Their new hiding place was the sub-basement of an old, abandoned printing press. It was better than the sewage tunnel they had just escaped from, but not by much. The floor was dry, which was a welcome change, but the air was heavy with the smells of ancient dust and dried-up ink. A small, grated window at street level let in a dim, grayish light, creating a permanent dusk inside. The light fell on tall stacks of old, yellowing newspapers and the silent, massive shapes of printing machines that hadn't run in years.

Silva was sitting on a wooden crate, his big body slumped forward in pain. Evelyn was gently using antiseptic wipes to clean the cuts and bruises on his face. He flinched but stayed quiet, his one eye that wasn't swollen shut watching Elara carefully. She stood a few feet away, leaning against a rusty printing press with her arms crossed. It was still hard to believe that the mysterious digital hacker they knew as "Silica" was now a real person, standing right there with them.

Silva's voice broke the quiet, rough and strained. "They kept asking about you, Ace," he said, every word seeming to cost him effort. "They wanted to know how you pull off the things you do. That suit, Sterling, called it an 'unusual talent.' They're fixated on you. They didn't seem to care as much about Kaito's computer skills or Evelyn's strategies. It was all about you."

A chill ran down Ace's back. He had always known the secret power inside him—the "System"—made him a target. But hearing it out loud from Silva made the danger feel more real and terrifying than ever. OmniCorp didn't just want to stop him; they wanted to capture and study him like a lab animal.

"That's the reason they didn't kill me," Elara said, her voice clear and certain in the gloomy basement. It wasn't a guess. "You were the lure. They were counting on Ace's loyalty. They set a trap, and you were the bait meant to catch what they see as their most valuable prize."

"And we almost fell for it," Kaito whispered, his eyes glued to the news stories about their data leak on his laptop screen. "We only made it out because our 'ghost' decided to step in and save us in person."

Elara looked at him, her expression serious. "This wasn't about luck," she corrected. "It was a choice. A risky one, but a calculated one." She walked away from the press and joined their small group. "But the situation is different now. Sterling has been humiliated. His secret prison was broken into, his bait was rescued, and he was knocked out. His reputation inside OmniCorp is damaged. He will be desperate to fix this. And a desperate, smart enemy is the most dangerous kind there is."

Ace listened, his thoughts racing. The new part of his System, the "Corporate Espionage" module, was working, analyzing everything Elara said and comparing it to the stolen OmniCorp files.

A message, clear and digital, appeared in his mind:

<<<>>>

THREAT ASSESSMENT UPDATE: ALISTAIR STERLING.

- STATUS: PROFESSIONALLY WOUNDED. HIS MAIN GOAL (CAPTURING ACE) HAS FAILED.

- PREDICTED BEHAVIOR: WILL BECOME MORE AGGRESSIVE. WILL USE RISKIER METHODS. MAY ACT ALONE TO TRY AND WIN BACK HIS BOSSES' TRUST.

- VULNERABILITY: HIS FAILURE IS NOW PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE WITHIN OMNICORP. HIS JOB IS ON THE LINE.

<<<>>>

The System was agreeing with Elara. Sterling was trapped and cornered. He wouldn't attack them with cool, corporate precision next time. He would come at them with everything he had, driven by fury.

"We can't keep just defending ourselves," Ace said, his voice strong and determined. He stood up, feeling the heavy responsibility of being their leader. "We attacked them with information, and they attacked us with violence. We attacked their prison, and they'll retaliate with something even worse. We have to stop letting them control the fight. We have to finish this."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Silva asked, pointing to his own injuries. "Send them a strongly worded letter?"

"No," Ace said, a sharp, determined look in his eyes. He turned to Elara. "You told us OmniCorp is the real sickness. Sterling is just a symptom. We forced the CEO, Vance, to take the blame to protect the company. But the company itself is still standing. It's hurt, but it's recovering. We need to prove to everyone that the corruption is still there, deep within the organization itself."

Ace started pacing back and forth across the dusty floor. In his mind, guided by the cool, logical part of his System, a new and daring plan was coming together. "Think of Sterling as their attack dog," he began, explaining it for everyone. "But every dog has an owner who holds the leash. There has to be someone higher up, someone who signed off on the Riverbend project, who approved the secret prison, who gives Sterling his orders. We need to find that person and expose them."

