Deep beneath the polished marble floors and crystal chandeliers of the grand hotel, the atmosphere was stark, damp, and smelling of ancient concrete and stagnant water. Uncle Arthur crouched low, his skeletal frame trembling as he leaned against the rough, weeping walls of the legacy municipal utility tunnels. His breath came in ragged, wheezing gasps, the terminal cancer tearing at his lungs with every inhalation. Clutched tightly in his sweat-slicked right hand was a heavy, modified detonator, while his left hand gripped the strap of a tactical pack filled with C-4 explosives. Behind him, six heavily armed mercenaries moved through the shadows with practiced, silent discipline. Their assault rifles were held at the ready, thermal scopes glowing faintly against the darkness. "How much further to the sub-basement HVAC hub?" Arthur rasped, his voice a harsh, dry hiss that echoed off the curved brick ceiling. Kael, the scarred leader of the rogue squad, checked a ruggedized handheld
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