The three of them stood frozen in front of the glowing red dot on the spinning digital globe.
Germany.
The word blinked slowly beneath the blinking pin, pulsing like a heartbeat.
He crossed his arms tightly. "That’s as far as we can go," he said quietly. "Any deeper tracking would trigger a defense protocol. Whoever this is—they’ve rigged their network. The closer we get, the more exposed we beco."
"Cancel it," he said finally, his tone serious.
Vanessa turned to him, confused. "Are you sure? I can at least try to track it to a city."
Liam shook his head. "No. If you open that file too long, they’ll notice. This isn’t so street-level hacker. If he even suspects that soone’s watching him, he won’t just vanish—he’ll trace it right back to us."
Vanessa didn’t hesitate after that. Her fingers danced across the keyboard as the holographic Earth compressed and collapsed back into the flat display. The screen darkened. The room fell into a tense silence.
She stared at Liam. "Germany?"
Liam’s jaw clenched. "It’s not enough. That’s an entire country. He could be in Berlin or so underground bunker in the Black Forest. We need more."
He took a deep breath, thinking fast. Then he looked at Vanessa.
"Can you connect to Lilith?"
Vanessa nodded and moved to a different terminal beside the main one. Within seconds, the screen brightened again, this ti showing a secure video line initializing.
After a short burst of static, Lilith’s face popped up on the screen. Her sharp features looked a little more tired than usual, her golden hair ssier, like she hadn’t slept. Her eyes locked instantly on Liam.
Her mouth dropped slightly, stunned. "Where the fuck have you been?" she snapped. "I’ve been tearing up the city since last night looking for you."
Liam gave a shrug. "We’re alright. We’re over at Vanessa’s place."
Lilith’s lips parted again, and she leaned forward slightly. "I heard the police were hunting you. That truck crash... that was ant to kill you, wasn’t it?"
Liam nodded. "We barely made it out. So rcs followed us. They’re not regulars."
Lilith’s eyes narrowed, but before she could speak again, she noticed soone pop into fra behind Liam.
Lana leaned into view with a faint smirk. "Was that worry I heard in your voice just now?"
Lilith rolled her eyes so hard it was almost audible. "You wish," she muttered, then straightened her posture. "I’m just making sure my gang’s not getting any weaker."
Despite the tension, Liam couldn’t help but smirk slightly at their interaction.
But his smile faded fast as Lilith leaned closer again, her face turning serious.
"Listen," she said. "Last night... while I was out trying to locate you, the Crimson Hand launched an all-out assault on one of our bases."
Liam’s brows furrowed imdiately. "An all-out assault? Since when do they have the numbers to pull that off?"
"That’s what I thought too," Lilith said, her eyes now sharp like blades. "But they had help. From both the Golden Bird... and the SWAT."
Liam’s head turned sharply. "Wait... What?"
"The Golden Bird I expected," Lilith continued bitterly, "But SWAT? Full gear, standard-issue weapons, military-level coordination."
Liam frowned. "You’re saying the SWAT team worked with the Crimson Hand?"
Lilith nodded, dead serious. "I watched it myself. I saw one of their leaders giving orders to both Crimson and tactical squads. They weren’t just standing there—they were coordinating. Like they were trained to work together."
Lana’s arms crossed slowly. "That’s... insane. Governnt-trained forces, working with the most violent gang in the city?"
Lilith tilted her head slightly. "Now you understand the shit we’re in."
Lilith’s expression turned even darker as her voice ca through the screen, sharp and biting.
"My n aren’t even showing up this morning," she said bitterly. "Half of them packed their bags and ran overnight."
Liam blinked. "Wait... what?"
"They left," Lilith repeated coldly. "Ran like cowards. Most of them didn’t even say a word. Just gone."
A strange silence followed her words.
Liam leaned slightly forward, eyes narrowing. He knew Lilith too well—her tone wasn’t just anger. It was pain.
She felt abandoned.
