### **Arc 3: The Syndicate at War**
#### **Chapter 10: The Unspoken Threat**
"It's The Warden," Kuro's voice was clipped, stripped of all emotion, a sign that he was processing at maximum capacity. "The psychological profile noted your… affinity for felines. He must have used a micro-drone to infiltrate the apartment's ventilation. It's an irrational move. The asset-to-risk ratio is catastrophic. He's leveraging a non-combatant. It's… illogical."
Renji stood by the window of his apartment, staring down at the quiet street. He could see no one, but he felt the eyes of The Warden's network on him. Midnight, oblivious, was now grooming himself on the back of the sofa. The red dot was gone, but the threat lingered like radiation.
"He thinks he's being clever," Renji said, his voice dangerously low. "He thinks he's found a lever."
"He has," Kuro stated. "My projections show a 98.6% probability that you will act emotionally, negating your strategic advantages."
A third voice joined the secure channel. It was Hikari. "He's wrong, Kuro."
Her brothers fell silent.
"The Warden thinks Midnight is a pet," she continued, her tone soft but edged with steel. "A piece of leverage. He doesn't understand. The cat isn't a weakness. He's family. And you don't leverage family. You start a war for them."
In that moment, she provided the emotional clarity that cut through Kuro's logic and Renji's rage. She wasn't just their empathic anchor; she was their moral compass, and right now, she was pointing them directly at the heart of W.A.O.
"Hikari is right," Renji said. "Kuro, get me everything on The Warden's network. Every safe house, every asset, every bank account. We're not getting Midnight back. We're taking him back. And we're burning everything The Warden has to the ground."