The Black Market Heist
Marcus never cared for easy jobs.
Stealing from a museum was child’s play. Robbing a bank was just a math problem. But stealing from the most dangerous criminals in the world? That was the kind of challenge that made his blood sing.
Criminals didn’t call the cops. They didn’t file insurance claims. They didn’t negotiate. They just killed.
Which meant Marcus had to be perfect.
The Plan: Get In, Get the Painting, Bug the House
After Erebus Flynn won Genesis of Eternity at auction, Marcus knew Flynn wouldn’t let it out of his sight. He was obsessed with control. Power. If Flynn knew about the Erythium legend, he wouldn’t risk transporting the painting until he confirmed its secrets.
That gave Marcus a small window to act.
The plan? Simple. Break into Flynn’s estate, steal the painting—but also leave something behind.
Flynn would expect a thief. He wouldn’t expect surveillance.
Breaking In
1:30 AM
The estate was dark, but not unguarded. Four-man security patrols. Dogs. Cameras with infrared motion tracking. Flynn didn’t take chances.
Marcus didn’t either.
Dressed in a matte-black tactical suit, he moved like a shadow, hugging the treeline at the edge of the estate. His memory had already mapped out the entire compound from his time at the auction—the guards’ routes, the security blind spots, the weakest entry points.
Getting inside was a test of patience.
He climbed over the west garden wall, landing softly on a manicured lawn. Avoiding a patrol, he slipped through a service entrance near the wine cellar.
Inside, the air was cool, expensive, and silent. The faint scent of aged wood and cigar smoke clung to the space.
Marcus moved fast and low, avoiding cameras, bypassing biometric locks, until he reached the room where Flynn kept his newly acquired prize.
The Painting & The Fight
The Genesis of Eternity sat behind a bulletproof glass case, mounted like a sacred relic on a mahogany wall.
Marcus knew the lock type just from a glance: Serratura ProTech 8000X. Good, but not good enough.
With a bypass tool and a soft hiss of gas to trick the pressure sensors, the glass case unlatched with a quiet click.
He had it.
But as soon as Marcus turned—he wasn’t alone.
A guard. Armed. Fast.
The man lunged, but Marcus was faster. He caught the guard’s wrist, twisted—bone snapped. The man hissed in pain but managed to draw a blade from his belt, slashing wildly.
Marcus barely dodged, the edge grazing his ribcage, tearing his suit but not his skin.
“Wrong day, wrong job,” Marcus muttered, before driving a sharp elbow into the guard’s throat. A gurgled choke. The man collapsed.
Another guard was coming.
No time to fight.
Marcus slammed the guard’s head into the wall, knocking him unconscious, and vanished into the hallway.
The Bug
Marcus reached Flynn’s office before leaving.
If Flynn knew about Erythium, Marcus needed to hear every word.
He placed a small, encrypted transmitter behind a hand-carved bookshelf.
It was nearly undetectable—silent, self-powered, and would ping Marcus’s secured receiver with any relevant conversations.
Then, he was gone.
Escape
Marcus made it back outside just as a security alarm blared.
Shit.
He sprinted across the grounds, using the chaos to his advantage—security scrambling, barking orders, scanning cameras. They didn’t see him.
By the time Flynn’s men realized the painting was gone, Marcus was already off the estate, blending into the streets.
By dawn, he was gone.
Kowloon Walled City — The Hidden Vault
Far from Palm Beach, deep within Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City, Marcus entered his private sanctuary.
It wasn’t just a safe house. It was a vault of history.
A 4000+ sqft condo, hidden within the chaotic maze of Kowloon. A place where even the most powerful criminals wouldn’t dare look.
The Genesis of Eternity now rested in a climate-controlled chamber, next to relics Marcus had stolen, saved, and studied over centuries.
Now, he had time to search for the truth.
Did Hitler really hide a map in its layers?
Was the Erythium legend real?
And most importantly—who else was hunting for it?
Because one thing was certain.
Marcus wasn’t the only one searching.
