#### **Chapter 37: The Cost of Salvation**
The world outside the viewport erupted in controlled chaos. The W.A.O. Alpha Teams moved with inhuman speed and coordination, scaling the sheer rock face with magnetic grapnels, their movements perfectly synchronized. They weren't just well-trained; they were operating with a hive-mind efficiency.
Renji sprinted through the cold, concrete corridors of the bunker, the sound of his boots echoing the frantic beat of the countdown clock. He reached the ventilation shaft's internal access point—a heavy steel grate in the floor—just as the first sounds of metallic scraping echoed from within.
He didn't hesitate. He pulled the grate open and lowered himself into the darkness, his rifle held tight against his chest. The shaft was a vertical, claustrophobic tube of cold steel, dropping hundreds of feet into the mountain's core. His only light was the red glow of the emergency strobes. Above him, he could hear the breach team using a plasma cutter on the external vent cover.
Back in the control room, the countdown hit its final, agonizing seconds.
**10… 9… 8…**
Explosive charges detonated against the main blast doors, the sound of a deafening gong that vibrated through the entire bunker. The steel held, but deep fractures appeared on its surface.
**7… 6… 5…**
Hikari cried out, clutching her head. "The soldiers… they're not just hollow. They're… they're *like me*." She looked at Kuro, her eyes wide with horror. "They're Chimeras. Not fully developed, but early-stage. Their emotions are suppressed, their combat responses streamlined. The Director isn't just trying to acquire the project. She's already weaponized it."
**4… 3… 2…**
Kuro's face was a pale mask in the glow of the monitors. He had a new directive. His mother's work wasn't just a potential threat. It was already in the field. This wasn't about prevention anymore. It was about a cure.
**1… 0…**
**[BROADCAST COMPLETE]**
A message flashed on the screen in bright green letters. Around the globe, in hidden laboratories and sterile holding cells, the Chimera subjects—W.A.O.'s new generation of perfect soldiers—stopped. Some screamed as their bodies began to betray them. Others simply collapsed, their enhanced nervous systems unraveling in a cascade of catastrophic failure. The Director's greatest asset had been turned into her greatest liability in precisely ninety seconds.
A profound, momentary silence fell over the mountain. The assault outside ceased.
Then, from their comms, The Director's voice returned. The silken tone was gone, replaced by the sound of pure, undiluted rage.
"You think you've won?" she hissed. "You've just signed your own death warrant."
The ground beneath them trembled violently. Kuro's eyes widened as he looked at a seismic sensor reading. "She's not trying to breach the bunker anymore. She's destabilizing the mountain. She's activated seismic charges planted at the base. She's going to bury us alive."