A few more days passed.
Lucien became busier.
The rumor had shaken the layers around the hidden bearers.
The Shadow Information Network began mapping the people who moved when those bearers grew nervous.
That was where the picture became uglier.
Some of those people were spies hidden inside ordinary factions.
The factions they belonged to had no idea. They did not know that someone inside their own walls had been reporting to another master.
Lucien read those names in silence.
There were too many.
The Shadow Information Network continued digging.
Then came the second layer.
Entire factions began to move.
They were not Lootwell allies.
That was the only comfort.
None of the trusted branches, direct partners, or core allies showed hostile movement.
That helped. It told Lucien which ties were real.
But the enemy's net was still large.
