Luke took the bullet and turned it over in his hand. "Got it. But this kind of silver round isn't exactly rare. Anyone with the right connections can get their hands on it." Thora stood straight, arms crossed. "People who break the rules, cross lines, and treat destruction like a game, they all tend to have one thing in common. Know what it is?" Luke pushed up his glasses. "No clue." Sure, he wasn't exactly a rule-follower either, but wrecking things for fun had never been his style. "Vanity," Thora said flatly. "Same as serial killers who leave their signature behind. They love watching people lose their minds over it. Makes them feel like they've pulled off a masterpiece. It feeds their ego. Thief syndicates are no different. They always leave their mark, dying to let the world know it was them." Luke instantly caught on and grinned. "Boss is boss, huh?"As he spoke, his fingers flew across the keyboard. Thora's lips curved ever so slightly. She'd dealt with enough enemies like that in the past—she knew the psychology by heart. Now she wanted to know exactly who was behind the hit on Darius that day. After all, Darius was legally her mate now. They touched her man, did they think she was dead? "Boss! Got something!" Luke called out a moment later. "I ran the bullet data through every major database from International Werewolf Organization. Turns out this exact same round's popped up in over a dozen high-profile cases. You were right, this bullet model and its unique markings belong to a single thief syndicate—Mirage Corsairs." He kept going, voice sharp. "Mirage Corsairs are the nastiest thief syndicate in Chaules. Led by 12 core members who call themselves ‘The Twelve Generals'. Below them is a whole army of rogue werewolves and international criminals. They've pulled off major crimes across the globe, and now they're top priority targets for nearly every empire. Every bullet they use carries a unique signature." Luke lifted the bullet and pointed at its edge. "See this?" Thora took it from him, and saw the distinct Mirage Corsairs insignia etched into the casing. At the same time, she felt something else. A flicker of energy she recognized. She activated her ability and rolled the bullet between her fingers. A faint shimmer of light rose from the mark. Her eyes narrowed, danger flickering through them. Another ability user? Looked like this era had more ability users than she thought. ...Over the course of that month, everyone at Wolffang Base trained like they were prepping for war. Every single member was fired up like they were running on pure adrenaline. So when the Wolffang project team received the latest round of physical reports, they were bewildered. "Mr. Hovland, you need to see this!" one of the analysts shouted. Yereah strolled over with his hands in his pockets and stared at the screen. His brow furrowed. "Did they pump these people full of enhancers or something? There's no way they improved this fast naturally." "Mr. Hovland, we ran full bloodwork. No trace of enhancers, hormones, or stimulants." That only made Yereah more confused. If it wasn't artificial, how the hell had their physical metrics skyrocketed like this? Even Luke, the weakest in the unit, was now testing at the level of a seasoned soldier."If only we still had monitoring access ... Then we'd know what they've been doing every day," a tech muttered with a sigh. Yereah silently agreed. This Thora ... since when did she get more slippery than Mr. Blackwood? ... Exactly one month later, the entire Wolffang Base vanished without a trace. It was as if the whole team had evaporated into thin air. No one knew where they went. No one saw them again. That same day, Hugo was notified. He didn't say much, just issued an immediate lockdown on all related information. Every individual with knowledge of the situation was placed under strict silence protocols. Any leak would be treated as a breach of military secrecy and punishable by law. At the same time, on the other side of the world, a new force was rising. A mysterious name whispered in dark corners—Ashwolf.