Elara watched him, and for the first time, a hint of respect showed in her eyes. "The Board of Directors," she said. "It's a group of the most powerful people at OmniCorp, and they're all corrupt. They were the ones who voted to approve Riverbend. Right now, they're probably busy covering their tracks, making sure all the blame for the scandal lands on the former CEO, Vance, so they can walk away clean."

"Then we tear off their disguise," Ace said firmly. "We prove the entire board was involved. We find what each of them values most—their pressure points. We have to make it so that protecting Sterling, or continuing to hunt us, is more damaging to them than just ending the whole thing."

Kaito looked up from his laptop, a new spark of energy in his eyes. "So we target their money. These board members are all major owners of the company. Their personal fortunes rise and fall with OmniCorp's stock price. If we can threaten that wealth..."

"Exactly," Ace confirmed. "We find what they care about more than the company itself. Their secret bank accounts in other countries, their hidden investments, their affairs, their secret families." He pointed to his own head. "This new part of my System, the Corporate Espionage module, helps me see patterns and weaknesses. It shows me the cracks in their armor. But I can't do it alone. We need a massive amount of information. We need to dig into the board's most private lives."

Elara nodded slowly, seeing the strategy. "It's a smarter target. It's spread out and harder for them to protect. Sterling guards the company's buildings and servers. The board members guard their own reputations and secret fortunes." A small, hard smile appeared on her face. "I've been quietly tracking the board's online activities for a year. I have bits and pieces of information. With your... special ability... we could connect all those pieces into a complete picture."

For the next two days, the basement was filled with a quiet, focused intensity. For the first time, all of their skills worked together perfectly as one unit.

Despite his injuries, Silva used his deep knowledge of the city's hidden side. He checked out real addresses—like secret apartments and exclusive clubs—that Elara had found in the financial records she'd hacked.

Evelyn used her practical, organized mind to make sense of the flood of illegal information. She created a detailed file on each of the twelve board members, listing their biggest secrets and weaknesses.

Kaito and Elara became an unstoppable digital team. Kaito used his power to break into systems and gather huge amounts of data, while Elara, a true artist of code, slipped through the strongest digital security without a sound. Together, they pulled out secret bank records from foreign countries, decoded private emails, and found hidden travel plans.

And Ace was the central piece that made it all work. He moved between them, his System processing the raw information they found. He would look at a board member's list of investments, and the module would point out a fake company that was really being used to steal money. He would read a series of ordinary-looking emails and get a gut feeling that they were really about a hidden affair. He was connecting clues that no one else could see.

They were no longer just a group of people working together; they were a single, well-oiled machine. Rescuing Silva had created a bond of unbreakable trust, and their shared fight for survival gave them one clear goal.

On the evening of the second day, they all gathered around Kaito's laptop, which was now hooked up to a larger, salvaged monitor. On the screen was a complicated web of lines and names, a map of corruption centered on the twelve members of the OmniCorp board.

"We have it," Evelyn said, her voice tired but triumphant. "We have enough dirt on every single one of them to ruin their lives. We have proof of fraud, illegal stock trading, bribery, and blackmail. We could destroy everything they've built."

Ace studied the screen. He saw the patterns—not of monsters, but of greedy, frightened cowards hiding behind their fancy titles and money. These were the true "system" that Elara had warned him about.

"The question is," Kaito said, "what do we do with it? Do we just leak it all to the public again?"

"No," Ace and Elara said at the exact same time.

Elara explained further. "A public leak would cause panic, but it would also make them band together against us, a common enemy. We need to do the opposite. We need to split them apart. We need to make them turn on each other."

Ace nodded. "We send each board member their own private package. We show them their deepest, darkest secrets. And then we show them a few of their colleagues' secrets, too. We tell them this information will stay secret only if the entire board agrees to permanently shut down all their illegal operations—including Sterling's whole department—and issues a public apology and pays back the people they hurt with the Riverbend project."

He looked at the faces of his team, lit by the glow of the monitor. "We don't give them a single enemy to fight. We give them a simple choice: save yourself, or be destroyed along with everyone else. We force them to become our secret allies."

A thoughtful silence filled the basement. The plan was clever, cold, and completely ruthless. It was a true power play.

"Sounds like we're making ourselves the kingmakers," Silva said, a slow grin spreading across his bruised face. "I like it."

Ace felt the heavy responsibility of the moment. They were about to manipulate the most powerful people in the city from a dirty basement. They weren't just victims trying to survive anymore, or even rebels fighting back.

They were stepping into a role of invisible power. The unwanted son was finally seizing control of his own destiny.

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