The command room stayed quiet long after the calls ended.
The screens slowly went dark one by one as Adrian's old network disconnected. The people who had once ruled entire territories under his command had returned without hesitation.
But something about the conversation lingered in the air.
Something heavier than war.
Elara stood beside the massive digital table displaying the global map of Adrian's operations.
Ports.
Air routes.
Supply chains.
Information networks.
The scale of it was enormous.
"You really controlled all this?" she asked softly.
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
He stood with both hands resting on the edge of the table, staring at the illuminated map.
"Once."
Luca leaned back in his chair with a long sigh.
"I told you," he said to Elara. "The guy didn't just run a criminal empire."
He pointed at Adrian.
"He practically designed half the underworld."
Elara studied Adrian's expression.
But instead of pride—
There was something else.
Regret.
"You don't look happy about it," she said.
Adrian exhaled slowly.
"Because I know what it cost."
Silence filled the room.
Luca suddenly stood up.
"Well… emotional reflections are great and all, but we've got a bigger problem."
He tapped the table screen.
"Elias."
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
Elara crossed her arms.
"He said something before he left."
Adrian looked at her.
"What?"
Her voice lowered slightly.
"He said the name Ares shouldn't exist anymore."
The room went still.
Luca's expression changed immediately.
"…Yeah."
"That part bothered me too."
Adrian turned slowly.
"Why?"
Luca hesitated.
Because the thought had only just started forming in his mind.
Then he said carefully,
"Because someone powerful enough to erase the name Ares…"
"…would have to control more than the underworld."
Adrian's eyes sharpened.
Elara asked quietly,
"You think Elias wasn't talking about criminals."
Luca nodded slowly.
"I think he was talking about governments."
The air felt colder.
Adrian walked toward the system console.
"Show me something."
Luca typed quickly.
"What?"
"Global surveillance alerts from the last six months."
Within seconds, hundreds of data points appeared on the screen.
Financial freezes.
Closed shipping lanes.
Sudden political investigations.
Intelligence agency movements.
Elara frowned.
"What am I looking at?"
Adrian pointed at the map.
"Patterns."
Luca leaned closer.
"Wait…"
He zoomed in.
Several red markers appeared across Europe, Asia, and North America.
"These are all operations connected to former members of Adrian's network."
Elara blinked.
"They're being shut down?"
Luca nodded slowly.
"Not by rival gangs."
"By intelligence agencies."
Adrian's voice dropped.
"Exactly."
Elara's stomach tightened.
"You think someone convinced governments to eliminate your network?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Because the truth was worse.
He studied the screen carefully.
Then said quietly,
"No."
Luca looked at him.
"What do you mean no?"
Adrian's eyes darkened.
"This wasn't governments acting independently."
He zoomed out the map.
All the operations connected like pieces of a puzzle.
"Someone coordinated them."
Elara felt the weight of that realization.
"Someone powerful."
Adrian nodded once.
"Yes."
Luca rubbed his face.
"Fantastic."
"So now we're not just fighting criminals…"
"…we're fighting whatever secret organization convinced governments to hunt us."
Adrian spoke calmly.
"Not convinced."
"Controlled."
Silence.
Even Luca didn't joke this time.
Elara asked slowly,
"Do you know who it is?"
Adrian stared at the screen.
For several seconds he didn't speak.
Then—
"Yes."
Luca looked at him sharply.
"You're serious?"
Adrian nodded.
"There's only one group capable of something like this."
Elara stepped closer.
"What group?"
Adrian said the name quietly.
"The Consortium."
The reaction was immediate.
Luca's face went pale.
"…You're kidding."
Adrian didn't look away from the screen.
"I wish I was."
Elara frowned.
"I've never heard of them."
Luca laughed nervously.
"Most people haven't."
"That's kind of their whole thing."
He turned toward her.
"They don't exist publicly."
"No records."
"No leaders."
"No official structure."
Elara asked,
"Then how do you know about them?"
Luca pointed at Adrian.
"Because ten years ago…"
"…he went to war with them."
Elara slowly turned toward Adrian.
"You never told me that."
Adrian's voice stayed calm.
"It wasn't a war anyone survived."
The room fell silent again.
Elara realized something.
"Wait."
"If you fought them before…"
"…then how are you still alive?"
Adrian finally looked at her.
"Because I disappeared."
Luca nodded.
"Yeah."
"That whole 'Adrian Valentino becoming a quiet businessman' thing?"
"That wasn't retirement."
"It was hiding."
Elara's heart pounded slightly.
"You were hiding from them."
Adrian answered simply.
"Yes."
The weight of that truth settled over the room.
The man who had ruled the underworld…
The man everyone feared…
Had vanished because even he couldn't defeat the Consortium.
Luca muttered,
"Which means if they're coming back now…"
"…we're all in serious trouble."
Elara asked quietly,
"What do they want?"
Adrian's answer was immediate.
"Control."
"But they don't run the underworld."
"They erase it."
She frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Luca explained.
"They believe chaos should be managed."
"Crime should exist only where they allow it."
Elara blinked.
"So they're basically deciding who's allowed to be powerful."
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
"And Ares Valentino didn't fit their system."
Elara understood now.
"That's why Elias said the name shouldn't exist."
Adrian looked at her.
"Yes."
"Because if Ares returns…"
"…their control breaks."
The room felt smaller.
More dangerous.
Luca leaned against the table.
"So what's the move now?"
Adrian didn't hesitate.
"We find them first."
Luca laughed.
"Oh yeah."
"Let's just locate the invisible global conspiracy controlling governments."
"Should be easy."
But Adrian was already working.
He opened a hidden file within the system.
Encrypted.
Buried deep.
Luca frowned.
"What's that?"
Adrian spoke quietly.
"My insurance."
The screen unlocked.
A file appeared.
PROJECT OLYMPUS
Elara leaned closer.
"What is that?"
Adrian answered slowly.
"The one thing the Consortium doesn't know I still have."
Luca's eyes widened.
"Wait…"
"You kept it?"
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
Elara asked,
"What is Project Olympus?"
Adrian turned toward her.
And for the first time since the attack—
A faint dangerous smile appeared.
"It's the weapon I built to destroy them."
Luca whispered,
"Oh hell."
Elara felt a strange mix of fear and curiosity.
"You're telling me you planned for this ten years ago?"
Adrian's voice stayed calm.
"I planned for everything."
The screen continued loading encrypted files.
Hidden contacts.
Secret vaults.
Unknown operations.
Things even Luca had never seen.
But before the data fully appeared—
The system suddenly flashed red.
INTRUSION DETECTED
Luca straightened instantly.
"What the—"
The entire security system began shutting down.
Screens flickered.
Connections dropped.
Someone was hacking them.
Fast.
Too fast.
Adrian's expression darkened.
"They found us."
Elara's heart raced.
"The Consortium?"
Luca stared at the screen in disbelief.
"No…"
"They shouldn't be able to break this system."
The monitors went black.
Then one screen turned back on.
A single symbol appeared.
A black crown.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Elara."
"Yes?"
His voice dropped to a cold whisper.
"They're already here."