Three hundred wealthy guests watched a maid stop Vanessa’s attack with one hand, never realizing the woman in the gray uniform had once been trained to dismantle dangerous threats. / Chapter 58 / 130

Chapter 58 - The Bridge of Leviathan

The descent through the secondary access tunnels was a nightmare of groaning metal, cascading water, and screeching alarms. Every plate of the submarine shrieked under the immense pressure of the Atlantic depths as the vessel dove past its maximum operating threshold.

*Depth: 600 meters... 650 meters...*

Pipes ruptured along the narrow catwalks, spraying scalding water and glycol coolant into their path. Naomi led the way, clearing fallen debris with brute force, her gray maid's training long forgotten beneath the lethal instincts of Generation Nine.

They burst into the aft torpedo bay, which housed the deep-sea emergency pod. But standing between them and the escape craft was the remainder of Kael’s rogue unit—six heavily armed operators who had barricaded the pod's boarding ramp.

"They're not trying to escape," Ethan realized, his eyes widening. "They're guarding the pod to make sure Clara dies with the ship!"

"Fanatical programming," Naomi said coldly, checking the remaining ammunition in her sidearm. "Five rounds left. Ethan, take Clara and sprint for the ramp the second I move."

"Naomi, you can't take six of them alone!" Clara cried.

"I won't be taking them alone," Naomi said, glancing at Clara. "Controller... issue an emergency override to the bay's automated defense turrets. Say: *Code Seven Alpha, suppress all targets on the gantry.*"

Clara stepped to the wall-mounted intercom panel, keyed the switch, and spoke with absolute clarity: "Code Seven Alpha, suppress all targets on the gantry!"

Above the rogue soldiers, two ceiling-mounted automated sentry cannons activated with an electric whine. Before the mercenaries could react, twin streams of heavy-caliber fire swept across the gantry, tearing through the barricade.

"Go!" Naomi shouted.

They surged forward across the catwalk, ducking beneath stray fire. Naomi fired three precise shots, eliminating two surviving soldiers who attempted to train their weapons on Clara. Ethan tackled the last guard off the edge of the catwalk, sending both men crashing onto the lower torpedo racks before Ethan scrambled back up the ladder, bruised but alive.