Chapter 375: Enzo Found The Covenant’s Rome operations

The sub-basement was a research facility.

Advanced equipment. Centrifuges. Genetic sequencers. Pharmaceutical synthesis machinery. The kind of setup that suggested serious biomedical research being conducted on a level far above what civilian companies normally did.

There were files. Personnel records. Research logs. Enzo photographed everything with a secure encrypted camera, knowing that the images would be impossible to trace back to him.

But what caught his attention most were the names in the personnel files.

Some of them were researchers and technicians, exactly what you’d expect in a facility like this. But others were government employees. People with titles like "Ministry Liaison" and "Government Research Coordinator." People whose real jobs weren’t listed but who were clearly government representatives operating within a privately owned facility.

Which meant the government wasn’t just funding The Covenant.

The government was directly participating in whatever research The Covenant was conducting.

***

The real discovery came when Enzo found the executive summary of a research project tucked in a locked file.

The project was titled "Biological Enhancement Protocol."

The summary described research into pharmaceutical compounds designed to accelerate human healing and physical performance. It detailed experiments with accelerated nerve regeneration, muscle recovery, and physiological enhancement. It listed success rates, side effects, and applications.

It described exactly the kind of treatment that had been given to Dante.

Which meant The Covenant wasn’t just backing Dante with money and intelligence. They were using him as a test subject. They were studying the results of their experimental treatments on him. They were collecting data that they’d eventually use for something larger.

Enzo photographed everything.

But then he found something else that made him understand the full scope of what he was dealing with.

In the executive office on the sub-basement level, Enzo found a photograph on the wall behind the desk.

It showed three men standing together in formal attire at what appeared to be a government function. One of them was labeled with a small brass nameplate: "Dr. Castellano, Director."

Enzo knew that name.

Dr. Castellano was a high-ranking official in the Italian Ministry of Health. He was a government position holder. He was someone with legitimate authority over medical policy and research oversight in Italy.

And he was apparently the director of a secret bioweapons research facility.

Enzo photographed the image and the nameplate.

But he needed to confirm it. Needed to verify that this was really who he thought it was. Needed to understand the full scope of what Dr. Castellano’s involvement meant.

***

The confirmation came through a contact who worked in government administration.

Enzo met the contact at a café in the centro storico, ordered coffee neither of them would drink, and asked one careful question.

"I’m trying to verify the current position of Dr. Castellano," Enzo said carefully. "I need to know if he’s still in his ministry role."

The contact looked uncomfortable.

"He is," the contact said. "But you should be careful asking about him. He has protection at very high levels."

"What kind of protection?" Enzo asked.

"The kind that suggests he’s doing something important for someone important," the contact said. "The kind of protection that means questions about him don’t get answered and inquiries about him disappear."

Enzo understood immediately.

"Is he involved with anything external?" Enzo asked. "Anything beyond his official ministry role?"

The contact didn’t answer directly, but their expression told Enzo everything he needed to know.

"I can’t discuss this," the contact finally said. "But I can tell you that Dr. Castellano has unusual spending authority. He controls research budgets that don’t appear in normal ministry accounts. He has access to classified spending that goes beyond what his position would normally allow. And anyone who asks too many questions about what he’s doing with those budgets tends to find themselves transferred to positions far away from Rome."

Enzo left the café with the confirmation he needed.

Dr. Castellano, Italian government official, was the director of the secret BioAdvance Research Solutions facility. Which meant he was The Covenant’s top-level asset in Italy. Which meant Italian government resources were being used to fund and protect The Covenant’s operations.

Which meant the threat wasn’t just American.

The threat was international.

The Covenant had penetrated government agencies in multiple countries. They had people in positions of authority in the United States. They had people in the Italian government. And there was no reason to believe that stopped in Rome.

***

Enzo compiled everything he’d discovered into a comprehensive encrypted file.

The BioAdvance facility photographs. The personnel records. The research project summary. The connection to Dr. Castellano. The confirmation that an Italian government official was directly involved in running a secret bioweapons research facility.

The implications were staggering.

Enzo picked up his phone and dialed Dimitri’s number.

Dimitri answered on the first ring.

"Talk to me," Dimitri said.

"I found the facility," Enzo said. "The Covenant’s Rome operations. They have a building in EUR. It’s a biomedical research facility called BioAdvance Research Solutions."

"What are they doing there?" Dimitri asked.

"Biological enhancement research," Enzo said. "The same kind of treatment they gave Dante. They’re developing pharmaceutical compounds for accelerated healing and physical performance enhancement. They’re conducting experiments, collecting data, refining their technology."

There was a pause on the line.

"And who’s running it?" Dimitri asked.

"That’s the part that changes everything," Enzo said. "The facility is directed by Dr. Castellano. Dr. Marcus Castellano from the Italian Ministry of Health."

"A government official," Dimitri said flatly.

"Not just a government official," Enzo said. "A high-ranking government official with protection at very high levels. Someone with unusual spending authority and access to classified budgets that shouldn’t exist."

"How deep does this go?" Dimitri asked.

"Very deep," Enzo said. "The Covenant has government assets in the United States government. They have a government asset running their Italian operations. And there’s no reason to believe it stops there."

Enzo paused, letting that sink in.

"Brother," Enzo continued, "The Covenant isn’t just operating with government protection. They’ve successfully placed their people inside government. They’ve created a system where government agencies are actually funding and supporting their operations while the government simultaneously pretends these operations don’t exist."

"It’s a perfect cover," Dimitri said quietly. "Complete government protection because the government is involved in running it."