The meeting with Rook had a different feel this time.

After abandoning the old bunker due to the location being compromised, they were back to being ghosts.

They met the powerful, dangerous crime lord not on his scrap-metal throne, but in a stuffy private office, hidden in a forgotten part of the Undercroft. The office was filled with cigar smoke.

He sat behind a large desk. There was a dim lamp on the desk that made dark shadows on his ugly face. He watched them as they entered the room, looking like a predator who was studying two dangerous animals that had just walked into his den.

"So," Rook started talking, his voice low. "The ghost signal. That was a bold and loud move. I trust you got what you wanted?"

He already knew the answer. His network of informants and spies missed nothing in this city, above or below. "And I trust you were smart enough to run the moment you put on that big fire."

"We got the intel we needed," Seraph said. She went straight to business. She pointed to a small projector she had placed on his desk. It showed an image of the Syndicate's industrial complex. "And now we need a way in." She pointed a finger at the thick, red line that showed the location of the geothermal conduit.

Rook leaned forward in his chair, looking at the image closely. "The geothermal plant," he murmured. "You're not just kicking the hornet's nest. You're trying to set the whole damn hive on fire."

He looked up, and his eyes locked with Seraph's. "My people have been watching that place for weeks. Something about the place changed a few days ago. The human troops, the ones with families and gambling debts that we could bribe? They're all gone."

He paused for a moment. "They've been replaced. A new unit is there now. They are silent types, and they are all dressed in black. They move like machines, and they don't talk to anyone. They just… obey. My best scout got too close to the perimeter fence last night. We found pieces of him a mile away."

Draven's hand tightened on the strap of the pulse rifle that was slung over his shoulder. This was the deadly army that Jonah had warned them about.

"We know the risks," Seraph said. "But our plan depends on getting inside that conduit. We know you have tunnels that run under the industrial sector. Old smuggling routes. We need you to guide us through them."

Rook leaned back on his creaky, old chair. An ugly smile began to appear on his face.

"You already paid your first price. You took out that half-metal freak, Valerius, for me. That little favor earned you a base." He waved his hand carelessly, as if it wasn't important. "A base that you turned into a target and had to abandon. That was a very poor investment on my side."

He steepled his fingers and his eyes were sharp and focused. "But this… this you are requesting for is a much more bigger ask. You want me to personally walk you through my oldest, my most valuable, and my most secret route. This path gives me access to the Upperside's infrastructure. That's not a simple favor. That's the key to my kingdom."

His ugly smile disappeared, and his face turned hard and serious. "A key like that has a price to match."

"We have more weapons now," Draven offered, his voice low, and showed how impatient he was.

Rook let out a short laugh. "I can get my own toys, big man. No, I want something far more valuable than a few fancy guns."

He brought up a new image on his personal console. It was a mugshot of a skinny-looking man with nervous eyes and an arrogant look on his face. The name below the picture was Cypher.

"Your friends on the surface are getting very desperate," Rook said. "They've been rounding up anyone they think is valuable. This man was my main competitor in the city's data trade. He got snatched up by General Ironwood's remaining loyal soldiers just a few days ago."

He looked directly at Seraph. He knew exactly what he was asking her to do. He was intentionally making the situation painful for her.

"They think he's a political prisoner. Someone they can trade to get what they want from Sterling," Rook said with a hateful look on his face. "I just think he's bad for my business. I want him."

Seraph felt trapped. To free a high-level, dangerous criminal, a man who sold secrets to the highest bidder for a living, was a betrayal of everything she stood for. It would damage the morale and the security of the few allies that she had left in the world.

But their whole plan, the fate of Jonah and Vanessa, the last hope of stopping Sterling's terrible army before it even woke up, all of it depended on this one, corrupt, and untrustworthy man.

Draven looked at her with his face tense and uncertain. He hated this. He wanted to fight, not to play dirty, political games with criminals. But he trusted her. It was her call to make.

Seraph stared at Rook across the desk. He was a threat, wrapping himself around their mission, and every deal he offered felt like a poisonous attack. But if she wanted to fight a monster like Julian Sterling, she realized she had no option but to risk working with dangerous criminals.

She was no longer the proud Captain of an elite military unit. She was the leader of a small, desperate rebellion with no home, no supplies, and no good options left. She had to make the hard choices that no one else could.

Her face turned hard and serious. Every trace if emotion was gone.

"Get us in," she said, her voice flat and showing no emotion. "And then you will get your little data broker."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.