Chapter 40 — Two Minutes
The door opened slowly.
Steel hinges moved without a sound.
John stepped inside first.
The others followed close behind.
The room beyond was large, circular, and strangely empty.
No guards.
No weapons.
No computers.
Just a single chair placed in the center of the room facing a massive glass screen on the wall.
Jack frowned immediately.
"That's it?"
Crow moved toward the walls, scanning with his tablet.
"No heat signatures."
Nyra's eyes narrowed.
"He's not here."
John walked toward the chair.
Dust covered it.
Nobody had sat there in a long time.
The glass screen suddenly flickered to life.
Static flashed across it.
Then the image stabilized.
Scar appeared.
Not in the room.
On the screen.
He sat comfortably in a dark control room somewhere else, wearing the same calm smile he always carried.
"Welcome," Scar said.
His voice echoed through hidden speakers.
Jack crossed his arms.
"You're not even here?"
Scar tilted his head slightly.
"Did you really think I would sit at the top of a tower full of angry killers?"
Nyra stepped forward.
"You ran."
Scar laughed softly.
"No."
He leaned back in his chair.
"I planned."
Crow's tablet suddenly beeped loudly.
He looked down at the screen.
Then his face went pale.
"John…"
"What?"
Crow swallowed.
"There are heat signatures on the outside of the building."
Sam looked at the scanner.
Her eyes widened.
"Missiles."
Scar smiled wider on the screen.
"Ah."
"You noticed."
Jack stared at the screen.
"You're kidding."
Scar clasped his hands calmly.
"You see, John… while you were climbing my tower…"
The camera zoomed slightly closer to his face.
"I was climbing something else."
The screen behind him lit up.
A massive digital board appeared.
Numbers.
Charts.
Names.
Betting odds.
Billions of dollars moving across global accounts.
Crow stared in disbelief.
"The gambling network…"
Scar nodded.
"Exactly."
He pointed at the screen.
"The entire underworld has been watching you."
Images from every floor flashed across the display.
John fighting machines.
Nyra cutting through hunters.
Jack smashing through squads.
Hawk shooting from rooftops.
Scar leaned forward slightly.
"And they've been betting."
Jack shook his head.
"You turned this whole thing into a show?"
Scar smiled.
"Into the biggest betting event in underworld history."
Numbers continued changing rapidly on the board.
Crow read them aloud quietly.
"Total global betting pool… forty-six billion dollars."
Sam blinked.
"Forty-six…"
Scar raised a finger.
"And rising."
John remained silent.
Watching the screen.
Scar continued calmly.
"You see, most people bet against you."
The board highlighted several names.
Elite assassins.
Hunter squads.
Prototype units.
"Everyone believed the Knights would eventually die."
Scar shrugged.
"Reasonable assumption."
Nyra crossed her arms.
"And you?"
Scar's smile widened.
"I bet on John."
The numbers shifted again.
Crow's eyes widened.
"Twenty billion dollars…"
Scar nodded proudly.
"Yes."
Jack laughed.
"You built a death tower just to gamble?"
Scar shook his head slowly.
"No."
His tone became colder.
"I built it to prove something."
The screen switched again.
This time showing a drone camera view.
The outside of the building.
Night sky.
Military trucks positioned far away.
Missile launchers aimed directly at the tower.
Sam's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Oh no."
Scar looked directly into the camera.
"You see, John…"
He leaned forward slightly.
"If you died inside this building…"
He shrugged.
"I would still win money."
Jack pointed at the screen.
"You sick bastard."
Scar chuckled.
"But you didn't die."
His smile grew.
"You survived every floor."
"And that…"
He tapped the table once.
"…made the odds explode."
Crow's tablet beeped again.
The numbers finalized.
Scar leaned back comfortably.
"I just won."
Crow read the total slowly.
"Twenty… billion… dollars."
Scar raised a glass of whiskey toward the camera.
"To you, John."
John finally spoke.
"You're not in this building."
Scar shook his head.
"Of course not."
Then his voice became calm again.
"Oh."
"By the way."
He checked his watch casually.
"You might want to start running."
Jack frowned.
"What?"
Scar smiled.
"I placed rocket teams around the tower."
The drone feed zoomed in.
Six missile launchers aimed directly at the building.
Sam's voice shook.
"John…"
Scar continued calmly.
"I always planned to destroy this place."
He lifted the glass again.
"Too much evidence."
Crow's tablet screamed with warning alarms.
"Missiles armed!"
Scar looked directly at John.
"You have exactly…"
He checked the time.
"…two minutes."
The Knights froze for half a second.
Scar raised the glass in salute.
"Run."
Then the screen went black.
For a moment—
Nobody moved.
Then John turned toward the door.
"MOVE!"
The Knights sprinted.
Sirens suddenly activated throughout the tower.
Red lights flashed in every corridor.
A mechanical voice echoed through the building.
WARNING. STRUCTURAL TERMINATION INITIATED.
Jack ran beside John.
"Tell me there's a faster way down!"
Crow shouted while running.
"Emergency elevator on Level Seven!"
Nyra kicked open the hallway door.
"Then run faster!"
Behind them—
The first missile hit the building.
The explosion shook the entire tower.
Concrete cracked.
Glass shattered.
The Knights ran through the collapsing corridors as the tower began to die around them.
Two minutes.
That was all Scar had given them.
And somewhere far away—
He was already celebrating.