The helicopter was gone, reduced to smoldering fragments scattered across the landscape. Leon's eyes sharpened, his grip tightening on the gearshift.
In one smooth motion, he shifted up and slammed the accelerator, sending Diomas Nilo surging forward once more. The monstrous machine left behind a storm of dust, gravel, and debris, a trail of chaos that made witnesses gasp in awe.
The East Coast… was about to change forever.
From Detroit to New York, the route was Leon's battleground. Under ordinary circumstances, someone like Shaw in his McLaren 720S would need five hours minimum to reach New York at top speed.
Five hours was enough for Eteon to react, to pull strings, to mobilize troops and set up blockades. It would normally give Carvill and his handlers the chance to stop him.
But Leon wasn't ordinary.
His speed was beyond comprehension. He tore across states faster than intelligence officers could relay his position. Before Eteon could organize even the first layer of defense, Leon had already covered half the journey.
The organization's operatives felt despair closing in on them like a noose. Since the moment Leon appeared, not a single operation had gone their way. Every tactic, every blockade, every high-tech ambush—they all crumbled before him.
And this time, the road ahead was frighteningly smooth.
No traps. No blockades. Just a clean, uninterrupted highway.
It was like a comet blazing across the night sky, unstoppable, brilliant, terrifying.
Leon chuckled darkly.
"Too slow. Too weak. Too sloppy."
What others saw as the world's most dangerous terrorist group, Leon dismissed as weaklings—mere playthings for him to crush underfoot.
"Eteon? You're nothing but paper tigers," he sneered.
In the passenger seat, Andrek adjusted his glasses, his gaze locked on Leon. What kind of man was this? A young driver who single-handedly forced a global shadow syndicate into retreat.
In any other era, Leon would have already been hailed as a hero. But here, now, he seemed almost indifferent to the idea.
"The East Coast really is about to change," Andrek whispered to himself, awe lacing his words.
Soon, the car rolled into the outskirts of Detroit.
Once a symbol of American industrial glory, the city now stood as a shadow of its former self. Empty streets, cracked asphalt, and silence. Cadillac's once-proud headquarters was shuttered. The giant billboards along the road spoke of half-finished redevelopment projects, hollow promises that had long since lost their spark.
A rusted Ford Thunderbird from the 1980s sat abandoned on the curb, its shell corroded, paint peeling like dead skin.
Leon smirked.
"Looks like the perfect place for a street race."
He eyed the empty boulevards, scanning for hidden ambushes. But there was nothing. Eteon wasn't here.
Too quiet.
"They must be pulling back," Leon muttered. "Waiting to regroup at the stronghold."
Elena, watching the city pass, shook her head. "Don't get used to it. Once you're done here, you'll head back to the West Coast. This place isn't home. You're just a visitor."
Her words were practical. Leon's base, his roots, his family—everything was in Los Angeles. The East Coast was enemy ground.
But Leon's grin widened. "Not necessarily. I hear there are legends on the East Coast too. Drivers worth testing myself against. Like that guy earlier with the SSC. Pretty damn fast."
His blood burned at the thought. For Leon, leaving without a race would be unthinkable. The greater the challenge, the greater his excitement.
He turned sharply to Andrek.
"Where's Eteon's nest?"
Andrek swallowed hard. "East side. An abandoned coal-fired power plant. It was shut down after Detroit's bankruptcy. That's where they set up shop."
Elena frowned. "Shouldn't we find Gisele first? She could help."
Leon shook his head, confidence blazing in his eyes.
"To deal with Eteon? I don't need anyone else."
Dr. Dog—Andrek—nearly choked on his own breath. Only Leon would dare to say such words. Any other sane man would've fled without looking back.
Andrek spoke quickly, desperate to prove his usefulness. "I… I prepared escape routes when I worked there. Two tunnels. One might've been sealed, but the other should still be usable."
That made Leon's smile sharpen. "Good. Elena, Hattie—you'll take him in and grab the equipment. Leave the rest to me."
Hattie's face paled. "What about you?"
Leon's grin turned feral, his teeth glinting in the dim light.
"I'll tear them apart."
The thought of leaving Eteon standing, waiting for revenge, was unthinkable. He intended to end this here and now.
Then, the system chimed in.
Ding! New Side Mission: Gifted Weapon – Ultra Graviton Wave (1 charge).
Objective: Destroy Eteon's power plant headquarters using the Ultra Graviton Wave.
Reward: Standard Graviton Wave Generator.
Leon's heart skipped. He almost laughed aloud.
The Ultra Graviton Wave—a weapon said to crush even a speeding bullet train into scrap. A weapon on par with a laser cannon, if not more devastating.
Exactly what he needed.
His pulse thundered in his ears. With this, wiping out Eteon in one glorious strike was inevitable.
"Perfect. Absolutely perfect," Leon murmured, sliding the device into his pocket like a child hiding stolen candy.
He ignored Hobbs' earlier warnings, pushing them out of his mind. Nothing else mattered.
The roar of Diomas Nilo erupted again, louder than ever. Its engine's thunder echoed down the hollow streets of Detroit like the battle cry of a monster.
The entire city shook as Leon tore toward his destination—the abandoned power plant.
Massive cooling towers rose into view. They weren't smokestacks, not exactly. These were giants, two hundred meters tall, built to cool the immense furnaces that once powered Detroit's industries.
Now, they stood silent, hollow, looming like the skeletons of titans.
Leon's car slipped beneath them, dwarfed into insignificance. To anyone watching, it was as if a lone insect had wandered into the realm of giants.
Elena's eyes widened in awe.
"Unbelievable. There must be over two hundred towers here… No wonder Detroit was once so powerful."
Once, those towers had roared together, a cathedral of industry. Now, they were nothing but dust and shadows.
Leon studied the layout, nodding.
"No wonder Eteon chose this spot. With these towers masking their heat signatures, no satellite could pick them up. Right under America's nose, and nobody noticed."
The irony wasn't lost on him. A country obsessed with counterterrorism, blind to a monster thriving right in its heart.
Leon parked and turned to Elena, handing her one of Shaw's rifles.
"You take Dog and get the equipment. If he resists, shoot him. Twice."
Andrek flinched, shrinking into himself. "N-no! I'll help. I've wanted to destroy the virus for years—I swear it!"
"Good," Leon growled.
They split. Elena and Hattie guided Andrek into the plant. Leon, meanwhile, slipped the Ultra Graviton Wave trigger into his jacket. His eyes gleamed.
This was it. The showdown.
"One man against a whole organization…" Leon cracked his neck and smiled coldly. "So what?"
He slipped into the shadows, silently taking out guards one by one. Their bodies slumped into the darkness without a sound.
But something was wrong. The defenses felt too thin. Too relaxed.
Was it complacency? Or… a trap?
Leon stopped at a pair of steel doors. Two paths forward. Left—or right?
He tilted his head, grinning faintly.
"Let's see which of you bastards wants to die first."
~~----------------------
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