Riverside Hideout – Gang Garuda Outer Perimeter – 9:05 PM
Mist clung to the riverbanks like white breath. The mangrove roots coiled out of the earth like skeletal fingers. Overhead, moonlight broke through the fog in pale slivers, casting warped reflections off the stagnant water. A convoy of armored Naraka SUVs coasted quietly into the dock perimeter.
Inside the lead vehicle, Chanda stared out the tinted window with mounting dread.
He hadn't received a standard alert.
He'd been summoned to see something.
Something serious enough that his underlings refused to speak over encrypted channels.
He stepped out.
Six private guards followed in silence.
Beside him, the iron-boned Surya, legendary leader of Gang Garuda, lit a torch and beckoned him toward the rear of the compound.
"This way, sir. They left them here. In full view."
Chanda's boots pressed into the wet gravel.
They rounded the shadowed flank of the hangar.
And there laid out in horrifying symmetry were ten corpses, stripped of gear, blood dried into dark scales.
But it wasn't the condition of the bodies that stopped Chanda cold.
It was the markings.
O. D.
Each forehead carried the same carved word.
Deliberate. Clean. Deep.
Surya's hand trembled around the torch.
"It can't be. Not him. Not after all these years…"
Chanda turned sharply.
"You recognize it?"
Surya's voice cracked as he crouched beside the bodies, face pale and eyes wide.
"I do.
God help us…
It'sHand of Death."
Flashback — Khadah, 1995
Walaysia had lost its soul.
The Blood Brothers Syndicate, one of the region's most violent criminal empires, dominated the eastern territories. Every dockyard, refinery, and shipping lane sang with corruption.
Their portfolio was pure rot:
Gun running through rural ports.
Heroin distribution networks.
Human trafficking rings across the Strait of Walacca.
Politicians bought by the week.
Police paid monthly.
Girls from remote villages and estates vanished without trace.
Syndicate logos were etched onto crates like imperial crests.
And then the killings began.
At first, just one.
Then three.
Then twenty.
Eventually, the body count crossed into the hundreds of gang members…
Gang leaders found with their throats slit mid-dinner.
High-ranking lieutenants murdered in hotel saunas.
Operations wiped out before sunrise.
But there were never any witnesses.
Only one constant.
H.O.D. carved into their foreheads.
This was no turf war.
No angry ex-lover.
No rival syndicate.
This was surgical. Ritualistic. Precise.
The name spread like wildfire:
Hand of Death.
The streets called him a demon.
Others said he was a rogue vigilante fueled by vengeance.
Some even believed he was supernatural..an avenger summoned by ancestral rage.
But the truth came from the whispers of terrified bureaucrats.
He was real.
And he worked for Department Zero.
An elite black-ops wing of Walaysia's intelligence classified beyond prime ministerial access.
Invisible. Unaccountable.
Used for operations where diplomacy and morality had to be ignored.
And their top agent?
Only one.
Operated solo.
His real name was never spoken.
But his codename… became an underworld prayer:
Hand Of Death
The last resort.
The final blade.
Back to Present
Surya remained crouched, almost reverent.
"I was just 23.
Back then, we were harboring a Blood Brother leader. Our boss owed him protection.
I ran logistics, made sure no holes existed in our security.
We thought we were safe."
He swallowed hard.
"That night still haunts me.
He came in through the garden wall.
Silent. No guards saw him.
He walked into the dining hall and executed that syndicate chief in front of me.
Marked him.
Vanished. I was lucky to be alive."
Chanda stared.
"You saw his face?"
Surya nodded slowly.
"Only for seconds.
But those eyes…
Burned into my soul.
If he's still alive today… he must be fifty. Maybe more."
Chanda's eyes gleamed as the realization hit him. Then took out his phone.
Swiped to a specific folder.
Held up the photo of Kathirvan, Athavan's father.
Surya took a long look.
His hand began to shake.
"It's him.
Same jawline.
Same depth in the eyes.
He's aged… but I'dnever forget that face."
The Puzzle Completes
Chanda's breath caught.
His pulse spiked.
"Kathirvan… Athavan's father…is Hand Of Death."
Suddenly, the pieces locked into place. The failed mercenary operation. The sniper silence. The delivered bodies. The ritual markings. The impregnable security around Vasantham. And most alarming The wedding.
"Athavan married into the Vasantham family on purpose.
To infiltrate them.
To get inside Raja Sekaran's circle.
To collapse Naraka from within."
Chanda clenched his teeth.
"Department Zero must have planned this for years, I guess.
And we watched it happen… blind.
Inside the vehicle, Chanda initiated a secured communication channel.
The screen illuminated with Naraka's insignia—an obsidian serpent intertwined with a blood-red lotus.
The line connected.
And there she was.
Raja Sekaran's mother.
The matriarch of the Asian underworld.
To her empire, she was Queen.
Her silver eyes were unblinking...lit by a cold, malevolent gleam.
"Report."
Chanda bowed his head.
"Forgive me, my Queen.
I've confirmed everything.
The purge we're seeing it's not random.
It was planned. Calculated.
It began with Raja Sekaran's arrest. Then came fall of Gang Nagas.
Then the ex-members were used to purge the underworld under Department Zero's control."
He continued.
"Every asset we owned...drugs, weapons, black finance...has been wiped clean.
Moon Rangers failed.
The operative who killed them… is Hand Of Death
Real name, Kathirvan. Vasathan In law. Father of Athavan.
And Athavan himself is unstoppable. Major General of Department Zero."
He lowered his voice.
"Even my hypnosis methods don't work on their guards around Vasathan and his family.
No infiltrator survived beyond first contact.
They anticipated every counterattack."
He paused.
"The wedding wasn't love.
It was bait.
Department Zero knew of Vasantham's secret ties to Naraka.
Athavan married in then rewrote the chessboard. Everything was part of a pre-planned plot from the beginning. I've failed, but I don't intend to give up. I need capable man to support my operation here."
She didn't blink.
She didn't gasp.
She turned.
And spoke.
"Mobilize our full network.
Activate the Dark Support System.
Indochina. Sumatra. Gulf states.
Deploy our dread divisions."
She stood.
"Initiate Operation Red.
This will not be a recovery.
This will be a message.
If Walaysia escape from our grasp and become clean nation … others will follow."
She looked back at Chanda.
"This nation must burn. Let them learn what happens… When they touch our bottom line. We'll flood the streets in blood."
Chanda bowed.
"I'll retrieve your son and grandson.
And I'll capture Vasantham and his family myself."
The Queen leaned forward.
"No more excuses.
The next failure… will be your flesh fed to my dogs."
She closed her eyes briefly.
"May the Lord bless your hand and guide it through the bloodbath to come."
The line disconnected.
The screen darkened and within Naraka's heart, the war drums began to beat.