Several days later.
In the middle of a massive landfill, rain continued to pour without pause. Long strides pressed through the soggy ground, climbing the mounds of trash.
"Here. I found it in this dump."
The garbage collector who had once run from Yu was finally tracked down and handcuffed. Pressed for answers, he admitted that he' d stumbled on piles of cash in the dump. The serial numbers confirmed it—the missing billion. It had never been spent on crypto, never locked away in a high-security vault, never gambled at a casino. It had simply been thrown away, buried with worthless rotting trash.
Anyone who did something like this had to be insane… but what kind of lunatic could pull it off without getting caught?
Yu and Pyramid stood over the shredded remains of the fortune. All that power, all that desire, reduced to nothing but soggy scraps. The sight left a heavy pit in their chests—so much money, and yet now just pathetic, useless paper.
Someone else had followed, quietly watching Yu and his team as they gathered up the ruined bills to present them as proof. The money had been found—but it was destroyed, unusable.
A few scraps were pocketed in secret, but most of it was too far gone, disintegrating under their fingers. The decay showed it had been dumped months ago. The constant rain soaked the ground, the stench of rot and chemicals heavy in the air.
Before long, everyone left the miserable place. It was clear why the money had been abandoned here. No sea voyage, no plane, no hidden vault—just trash, where no one dared to come except garbage trucks and waste.
In the main conference room.
The air was so heavy it was hard to breathe. Bundles of ruined bills sat piled on the table, but they held none of their former allure. A sour mix of burned paper and chemicals lingered—whoever had done this had deliberately stripped the money of its worth.
Yu leaned against a chair, his voice steady but firm, silencing the room.
"It was dumped in the landfill. It can' t be used anymore."
Pyramid' s father exploded in anger.
"Our assets have been seized, our state projects frozen—how the hell are we supposed to raise funds now? They' re already moving to strip us of our positions!"
Versailles' father slammed his hand down.
"All because we missed one payoff. Everything collapses? Can' t we pool the money ourselves?"
Rome' s father exchanged grim looks with the others before speaking.
"They' ve already seized the full billion from us. And yet they refuse to restore our posts. That' s not fair!"
Rome cut in sharply.
"Fair? Do you even know who they are?"
For a moment, silence weighed over the room. Then an elder voice broke it:
"Royal blood. That' s who. We should expose the black treasury!"
Pyramid snapped back immediately.
"Calm down! If they were ordinary people, we' d have tracked them already. But with rumors of three embedded bodyguards and an unknown number of stateless troops… do you want to drag our families into suicide?"
A fist slammed the table with a bang.
"We built this for years! And now we' re just supposed to let it end like this?!"
Shouts of rage overlapped until the room dissolved into chaos.
Then Somkit turned, eyes narrowing at the younger men.
"…Where' s Ray?"
Rome hesitated, lowering his gaze.
"He' s probably stressed… playing games."
Somkit cursed, slamming the table again.
"Useless brat! He' s never been good for anything!"
Just then, a secretary rushed in, whispering urgently into Somkit' s ear. His face paled.
"Sir, it' s everywhere online. Someone leaked the story about royal blood and the black treasury. The public is in an uproar."
The older men spun in fury.
"Who the hell dared—hah, bold of them!" a mocking laugh rang out from the corner, fueling more frantic voices until Yu and the younger trio slipped out quietly.
Down on the street, Rome called out.
"Mid, did you bring your car?"
"What car? I came with Y—" Pyramid froze as a garbage truck rolled past, its license plate catching his eye. It was the exact same number as the big bike Rey had once bought him.
"Look! Same plate as yours!"
The white truck rumbled on, carrying the waste of the corporation' s disposal wing. White paint for cleanliness—but to Pyramid, the numbers glowed like a curse.
"RY 2499… it really is the same."
Versailles' laugh rang carelessly behind him, but Pyramid stood frozen, staring as the digits burned in his memory. His hands trembled, his whole body breaking into goosebumps.
If that number matches… then it means—
"This isn' t just the King' s game anymore."
On the ride back, the car was silent. Yu kept his eyes on the road, one hand casually resting on Pyramid' s thigh. The younger man didn' t brush it away, too lost in the storm of thoughts flashing across his phone screen.
The billion-dollar chase was over—ended in scraps and ashes. Some still saw money as pure evil, some as rotten garbage. Maybe both.
"…Yu."
The soft voice cut through as the car turned into a dim side street. Streetlights flickered across Pyramid' s face, pale and tense.
"Yeah?" Yu smirked, already guessing what was coming.
"Drop me at the underground bar."
"Drinking again?" Yu chuckled, eyes narrowing at the evasive glance. "Get drunk and you' ll just get fucked senseless. Don' t say I didn' t warn you."
"I might not come back… Don' t wait." Pyramid' s voice was flat, hiding a tremor underneath.
Yu' s brows furrowed.
"What are you planning?"
"…I' m going to talk to Ray."
For a moment, silence. Then Yu sighed, long and heavy.
"I' ll wait outside. If anything happens, call the emergency number. Got it?"
"…Mm." The short reply came, but something warm flickered in Pyramid' s chest.
Yu' s hand squeezed his thigh gently, heat burning through the fine fabric.
"Hey, kid." His voice dropped low, lips brushing his ear.
"I love you, Pyramid."
The younger man froze, heart slamming against his ribs. "…Mm." His lips trembled, barely holding back everything he wanted to say.
"When you come back out… I' ll be here to hold you."
"…Okay." The words tumbled out quickly as Pyramid pushed the door open and slipped into the night.
Yu pulled over, lit a cigarette, and leaned back in the driver' s seat, waiting. Waiting for the boy who was sharp and cautious, yet forgetful in the strangest ways. Maybe innocence wasn' t about never knowing—maybe it was about letting go of what didn' t matter.
But if Pyramid found something he wished he could forget… what then?