Chapter 535: Welcome to Volume IV

[Welcome to Volume IV]

"Marshal has fallen. That puts us at a disadvantage."

"A disadvantage?" another voice scoffed. "We all knew that fool would fail. He was bound to get himself killed sooner or later."

"Even in failure, Marshal gave us what we wanted," a third voice countered. "Perhaps even more than we expected."

"More?" someone challenged. "I don’t see how we gained anything beyond our original objective."

"If anything, his downfall might have exposed this board."

"Lucian has always been a problem," another voice cut in. "Thirty percent of Dominion remains loyal to Black Dragon. As long as Lucian is alive, he will continue to be a thorn in our side. Now, that wife of his has become another problem."

"Blaming one another will accomplish nothing. We’ve already identified the threat. Lucian married a remarkably capable woman, which means we now have two people to worry about. The only question that matters is this: How do we eliminate them?"

Silence followed.

The vast conference room was empty. A long table stretched across its center, surrounded by vacant chairs. A tablet had been placed before each seat, their glowing screens representing the board members attending from different parts of the world.

Their voices filled the room, but their faces remained hidden.

"When this board was created, we understood the consequences of opposing Lucian."

A man’s cool voice silenced the others.

"Everything remains under control," he continued. "In fact, events are unfolding precisely as planned."

"Planned?" an angry voice demanded. "You call this part of the plan?"

"Yes." The man sounded almost amused. "Isn’t that right, Memphis?"

The room fell silent.

Behind their screens, the board members froze.

As far as they knew, Memphis had never been part of this board. He shouldn’t have known about its existence, much less gained access to one of its meetings.

Yet inside the dim conference room, a figure stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows.

He drew slowly on his cigar before releasing a stream of smoke into the air.

"We still have the upper hand," Memphis declared, confirming his presence.

Several voices erupted at once.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"How did he get access?"

"What exactly is going on?"

Some members expressed their outrage openly. Others remained silent, their minds racing as they tried to understand what the secret meeting had become.

The man responsible for inviting Memphis merely smirked.

"As I said, everything is under control." His composed voice carried through the room, silencing the uproar. "Lucian and Ashley are only dangerous if they have the freedom to come after us."

He let the statement settle before continuing.

"But what if they become too busy saving themselves?"

No one answered.

"I invited Memphis here to introduce him as the newest member of this board," the man announced. "He will deal with Lucian, Ashley, and anyone else standing in our way."

His voice remained calm, as though he were discussing an ordinary business arrangement.

"All of you need only provide the necessary resources and wait to reap the benefits." He paused. "Does anyone object?"

Memphis continued smoking, seemingly uninterested in their response.

Just as he expected, one man exploded.

"This is outrageous! Every member of this board agreed to absolute secrecy. How could you invite an outsider without consulting us? Who do you think you are?"

The mysterious man chuckled. "Is that your final answer, Mr. Rossi?"

The furious board member went silent.

His breathing became audible through the speakers.

Their agreement covered more than the matters discussed during meetings. Their identities were also supposed to remain hidden—even from one another.

All they knew was that everyone on the board shared the same goal. Yet the man had identified Mr. Rossi without hesitation.

It wasn’t merely a breach of their agreement.

It was a threat.

"If that is your answer," the cool voice continued, "then I suppose preparing an additional seat at this table is no longer necessary."

"What is that supposed to mean?" a woman demanded.

The man laughed quietly. "Clara, you’re an intelligent woman. Do you truly need me to spell it out for you?"

Another heavy silence descended over the room.

Memphis watched the tablets with growing amusement.

These people had spent years believing they controlled everything from the shadows. They had manipulated organizations, destroyed reputations, and decided the fate of people they considered beneath them.

Nothing was more entertaining than watching them realize that their control had always been an illusion.

"Ah, I didn’t want it to come to this," the mysterious man said with a disappointed sigh. "I allowed all of you to make the major decisions. I let you develop the plans and choose how they would be executed."

His fingers tapped idly against the desk. "But your plans failed."

No one dared interrupt him, letting everything sink in.

"So, I had no choice but to intervene and arrange everything myself. Otherwise, we would continue wasting our time with these pointless discussions." He shook his head. "I don’t possess the same patience as the rest of you."

His tapping stopped. "I want Lucian gone."

The man paused as though reconsidering his own words.

"No. The woman must disappear first."

Memphis glanced toward the glowing tablets.

"At this moment, Ashley poses the greater threat," the man continued. "Every one of you will provide whatever we need to eliminate her."

His lips curved into a smile. "Unless, of course, we no longer share the same goal."

Silence answered him. Then one of the tablet screens went dark.

A board member had left the virtual meeting without saying a word.

Another followed.

Then a third.

Soon, half the screens surrounding the empty table had gone black.

Those who remained were slower to respond.

"I don’t approve of this," one man finally remarked. "It appears we’ve allowed a snake to coil itself around this board. However, if this arrangement helps me reach my goal, then so be it."

"I need more time to consider this," another member said.

"We’ll see," someone else muttered.

One after another, the remaining screens went dark until only a single tablet remained illuminated.

The mysterious man exhaled. "Ah... how troublesome."

He sounded more inconvenienced than concerned.

"These old fools truly believe they’re important. They fail to understand that they were invited to this board because it represents their only chance to reach heights they could never attain on their own."

Memphis chuckled from beside the window. "They might leave the board."

"They won’t."

"You sound certain."

"Half of them will come crawling back once they realize they have nowhere else to go," the man replied. "And I only need half."

His laughter echoed softly through the empty room. "As for the rest, they can be discarded. This board has too many voices."

"I see," Memphis responded without much interest. His eyelids drooped as he watched the smoke from his cigar curl toward the ceiling.

For a moment, neither man spoke.

Then Memphis broke the silence.

"About Isabella Di Carpio... I wouldn’t become complacent," Memphis warned. "She might possess the necessary determination, but she’s still a pampered Di Carpio princess."

He glanced over his shoulder at the lone illuminated tablet.

"Isabella is not the same as the monster that family created."

The distinction mattered.

Isabella might be driven by rage, grief, and a desire for revenge. Those emotions could make her useful.

But they could also make her unpredictable.

Ashley was different.

Every cruelty she had endured had sharpened her. Every betrayal had taught her. Marshal and the Di Carpios had spent years trying to break her, never realizing that they had been creating something far more dangerous than themselves.

Memphis took another slow drag from his cigar.

"Grief is a mysterious thing," he murmured.

Smoke escaped his lips as his gaze returned to the dark city beyond the window.

"It can turn the weakest person into a weapon."He paused. "And the strongest into a monster."

The cigar burned between his fingers.

"No matter what happens, we can’t allow either of them to survive." His eyes narrowed. "Lucian and Ashley both need to die."