[New Gehran]
"Damn it..." Lola’s face twisted as she fled the main square before she ended up in a situation she didn’t want. "If they get angry at me, then... they’re so ungrateful!"
Sure, the Bellemonte captives would have helped her one way or another, even if she had told them outright that the Order was there to rescue them. However, she didn’t think they would’ve performed as well as they did if she hadn’t tweaked the narrative just a little.
"Tch." She clicked her tongue as she walked along the side of the road, watching the freedom fighters and Halvik soldiers drag the mercenaries away.
"Oh, well." She shrugged, letting everyone do their job, since hers was done.
Or rather, she didn’t have to clean up the mess, at least.
"Gosh, I want to go home now," she hummed, swaying her arms back and forth as she pouted. "I want to see the twins, and then... Atlas."
Since they’d separated, it had been hours since she’d last touched Atlas. Knowing herself, she needed some physical affection from her beloved, especially after being active nonstop for hours.
"Well." She smacked her lips. "I’m sure he’s dealing with Ashkar now, since he’s done with Halvik."
Her steps slowed as her gaze drifted toward the soldiers sent from Halvik to assist Tomie. She’d seen Tomie earlier, but since he didn’t want to bother Lola or the Order any further, he’d taken full responsibility for handling the aftermath.
Tomie was perfect for the role, so Lola wasn’t worried.
"I wonder if Florida’s getting things done," she hummed, running her tongue along the inside of her cheek. "I haven’t heard anything from him."
She didn’t dwell on it, trusting that Florida was doing exactly what he was supposed to.
As Lola wandered away from the square, Izu emerged from the direction she’d come from. Jogging for a bit, he finally spotted her.
"Madam!" he called, hurrying toward her.
Lola turned at the sound of his voice and stopped, curiosity written on her face.
"Izu," she said as soon as he reached her. She studied him for a moment before her brows knitted. "What is it?"
Izu cleared his throat and straightened. "Madam, I need to show you something."
Curiosity gleamed in her eyes. Her instincts told her Izu had discovered something. Without wasting time—though wasting time was honestly all she wanted to do at the moment—she followed him.
He led her to a small residential house near the square. Though half of the main square had burned and firefighters were still dousing the flames, there were areas and homes that remained untouched. They were ransacked and scarred by stray bullets, but still largely intact.
"What is it?" Lola asked as she stepped through the broken door.
Inside, she immediately spotted Pika and Tyga working on their compact laptops. Their presence didn’t surprise her, but the fact that they were still working even after the fighting had ended did.
She’d expected them to rest, especially Pika.
"Madam!" Pika perked up, then glanced at Tyga.
"Don’t worry about this," Tyga said, his fingers still flying across the keys. "I’ve got it."
Pika nodded and turned back to Lola. By then, she’d already reached his chair, resting a hand on its back.
"What are you two doing?" Lola asked, noting how busy they looked. Her knowledge in this area was limited as she wasn’t a professional.
"Aside from recovering the remaining signal control over Ravah, we’re under constant cyberattacks," Izu explained as best he could. "At least, that’s my understanding."
Pika nodded as Lola’s mouth formed a small "o."
"Is that so?"
"The problem is, the cyberattacks are relentless," Pika explained in simpler terms. "Thankfully, Tyga came to help. With the two of us—and support from the camp team—we can work more efficiently."
"I see." Lola nodded. "So what’s the issue aside from the cyberattacks?"
"Well... how do I put this?" Pika hummed. "Cyberattacks during a confrontation like this are normal. I didn’t think much of it at first. But Tyga helped confirm my suspicion, and now we understand why the attacks are happening the way they are."
"There was a lot of information we recovered from Ravah’s database," Tyga added, stepping in when Pika struggled to get to the point. "At first, it looked like they were just trying to kick us out of the system by flooding it with viruses."
In simple terms, what they explained to Lola was this: initially, the attacks seemed like standard system lockouts. But over time, Tyga noticed a pattern, especially since Pika had been overwhelmed and the camp team had stepped in to assist.
It wasn’t just about shutting them out.
The attacks were selectively deleting key data.
"Well, that makes sense," Lola hummed. "Ravah is basically the underground’s trading hub. Eighty percent of its economy runs on illegal dealings."
Human trafficking, organ trade, assassination requests, smuggled weapons and vehicles—name it, Ravah had facilitated it.
"I don’t think it’s strange that people would want their traces erased," Lola added knowingly. "I’d want my dealings wiped too, if I had any."
Pika shook his head. "That’s what I thought at first. But Tyga noticed something."
"What is it?"
"Whoever’s launching these viruses has a priority," Pika said carefully, looking conflicted as he met Lola’s gaze. "They’re deleting every trace of dealings related to Ashkar."
That caught her attention.
Lola crossed her arms, brow arching as she looked between Pika and Tyga.
"Ashkar," she murmured. "That place keeps coming up, and every time, it leaves a stronger impression than before."
She didn’t remember Ashkar being this interesting in the past.
"Also!" Pika interjected. "Madam, look at this."
Lola leaned closer to his screen.
"While running data checks, I didn’t think this would matter," Pika said, typing at lightning speed. "But these are Jarvis’s call logs from tonight. And around this time... he contacted someone in Ashkar."
Lola narrowed her eyes at the screen, then noticed the timestamp. Around the time of the call, they’d already infiltrated New Gehran.
So Jarvis had likely known.
"But that’s not all!" Pika said, his voice tight with urgency. "Even though the call was directed to Ashkar, it was somehow rerouted elsewhere."
He stopped typing as a map popped up on the screen, a pinned location flashing into view. Slowly, Pika turned toward Lola.
"Where is that?" Lola asked, frowning.
Izu answered from behind them.
"Bellemonte."
Lola and Pika turned toward him. Pika nodded in agreement as Izu repeated it. This time, clearly.
"Jarvis spoke with someone in Bellemonte territory, Madam."
"Not just him," Pika added in the same grim tone. "Even the one call log of the governor of New Gehran pinged in the same tower."