Chapter 416: Back To Work
Chapter 416: Back To Work
"If it’s him... he might be able to find something we can’t."
The moment those words left Red’s mouth, Khan and the department head froze, staring at him.
Nearby, one of the cybersecurity staff members also stopped what he was doing and turned toward them.
"We can ask Ghost for help?" He blurted it out loudly enough for the entire department to hear.
At the mention of that legendary name, every keyboard fell silent.
One by one, everyone turned toward the trio standing in the corner.
Red, Khan, and the department head exchanged glances before looking back at the crowd that was now staring at them with identical expressions of shock.
"Ghost..." someone murmured. "Now that you mention it, Ghost is already on our side."
"Our new security system was built by him."
"If Ghost joins us, we’ll have the information in no time."
"Ghost isn’t a god," another person argued. "Even if he were here, he’d still have to retrieve the footage from each driver."
"But he’d probably get it done faster than anyone else."
That single sentence immediately silenced him.
"...I’m just worried he’ll think we’re dumping the problem on him," he muttered.
Soon, everyone was voicing their opinions.
Most of the people in the room belonged to Dominion’s cybersecurity division.
To them, Ghost wasn’t just a name.
He was a legend.
"Ghost..." Warriyo slowly pressed his lips together.
Gin glanced over and immediately saw the fire burning in Warriyo’s eyes.
His own face twitched.
"Hey... don’t get too excited," Gin laughed awkwardly.
Only then did he realize the atmosphere in the room had completely changed.
Just the possibility of working alongside Ghost had reignited everyone’s motivation.
Gin would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited himself.
Ghost usually worked alone.
Although Lucian had recently introduced him as a member of Dominion’s board, Ghost had yet to participate in any official operation.
Well...
Aside from gifting the company an entirely new security system.
Meanwhile, Khan quietly cleared his throat as he stole a glance at Warriyo.
As expected, Warriyo looked completely fired up.
Truthfully, Khan wasn’t much different.
Before their paths had diverged and they eventually became Madam Ashley’s men, their team’s greatest dream had been to find Ghost and become his apprentices.
Reality had forced them to abandon that dream. Their survival came before that dream.
But if the opportunity ever came to simply work alongside Ghost—even for a single operation... that alone would be enough.
Not that Khan—or any of his men—planned to leave Ashley. Not now. Probably not ever.
Just then, Lukas’s voice echoed throughout the room.
"Where are we?"
Everyone turned toward the entrance.
There, Lukas and Gustav had just walked in.
As they stepped inside, both slowed upon seeing that nobody was working.
"Did we already find enough?" Gustav asked, his gaze sweeping across the room before stopping on Red, Khan, and the department head.
"Enough for everyone to stop working?"
"Uh... about that..." Red began.
"If not," Lukas cut in sharply, glaring around the room, "then why is everyone standing around talking?"
"Do you have any idea how important this is? Someone almost got a clean shot at the Master." Lukas scoffed. "If Sir Tomas hadn’t stepped in... they would’ve killed both of them in one move."
Several people frowned.
Fortunately, everyone had long grown accustomed to Lukas’s temper.
"We were discussing something," Khan explained as he stepped forward. "Since we’ll probably have to visit countless drivers to retrieve their dashcam footage ourselves, Red suggested asking Ghost for help."
Lukas immediately fell silent.
Beside him, Gustav’s brows drew together.
The department head stepped forward and quickly summarized Red’s proposal.
Both Lukas and Gustav listened quietly.
Of course they would.
Even they couldn’t ignore the mention of Ghost. Once the explanation ended, the department head added,
"We’re not certain it’ll work, but if Ghost joins us... I’m confident we’ll make much faster progress."
Silence settled over the room once again.
Everyone waited for Lukas and Gustav’s response.
The two exchanged a brief look.
"We don’t have any direct way of contacting Ghost," Gustav finally said. "Only the Master does. So for now, don’t count on that possibility."
"Continue your work with the same urgency."
Lukas nodded. "Ghost may have agreed to work with the Master, but that doesn’t mean he’s obligated to participate in every operation."
"Only the Master knows the agreement between them. So there’s every possibility Ghost refuses."
A wave of disappointment spread through the room.
Still, a small spark of hope remained.
"Back to work," Gustav instructed before turning to the department head. "Bring us up to speed on everything you’ve gathered so far."
"Yes, sir."
The department head immediately led Gustav and Lukas deeper into the room.
Although they had very little evidence, they had still made progress. Every clue mattered.
As they walked away, Khan quietly exhaled.
"Yeah, they’re right. It’s not going to be easy getting Ghost involved."
He turned toward Red.
"You were right." Red clicked his tongue softly. "For a second, I forgot Ghost isn’t obligated to help. Especially with everything he’s dealing with right now."
The child abduction case remained one of the highest-priority investigations in the police department.
After Lucian learned Ghost’s name had become linked to the case, he had assigned Red and Ashley’s guards to quietly investigate it.
That had occupied them for the past week while Khan stayed with Ashley at Black Dragon Corporation alongside Gustav.
"...Now that I think about it," Red said, tilting his head. "Doesn’t something about this feel strange?"
Khan tilted his head.
"The Master seems unusually invested in Ghost’s situation even though they’ve supposedly never really known each other."
Khan blinked.
I’m so jealous of the Black Dragon.
He kept the thought to himself.
"How do you know they haven’t had contact?" he asked instead. "You’re not with him twenty-four hours a day."
Khan shrugged. "They could be talking over the phone whenever you’re not around. I’m not saying it’s impossible. All I’m saying is it’s not as weird."
"It’s just... Some moments make me feel like the Master personally knows Ghost." Red hummed thoughtfully.
"But who knows? The Master is always ten steps ahead. He probably discussed everything with Ghost already."
He paused. "It’s just strange that Ghost hasn’t contacted us since then."
"If this abduction situation really concerns him, you’d think he’d be the first one trying to solve it." Red didn’t dwell on it any longer.
He walked toward Gin to check on the team’s progress.
Khan watched him for another moment before following.
"It is strange," he muttered. "But then again, Ghost is called Ghost for a reason."
With that, neither of them thought about it any further.
All they could do now was hope that, once Gustav relayed the idea to Lucian, the Black Dragon himself might be able to convince Ghost to lend them a hand.