Chapter 533: A crazy stunt meant for a crazy man.

"Took you long enough."

Ashley’s words echoed through the silent room.

She smirked before turning back to the computer, typing as if she hadn’t just shattered everything they thought they knew.

Behind her, the men stood with their mouths hanging open.

Gin’s knees gave out dramatically. He dropped to the floor and stared at Ashley’s back.

"No way," Rum breathed. "That... that’s impossible."

Khan, Rus, Nelek, and Warriyo were equally speechless. Their gazes shifted between Ashley and the windows opening across the monitors in rapid succession.

She wasn’t even seated. Yet her fingers moved effortlessly over the keyboard, calling up streams of information they could barely follow.

Vodka, Red, Rum, and Gin weren’t faring any better.

Their minds raced through everything they knew about Ghost—from the legend’s history to Ghost’s unexpected decision to become Dominion’s ally.

Then it finally clicked.

For a long time, they had wondered why someone like Ghost would ever work for a loser like Marshal Di Carpio. Ghost’s eventual decision to support Dominion had seemed just as baffling.

Now, the answer stood before them.

Ghost had never worked for Marshal.

Ghost had been working for Ashley.

That was why traces of Ghost appeared wherever Ashley went. It had always seemed like a coincidence because Ghost never revealed their presence unless necessary.

More importantly, Ashley was nothing like the image the underground had created of the legendary hacker.

Ghost was supposed to be an elusive and terrifying figure—a faceless shadow capable of infiltrating even the most secure systems in the world.

Ashley Di Carpio, meanwhile, was a wife, a mother, a businesswoman, and Marshal’s seemingly obedient daughter.

No one would have imagined they were the same person.

"All this time..." Nelek slowly turned toward Khan. "We’ve been working for her."

Before joining Ashley, Khan and his men had made plans of their own.

They had accepted the job of abducting Lucian’s sweet little wife in exchange for their freedom. Once they secured it, they intended to travel the world in search of one person.

Ghost.

If they succeeded, they were prepared to worship the ground Ghost walked on, crawl at Ghost’s feet, and beg to be accepted as disciples.

Surely, Ghost could find some use for them.

And if they failed, they would keep searching until they succeeded.

It wasn’t a sophisticated plan, but they had believed the reward would be worth everything.

Who would have thought the person they had been working for all this time was the same person they had been willing to worship?

Is this a blessing? Khan wondered.

Of all the people the Madam could have been, she just had to be the one they had dreamed of working for.

What had Khan, Nelek, Rus, and Warriyo possibly done in their pathetic lives to have their dream granted without them even realizing it?

Only one person in the room didn’t share their shock.

Tank.

He studied their dumbfounded expressions before tilting his head.

I thought they figured it out during the last mission.

Because Tank had.

Ashley had never told him, but everything she had done pointed toward Ghost.

The chaos and carnage during the operation might have seemed senseless to others, but there had been precision beneath it all. Every part of the attack had been calculated down to the smallest detail.

The biggest clue had been Ashley’s instructions to Khan on how to destroy the base.

Those orders hadn’t been random.

Then again, Tank supposed he couldn’t blame the others for failing to notice. He doubted any of them had taken the time to study the final reports.

If they had examined the aerial photographs of what remained of the base, they might have recognized Ghost’s signature.

Still, Red and Khan had been busy helping their men recover from the mission. Both had also taken official positions as Ashley’s right and left hands, giving them new responsibilities within her growing empire.

Perhaps they simply hadn’t had time to connect the dots.

"See?" Ashley’s voice finally snapped everyone out of their trance.

She stepped away from the computer, crossed her arms, and studied the information covering the screens.

To anyone unfamiliar with hacking, the display would have looked like an incomprehensible mess. Although not everyone in here specialized in it, they could at least recognize the marks scattered across the screen.

Locations.

"I can’t find that idiot..." Ashley trailed off when a chat box suddenly appeared in the center of the largest monitor.

The sender didn’t have a name.

The message itself, however, made their identity obvious.

[WHY ARE YOU STALKING ME?!]

