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The room was dim, lit only by a lantern swaying with the rhythm of the waves. Outside, the quiet creak of wood and the occasional splash of water against the hull of their hidden vessel marked the Cipher Pol agents' vigil.
Rob Lucci sat at the head of the table, arms crossed, the flickering light carving shadows across his sharp features. Around him, his colleagues remained silent, each weighed down by the unspoken truth — Rael's warning.
"You all felt it," Lucci said at last, his voice steady but cold. "The intent behind his words. He didn't bluff. If we continue tailing him carelessly… we won't walk away."
A heavy silence followed. The agents shifted uncomfortably, their usually sharp eyes dulled with unease.
One of them finally spoke — Kalifa, her voice clipped but low. "We've seen what he's capable of. The strength he displayed wasn't exaggerated. If anything, I suspect we haven't seen the half of it."
Lucci's gaze flickered toward her but lingered on the table. "You're not wrong. Which is why we need to be deliberate. He doesn't want to be tailed, yet the orders from above…"
Another agent, Jabra, slammed a fist against the wood. "The Elders don't care if we're slaughtered like dogs! They only care about results. We pull back, and we're finished anyway."
Kaku leaned back in his chair, arms folded, his tone thoughtful. "So what you're saying is, whether we move forward or retreat, we're trapped."
"Exactly," Lucci replied. His eyes narrowed, their cold gleam slicing through the smoke-filled air. "We have no choice but to play a longer game. We cannot tail him openly. We cannot fight him head-on. But we can still gather intelligence."
Kalifa tapped her pen against her notes. "Which means surveillance from afar, minimizing risk. But how long before the Elders grow impatient?"
Lucci's expression didn't shift. "Impatience is their nature. Our duty is to deliver what we can without being annihilated in the process."
The lantern flickered again, shadows crawling up the walls. Every face around the table bore the same mark — the quiet realization that for the first time, Cipher Pol's infamous reputation meant nothing. Against Rael, they weren't predators. They were prey.
And yet… they could not abandon their mission.
"The Five Elders made it clear," Lucci continued, voice low and measured. "This man, Rael, is not to be underestimated. They want answers. They want weaknesses. They want proof of control. If we return empty-handed, our fates are sealed."
Jabra snorted, though his earlier bravado had dulled. "So we're to walk a tightrope above a sea of blades. Lovely."
Kalifa adjusted her glasses, masking her unease with professionalism. "Then we'll need to break his crew apart, observe the ones closest to him. The women — they're inexperienced, unseasoned. He protects them fiercely. That might be where his guard is thinnest."
Lucci gave a slow nod. "Careful. Any misstep and he'll know. He already warned us once. If he sees through our hands again…" His words trailed off, but everyone in the room felt the weight of the unspoken end.
Kaku exhaled through his nose, long and slow. "So the question is… how far are we willing to go before he decides we've crossed the line?"
Outside, the wind shifted, rattling the sails. The island of Long Ring Long Land stretched in the distance, quiet and strange beneath the moonlight.
Lucci rose from his seat, his cloak catching the lantern glow as he turned toward the door.
"Mark this well," he said, voice like iron. "Rael is not an enemy we can defeat. Not yet. Our role is not conquest, but survival. We must watch without being seen, move without being felt. We are Cipher Pol — and if we are to fulfill our duty to the Elders, then we must become shadows deeper than his."
His colleagues nodded reluctantly, the resolve on their faces brittle but present.
Because they knew the truth: whether hunted by Rael or crushed by the Elders' wrath, death was waiting either way.
The only question left was whose hand would strike first.
---
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