Venice, the pearl of northern Italy. A famed tourist destination and water-bound marvel. The city's external transportation depended on air travel, while internally, everything moved by boat. Venice's network of 177 canals was connected by 401 bridges. There were no cars or bicycles here, no traffic lights—boats were the only way to get around.
Owen's team took a small taxi-boat heading into the city center. Along the way, they passed all sorts of floating shops: some sold fruit, others sold daily necessities. Noticing the foreigners, many merchants eagerly waved from their boats, trying to attract business.
"How did they even build houses in the water like this?" Monica asked curiously.
Owen happened to know, and explained, "Venetian buildings were originally constructed by driving wooden piles into the soil beneath the water. Then they'd lay a large, thick layer of Istrian stone on top—highly water-resistant rock imported from the Adriatic's Istria region. Brick walls were then built atop the stone. Since brick is much lighter than the stone foundation, the buildings didn't sink much. Of course, these days they use concrete pillars instead of wood…"
The others listened with interest, nodding along.
Eventually, they docked in front of a building. Inside, an old elevator clanked upward after the iron-grated door was pulled shut. Due to Venice's geography, buildings here weren't tall. The group stopped at the third floor.
This was an NSA safehouse in the area—one Nikki had, unsurprisingly, hacked into with ease.
"Come in," Nikki said, sounding like the hostess as she ushered them inside.
They rested briefly and retrieved their gear. Then they regrouped for mission planning.
"How's Benji?" Owen asked as he sorted through equipment.
"He's okay. Hasn't moved from his location. Luther and I will check it out in a bit," Ethan said.
"Ghost and Heartbeat, go with them."
"Got it."
The four departed to scout the area. Meanwhile, Owen had Swagg arrange for boats—they were as vital as cars in Venice.
On the canals, Ethan's group eventually stopped at a small tavern. After ordering drinks, Ethan casually remarked, "The tracker shows Benji's on the third floor of the building across the canal, just diagonal to us."
Ghost subtly glanced up while pretending to sip coffee. The window on the third floor was open; someone sat there smoking. After a few puffs, the man flicked his cigarette out and walked away.
After a brief discussion, Ghost and Heartbeat left. Moments later, at the canal beside the target building, a small boat collided with a merchant's vessel. Goods splashed into the water, and a loud argument erupted.
The fight escalated quickly, blocking the canal entirely. Onlookers shouted. The area turned into a noisy scene.
Ethan saw several people leaning over to watch the commotion and signaled Luther.
In a corner, Luther pulled out a remote and launched a quadcopter drone into the air. Silently, it drifted toward the third-floor window.
This had been Ethan's plan all along: using a drone to avoid alerting the guards. Earlier observations showed that Makarov's men frequently watched that window. Ghost and Heartbeat had created the canal distraction to draw their attention away.
With the guards now watching the chaos outside, no one noticed the drone silently peering into the apartment.
Inside, the drone's rotating camera captured the room in detail.
"Found him. Benji's locked in a cage," Luther reported through the comms. The live feed was transmitted to the safehouse, where Owen and the others watched.
Onscreen, a corner of the room showed a metal cage like a dog kennel. Benji was inside, naked and visibly weak.
"Got it. You guys can pull back—stay safe," Owen said.
With Benji's location confirmed, it was time to finalize the operation—rescue, capture, and escape strategies were mapped out.
Makarov had given Ethan 48 hours. Today was the last day.
Preparations were methodical. Near noon, the Rapid Response Team, now in disguise, left wearing yellow work uniforms.
On the second floor of the target building, Heartbeat—posing as a painter—carefully coated the ceiling with one type of chemical. Afterward, he applied another layer of a different compound.
By midday, both teams were in position.
Owen stood at the third-floor door with his assault rifle, counting down. "Three, two, one… Go!"
Ghost, leading the charge, kicked the door open. Monica was the first to fire, instantly eliminating a visible hostile.
At the same moment, a thunderous BOOM came from beneath Benji's cage. Heartbeat's paint had actually been a layer of precisely calculated explosives—just enough to breach the floor without harming the man above.
As the floor gave way, both Benji and the cage disappeared into the level below.
With the hostage no longer a factor, the Rapid Response Team switched to CQB mode and swept in aggressively.
Makarov's men were caught off-guard. Several guards in the living room were quickly neutralized. The remaining ones fell back to defend using the building's layout.
Owen quickly scanned the rooms but didn't see Avril or Zheng Anshun—both of whom were also high-priority targets. Where were they?
"Careful, someone just jumped out the window…" Nikki warned over comms, having seen the escape via satellite.
Owen fired a few suppressing shots and turned to look. Sure enough, someone was struggling to climb onto a speedboat—it was clearly Makarov.
On the second floor, Ethan shot the locks off Benji's cage. As he helped Benji out, Owen's voice crackled over the comms: "Makarov's in the canal—stop him!"
Ethan jumped out the window and landed beside a moored speedboat. Makarov was already speeding off. Ethan and Benji gave chase in another boat.
They'd only made it a few meters when an explosion rocked the canal.
Looking back, they saw a column of water rise near the building. The structure began to tilt—on the verge of collapse.
"Fuck!"
Inside, Owen cursed and shouted: "Fall back! Everyone retreat!"
Both sides of the conflict forgot about fighting and ran for their lives. Makarov had rigged the building's supports with explosives, detonating them as he fled—uncaring for the fate of his own men.
(End of Chapter)
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