Location: Busan Industrial District, Ricci Korea Sub-Facility
Yuna stood at the edge of the loading dock, the cold sea wind clawing through her coat.
The black Genesis SUV had stopped a block away. Min-Jae had handed her a burner and said:
"He's inside. You have ten minutes before I trigger the fallback." Then he disappeared, blending
into the shadows like a ghost trained by ghosts.
Now, with the sound of gulls and the scent of brine in the air, Yuna walked through the open gates
of the Ricci Korea port facility.
No alarms. No guards in sight.
That alone unsettled her more than a line of rifles.
Inside the warehouse, industrial lights flickered overhead. And there he stood her father.
Jung Tae-Min.
Older. Leaner. Scarred behind the eyes. He wore a military-cut coat over a crisp shirt and gloves—
always gloves. He turned slowly as she approached, as if he'd sensed her long before she spoke.
"Yuna," he said softly.
She stopped ten feet away. "You're supposed to be dead."
He smiled. "I was."
Flashback: Eight Years Ago Seoul
Her father's body had been pulled from a burning vehicle, at least that's what the officials claimed.
A political scandal had erupted days prior. He had been accused of selling off national defense
secrets. Her mother had collapsed under the pressure. Her brother had stopped speaking.
But now she saw the truth. Or at least part of it.
"Why?" she demanded. "Why fakes your death?"
Tae-Min folded his hands behind his back. "Because survival in this world doesn't come from
honesty it comes from vanishing before you're erased."
"You let me believe you were gone."
"It was the only way to protect you. If I'd stayed alive, you would have been used as leverage. I
had enemies on both sides political and criminal."
Yuna's voice cracked. "And now you work for the same men who killed those people?"
He hesitated.
"No," he said finally. "I work beneath them."
Back in Rome Private Syndicate Board Room
Lucien stared at the encrypted feed from Korea. Gabriel stood beside him; arms folded.
"She found him," Gabriel said. "What now?"
Lucien didn't answer immediately.
He was watching Yuna's face. The storm behind her calm expression. The ache. The disbelief.
"She deserves this truth," Lucien said quietly. "Even if it cuts deeper than a lie."
Gabriel's expression tightened. "You're too involved."
"I'm invested," Lucien corrected. "There's a difference."
Gabriel shook his head. "We can't trust Jung Tae-Min. He's not loyal to anyone not to
governments, not to Syndicates. If Sable has him, he's already compromised."
Lucien's lips pressed into a thin line. "Then we'll see where his loyalties fall."
Busan Warehouse Office
Inside a private room overlooking the cargo floor, Yuna and her father sat across from one another.
He poured tea. Like it was a family reunion.
She didn't touch hers.
Tae-Min stared out at the ocean. "They recruited me the night before the explosion. Offered me a
way out. A chance to fight from the shadows."
"Who is Sable?" Yuna asked. "I've seen their name on files, on logs, even connected to
assassinations."
"They're not a group. They're a faction. The Syndicate's Black Hand. Where Lucien operates
with a code, they operate without one."
Yuna's stomach twisted.
"And you work for them?"
"No," he said. "I work against them now. But once… I believed they were necessary."
He turned back to; eyes shadowed. "I leaked the Jung Myung-Ho files to expose what they were
doing. I thought it would bring justice. Instead, it brought death. They staged my car accident as a
cover. Said I could disappear or be buried for real."
Yuna felt like she was falling.
"You're the reason I've been hunted?"
"No," he said. "I'm the reason you're alive. Because if Sable had known you were my daughter,
you'd have died in Rome."
Seoul Viktor Malinov's Arrival
In a private suite of the Conrad Hotel, Viktor Malinov the Russian shadow of the Syndicate—
poured himself vodka over ice and stared at a map of Busan on his tablet.
"Jung's daughter has surfaced," he said to his manservant.
"Yes, sir. With Ricci's backing."
Malinov smiled, slow and cruel. "Then it's time we remind Lucien who still controls the strings."
"Orders?"
"Send a message to the docks," he said. "Make it bloody. And make sure she sees it."
Back in Busan Midnight Attack
Yuna and her father were still talking when the first explosion hit.
The warehouse shook. Glass shattered. Sirens flared.
Lucien's voice cracked through her earpiece.
"Yuna, get out now. Viktor's men are there."
Gunfire erupted outside.
Tae-Min pulled her down. "There's an escape tunnel below the floor move!"
Yuna didn't hesitate. She followed him through a service door and down into the emergency
corridors. The lights flickered.
Behind them, shadows moved black-clad mercenaries, masked and methodical. Not local. Not
Korean. Malinov's Russian hitmen.
Tae-Min pulled a gun from his coat and turned.
"Go. I'll hold them off."
Yuna grabbed his arm. "No."
His eyes met hers, fierce. "I ran once. I won't run again."
Then he shoved her into the tunnel and sealed the door behind her.
The Return of the Gentleman Tyrant
Outside the burning warehouse, a black armored car pulled to a stop.
Lucien Ricci stepped out, rain coating his shoulders, his eyes like steel.
He surveyed the wreckage, the smoke, the bodies.
Daniel approached. "She's gone. Underground tunnel. But Tae-Min stayed behind."
Lucien adjusted his gloves.
"Send a message to Malinov," he said coldly. "The next time he touches one of my people, I won't
be sending a warning."
Daniel hesitated. "What do I tell him?"
Lucien stepped through the smoke, ignoring the bodies.
"Tell him the Silent Syndicate isn't silent anymore."