The young man stared into his father's cold emerald eyes.
"Are you serious, Father?" he asked cautiously.
Lewis leaned back in his chair, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Do you doubt my judgment, Tim?"
"It's not that."
Tim shook his head.
"But we've already tried everything. Every method you suggested—orthodox and unorthodox, legal and illegal. Every single one failed. I don't see any reason to raise my hopes again."
Lewis sighed inwardly.
His son wasn't wrong.
Over the years they had exhausted every conceivable solution. Every experiment. Every connection. Every forbidden avenue. They had sacrificed fortunes, reputations, and even lives chasing a miracle that never came.
Yet this time...
This felt different.
If this failed...
There truly would be no other path left.
Without another word, Lewis tossed a thin black booklet onto the desk.
Tim caught it.
"What's this?"
"Read it first," Lewis replied. "Then tell me what you think."
Tim frowned.
His father was a man who rarely allowed emotions to cloud his face. Calm, calculating, and ruthless—that was the Lewis everyone knew.
For him to look this solemn...
Whatever was inside had to be extraordinary.
Suppressing the countless questions racing through his mind, Tim opened the booklet.
Silence filled the room.
Several minutes later, he slowly closed it.
His expression had changed completely.
"Dad..."
He looked up.
"Do we really have to go this far?"
"If the Syndicate discovers this..."
"...the consequences will be catastrophic."
Lewis said nothing.
Instead, he activated two recordings.
The first showed the meeting of the thirteen heads of the Mollock Syndicate.
The second contained his final private conversation with Levi.
After watching both recordings, realization dawned on Tim.
Everything suddenly made sense.
He looked at his father with excitement burning in his eyes.
"If everything happened exactly like this... then it doesn't matter anymore."
"The other Syndicate leaders are leaving the continent."
"We can begin immediately."
Lewis slowly shook his head.
Tim frowned.
"What's wrong?"
Lewis folded his hands.
"My concern has never been public opinion."
"I couldn't care less whether history remembers me as righteous or evil."
"My concern... is the Syndicate."
"They're not fools."
"If they discover I remained behind while everyone else departed, they'll investigate."
"And those people never leave loose ends."
Tim rolled his wheelchair closer.
"But how would they know?"
Lewis smiled faintly.
"They always know."
He slowly unbuttoned his shirt.
A strange tattoo emerged on his chest.
It depicted a serpent devouring its own tail.
Yet it wasn't merely ink.
The serpent moved.
Its scales shimmered.
It continuously swallowed itself until nothing remained.
Then, moments later, it reappeared and began the cycle all over again.
Endlessly.
Tim's pupils shrank.
He had seen this symbol before.
Every Syndicate member possessed one.
But...
Never like this.
"So there really is a difference..." he muttered.
Lewis nodded.
"This is more than a tattoo."
"It's a marker."
"A bond."
"It symbolizes eternity."
"No one knows when this organization was founded."
"It existed long before this land was even called the Mortal Continent."
"I simply happened to be in the right place... at the right time."
He looked down at the living serpent.
"As long as I'm alive, this marker exists."
"If I die..."
"It disappears."
"So if they realize my marker still remains..."
"They'll know I survived."
"And they'll come looking."
Tim fell into thought.
Then...
A smile slowly spread across his face.
"I don't think that's necessarily a problem."
Lewis raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"You said they'll investigate only after discovering you're still alive."
"Until then..."
"...why don't we rewrite the story ourselves?"
Lewis blinked.
Then burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
He laughed harder than he had in years.
"My son..."
He looked at Tim with pride.
"You truly are heaven's greatest gift to me."
"Perhaps your intellect is so overwhelming that even the heavens became jealous."
"Perhaps that's why they denied you talent on the martial path."
The father and son continued discussing their plan until dawn.
---
Three days later...
A group of cloaked figures wearing animal masks stood quietly along the shoreline.
In the distance, enormous waves crashed against the rocks.
Levi stood at the front.
His golden hair danced in the sea breeze beneath his ox mask.
His patience had finally run out.
"That sly bastard..."
"I knew he'd pull something like this."
"He always finds a way to complicate everything for his own amusement."
He pulled out a communication device and contacted Lewis.
The call connected.
But...
