A single overhead lamp buzzed, its pale cone of light cutting through the gloom of the windowless briefing room. Viper lounged at the head of a steel table, booted heel tapping a slow beat against the floor. When the door creaked open, his gaze lifted.
The visitor slipped inside.
Viper didn't rise, he only crooked a finger. "So—were you able to find something?" he asked, voice low, almost conversational, yet edged like broken glass.
"He is called Ghost," the masked man began, stepping into the light. "A new member. Newly awakened."
Viper's knuckles drummed once on the tabletop. "That's not what I want to know."
"If you're asking whether he comes from a well-known family—no." The man's reply quavered despite its clarity. "This was his first visit to the exchange. Only the Tian Family has vouched for his identity. To be specific, it was only Rick Tian. Not even their current patriarch said something."
