Kante is a strange, tactical man—an enigma who always got what he wanted, no matter the circumstances. Cunning, elusive, and evasive, his mind operated like a perfectly oiled machine of strategy and manipulation, far beyond what most people could comprehend. That was his greatest weapon. It wasn't strength or supernatural power that made him invincible. No, it was his mind.
And that's what had always made him untouchable. Until now.
For the first time in a long while, Kante was genuinely surprised when someone managed to uncover his art—though not in a formal way, not through the system or a police database. Instead, someone simply knew about him, but didn't exactly know him.
And that made him pause.
Kante had been raised with only one purpose: to kill.
His first lesson was how to speak because it was necessary. His second was how to take a life efficiently. And the third—most important of all—was how to think tactically. He learned to twist any situation to his advantage, no matter how grim or complex, no matter how much blood needed spilling.
From the time he was an infant, Kante knew only one truth: survival demanded strategy, and strategy demanded ruthlessness.
He took his first life at the age of three.
So when he discovered the old surgeon had secretly transplanted the Connect eye into him—an immortal eye—he decided to use it as an advantage.
He could use the Connect himself to his advantage, it was after he learned of this truth that he noticed that his eyesight had improved, somehow. With the Connect himself, Kante could achieve immortality, while also throwing off his enemies—particularly the police, who had been on his trail for as long as he could remember.
His original plan had been to capture Uche - the Connect, the man who was close to uncovering his identity, and harvest his organs to make himself nearly immortal. But after careful consideration, Kante realized he could kill two birds with one stone: use Uche to throw the cops off his trail and solve his biggest problem—their relentless pursuit of Snowflake.
The police had been chasing Snowflake for as long as Kante could remember, but they still had no idea who he really was. So, he concocted a plan. He'd let Uche be their scapegoat, reveal him to the cops as Snowflake, and have them believe they'd finally caught their ghost.
The idea was perfect.
Kante would sit back and watch Uche get locked away for life. But then came another problem—if the police took Connect away, Kante wouldn't be able to use him to attain immortality. That's when his thoughts turned to the organ traffickers who had originally kidnapped Uche. They could be useful pawns in his game.
That's how the ambush came to be.
The ambush on the convoy wasn't just an attack—it was a masterpiece of tactical brilliance, carefully orchestrated chaos. Kante watched from afar, hoping everything would go according to plan.
---
Sergeant Kim's warning came just a second too late.
The missile shot out from the bazooka with a deafening roar, streaking through the air like a divine arrow of destruction. Its target: the explosives-laden bus at the head of the convoy.
Kim's voice crackled through the radio, shaky but urgent.
"Brace yourselves! It's an ambush!"
The missile struck the bus from underneath, detonating the cargo in a bone-rattling explosion. The blast sent the massive vehicle soaring through the air, a flaming comet on a collision course with the convoy. Time seemed to freeze as the officers watched in horror.
The bus arced past the first three vans, narrowly missing them, before crashing down with a thunderous impact between the fourth and fifth vans. For a brief moment, there was a stunned silence.
Then all hell broke loose.
The bus exploded again, this time with cataclysmic force. The two closest vans were instantly consumed by fire and shrapnel, their metal frames crumpling like paper under the blast. The sheer force of the explosion hurled the last two vans backward, sending them skidding across the asphalt on their roofs, sparks flying as they tumbled.
"AMBUSH! We're under attack! Regroup!"
Sergeant Kim shouted into his radio, his voice thick with adrenaline.
The searing heat from the inferno washed over them as they scrambled for cover. Two vans had been obliterated, reduced to flaming wreckage. Another two lay overturned, their wheels spinning uselessly in the air.
More than half the elite squad was gone in an instant.
Before Sergeant Kim could issue another order, a second explosion shook the ground. He looked up just in time to see another missile hurtling toward the lead van.
"Take cover!"
He yelled. Some of the officers managed to dive out of the vehicle just as the missile struck, sending the van flying backward like a toy, before it crashed directly onto the third van—the one where Uche had been locked up. The force flattened the vehicle instantly, pinning it to the ground.
A few quickly got out with injuries.
Sergeant Kim immediately sprinted toward the only remaining van, the second in the convoy. Several officers who had survived the initial attack were already taking cover behind it. They needed a plan.
More than half of their team had been wiped out in mere seconds, and their chances of survival were rapidly dwindling. But before they could make a move, they had to assess the situation.
Inspector Ray's face was pale, his expression a mix of fear and fury.
"They're here for Snowflake,"
He whispered, his voice barely audible over the chaos.
"Squad Six, do you copy? Squad Seven, respond!"
Sergeant Kim barked into the radio, but all he got in return was static. He clenched his jaw.
"Squads Four and Five are down. No response from Six or Seven."
Ray swore under his breath.
"We need backup. Now."
Before Kim could reply, the unmistakable rattle of gunfire tore through the air.
Bullets slammed into the van they were using as cover, sending sharp metallic pings echoing through the air.
Sergeant Kim peeked around the edge and saw them: a wave of figures, clad in black, emerging from the shadows. They moved with terrifying precision, weapons raised, advancing toward the convoy like predators closing in on wounded prey.