Ethan leaned back against the plush leather seat of the limousine, his fingers idly drumming against the velvet gift box in his lap. He felt a strange, lingering stillness in the air, but he dismissed it. Even with Crul's omniscient surveillance, the world had momentarily blinked. The Leader of the Union and Truth Seeker had moved with such terrifying velocity—striking and vanishing like ghosts—that not a single electronic signal or panicked distress call had escaped their radius. Two hundred factions had vanished, and the digital world had yet to notice the silence.
"Crul," Ethan said, his voice cutting through the quiet hum of the engine. "Any word on Albert's mother?"
[Negative, Master] Crul's voice resonated in his ear. [We have completed the raid on the coordinates Albert provided within the former Scavenger territory. The holding cell was empty. There were signs of a struggle, but no biological remains matching her profile were found. ]
