Adam walked into Unit 14 in the old-man disguise and let the door close behind him.
Bruno rose so fast that his chair scraped back across the floor. Adam looked at him first, then at Kenji. The bruises on Kenji's face were dark now. Adam's eyes stayed there for a second before returning to Bruno.
One hand rested on the stick he carried. The other stayed loose by his side. On the way here, Adam had been ready to use the one thing he had finally decided on. He had expected threats, shouting, and maybe worse.
Instead, Bruno only stared at him.
Kenji stood too, but the moment he looked at Adam, his eyes dropped. He did not need to explain anything. The shame on his face already did that for him.
'He thinks this is his fault,' Adam thought.
Adam took two calm steps forward.
"You hit him?" he asked.
His voice was low and steady. That alone changed the room. Bruno glanced at Kenji, then back at Adam.
"Yes," he said. "But first we talk. After that, I will tell you everything."
Adam's eyes narrowed slightly.
That was not what he had expected.
He had come here believing Bruno wanted to drag him in, beat him, and force answers out of him. But Bruno was not acting like a man who had already decided on violence. The gun was still in his hand, yes, but it was not pointed at anyone now. Rafi and Toma were still by the others, yet neither of them moved. Even the room felt wrong for an execution. It felt tense, ugly, and dangerous, but it also felt like Bruno was waiting for something.
'He wants something from me,' Adam thought.
That changed everything.
Adam kept walking until he stood beside Kenji's chair. He looked at him and said, "Stay calm. I'm here now. Nothing will happen to you."
Kenji's shoulders eased a little at that. He still looked embarrassed, but at least some of the fear had left his face.
Then Bruno spoke again.
"Old man, please sit."
Adam heard the word please and felt another part of the situation fall into place.
Bruno was not trying to kill him now. He wanted something badly enough to lower himself first.
Adam sat down.
Across the room, Shinju, Sera, and Davin were still under watch, but now even they were looking at Bruno with confusion. A few minutes ago, this room had belonged to a thug with a gun. Now it looked like it belonged to a desperate man trying not to drown.
Bruno drew in a breath.
"Mister, I did not want to lay hands on him," he said, glancing at Kenji. "But he would not call you, and meeting you was important."
Adam said nothing.
Bruno mistook that silence for judgment, and his face grew tighter.
"At first, I did not believe your organization was real," he said. "That was my mistake. I understand that now."
Then, to everyone's surprise, Bruno stood up fully, bent forward, and lowered his head.
"I apologize," he said. "I was wrong to doubt you."
Kenji stared.
So did Davin. Even Rafi looked confused for one second.
Adam did not move.
He still did not understand the full picture, but one thing was obvious now. Bruno had built a misunderstanding around Adam's fake organization, and somewhere outside this room that misunderstanding had grown larger than Adam had intended.
Bruno slowly straightened and sat down again.
"I know I made a mistake," he said. "I know I betrayed your trust. But I want one chance to fix it."
Adam spoke.
"As far as I remember," he said, "you already betrayed me once. And now you want me to trust you again?"
Kenji turned sharply toward him.
"You two know each other?" he asked before he could stop himself.
Bruno answered first.
"I know him," he said quickly. "And I know I was blind."
Adam let the misunderstanding stand.
He still did not know why Bruno had changed this much, but he could feel the weakness in front of him now. Bruno was afraid. Not just of Adam, but of something bigger pressing on him from behind.
Then Bruno gave him the answer.
"Your organization has started approaching other gangs," he said. "I don't want that. I want you to keep working through me the way you did before."
Adam almost frowned.
'Other gangs?' Adam thought.
Then an old memory stirred.
Two or three years later, the lower districts had exploded into gang violence. Adam had never stayed long enough to learn every reason behind it, but he remembered the result. Bodies in alleys. Shops closing before sunset. Innocent people caught in the middle. And in the end, even Gonda had died.
Adam had not known what started it.
Now, sitting in front of Bruno, he began to understand that his own lie had tangled itself into something much larger.
He did not correct it.
Why would he?
If Bruno wanted to believe in a massive organization, then Adam would use that belief.
A small smile touched his face.
"I came to you first," Adam said. "You were the one who chose betrayal. And now you're asking me not to deal with anyone else?"
Bruno met his gaze and nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
That single word hit harder than any shout.
Bruno's fingers tightened around the gun. For a second Adam thought he might do something stupid after all. Instead, Bruno lowered the gun, set it on the desk, and pushed it forward a little.
"Because I will prove my loyalty," he said. "If you want anything, I will do it. I know what I did. I know what it cost me."
That was the truth.
Bruno had not come here to threaten from a position of strength. He had come here to beg from a position of fear. Somewhere in his mind, he had already decided that Adam's organization was real, powerful, and dangerous enough to destroy him if he stayed on the wrong side of it. And if Adam refused him now, Bruno probably believed Gonda would crush him from the other side anyway.
He was trapped, and that made him useful.
Adam folded his hands over the top of the stick and leaned back a little.
He was still wary of the gun. He was still aware that one wrong move could ruin everything. But now he could finally see the shape of the room clearly.
Bruno was not holding power here. He was offering himself.
"Fine," Adam said. "I'm ready to listen. Tell me."