mass evacuation. It’s more like they’re preparing for something.”
Suddenly, Ghost's almost inhumanly calm voice cut in: "NATO assault team's encrypted communications have reached a critical threshold. They may be attempting a forced entry. Success rate is less than 30%, and failure will have catastrophic consequences."
After a brief silence, Price gave the order: "Ghost, create an opportunity for them while ensuring absolute secrecy. Just a little chaos is enough."
"Understood." Ghost's reply was brief and forceful. A few minutes later, the piercing fire alarm suddenly blared inside the consulate! Immediately afterward, several surveillance cameras on the top floor of the east wing flickered and turned into static—Ghost had used a pre-installed backdoor to create a brief, localized power outage and alarm chaos.
This brief chaos was the opportunity that all parties had been waiting for! NATO assault teams, like cheetahs released from their cages, launched a fierce attack from multiple concealed entrances! The intense gunfire instantly shattered the tranquility of the community.
"They've gone in!" Hesh reported in real time, "They've encountered fierce resistance! The enemy has heavy firepower!"
Keegan kept a close eye on the internal passageway surveillance cameras, which had been briefly hijacked by Ghost. On the east wing leading to the underground parking lot, several heavily armed guards escorted a figure in a dark coat and hood, bearing a striking resemblance to Makarov, as they rushed towards the parking lot!
Before getting into the car, the figure subconsciously raised his hand to straighten his collar—an extremely subtle, habitual gesture that made Keegan's heart skip a beat! "Confirmed! It's Makarov! He's in the underground parking lot, about to escape!" Keegan growled. In the video, the black van suddenly started moving and sped towards the exit.
Just then, something unexpected happened! Boom—!!! A muffled but powerful explosion came from the direction of the consulate's exit! The surveillance footage was instantly engulfed by blazing flames and thick smoke! The explosion didn't come from the assault team's weapon; it was more like a pre-planted shaped charge bomb!
"A violent explosion occurred at the exit! The target vehicle was completely destroyed!" Hesh's voice was filled with shock.
In the chaos, the assault team quickly brought the scene under control, but the key target had been obliterated in the explosion. An hour later, NATO issued a brief statement: "...the terrorist attack was successfully thwarted, and the identity of the leader killed is still being confirmed..."
Three days later, under immense international pressure, the country to which the consulate belonged issued a vaguely worded statement, "thanking" NATO for its assistance and condemning terrorism.
A week later, the NATO secret operations team that participated in the operation crashed in the Alps due to "sudden engine failure" while returning to their home base in a transport plane, and all members were killed in the line of duty.
The news anchor narrated the "tragedy" in a calm tone.
Inside the safe house, the atmosphere was oppressive. Kruger watched the news, his face devoid of any joy at revenge, only displaying a cold, all-knowing indifference and mockery. He stood up and walked to Keegan and Elaine. "The agreement is complete," his voice hoarse, "Makarov is dead... at least, that's what the official statement says."
He paused, his gaze fixed on the two figures before him, a faint, almost self-deprecating smile curving his lips. He murmured in a barely audible voice, "K and E…this fate is truly ironic." With that, he turned and vanished like a ghost into the shadows of the corridor, disappearing through the doorway. Silence filled the room.
A few days later, a news item with automatic tags popped up on Elaine's computer screen—a multinational medical giant, Lifeline, announced that it would launch a large-scale "future healthcare" humanitarian project in a Central African country, dedicated to establishing an advanced disease prevention and control network.
She casually clicked on the project planning diagram in the news attachment, her pupils suddenly contracting. She quickly pulled up the early architecture diagram of the "Night Watch" project in the encrypted database. "Cap, Keegan, look at this..." Her voice trembled slightly. Keegan and Price gathered around.
On the screen, project planning diagrams from two completely different fields are juxtaposed. Despite their apparent disparity, there is a striking, deep similarity in their core module division logic, resource allocation flowcharts, and even the technical abbreviations for some key nodes!
“Style…” Elaine took a deep breath and pointed to several key points, “This way of building complex systems, this logic of controlling risk points… is exactly the same as the underlying thinking of the ‘Night Watch.’ This is no coincidence.”
A deeper silence fell over the room. Makarov may have truly died, but the dark shadow he represented—the shadow that used technology for control—did not seem to have dissipated; it had merely donned a new cloak of "humanitarianism" and quietly reborn in another corner of the world.
Price's gaze swept across each weary yet determined face, finally settling on the gradually brightening lights of Vienna outside the window. Beneath those lights lay countless lives, completely unaware of the impending darkness.
“The entity behind the ‘Night Watch’ project may have been thwarted by us,” he said in a low voice, yet with a rock-solid resolve, “but Makarov and his followers have proven one thing with their madness: the world has never lacked ‘false gods’ who crave to ignite the long night and create chaos. They call themselves the new ‘Night Watch’ and attempt to seize control of humanity’s dawn with viruses and fear.”
He slowly turned to face his teammates—Keegan, Elaine, Hesh, Logan, Ajax, and Ghost and his group members, who seemed to exist like ghosts on the other end of the communication channel. “But from this day forward, the codename ‘Night Watch’ has a new meaning.” Price’s gaze held an all-encompassing power: “We are the true Night Watch. In the shadows where the sun doesn’t shine, in the shadows forgotten by civilized society, we must remain awake. Our battle will not end, because the night… will never end.”
"Ghost Squad, disband on the spot and enter deep silence. Await the next summons. Remember, we are the Night's Watch." The order was given, and a solemn silence fell over the room.
Keegan and Elaine simultaneously looked out the window. The city lights still shone brightly, as if everything were normal. But they both knew that beneath this dazzling light, an invisible war had never ceased.
Keegan's hand gently covered Elaine's hand, warm and firm. Elaine turned her palm over, intertwining her fingers tightly with his.
Silence spoke volumes—they knew that from this day forward, they would share the same identity: each other's glimmer of light in the darkness, and the Night's Watch on this fragile line of defense.
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