Total darkness beneath the North Sea felt like a heavy blanket pressing down on us. The submarine *Northwind*, now reinforced with the new Northvale metallurgical alloy, moved through narrow crevices on the seabed, following coordinates hidden in Ashworth's hard drive.
"We are approaching the North Clan's exclusive headquarters zone," Agent D reported from the navigation side, his voice calm despite being thousands of feet below the surface. "Sonar systems detect three layers of active energy shields surrounding the fortress."
I nodded, holding the submarine controls with both hands. "They must be using power from the geothermal facility they stole. We need to penetrate those shields before they lock onto our frequency."
"We can't get through those shields with conventional torpedoes, C
