2026-08-04 18:46:59
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
48. The Visitor Who Left No Record
Sebastian kept his eyes on the glass entrance for several seconds after the man disappeared into the morning crowd.He resisted the instinct to follow.Instead, he slowly turned back toward the reception desk and folded his arms loosely across his chest.His father had once told him that following the wrong person often meant losing the right evidence.The receptionist was still inside the restricted archive.Whatever she found there or failed to find might matter far more than the stranger who had just walked away.A young surveyor stepped beside Sebastian while balancing a rolled-up map under one arm. "Long wait today," the man said with a friendly smile.Sebastian returned the smile politely. "It does not seem too bad."The surveyor shrugged. "I've been here twice this month. Half the records are still on paper."He laughed quietly before walking toward another service counter.Sebastian watched him leave. It was an ordinary conversation between them, with an ordinary complaint from
47. The Missing Beginning
The bus pulled away from the riverside and merged into the late-evening traffic. Sebastian settled into the window seat near the middle of the vehicle, resting his backpack on his lap while droplets of rain slid slowly down the glass beside him.The city looked different at night.Office towers that had seemed imposing during the day now reflected thousands of lights across their polished windows. Restaurants buzzed with conversations while roadside vendors packed away the last of their merchandise. Somewhere in the distance, the faint wail of an ambulance echoed through the streets before gradually fading away.Sebastian barely noticed any of it as his thoughts remained fixed on Marcus's final word.Influence.He replayed the evening in his mind, not searching for conclusions but carefully reviewing every fact.The altered court order.The nonexistent Pre-Transfer Access Ledger.The hidden archive beneath Graystone National Bank.The architectural blueprint that had been quietly replace
46. The First Countermove
A cool breeze swept across the riverside as Sebastian stepped out of the cafe. The rain had stopped completely, leaving the pavement slick beneath the glow of the streetlights. Reflections of passing cars shimmered across the wet road while the river flowed quietly beside the promenade, carrying fallen leaves downstream.He adjusted the strap of his backpack and walked without haste.Arthur had left through the rear entrance exactly as they had agreed, and Sebastian had taken the front. Neither of them had discussed it beforehand, yet both had instinctively understood that leaving together would only invite unnecessary attention.As he crossed the street, Sebastian paused beside a newspaper stand that had already closed for the night. The glass display reflected the traffic behind him.A black sedan rolled through the intersection. It continued without slowing. A cyclist followed moments later before disappearing down another street.Nothing unusual.Still, Sebastian remained where he
45. Before the Records Existed
For several long moments, neither Sebastian nor Arthur spoke.The rain drummed softly against the cafe windows while muted conversations from the other customers blended into the background. Somewhere near the counter, a coffee grinder hummed before falling silent again.Sebastian lowered his gaze to the yellowed index card resting between them.Transferred before official transfer.He read the sentence again, this time more slowly.Then he looked up at Arthur."Tell me exactly where you found this?," Sebastian asked. His voice remained calm, but the intensity in his eyes sharpened noticeably.Arthur drew a slow breath before answering. He rested both forearms on the table and folded his trembling hands together."It wasn't inside the archive," he explained. "It was behind an old catalogue drawer that hasn't been used in years. I was checking whether there had ever been a filing category called 'Pre-Transfer Access Ledger.'" He shook his head. "There wasn't."Sebastian listened without
44. The Meeting Nobody Expected
The rain had eased into a steady drizzle by the time Sebastian stepped out of the library. He adjusted the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and stood beneath the stone entrance for a few moments, watching the traffic crawl through the wet streets.His phone remained in his hand.Arthur's last message still glowed on the screen.Riverside Archive Cafe. Eight o'clock.Sebastian did not answer immediately. Instead, he opened the weather application, checked the time, and then looked around the street with quiet patience. A yellow taxi splashed through a shallow puddle before vanishing around the corner, a courier balanced two large parcels on the back of a motorcycle while an elderly couple hurried beneath a shared umbrella.Nothing appeared unusual. That, Sebastian had learned, did not mean everything was safe.He slipped the phone into his pocket and began walking toward the nearest bus stop instead of hailing a cab. Marcus's warning had been precise."Don't go where you planned
43. The Better Question
Sebastian didn't rush, instead, he rested both hands on the backpack resting on his lap and watched the afternoon traffic flow past his windshield. A city bus rumbled through the intersection while office workers hurried across the crosswalk before the signal changed. Everything around him looked ordinary yet nothing about the past twenty-four hours had been ordinary.He opened his father's notebook once more and slowly reread the final sentence he had written only moments earlier.When someone chooses the battlefield for you, question why they chose it before deciding whether to fight.He studied the words for several seconds before finally closing the notebook."They want me looking at Lot 19," he murmured. His voice was quiet, but the conviction behind it grew stronger with every passing thought. "The better question isn't whether I should go."He paused and looked out through the windshield. "That's why they want me there."His phone remained silent with no anonymous messages or
You may also like
The Hidden Heir Billionaire System
Cindy Chen92.2K viewsStrongest Prisoners
Serrated Blade24.6K viewsSkythunder System
Scoco22.2K viewsMy Reality-Changing System
M_jief57.3K viewsGlitch Overlord: The NPC Who Hijacked the Gods’ Player Syste
DarkWood205 viewsApocalypse: Rise of the SSS-Rank Sovereign
Annie. Natt295 viewsAFK System: Level Up By Doing Nothing!
Puteri Bulan889 viewsSYSTEM OF THE SILVER CROWN HEIR
Mia ar-f164 views