The voice that answered wasn't Lewis'.
"Who are you?"
Levi's tone instantly turned icy.
"And how did you obtain this communication device?"
A chuckle answered him.
"You don't need to know that, Golden Boy."
"I heard something very interesting before I knocked its owner unconscious."
"It seems your little group is preparing to leave the continent."
"I have to admit..."
"That old man is surprisingly stubborn."
"No matter how much I tortured him..."
"He refused to reveal your location."
"So let's make a deal."
"Tell me where all of you are."
"You leave."
"I leave."
"Everyone walks away peacefully."
"Otherwise..."
"I'll kill him."
Levi's expression darkened.
He wasn't angry because someone threatened him.
He was furious because Lewis—a Syndicate leader—had somehow allowed himself to be captured by an unknown nobody.
Something felt wrong.
"Projection mode."
The device immediately switched.
"If you want proof..." the mysterious voice laughed.
"...then have a look."
A projection appeared.
Standing before Levi was a strikingly handsome young man.
His snow-white hair hung over pale skin devoid of life.
His green irises floated inside pitch-black sclera.
He resembled an undead creature...
Yet Levi could clearly sense life within him.
The contradiction alone was unsettling.
"Who are you?"
The young man smiled.
"I..."
"...am the Undying Prince."
"Is that all?"
"What more do you need?"
"I already know who you are, Levi."
"I know your position."
"I know every one of your companions."
"That old fool told me everyone's names."
"He simply refused to tell me where you're gathering."
"So..."
"Give me your location."
"Or I'll skin him alive before feeding him to my undead."
Levi smiled bitterly.
Whether Lewis had been captured or not...
His fate was already sealed.
Still...
He couldn't risk exposing everyone else.
Especially if this mysterious man truly possessed control over the undead.
Just then...
A massive ship emerged from the horizon.
It rapidly approached the shoreline.
Levi glanced toward it.
It had arrived.
The young man on the projection laughed.
"You only became silent because your ship is here, didn't you?"
"But unfortunately..."
"I already extracted everything I needed."
"He resisted."
"He was loyal."
"But once I severed his son's arms..."
"...he broke."
Levi's eyes narrowed.
The young man's voice became frenzied.
"Right now..."
"...an entire horde of undead is heading toward your location."
"You shouldn't have tried to escape."
"How dare my food..."
"...run away without my permission!"
Levi immediately ended the call.
A sneer appeared beneath his mask.
Whatever that madman claimed...
It no longer mattered.
He activated another communication device.
"Captain."
"You've probably already seen the undead approaching."
"Clear us a path."
"We'll board while moving."
"Understood, Lord Levi."
The incoming warship suddenly opened dozens of armored compartments.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Countless cannons erupted simultaneously.
The shoreline exploded beneath an endless rain of fire.
The undead horde was blasted apart before it could surround them.
Levi and the others sprinted across the burning battlefield.
Without slowing down, every one of them leaped aboard the moving vessel.
Moments later, the ship turned sharply and sailed away from the continent.
Standing on deck, Levi watched the undead swarm gather helplessly along the shoreline.
Not one dared enter the sea.
"So..."
"They fear water."
One of the masked members approached.
"Lord Levi."
"We counted everyone."
"We're missing one."
Levi stared silently toward the shrinking coastline.
"We were compromised."
"There wasn't time."
"We had to leave."
The others understood.
No one spoke again.
---
Meanwhile...
Inside Lewis' office...
Tim finally relaxed.
"Dad."
"You can get up now."
"I think they swallowed the bait."
"As far as they're concerned..."
"You're either dead..."
"...or doomed to become food for the undead."
Lewis slowly stood up from the floor.
A satisfied smile spread across his face.
"Excellent."
"If I had known something this simple would deceive them..."
"...I'd have done it years ago."
He looked proudly at his son.
"I suppose that's the value of surrounding yourself with brilliant minds."
Tim smiled.
"Then there's nothing holding us back anymore."
"The world believes Lewis disappeared."
"So from this day forward..."
"...we begin the full implementation of our operations."
Lewis walked toward the window, watching the endless sea where the Syndicate's ship had vanished.
His green eyes slowly narrowed.
"Let the world think I've fallen."
"The greatest moves in history are always made by the dead."