CHAPTER 306: CHAPTER 306 BREAKING AND ENTERING

Liam looked at Dickson tiredly. His eyes had a quiet sharpness as he asked, "So what exactly did you discover?"

Dickson’s eyes lit up as he said, "Oh, right." He turned to Vanessa, gesturing at her setup. "Mind shifting over, miss genius?"

Vanessa moved out of the way, her chair sliding sideways as Dickson immediately took over her position and pulled his phone from his pocket. He connected it to the system and began working rapidly, fingers gliding across her keyboard like he’d done it a hundred times before.

Vanessa exchanged a glance with Liam, who shrugged slightly, just watching.

Then the screen came alive.

Several high-definition images appeared. Rows of faces filled the screens—some clear, some caught mid-movement, but all distinguishable. Liam’s brows furrowed as he looked closer. He recognized a few of them. Older men, middle-aged men, a few younger ones. Some were in sharp suits, others had that high-society casual look.

But what really made him freeze was one of the clearer faces—Mayor.

"The city’s mayor?" Liam muttered under his breath.

Vanessa leaned forward, pointing at the screen. "That one right there. That’s Douglas Vane. He owns half the media outlets in the city."

Liam looked at Dickson with narrowed eyes. "What... is this?"

Dickson turned to him and smiled like he had just won a gold medal. He jabbed a finger toward the screen proudly. "Every man up there? They were all present at the Crimson Hand meeting inside that mansion last night."

Vanessa blinked. "You’re sure?"

Dickson nodded firmly. "Positive."

Liam let out a low chuckle, weak but unmistakable. Both Dickson and Vanessa turned to him in surprise.

Dickson’s expression shifted fast. "What? You doubting me now?"

Liam didn’t blink. "Yes," he said calmly. "Quite frankly, I didn’t think you were serious enough to pull this kind of thing off."

Dickson’s face turned red as he stood up fast, moving toward Liam. "You—!"

Vanessa quickly stepped between them, grabbing Dickson’s arm. "Relax. Don’t kill each other before breakfast."

Liam leaned against the table, a tired smirk on his face. He didn’t seem threatened at all.

Vanessa turned to Liam and gave him a brief side-eye. "Maybe wait until after he finishes explaining before you judge him."

Dickson calmed a little, then grinned. "At least someone in this room is thinking with her brain."

Liam rolled his eyes but stayed quiet.

Dickson clapped his hands together and spun slightly in his seat, pointing back at the screen. "Anyway, as I was saying before this bitch disrupted my flow—every single person here was inside that mansion last night. They’re all Crimson Hand associates or partners."

Vanessa rubbed her chin, clearly still processing the info. "But how do you even know who they are? Everyone at that party was masked."

Liam nodded slowly. That was the part he had also been waiting for.

Dickson smirked like he had been waiting for the question. "While you two were inside doing whatever it was you were doing," he said, pausing for effect, "I was out there busting into the parked cars."

Liam raised an eyebrow. That caught him off guard. Still, he didn’t speak yet.

Dickson continued without missing a beat. "At first I thought I’d get lucky with plate numbers. Nope—every single one was invalid or cloned. They came prepared. No obvious tracks."

He leaned back and cracked his knuckles before continuing. "But I wasn’t looking for obvious. I broke into the glove compartments, center consoles, backseats... and I found traces. IDs, receipts, personal items. Nothing incriminating on its own. But when you put them all together?"

He tapped the space bar on Vanessa’s keyboard.

The screen flashed again, showing each car he had accessed, side-by-side with a zoom-in of the items he found. One had a custom keychain with initials. Another had a paper document with an address. Another had a party invite with a partial name.

Dickson gestured toward the display like a proud artist presenting a finished painting.

"This," he said confidently, "is what I got from hours of sneaking, crawling, lockpicking, and freezing my ass off outside that goddamn mansion."

Liam said nothing. Vanessa looked genuinely impressed.

Liam crossed his arms as he stared at Dickson, squinting a little. "Let me get this straight," he said slowly. "Your lazy ass stayed up all night and actually worked... just to pull this off?"

Dickson grinned like he was waiting for that reaction. "Yes, sir. Figured since you and Vanessa are always risking your asses, maybe I’d take on the boring stuff for once. Give you two a bit of relief. You know... teamwork."

Liam blinked. He tilted his head slightly like he was trying to see if it was really Dickson sitting in front of him. "Okay," he muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Who the hell are you and what did you do to the real Dickson?"

Vanessa gave a short laugh from the side, already sliding back into her seat. She nudged Dickson’s arm and said, "Can I take over now?"

"Be my guest." Dickson stood and stepped aside with a little bow.

Vanessa pulled the keyboard back toward her and began typing quickly. She opened up a secured database and uploaded every name, face, and ID Dickson had managed to recover. It took a few seconds, but then the screen changed again.

Instantly, detailed profiles popped up. Lines of data. Full names. Birth certificates. Employment records. Public and private assets. Political donations. Voting history. Net worth estimations. Financial institutions tied to them.

Liam stepped closer as his eyes scanned through it. But what caught his eye was on the lower right side of each profile—a timestamped log of major financial transactions.

He leaned in and pointed at the screen. "Right there. Look at that column. They all transferred exactly one million dollars to different crypto accounts. Same day. Same time. Yesterday. 11PM sharp."

Vanessa stopped typing. She clicked and brought up the transaction log in full. Dickson leaned over her shoulder, squinting. "Shit... he’s right."

Each profile showed the same pattern. Every one of the men from last night had wired $1,000,000 into anonymous crypto wallets—untraceable. Clean.

Vanessa stared at the timestamps. "That was right after the party."

"What the hell is going on?" Dickson asked, finally breaking the silence.

Liam stared at the screen. "Could be a payment for something," he said. "Maybe they’re buying the serum from the Boss... or maybe it’s just some kind of formal investment into Crimson Hand operations, like a pledge."

Vanessa didn’t answer immediately. Her brows were furrowed, fingers still on the keys. She zoomed in on one of the ledgers but didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, quietly, she said, "We won’t know for sure... not unless we see it with our own eyes."

Dickson suddenly perked up like a kid offered candy. "Wait—wait, wait. Are you saying we’re breaking into their homes?"

Liam raised a brow, but then nodded once. "Yeah. If we want answers, that’s where they’ll be."

Dickson looked way too happy. "Hell yes."

But Liam was barely standing. As he nodded, he winced slightly, holding onto the edge of the table for balance. His chest felt heavy, like a slow pressure building behind his ribs. The headache had returned too, stronger than before.

He gritted his teeth and opened his system interface.

[SYSTEM ACCESS]

[USER: LIAM CARTER]

[Status: Compromised]

[Alert: Immuno-fatigue triggered]

[Symptoms: Elevated body temperature, joint fatigue, cognitive delay, and cellular rejection occurring in bloodstream.]

[Recommendation: Critical rest.]

Liam blinked hard. His bones were aching now. The kind of ache that felt like a deep internal chill, like ice scraping his nerves. It wasn’t just regular sickness. It was the system’s version of a punishment.

"Take it away," Liam muttered quietly.

[Ding]

[Command denied.]

[Rest required.]

His jaw tightened. The system wasn’t listening. Again. He rolled his eyes and shut the interface down.

Vanessa looked over. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he muttered, brushing it off.

Dickson looked at him but didn’t press.

Liam finally turned to Vanessa, trying to ignore the fire spreading through his spine. "What’s your plan?"