CHAPTER 54

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The news reached IKON before the smoke from Ulsan had even cleared.

The second headquarters was gone.

Another one of their bases had been reduced to nothing, and whoever was behind the attacks had once again walked away with their lives intact. For an organization that had spent years building its numbers, weapons, and territory, watching one headquarters after another disappear was becoming more than an inconvenience.

It was a warning.


"Ulsan branch is also down!"


Hanbin's fist slammed into the television screen.

The glass cracked beneath his knuckles, the image flickering wildly before disappearing into static. Blood immediately trickled down his hand, but he didn't even look at it. Instead, he slowly turned around to face the men gathered inside the room.


"Let them raid the other three, then."

"But, Hanbin!" Junhoe stepped forward, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"You don't want to lower our numbers, do you?" Jinhwan added, crossing his arms.

"We've never been outnumbered." Hanbin scoffed.

"Bobby's right," Yunhyeong said. "NCT might show up, Hanbin."

The leader clicked his tongue before casually sitting on the edge of his desk. "Let them."

"Don't tell me you're retreating?" Yunhyeong stared at him.

"That's the last thing I would do." Hanbin leaned back, his expression filled with confidence. "That cousin of yours will be dead sooner than you think."

Yunhyeong's expression darkened. "So confident."

"Ah." Hanbin suddenly turned back to them. "You don't know?"

The others raised their brows.

"He's already down." He smiled. "Seunghoon got him."

The room went quiet.

Hanbin's smirk widened. "The great Lee Haechan is already crawling toward his death."


───────


By the time the next day arrived, Dream had returned to their temporary base with another headquarters behind them.

The flash drive they had recovered from Ulsan was immediately handed over to Taeyong and Renjun. Hours were spent searching through every folder, document, and hidden file they could find, hoping to uncover something that could tell them where IKON's main headquarters was located or what they were planning next.

Unfortunately, most of what they found was useless.


"Nothing relevant is in here," Taeyong said after scrolling through another collection of files. "Just common plans. Taking over territories, eliminating enemies, and..."

He paused.

"Killing Jaemin."


The room went silent.

Across the room, Renjun continued working through the remaining files.


Mark stepped away from the computer and looked at him. "Haechan's still unresponsive."

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