The call had ended.
But the silence remained.
The Tribunal had spoken. They had acknowledged MRD. They had admitted their fear.
And they had warned him of what was to come.
Yet, inside the room, it wasn't the Tribunal that held the greatest weight.
It was the brothers.
They had listened. They had heard every word.
And now—they wanted answers.
MRD placed the phone on the table.
No one spoke.
The air was thick, almost suffocating.
Baba exhaled sharply. His eyes were locked onto Mirshad.
"Son… when were you planning to tell us about them?"
"Or were you never going to tell us?" Rayyan added, his voice dangerously low.
The weight of their stares pressed on MRD, but he didn't flinch. He simply leaned back in his chair, hands intertwined, gaze steady.
"I knew you would ask."
"Damn right we're asking," Amir snapped, slamming his fist on the table. "We've fought wars with you, we've followed you through hell and back—but now we find out there's an entire force that's been ruling the world before us? And you just casually throw that into conversation?!"
Malik leaned forward, his jaw tight. "Tell us everything."
"Who the hell are they, really?"
MRD took a breath. Then, finally, he spoke.
"The Tribunal… is older than any government. Older than any empire. They are the true ghosts of this world."
"They don't appear in history books. They don't leave traces. But they exist."
"For centuries, they've controlled wars, economies, governments. The kings you've read about? The conquerors? The so-called rulers of history?"
"All of them… were just pawns."
Silence.
"You're telling me…" Jabir muttered, rubbing his temples. "That everything we've ever known… was controlled by them?"
"Every war. Every revolution. Every financial crash. Every collapse." MRD's golden eyes burned. "All of it was designed."
Baba's hands curled into fists. "And you knew this?"
MRD nodded. "I knew enough."
A moment of stillness. Then Rayyan spoke.
"So why didn't they stop you sooner?"
A smirk flickered across MRD's lips.
"Because at first, they thought I was just another problem."
"They've seen men rise and fall before. They thought I was the same."
"A criminal. A warlord. A man with ambition but no real power."
"They let me grow because they believed they could erase me whenever they wanted."
"But they didn't realize… I was not like the others."
"Every leader they've crushed was playing their game."
"I wasn't."
"I was playing a different game."
A game they didn't even know existed until it was too late."
Amir shook his head. "So let me get this straight."
"All those underworld bosses we hunted… all the syndicates we destroyed… they were just pieces of the Tribunal's empire?"
MRD nodded.
"And you knew that?"
MRD's smirk returned. "I wasn't hunting criminals."
"I was hunting their army."
"I wasn't just taking down the underworld."
"I was making the Tribunal bleed."
"And the moment they realized it… was already too late."
Jabir exhaled sharply. "And why are you telling us now?"
MRD leaned forward, resting his arms on the table.
"Because the game has changed."
"Before today, they were watching me."
"Now… they are watching all of us."
A heavy silence settled in the room.
Malik's voice was steady, but cold. "So what now?"
MRD's eyes gleamed.
"Now… they will start testing us."
"They will send warnings. They will try to interfere."
"And when they do…"
"We will remind them why they should have killed me when they had the chance."
The weight in the room shifted.
Baba rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "They said they won't interfere for now."
"They won't," MRD confirmed.
"Not yet."
Rayyan's eyes narrowed. "So what's their real plan?"
MRD's voice was calm, but absolute.
"They are waiting."
"Waiting for the world to see me as their god."
"Waiting for my name to be whispered across every land."
"And when they believe the people have accepted me… they will try to erase me."
"They will release the force from the black hole."
A force meant to end me."
Silence.
Jabir clenched his jaw. "And what will we do?"
MRD stood up. His golden eyes glowed.
"We will do what we have always done."
"We will let them watch."
"We will let them plan."
"And then, when they finally believe they have control over me…"
"I will show them what happens when you challenge a god."