Ron scrolled through the emails one by one until suddenly, one from a week ago caught his attention.
"The Underworld Mafia has restarted Aurean's No. 2 experimental base?"
His gaze sharpened. He was very familiar with the circumstances of that facility because he had once infiltrated it himself and had nearly been turned into one of its test subjects. At the time, Ron had used Chii's ability to extract almost all of the internal data, which he later wiped out entirely.
The Underworld Mafia likely assumed that Dandins had retained his research and fled, unaware that Ron had been the one to kill him and seize the results. In reality, everything of value from that facility no longer existed there—because it was now in Ron's possession.
With the Underworld Mafia's power, restarting the No. 2 facility shouldn't have been possible. They would either need substantial external support or be preparing for long-term development. But from what Elita had described, it didn't seem like the latter.
Ron picked up his phone and dialed Elita's number. It didn't take long for the call to connect.
"Elita."
"Master Ron."
"Can you talk right now?"
"Please wait a moment."
"Alright."
Ron ended the call. About half an hour later, Elita called back.
"Master Ron, I'm ready now."
Ron nodded. "In the email, you mentioned that the Underworld Mafia had restarted the No. 2 experimental base in Aurean?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any more detailed intel?"
"I just acquired some and was about to send it to you."
"Just tell me directly."
"Alright." Elita paused to gather her thoughts. "Apparently, a mysterious outsider—not someone from the Underworld Mafia—came and struck a deal with the Ten Dons. That's why the No. 2 experimental base was restarted, right on the ruins of the original."
"Also, just before I heard this news, several people suddenly went missing. They were survivors from the original No. 2 base, just like me."
Ron frowned. "Are you in danger right now?"
"It's possible. I've been worried about that."
"What about the mysterious person's strength?"
"I don't know."
"Did you see what they looked like?"
"No."
"Has the base already resumed operations? Have they replaced the network infrastructure?"
"I'm not sure."
Ron's mind stirred. In the next moment, Chii materialized beside him.
"Chii, infiltrate Aurean's network."
Ron issued the command, and Chii began her intrusion. Since Ron had previously hacked both the original No. 2 base and Aurean's network, Chii was already familiar with their structure. If they hadn't replaced the internal infrastructure, Chii should have been able to access it easily—like returning home.
But nothing came up.
That meant the Underworld Mafia had indeed restarted operations on the foundation of the old base but had fully replaced all its internal systems.
Just then, a loud knock echoed through Elita's phone. She turned toward the door. A strange scent entered her nose, and her expression immediately darkened.
"Lord Ron, it looks like my fears are coming true. Someone from the Underworld Mafia is here to take me."
They hadn't opened the door, but from the scent alone, Elita knew who it was.
There was no further sound from the phone. The call ended shortly after.
Ron's frown deepened. He had two theories.
The first was that Elita was not truly loyal to him. This was a setup by her and the Underworld Mafia, designed to lure him in. Given how much damage he had done to them during the original No. 2 incident, they likely wanted revenge—and saw this as a chance to trap and kill him.
The second possibility was that Elita was indeed loyal, and now the Underworld Mafia had targeted her, intending to use her as a test subject for the newly restarted facility.
"No matter which it is, Elita will be taken to Aurean."
"If it's the first, I absolutely cannot go there."
"If it's the second, then Elita has no idea I have Chii, nor what Chii is capable of. If she's brought into the No. 2 base, her phone will likely be taken there too. If she gets inside, I can use her phone to trace the network and possibly access the internal systems of the base."
"If I can hack into the surveillance network, I'll be able to see exactly what's going on and stop speculating.
Ron kept Chii active, instructing her to continue scanning for the No. 2 base's network access point.
"I wonder if Morena knows anything about this."
Ron called Morena.
"Ron."
"Morena, how close is your group to the Underworld Mafia?"
"Fairly close. What's going on?"
"Do you know anything about the plan to restart Aurean's No. 2 experimental base?"
"It's been restarted?"
Morena paused, thinking carefully. After confirming she didn't know anything, she shook her head. "I haven't heard of that. But I do have someone undercover inside the Underworld Mafia. If you need the info, I can activate them to find out."
"Is that troublesome?"
"No."
"Then help me out. This intel is important to me."
"Alright."
Morena turned to the woman beside her. "Activate Underworld Mafia Agent No. 3. The target is information on the restart of Aurean's No. 2 experimental base."
The woman hesitated slightly. "Lady Morena, that's the agent we spent so much effort embedding... are we really using her now?"
"You're questioning me?"
Morena's tone turned cold.
"No, I wouldn't dare."
"Then go."
"Yes, Lady Morena."
The woman lowered her head and left to make arrangements.
The difference in tone between how Morena spoke to Ron and how she spoke to her subordinates was striking. The subordinate woman couldn't even imagine that Morena was capable of being that gentle—it was downright illogical.
After that, Ron made another call, this time to Illumi, informing him about the restart of the No. 2 experimental base. What Illumi would choose to do, Ron couldn't predict.
"Now, I leave the rest to time."
Ron stood behind the window, gazing out through the large floor-to-ceiling glass at the world beyond.