The Global Resource Chessboard
After the Maltese chaos, Elias and his team vanished. The information on the data stick was their greatest weapon, but also their biggest liability. It confirmed that the Global Resource Trading (G.R.T.) conglomerate, run by Y.A. Chen, was the ultimate client.
"Chen isn't a criminal, Elias, he's a market force," Markus summarized during a tense, secure video conference from a neutral location. "G.R.T. doesn't deal in oil or gas; they corner markets on obscure, critical minerals—rare earth elements, high-grade polymers, specialized metal alloys."
Lena, analyzing the molecular composition of the ancient bronze reliquary's run-off, confirmed the connection. "The bronze from the Relic contained trace amounts of an incredibly rare copper-tin isotope. It's not valuable to a collector; it's invaluable to a manufacturer of specialized quantum components. Falco was just acquiring the 'raw material' for Chen."
The pollution in the Alps wasn't the main goal, but a side effect of strip-mining for another element needed for G.R.T.'s core business. The whole murder-for-profit scheme came down to supplying an industrial giant with a specialized metal.
"So, where does a company that controls the global supply chain for critical elements base its operations?" Elias asked.
The answer, they discovered, was Singapore.
The Unseen Hand of Commerce
Singapore's financial and trade sectors were massive, clean, and famously secretive. It was the perfect place for a global puppet master to operate.
Elias, Lena, and Markus arrived as three highly credentialed consultants: Elias as a retired Corporate Security Analyst, Lena as a Specialized Logistics Auditor, and Markus as a visiting Academic Lecturer on Southeast Asian trade history. They were professionals hunting a ghost in a city that worshipped efficiency.
Their target: The G.R.T. Apex Tower, a shimmering, 80-story pillar of glass and steel in the heart of the financial district.
"We need the source of the isotope," Elias stated. "The original acquisition documents that prove Chen knew the reliquary was stolen and, more importantly, prove he directed the operations that led to the murder of Dr. Hess."
Markus provided the necessary distraction. Using his academic cover, he arranged a high-profile lecture at a local university on the "Ethics of Historical Artifacts in Modern Commerce." The entire lecture was a barely veiled, intellectual attack on the illicit trade, designed to be noticed by G.R.T.'s internal security detail, which Elias knew would monitor any threat to their public image.
Lena's Digital Probe
While Markus drew the eyes of the corporate security, Lena executed the infiltration. G.R.T. was too protected for a physical break-in, so she aimed for the weakest link: the network peripheral.
Posing as a logistics auditor, she secured a meeting with a low-level procurement manager in a secondary G.R.T. facility far from the Apex Tower. Her purpose was to audit the electronic records of the shipment that followed the Maltese theft—the one carrying the bronze relic components.
During the meeting, while the manager was distracted by a complex spreadsheet, Lena quickly executed her move. She plugged a tiny, custom-built device, nicknamed the "Lantern," into the manager's terminal.
The Lantern didn't try to steal data; it exploited a newly discovered vulnerability in the G.R.T. network's proprietary file-indexing system. It wasn't a virus; it was a Trojan Horse for a search query.
"I've initiated the query," Lena messaged Elias. "It's a deep scan looking for keywords: 'Alpine,' 'Hintertux,' 'Isotope,' and 'Hess.' It should bypass the primary firewalls because it appears to be a legitimate internal search."
"How long until they find the Lantern?" Elias asked, waiting outside the Apex Tower.
"Twenty minutes, max," Lena replied. "The search will leave a huge footprint. They'll lock down the network and trace the query back to this facility."
The Apex Tower Countdown
Elias knew he couldn't wait. He walked straight into the lobby of the G.R.T. Apex Tower, presenting his corporate security analyst credentials.
"I'm here regarding a critical, internal network anomaly," Elias told the head of lobby security, his tone urgent but controlled. "We have an unauthorized data retrieval in progress at the logistics annex. We need immediate access to the Master Archive Hub to shut it down."
The security manager, caught between the urgency of the corporate threat (instigated by Lena) and protocol, hesitated. Elias, channeling his old homicide presence, pressed the advantage, referencing technical terms he'd learned from Lena about the network's proprietary security architecture. The manager cracked. He granted Elias temporary, escorted access to the 35th Floor Archive Hub.
Elias was being led through a maze of glass corridors when his earpiece crackled.
"Elias, the query hit," Lena whispered. "I'm locked out. The network is sealing. But I got a ping. The primary file is located in a shielded sub-directory on the 78th floor—Chen's Executive Data Suite."
Elias stopped, his security escort looking at him questioningly.
"This Archive Hub is a decoy," Elias stated, pulling out a small, specialized laser-pointer. "The data is moving to the executive shield now. We need the 78th floor."
The escort refused. Elias didn't argue. He aimed the laser pointer not at the escort, but at the fire alarm sensor above a nearby server bank. The high-intensity beam fused the delicate sensor, setting off the main building alarm with a deafening shriek.
As chaos erupted, Elias disarmed the startled escort with a quick, practiced move, grabbed his security pass, and shoved him into a storage closet.
The Summit
The Apex Tower was now in lockdown. Elias took the service elevator, bypassing the controlled main lifts, straight to the 78th floor.
He emerged into a plush, silent executive suite. The only person waiting was a woman in her late sixties with silver hair pulled back into a severe knot. She was dressed in an impeccable, power-navy suit, standing by a wall of windows overlooking the vast Singapore skyline. This was Y.A. Chen.
"Mr. Vance," she greeted him, her voice a low, precise instrument. "I assumed you would reach the source eventually. You are persistent, and that is a weakness in my world."
She didn't look threatened; she looked inconvenienced.
"You had a geologist murdered, Ms. Chen," Elias said, his eyes scanning the room for the data terminal. "You used corporate shells and ancient thieves to pollute a mountain for a handful of metal. All for profit."
"Profit is simply a measure of correct global strategy," Chen replied, walking toward a sleek, dark wood desk. "Dr. Hess was a variable that endangered a multi-billion dollar contract with the European defense sector. The bronze relic was simply the most cost-effective source of the isotope we needed to meet our timeline. I removed two small problems—a man and a relic—to ensure global stability in a critical resource chain."
She pointed to a single, small, biometric terminal embedded in her desk. "That terminal contains the Master Client Ledger. The contracts, the acquisitions, the funding for Falco—everything. It's the proof you need."
"Then why are you showing it to me?" Elias asked, wary.
"Because the Ledger isn't just a record of my crimes, Mr. Vance," Chen said, tapping a key. "It's a record of who benefited. You want to arrest me? Fine. But once I am arrested, my assets are frozen, and the Ledger is released to the authorities. Do you truly want the world to see the list of senators, generals, and prime ministers who are clients and shareholders in G.R.T.? The list of institutions whose pensions, trusts, and portfolios are tied to this 'ecocide'?"
She held up a simple, polished USB drive.
"You take this drive," Chen offered. "It contains everything you need to charge me and to clean up your little mountain. You walk out now, and the rest of the world remains stable. You try to take the Ledger, and the global markets—and your career—will collapse."
Elias looked at the single piece of physical evidence, the final key to the entire conspiracy, held in the hand of the most powerful person he had ever faced.
He had exposed the murder, retrieved the relic, and unmasked the money. But confronting the Silent Partnership meant choosing between justice for one, and chaos for millions. What would Vance do?