He rubbed his jaw slowly, processing what she said. Sure, the Black Lotus soldiers were loyal, but loyalty didn’t always an devotion. Especially not when death was a guarantee. He couldn’t bla them.
"I’m stunned," Liam admitted honestly. "But not surprised."
Lilith’s eyes flared on the screen. "They swore loyalty to , Liam. And now they’re running just because things got hard?"
"They’re not betraying you," Liam said calmly, voice level and steady. "But most of those n? They’ve got families, Lilith. Kids. Wives. Parents. And now, they’re being told they have to fight three forces at once."
He held up his hand. "The Crimson Hand. The Golden Bird. And now SWAT."
He looked her dead in the eyes. "That’s not a fight. That’s suicide. You know it."
Lilith leaned back in her chair on the other side of the screen, her fingers curling into fists on the armrests. She looked like she wanted to punch sothing—badly.
Lana stood to the side, arms crossed tightly, watching the exchange with a silent frown.
"You’re saying they were right to leave?" Lilith asked coldly.
"I’m saying I don’t bla them," Liam replied. "People don’t want to die for a cause they don’t believe they can win. Especially not when their kids will grow up without a father."
Lilith’s nostrils flared. Her pride was wounded. But deep down, she knew he wasn’t lying.
"They should’ve stayed," she muttered.
"You still have Leo, don’t you?" Liam asked, trying to steer her out of that ntal spiral.
Lilith exhaled slowly, her jaw tightening. "Yeah. Leo’s still with ."
"Then why are you acting like you’ve lost everything?" Liam asked. "You’ve still got the one person who’s been with you since the beginning."
Her face softened, just for a second. It wasn’t much, but Liam noticed.
He pushed on. "Leo’s worth ten of those deserters. He won’t leave you."
Lilith didn’t answer.
Liam sighed. He knew trying to reason with her when she was like this was like shouting into a storm. So he shifted gears.
"What are you planning on doing now?" he asked.
Lilith scoffed under her breath, a bitter smile twisting her lips. "What can I do? I’m losing everything."
The screen flickered faintly as she leaned forward again.
"They’ve started seizing my warehouses. Every front we have—the clubs, the bars, the docks—gone. SWAT’s freezing assets, shutting down movent, and raiding our safehouses. I don’t even have enough n left to defend the rest."
Lana blinked. "Wait, what? Since when does SWAT do asset seizures on gangs?"
Lilith looked her dead in the eyes through the cara. "Since now."
Liam rubbed his chin slowly. "How can I help?"
Lilith laughed. Not the amused kind. The tired, bitter kind.
"There’s nothing you can do, Liam. This isn’t like before. The Crimson Hand is dangerous, yeah. But the SWAT? They’re playing a whole different ga. They’ve never been this involved in gang politics. Never. Now they’re out here acting like it’s open season."
"It’s almost like..." Lana began slowly, "like the governnt decided to finally wipe you all out."
Lilith nodded.
"That’s exactly what it feels like."
Liam’s eyes narrowed.
"But why now?" he asked. "You haven’t done anything wrong. You’ve been keeping order more than anything else. The city’s better off with Black Lotus running things than the Crimson Hand tearing it apart."
"You think they care about that?" Lilith asked. "To them, we’re all trash—gangs, no matter what we stand for. The Crimson Hand’s helping them clean house, so they’ll get a free pass."
Liam’s expression hardened. "You’re saying they’re using the Crimson Hand to destroy the other gangs?"
"Exactly," Lilith said. "The governnt doesn’t need to dirty their hands. They let the Crimson Hand do the dirty work. Once we’re all dead or scattered, the officials will sweep in and ’clean up the ss’."
"And Boss?" Liam asked sharply. "What’s his role in all this?"
Lilith’s eyes narrowed again.
"I think he sold his soul, Liam. Gave the SWAT whatever they needed—safehouses, access routes, maybe even nas. In return, they let the Crimson Hand run unchecked. And when it’s over, I bet they get cleaned out too
Liam clenched his fists slowly. "He gave them control of his gang?"
"Probably," Lilith said flatly. "He’d do anything for power."
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