"Boss, I'm heading out. I'll let you know the second anything comes in," Luke said, then nudged Shirley beside him. "Weren't you just saying you were hungry?" Shirley blinked, instinctively glanced at Darius, and swallowed nervously before nodding with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Starving ... absolutely starving..." The two of them hurried out of the suite without looking back. Tristan surveyed the scene, his tone carrying a hint of reluctance. "Boss, I'll step out too. Call me if you need me." He didn't have much choice. There was no way he was sticking around to be the third wheel, choking on whatever was brewing between them. Within moments, the suite was empty, leaving only Thora and Darius. Beyond the panoramic windows, the entire casino floor still stretched out below—this room commanded the best vantage point in the building. Darius pressed something on the wall, and the room transformed. The panels shifted, the window tint adjusted, and the space took on a warmer, more relaxed atmosphere—better suited for resting than reconnaissance. Thora sat down directly across from him and cut straight to it. "You already know who's behind all this, don't you?" "More or less," Darius replied. "The same people who kidnapped you last time?" Thora pressed. Darius didn't dodge the question. He smiled, a note of admiration in his voice. "Sharp as always." Thora's brow furrowed. If she remembered correctly, the ones who had kidnapped Darius belonged to the Hawthornes of western Chaules—a lineage whose influence in the west mirrored the Blackwoods' dominance in the east. The two families had been bitter rivals for as long as anyone could remember."What's the connection between the Hawthornes and the counterfeiting ring?" she asked, puzzled. "If I knew that, I wouldn't still be sitting here," Darius said with a wry smile. "There's definitely a connection, but I'm going to need your help to figure out the specifics." Thora nodded, her expression turning serious. "Understood. I'll get to the bottom of it." Darius watched her sink into thought, the smile on his lips faltering—why did she have to be so earnest at a time like this? He couldn't help but elaborate. "The Hawthornes are too big to get their hands dirty with something like counterfeiting directly. But Elliott is another story. He may be using the counterfeit operation as a weapon to destabilize the Skybound Group's finances. The entire eastern region of Chaules is dealing with a counterfeit problem right now, and the Blackwoods have been hit the hardest. His intentions are pretty transparent at this point." He paused, then continued, "The Hawthornes' base of operations is in the west, so the counterfeit circulation barely touches them. And the people I had watching the Hawthornes reported that a few months back, Elliott had a meeting with an unidentified armed group. My people couldn't get close enough to ID them, but my best guess is they're connected to the counterfeiting ring." Darius laid everything he knew on the table. Thora processed it quickly and arrived at a conclusion. "He's trying to use the counterfeit operation to undercut your family's businesses." Darius smiled and nodded, then made a deliberate correction. "Our family's businesses." "So they're likely just buyers—but major ones." Thora continued her analysis. Darius gave a soft nod, his tone warm with affection. "You don't need to worry about this part. I'll handle it. Just focus on your mission." Thora went quiet for a moment, eyes lowered in thought. Then she looked up at him, suspicion flickering in her gaze. "How do you know what my mission is?" Missions from the military academy were always classified. She'd only been in Novaland a short time. How did Darius already seem to know everything? Darius froze for half a beat. He could hardly tell her the truth—that he'd specifically arranged for the eastern Lycan King to formally petition Blue Star Military Academy to take on the counterfeiting case, all so he'd have a reason to see her. He recovered smoothly. "You showed up asking about counterfeits, brought a whole squad with you, and Blue Star Military Academy runs global-scale operations on a regular cycle. It wasn't exactly hard to put it together." Thora considered that. It made sense—given Darius's resources and connections, it wasn't far-fetched that he knew about her assignment. She'd only asked on a whim anyway. But for some reason she couldn't quite pin down, something about it still felt ... off. She just couldn't put her finger on what.