(Starts exactly where Chapter 2 ended – in the helicopter, right after the wink)
The helicopter banked over the sea and turned south.
No one told me where we were going.
No one needed to.
Fluffy sat in the co-pilot seat, tiny goggles now pulled down over his eyes, front paws resting on the dashboard like he was the one flying.
Forty minutes later we landed on a private yacht the size of a cricket ground, floating 50 km off the Mumbai coast.
A crew in black uniforms saluted as Fluffy walked down the golden stairs.
I followed, still clutching the black box that I had delivered yesterday.
The butler was already waiting.
"Change of plans. Master wants you to see something."
We went below deck.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Seven levels below the waterline.
The elevator doors opened into a corridor made of glass.
On the other side of the glass: the ocean.
Fish swimming past like we were inside a giant aquarium.
At the end: a steel door with a retinal scanner.
Fluffy stood on his hind legs, pressed one eye to the scanner.
Door opened.
Inside was a single room.
White.
Empty.
Except for one glass cube in the centre.
Inside the cube: another Shiba Inu.
Exact same cream-golden fur.
Exact same ruby crown.
But this one was connected to hundreds of glowing wires, floating in clear liquid.
Sleeping.
The butler finally spoke, voice almost a whisper.
"Master's original body.
Seven years ago."
I turned to Fluffy (the real Fluffy) standing beside me.
His red eyes were fixed on the dog in the tank.
For the first time I saw something in those eyes that wasn't power.
It was pain.
The butler continued:
"An accident.
The body lived.
The mind… transferred.
Master became what he is now.
But the transfer is not permanent.
Every year the connection weakens."
He placed a new black box in my hands (this one warm, almost pulsing).
"Tonight is the last night.
This contains the final sequence.
Insert it into the server at exactly 00:00.
One second early. One second late.
Everything ends."
I looked down at the box.
Then at Fluffy.
He wasn't looking at the body anymore.
He was looking at me.
And for the first time since I met him, he did something that made my blood freeze.
He bowed.
A full, slow, royal bow.
Then he turned and walked out.
Leaving me alone with his dying past…
and his future in my hands.
The countdown on the wall started.
11:59:47
11:59:46
11:59:45…
(To be continued in Chapter 4…)
**Author's Note:** This story is written with the help of Grok (xAI). All characters and plot are 100% original. Thank you for reading!