Ethan's blood turned to ice as the voice vibrated through the receiver. He remembered that tone—oily, high-pitched, and filled with a repulsive, self-satisfied glee. It was the same man from the underground auction, the one who had tried to place a bid on Emily, Alexandria's daughter. He was a man with the face of a sexual maniac, a predator hiding behind a veil of gold and influence.

"Sylas Scavenger," Ethan said the young man, his voice dropping to a dangerous, guttural whisper. "The last person I ever wanted to hear from again."

"Oh, don't be like that, Ethan. We're both businessmen," said Sylas, followed by a wet, smacking sound of his lips. "My son Marcus is currently in a coma thanks to your little... electrical outburst. That was very rude. My family has spent generations perfecting the art of 'guardianship' in this country."

"Guardianship? You're a pack of dogs who found a way to monetize misery," Ethan said the leader.

"Watch your tongue, boy," said Sylas, his voice sharpening with a sudden, jagged edge. "You clearly don't understand the scope of our power. We don't just 'protect' facilities. The Scavenger family controls every female penitentiary in this nation. We manage the state reformatories for girls. We are the ones who mold them, who teach them their place in the world."

Ethan's knuckles turned white as he gripped the phone. He realized then the horrific truth behind the Scavengers' "specialization." They didn't just run prisons; they ran a systematic meat grinder of abuse. They targeted the most vulnerable—women and young girls—using the legal system to trap them in a cycle of violation and blackmail. They were monsters who used children as currency to buy favors from the powerful, burying the bodies of those who dared to scream in the foundations of their own cells.

"You're not wardens. You're human traffickers with a state license," Ethan said the young man, the violet glow returning to his eyes, brighter than ever.

"Call us what you like," said Sylas, letting out a sickening cackle. "But those girls are our property. We use them to grease the wheels of progress. A politician needs a favor? A CEO has a specific... taste? The Scavengers provide. And anyone who tries to stop us disappears into a hole so deep the sun never finds it. If you want your little Agent Sparks to stay 'healed,' you'll come to my estate and apologize on your knees."

"You touched the wrong woman, Sylas," Ethan said the leader. "And you reminded me of a face I should have erased at the auction. I'm not coming to apologize."

"Then what are you going to do, little king?" said Sylas.

"I'm going to dismantle your family until there isn't a single Scavenger left to rot in the very cells you built," Ethan said the young man.

Ethan hung up the phone and looked at Falcon 20 through the rearview mirror. The guard could feel the killing intent radiating from the back seat, a pressure so thick it felt like the SUV was being crushed from the inside.

"Crul, investigate the Scavenger family," Ethan said the young man. "I want to know every secret they've buried. I want the leverage to pull their entire empire down by the roots."

The system began to compute at lightning speed.

[Accessing encrypted national databases... Bypassing Scavenger private firewalls... Compilation complete] said Crul.

A holographic summary appeared in Ethan's mind. The Scavenger family was indeed the king of the penitentiary system, but the data revealed they were much more than just corrupt wardens. If they were only wealthy jailers, they would be nothing more than a giant piece of cake waiting to be devoured by a predator like Ethan.

"Dig deeper. Where does the real power come from?" Ethan asked the leader.

[Deep infiltration successful. Analyzing hidden financial layers] said Crul.

[Boss, the Scavenger family maintains a high-level partnership with a shadow organization codenamed 'Parthenon.' According to intercepted receipts and thousands of encrypted emails, the Scavengers receive billions in funding through untraceable offshore accounts.]

The system's tone became more clinical. [Like the Union or the Celestial group, Parthenon utilizes a sophisticated defensive AI. I cannot dismantle their entire network without alerting them to my presence. However, I have identified a recurring anomaly. Every week, a high-security transport leaves a hidden complex in the Iron-Peak Mountains and travels directly to a remote location in Canada.]

Ethan leaned forward, his interest piqued. "What's in the cargo?" Ethan asked.

[Unknown. There are no manifests, no digital signatures, and no weight logs. The trucks simply disappear from the grid once they cross the border. The funding the Scavengers receive is directly tied to the successful arrival of these shipments] said Crul.

Ethan stared out the window at the passing landscape. This wasn't just about a degenerate family of abusers anymore; this was a vital supply line for an organization that might be even more dangerous than Olympus.

"A mystery truck in the mountains," Ethan said the leader. "Destroying it would hurt their wallets, but stealing it... that would show them who the real predator is."

"Crul, investigate when the next shipment is scheduled to leave," Ethan said the leader.

[Analyzing logistical patterns... Host, despite being recurring, the departures are not cyclical. Based on historical data, shipments occur within a window of one to three weeks] said Crul.

"How can we narrow it down? There must be a trigger," Ethan said the young man.

[Cross-referencing financial influx with transport logs... Departures typically occur three days after a major capital injection. However, there are anomalies where payments were received but no shipment followed. The last massive deposit was recorded yesterday. Based on this correlation, a departure is highly probable in two days] said Crul.

"Take control of the complex. I want eyes on everything—security feeds, internal sensors, and personnel movement," Ethan said the leader.

[Negative. Access is restricted. The facility in the Iron-Peak Mountains operates on a closed-loop system; there is not a single device connected to the external network in that zone. However, I have hijacked long-range surveillance cameras at the perimeter. I am currently using them to monitor the main exit points] said Crul.

"Good. Keep them under constant surveillance. I want to know the second a wheel turns in that place," Ethan said the young man.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, dialing a familiar number. It was time to coordinate his forces for a true heist.

"Jason, it's me...."

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