Ashley clicked her tongue and glanced over her shoulder.

Her men were still staring blankly at her like a group of idiots.

"These dots represent Omen’s last known locations," she explained. "Or, more accurately, the false locations he deliberately left behind to mislead anyone searching for him. Neither conventional tracking nor our usual methods will work."

She didn’t bother addressing their lingering shock or checking whether they were keeping up.

"Gin. War."

Both men looked at her.

"You’ll focus on finding Omen’s current location," Ashley ordered. "Keep in mind that he’s one of the best in the cyber world. The moment you start searching for him, he’ll know—just as he knew the moment I started looking."

She pointed over her shoulder just as another message appeared.

[Leave me alone! Please!]

Gin slowly rose from the floor while Warriyo stared at the screen.

"I’ll give you all the information I have on him," Ashley continued matter-of-factly. "There are also a few channels that might prove useful. If I’m not mistaken, both of you play the same game that idiot is obsessed with."

Gin and Warriyo exchanged a look.

Before either could respond, Ashley had already moved on.

"Nelek, Rus, and Vodka."

The three men straightened.

"You’ll investigate Dominion in secret," she ordered. "The three of you are less likely to raise suspicion."

She paused before continuing.

"Lucian will have Gustav and Lukas investigate everyone within the organization. Once that becomes known, anyone with something to hide will focus on avoiding their scrutiny."

Vodka finally recovered enough from the revelation to follow her reasoning.

"So, while they’re busy convincing Gustav and Lukas they’re innocent, they won’t realize another set of eyes is watching them."

"Correct." Ashley nodded. "Everyone will expect Red, Khan, Tank, Rum, and even Gin to be involved. The three of you have a lower profile within Dominion."

It wasn’t because Nelek, Rus, and Vodka were weaker or less capable. The others were simply too prominent within Dominion and the Madam’s faction.

"Got it!" Nelek straightened his back.

"Don’t worry about anything!" Rus added. "We’ll watch them even while they’re sleeping."

Ashley’s face twitched. "You don’t have to go that far—"

"We won’t disappoint you!" Nelek and Rus shouted simultaneously, cutting her off.

Ashley opened her mouth. Then closed it again.

"Sure."

She shifted her attention to the rest of the group.

Gin and Warriyo would find Omen.

Nelek, Rus, and Vodka would watch Dominion’s members—particularly the people closest to Lucian. They had to make sure no one else was waiting for an opportunity to stab them in the back.

"As for Red and Khan..." Ashley looked between the two.

Both men immediately straightened, ready to receive their orders.

"Stay put," she said. "For now."

Their brows furrowed.

"Stay put?" they repeated.

"Oversee everything from the shadows," Ashley clarified. "But don’t make any unnecessary moves."

Red and Khan exchanged dissatisfied looks.

They were Ashley’s right and left hands. They could—and should—do more than remain on the sidelines.

"Why?" Red asked. "Because we’re your right and left hands?"

"When people watch the Madam, they naturally watch the men standing on either side of her," Khan muttered.

He understood the reasoning, but that didn’t make the order any easier to accept.

"If we’re going to move against Memphis, the three of us can’t act recklessly," Ashley explained. "The moment any of us does something unusual, anyone watching us will become suspicious."

"Doing nothing could be just as suspicious," Red argued.

"I know." Ashley nodded. "That’s where Rum comes in."

Everyone turned toward Rum.

The man looked from one face to another before slowly pointing at himself.

"Me?"

Ashley smirked. "He’s going to be our red herring."

Deep lines formed across Rum’s forehead as his gaze darted between Ashley and everyone staring at him.

"What..." He swallowed before focusing on her again. "What exactly am I supposed to do?"

Ashley’s smile widened until her eyes curved into crescents.

She didn’t answer.

But that expression alone told them that whatever she wanted Rum to do, none of them were going to like it.

At the same time, it had to be something only Rum could pull off.

And if Ashley had devised a task that only Rum could accomplish, it could mean only one thing.

It was a crazy stunt meant for a crazy man.