Miguel had always known that a single man, no matter how honest, could not hold power in the Philippines. Dynasties ruled because they were not one voice, but a network. If Villanueva was to survive, he would need allies — not one or two, but dozens, planted across provinces like seeds in dark soil.
The System seemed to echo his thoughts.
[New Task: Construct a covert political network.]
[Objective: Identify and recruit at least five clean political figures across the nation.]
[Reward: Strategic Command Expansion — full integration of Ghost Army with political operations.]
Miguel smiled faintly. "Now the real work begins."
Inside the FOB, a giant digital map of the Philippines glowed in the dark. Each province was tagged with data streams — dynasties, vote-buying history, cartel connections, poverty indices.
Miguel began to filter for outliers. Men and women who resisted bribes. Local mayors who refused to let drug money flood their towns. Governors who pushed back against dynasties. Independent senators with no shadow donors.
Slowly, faces emerged:
Mayor Isabel Cruz of Iloilo - a former teacher who ran against a dynasty and won by grassroots volunteers.
Governor Tomas Alcantara of Bicol - a veteran soldier turned provincial leader, known for his clean record.
Senator Leah Vergara - a young reformist, sharp-tongued, with no known ties to big business.
Councilor Arnel Santos of Davao - small-time, but brave enough to expose police corruption in his district.
Congresswoman Fatima Alonzo of Cotabato - outspoken advocate for peace, resisted both militias and cartels.
Each of them was isolated, surrounded by predators waiting for their downfall. Miguel's task was to bind them into something bigger a quiet alliance.
While his analysts tracked political data, the Ghost Army continued its war in the shadows.
In Cebu, Delta Squad raided a dockside warehouse, intercepting a shipment of meth bound for Mindanao. The crates were destroyed, the traffickers left hogtied for the police with anonymous tips.
In Pampanga, Bravo snipers eliminated two cartel accountants during a "business dinner." No headlines named the Ghost, but whispers spread: the underworld was bleeding.
Every strike had a purpose: weaken the dynasties' financial backbone while clearing breathing room for clean politicians.
Unlike Villanueva, not all could be approached directly. Some required subtlety.
In Iloilo, Miguel sent Mayor Cruz a dossier — proof of a dynasty clan laundering campaign funds through shell companies. The package arrived in a plain envelope on her desk. No name, no sender. Just one line written on the first page:
"Use this. Stay clean. The Ghost is watching."
In Bicol, Governor Alcantara received a late-night call routed through seven encrypted servers. A calm voice Miguel's told him:
"You fight for your people. I'll make sure your enemies can't buy their way back. When the time comes, stand beside others who fight the same way."
Senator Vergara, known for her wit, received a different kind of signal. Overnight, a swarm of bots and trolls attacking her online went silent, wiped out by the Ghost's influence module. The next morning she tweeted: "Interesting. Someone out there doesn't want me silenced. Good. I won't be."
Piece by piece, Miguel's web began to stretch.
The politicians never met him. Some doubted if he was even real. But as weeks passed, they began noticing the pattern:
Scandals meant to bury them collapsed.
Smear campaigns backfired.
Corrupt rivals were exposed mysteriously.
Cartel funding streams dried up.
And always the same whisper followed: The Ghost is watching.
Villanueva, now at the center, began to sense it too. He wasn't alone anymore. Something larger was moving beneath the surface, aligning him with men and women cut from the same cloth.
When five names were secured, the System pulsed again.
[Task Completed: Political Network Established.]
[Reward Unlocked: Strategic Command Expansion.]
[Ghost Army resources now integrated with political operations: intelligence, funding, covert protection, influence.]
Miguel stood before the glowing map. The Philippines was still mostly red — dynasties, cartels, oligarchs. But now, here and there, small flickering blue lights appeared: Villanueva, Cruz, Alcantara, Vergara, Santos, Alonzo.
They were only sparks, but sparks could start a fire.
That night, as Miguel reviewed intelligence, a chilling report arrived:
Several political dynasties, sensing the rise of reformist voices, had begun meeting in secret. Shadow financiers, cartel bosses, even foreign backers were converging. They weren't sure who was behind the sudden shift — but they knew someone was.
And they had one agenda.
"Find the Ghost. Burn him out."
Miguel exhaled slowly. The game was changing. His web of light was growing — but so was the shadow against it.