Chapter 220 The Video

Chapter 220: Chapter 220 The Video

?The grand lobby of the Zeus Group headquarters was quiet and peaceful.

?Dorian walked through the front entrance with long, steady strides. His sharp footsteps echoed softly off the gleaming marble floor under the bright lights. The receptionist at the front desk nodded respectfully as he passed, and the security guards quickly stepped aside to give him a clear path. No one dared to speak or get in his way.

?He reached his private office on the top floor, pulled the door open, and stepped inside before closing it firmly behind him.

?Kaelen was already waiting for him near the large desk. His laptop was flipped open, displaying a paused video file, and his face looked extremely serious.

?"Show me right now," Dorian said, tossing his jacket over a chair.

?Kaelen turned the laptop screen around so his boss could see it clearly.

?The video playing on the screen was grainy, flickering in black and white. It had been captured by a fixed security camera positioned near the busy shipping docks.

?A group of unknown men were moving heavy crates around. Their faces were mostly hidden from view in the shadows, but their movements were quick, sharp, and highly efficient.

?"This is the Black Triangle cell," Kaelen explained, pointing at the screen. "We have been secretly tracking this specific group for weeks now, and they are starting to get much bolder."

?Dorian watched every second of the footage with hawk-like intensity.

?The men finally finished loading the heavy crates onto the back of a large cargo truck and started talking among themselves. One of the figures suddenly turned his head around. Just for a brief second, his profile caught the light.

?Dorian froze completely in place.

?The man’s face was still too blurry to make out clearly, but something about him instantly struck a chord. The way he stood, the way he shifted his weight, and a jagged scar running along his neck.

?Dorian knew that exact look. He had seen it before.

?"Pause the video right there," Dorian ordered sharply.

?Kaelen hit the spacebar and paused the footage on the exact frame.

?"Now zoom in. Right on his face and neck."

?Kaelen used the trackpad to zoom in on the grainy image.

?The face remained fuzzy, but the scar stood out like a beacon. It was a long, jagged line stretching all the way from his left ear down to his jawline.

?Dorian’s jaw tightened until the muscles ached.

?He knew that scar all too well. He had stared right at it three years ago on the most terrifying day of his life, the night of the ambush.

?One of the ruthless mercenaries working that day had that exact scar. He was the very man who had pointed a loaded gun directly at Dorian’s head, the one who had pulled the trigger without hesitation.

?The only reason Dorian was still alive was because the gun had jammed at the absolute last second.

?Dorian had managed to fight back, jumped off the plane into the churning water below, and somehow survived against all odds.

?And now, after all this time, that exact man was here. Right in Etland City.

?"Do we know who he is?" Dorian asked, his voice chillingly calm.

?Kaelen shook his head slowly. "We do not have a real name for him yet. In our intelligence reports, he only goes by a code name. They call him Ghost."

?"Ghost?"

?"Yes. He is like a literal ghost in the system. There are no official records, no matching fingerprints, and no DNA profiles on file. He does not exist in any database."

?Dorian stared unblinkingly at the frozen image on the screen, fixating on the scar, the cold eyes, and the arrogant posture.

?"I want him found," Dorian said, his voice dropping to a freezing Etland winter chill. "I want him hunted down and brought straight to me. I want him alive."

?Kaelen gave a firm nod of his head. "Consider it done sir. I will get on it immediately."

*

?Across town in a much quieter part of the city, Veyra was sitting inside a bright, modern conference room.

?Xavier Lala sat directly across the table from her. He pushed his glasses up higher on his nose, tapped the keys on his open laptop, and looked across at her with a very serious expression.

?"The official human trial results finally came in this morning," he announced.

?Veyra leaned forward eagerly, resting her hands on the edge of the table. "And? How did they turn out?"

?Xavier turned his laptop screen around so she could read the data.

?The monitor displayed a series of colorful charts, rising graphs, and dense data points. Veyra scanned through the numbers quickly, and her heart gave a nervous thud against her ribs.

?"These numbers are... really good," she whispered in disbelief.

?"They are actually way better than just good. They are exceptional," Xavier smiled broadly. "The overall success rate is sitting at ninety-two percent. The reported side effects are practically minimal, and the patient recovery time is faster than any other comparable treatment on the market right now."

?Veyra stared at the screen as if she were reading a fairy tale.

?Ninety-two percent. When they first started, she would have been thrilled with seventy, or maybe a seventy-five percent success rate. Hitting ninety-two was completely beyond anything she had dared to dream of.

?"That is genuinely incredible," she breathed out.

?"It really is," Xavier agreed, leaning back in his chair. "Because of these numbers, I think we should fast-track the production phase right away."

?Veyra blinked, caught off guard. "Fast-track it?"

?"Yes. We have the solid data to back it up, we have all the necessary approvals lined up, and our manufacturing partners have the capacity," he explained. "If we push forward now, we could start public distribution within the next three months."

?Veyra hesitated, a knot of doubt forming in her stomach.

?Three months. That was moving at lightning speed. Far too fast for comfort.

?"What about our safety protocols?" she asked, frowning slightly.

?Xavier tilted his head, looking puzzled. "What about them?"

?"The human trials we ran were relatively small. The overall sample size was pretty limited. I think we need to gather more data, run more extensive testing, and give ourselves more time before putting this out to the public."

?Xavier crossed his arms, his smile fading. "The current results are already overwhelmingly strong. Waiting around now would just delay our launch for no good reason."

?"It would also ensure that we do not miss any long-term issues," she countered.

?Xavier studied her face carefully for a moment. "You are genuinely worried about this, aren’t you?"

?"I am just being cautious, Xavier."

?Veyra leaned forward again, wanting to make sure he understood the weight of what they were doing.

?"Xavier, this is my personal formula. My name is going to be attached right to the front of it. If something goes wrong down the line, if even one person gets hurt because we rushed, the blame falls entirely on me."

?Xavier stayed quiet, absorbing her words without interrupting.

?"I do not want to rush the process, and I certainly do not want to skip important steps just to make a quick profit. I want to make absolute sure that it is safe. For every single person who uses it.”