For those who weren’t part of the underground world, they would be surprised by just how self-sufficient it was—and just how many professionals existed within it... all for money.

Dominion, the White Serpent Brotherhood, and the Di Carpios... these were only the bigger names in the underground world for different reasons. Many other organizations and groups operated on a large scale.

There were, however, many independent individuals within it.

Like Omen and Ghost, who had their own reputations, especially in intel gathering, system hacking, and cyber breaches.

But they weren’t the only ones in demand.

There were also independent professionals: lawyers, doctors, engineers, and many others who were heavily involved in underworld operations.

This quack doctor — Omen was talking about — was someone Ashley knew by name.

Well, she had seen him before, though he had never known who she was. Still, she knew this quack doctor was actually good... despite never obtaining a medical license.

[For some reason, he said it’s easier to make the patient go to this place than look for a transplant.]

Ashley frowned as she responded.

"Of course it’s easier. But is it more effective?"

[...I didn’t think of that.]

"Stupid." She clicked her tongue, but if the quack recommended it, that meant he had likely looked into it.

Ignoring Omen’s chat box, she studied the site and particularly that vain Raka, who was apparently the face of the research.

"The hell?" she muttered. "I think Julius mentioned he was working on some crazy research. I didn’t think it was this crazy."

Out of pure curiosity, Ashley tried gathering every bit of information she could about the drug.

As she did, she suddenly paused and remembered something.

Shifting her focus to the research funded by Lucian, her mouth nearly dropped open.

"He also funded this... very recently," she muttered. "But wasn’t that supposed to be compensation?"

As far as she remembered, Lucian casually mentioned compensating Raka because he had forgotten about his "obligations" regarding insurance for the car dent. It had annoyed her at the time because she thought Raka wasn’t even worth a cent.

But perhaps Lucian had been more or less interested in what Raka was doing.

"Huh," she huffed and searched for every article she could find about Raka’s research.

There were quite a handful of them, including press conference interviews Raka himself had hosted in the past. However, many people ignored him. If anything, online threads mostly found him amusing enough to mock.

"So, because of the lack of funding, the drug kept getting delayed?" she muttered, her brows knitting together. "And before Lucian funded them, this research was on the verge of shutting down completely."

Ashley leaned back, deep in thought.

"For some reason, the High Chamber’s first move was finding Lucian a match," she muttered. "As if they wanted this transplant to happen."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

There were only two possibilities.

Either they were supplying the hospital with forged compatibility records, and the operation would kill Lucian...

Or they genuinely wanted Lucian to recover.

She highly doubted the latter.

That was why Gustav had so easily decided to delay the transplant if the High Chamber was involved. They would never make a move unless it benefited them somehow.

Their reason for it was still something she had yet to find out.

Ashley moved her attention back to the chat log.

[Ghost: Connect me to Quack. Tell him I expect him to contact me as soon as possible. Don’t make me come to him.]

Omen didn’t respond, but she could already tell he was cursing her from the bottom of his heart.

Because now the quack would probably be cursing him too for dragging him into this.

She didn’t dwell on it any longer.

"Why would that quack recommend a research facility when Omen already showed him Lucian’s latest test results?" she muttered. "The quack I know would at least take something this serious seriously."

"Didn’t he see that it’s already end-stage?"

For one foolish second, Ashley’s heart fluttered as a thought crossed her mind:

What if there was nothing wrong with Lucian?

But it only lasted for a foolish second.

"No, no, Ash." She shook her head and breathed out heavily. "Let’s be realistic for now. Every doctor who has seen his results has only said one or two things."

And that was—

Lucian was dying.

She couldn’t afford to cling to a ridiculous idea just because of a quack doctor whose actions hadn’t directly implied anything beyond the assumptions she was making.

Yet the mere thought of it had already planted hope in her heart.

So Ashley shifted her focus back to Raka’s revived research.

"I hate him..." she whispered. "But if he and his drug can give me some hope..."

Ashley bit her lip as she read further.

She thought she should be losing her mind.

Instead of focusing on the transplant, she was reading about a heavily criticized drug being developed by a crazy man named Raka Jean.

And as her interest deepened, stories about Raka surfaced—stories about people trying to shut down his absurd research.

This so-called miracle drug.

But as she had said, she would not make the same mistake.

Ashley wasn’t rejecting the idea of a transplant. If that became their last resort, then she wouldn’t hesitate.

But since she still had some time left, it wouldn’t hurt to listen to the thing that had kept her alive until now.

Instinct.

She had ignored it many times before, but she wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

This entire research sounded ridiculous, but hadn’t she once thought the idea of Lucian dying was ridiculous too?

Ashley became so immersed in juggling Raka’s research and Lucian’s condition that she lost track of time.

She only snapped out of it when her phone suddenly rang.

Furrowing her brows, she saw the alarm label:

Concert With Primo

"It’s already time?" She muttered as she reached for her phone, leaning back with a deep exhale.

Ashley glanced at the time.

It felt like she had only been here for three hours, but she had actually spent the entire day inside.

"Ugh..." She stretched her neck. "I’ll continue this at home."

She had promised Primo that she would be there for him.

With that, she gathered her belongings and placed everything into her bag. Carrying it, she headed toward the elevator and pressed the button.

As she waited patiently, her mind drifted back to all the information she had absorbed throughout the day. She clutched her bag, thinking of other options for Lucian. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

DING!

Her thoughts halted when the elevator chimed.

She blinked and looked up instinctively as the doors opened.

With a huff, she stepped out and dragged her feet toward the lobby.

As soon as she reached it, her steps slowed.

Deep lines formed on her forehead as she spotted five figures standing there.

Red. Gin. Vodka. Rum. Tank.

All were wearing their usual Dominion suits.

When Red noticed her from the corner of his eye, he turned and smirked.

"We gave it some thought," he said loudly and clearly.

His voice made everyone turn toward her.

"And we concluded that we worked too hard to reach the position we have in Dominion."

"It wasn’t an easy journey," Gin echoed. "But we put our lives on the line too many times to get where we are."

Everyone nodded.

Ashley’s expression didn’t change.

She simply studied them.

Seeing them finally wearing their suits again instead of dressing like bums had already given her an answer.

"So if we’re going to risk and gamble everything we worked for," Vodka added, making her brows furrow, "it might as well be for a crazy ambition."

Ashley still didn’t understand where this was going until she saw their mouths slowly curling into smiles.

Rum chuckled.

"The Madam of Dominion’s elite guards. First of her faction. It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?"

The others laughed.

"It’s better than executioners," Gin nodded. "For sure."

"We’re becoming more ambitious," Vodka was in awe.

"You guys..." Ashley trailed off, her brows rising.

"What we’re saying is..." Red said, standing straight and facing her squarely. "The Madam of Dominion might just be worth the gamble."

He straightened his back.

"We’re at your service... Madam."

All five of them stood like soldiers, looking at her with determination.

For a moment, Ashley blinked in confusion.

She studied their faces before her expression softened, and her lips curled upward.

"Don’t fumble again," she whispered.

And that earned wide grins from all of them.