LOGINThe conference room on the twelfth floor of the National Intelligence Division fell silent the moment Lionel Duan stepped inside.No one greeted him.They didn't need to.Every person seated around the long table had already read the reinstatement order bearing his name. After five years listed as Missing in Action, Lionel Duan was officially back.He placed a thick black folder on the table before turning toward the large digital screen mounted on the wall."Let's begin."The room lights dimmed.A single diagram appeared.At the very center...ZERO DEGREE HOLDINGSLines stretched outward toward several familiar names.Vraux Industries.Troyan Group.Orion Project.Further down...another file appeared.A photograph of the abandoned warehouse.Burned concrete walls.Collapsed steel shelves.Evidence tags scattered across the image.Lionel picked up a laser pointer."This warehouse."A red dot landed on the photograph."Everyone believes the Zero Degree investigation starts with financ
Back at Valcor, the atmosphere had shifted again.The company looked busy as always, but beneath the polished smiles and neatly pressed suits, tension lingered in every hallway. Employees lowered their voices whenever Orion was mentioned. News alerts kept flashing across phones. Every department was waiting for the next headline.Ella had barely finished reviewing a stack of investor reports when Terry knocked lightly on her desk."Ms. Duan."She looked up."What is it?""I just received a notice from Legal."He handed her a sealed envelope."It came directly from the Financial Crimes Investigation Bureau."Ella accepted it calmly, though a flicker crossed her eyes."They sent it to Valcor?""They requested cooperation from all companies connected to Orion."She broke the seal.Inside was an official notice requesting financial records related to Zero Degree Holdings, including historical transactions involving Vraux Industries, Troyan Group, and Valcor Corporation.Exactly as she had
The front door opened again just after eight.Vivianne stepped inside with a tired sigh, slipping off her heels near the entrance."I swear, Orion is determined to ruin everyone's work-life balance."Devon looked up from his laptop and smiled."Long day?""The longest."She loosened her hair as she walked into the living room, only to stop when she noticed everyone gathered around the investigation board.Her eyes landed on Ella first."You came back."Ella nodded."We found something."Vivianne's expression immediately turned serious."Something big?"Jonathan looked toward Lionel before giving a small nod."I think it's time."Lionel walked to the table and picked up a weathered document inside a transparent evidence sleeve."This belongs to your father."Vivianne frowned."My... father?"Lionel handed it to her carefully."It was recovered from the warehouse."Vivianne stared at the familiar handwriting.Her breathing gradually slowed."...Dad."The single word escaped almost as a
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime.Lionel stepped into the Intelligence Division headquarters without slowing his pace.The polished marble floor reflected the morning lights. Officers in dark uniforms crossed the hallway carrying stacks of files, while analysts hurried between offices with tablets tucked under their arms. The building hadn't changed much in five years.Only the people had.A few conversations stopped the moment they noticed him.Someone froze halfway through taking a sip of coffee."...Is that...""No way...""I thought he was dead."The whispers followed Lionel down the corridor, but he didn't acknowledge them. His expression remained calm, unreadable, the same look that had earned him a reputation as one of the division's most difficult investigators years ago.At the end of the hallway, a familiar wooden door stood waiting.A brass nameplate was still attached.Lionel DuanChief, Special Transnational Crime UnitFor a brief moment, he simply looked at
No one spoke.The underground room seemed to hold its breath as Ella slowly lifted the lid of the archive box.The cardboard had become brittle with age. A slight movement nearly tore one corner apart.Inside were only a handful of surviving documents.Most had been ruined by humidity.Some pages had fused together.Others had blackened around the edges, leaving only fragments of words.Ella carefully unfolded the first readable sheet.It wasn't a research report.It was a logistics record.Her eyes moved quickly across the page before stopping at a familiar name.Project Mionier – Restricted Asset TransferThree companies.Three official investors.Vraux Industry.Troyan Group.Valcor Corporation.Below them...another line had been crossed out with black ink.Yet the original writing was still faintly visible beneath it.Ella inhaled sharply."...Zero Degree Holdings."Aizen's expression hardened."So they were already involved..."Phillip looked genuinely stunned."Impossible.""Ze
The small office overlooked the entire warehouse through cracked glass panels now clouded with age. Dust coated every surface, and a thin layer of cobwebs hung from the corners of the ceiling.Terry pushed the warped wooden door open.It creaked loudly.No one spoke.Aizen entered first.Ella followed a step behind him.Phillip remained by the doorway, his expression growing distant."I haven't been inside this room since that day."His voice was barely above a whisper."I couldn't."The room was smaller than Aizen had imagined.A heavy wooden desk stood near the window. A bookshelf leaned slightly to one side, its shelves still holding faded technical manuals and engineering journals. A whiteboard occupied the far wall, though only fragments of erased formulas remained.Time had frozen here.It was as if the owner had simply stepped out for lunch and never returned.Ella slowly walked around the room.She didn't look at the obvious places.Instead, her attention drifted toward the de
The music was soft.Too soft for a room filled with people who never spoke without purpose.Crystal glasses clinked lightly. Laughter drifted in controlled bursts. Every movement—every smile—felt measured, curated, deliberate.Estella stood beside Aizen, her posture straight, her expression compose
The noise hadn’t disappeared.It had only changed shape.Estella stood in front of the glass wall in the conference room, watching the city move like nothing had happened. Cars flowed. Screens lit. People kept walking.Meanwhile, inside Valcor—Her name still lingered.Not as loud as yesterday.But
Morning arrived like nothing had happened.The glass facade of Valcor Technology still reflected the same pale sunlight. Employees still walked in with their coffee, their schedules, their quiet ambitions.But the moment Estella Duan stepped through the lobby doors, something shifted.It wasn’t lou
The building felt different the moment Estella stepped inside.Not quieter.Sharper.Like every whisper had teeth.No one greeted her.No one even pretended to.Screens lit up as she passed. Conversations dropped mid-sentence. Eyes followed her—not openly, but enough.She didn’t slow down.Didn’t r







