The message sat on my private server like a loaded gun.
No trace, no source, just that single symbol: Ω.
In every system I knew, Omega meant the end.
But in this one, it felt more like a reset.
I didn't tell the team. They deserved their peace after everything we'd just survived.
Instead, I took the message to the only person reckless enough to help me read it.
---
Rooftop café — after midnight
Lao K was already there, hood up, watching the rain slide down the glass railing.
"You shouldn't keep meeting me in public," I said.
He smiled. "You keep saying that. We keep doing it anyway."
I slid the drive across the table.
"Decrypt this."
He plugged it into his tablet, fingers flying. A few seconds later, the screen filled with strings of code — but not ordinary code.
Each line was an equation tied to financial servers, encryption keys, and off-ledger accounts.
"What is this?" he asked.
"Funding routes," I said. "Someone's been moving money through the league's sponsorship network. Millions."
He frowned. "And you think it's connected to Lin Jie?"
"I think Lin Jie was a pawn."
Lao K leaned back. "Then whoever's playing this game isn't just after you. They're after control."
I met his eyes. "Then we find them first."
---
Lyra Tower — next day
I spent the morning inside the archives, pulling every document linked to league sponsorships.
One company appeared again and again: Helios Ventures.
A shell corporation with no listed owner.
When I ran it through Lyra's internal systems, the trail broke into static.
A firewall I'd never seen before.
> ACCESS DENIED — OMEGA PROTOCOL ACTIVE
I sat back, pulse quickening.
Whoever Ω was, they had direct access to Lyra's core.
My father's empire.
---
Private call — evening
> Lao K: Found something. Helios runs proxy accounts through a Singapore node. Looks like the same signature that hit your system during the breach.
Me: Then Lin Jie's handler never left.
Lao K: Be careful. This isn't just league politics anymore.
Me: I know.
Lao K: No, you don't. People who play in this circle don't stop at reputations. They erase names.
The line went quiet.
For the first time in a long while, I felt something close to fear — not for myself, but for the people who stood beside me without asking why.
---
Later — Qin Ruo's Office
I stared at the reflection in the window — Shanghai glowing beneath me, alive and unknowable.
If Ω wanted a new game, I'd play it.
But not as their pawn.
As their opponent.
I opened a fresh file, titled it "Project Aurora," and began to type.
The queen doesn't wait for permission.
She makes her own board.
---
✨ End of Chapter Sixteen — "Omega Protocol."
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