Adam did not answer at once.
That small pause irritated Gonda again, but this time he held his temper down better.
When the old man finally spoke, his voice stayed as calm as before.
"My second condition is simple," Adam said. "You follow our direction when we give it."
Gonda shut his eyes for one brief second.
That sounded less like an alliance and more like a leash.
Merek could tell something in the call had shifted just from Gonda's face. Solan, standing farther back with his arms folded, said nothing, but he had already understood the same thing. Their boss was not being treated like an equal.
Inside, Gonda's irritation sharpened.
So that was the real shape of it: keep Bruno alive for now and take orders after that.
Any other man on the line would have heard Gonda curse him and end the call right there.
But Gonda did not.
He had not reached his position by choosing pride over profit every time it was challenged.
There were situations where bending first created a better opening later.
This looked like one of them.
Even so, he made himself ask the obvious question.
"That does not sound like an alliance," Gonda said. "It sounds like you want to use us."
Adam answered without hesitation.
"Use is not a dirty word when both sides profit," he said.
Gonda almost laughed at that, though there was no humor in him.
"Then tell me my profit," he said.
This time Adam spoke as if he had been waiting for the question.
"You will have a cut in every transaction that passes through your side. Every supply line we move through your district can leave money in your hand. If goods are sold under your protection, you take a share. If we need distribution support, you take a share. If we decide to move product through you, you take a share."
Gonda listened carefully.
Money mattered.
But money alone would not be enough.
Adam kept going.
"When new weapons reach our side, your line will receive access before most local hands even hear they exist. If we open channels from outside markets, you will have access to those too. If our influence grows the way I expect it to grow, then so will yours."
That made Gonda's eyes narrow. Weapons, outside-market access, and influence were not small promises.
To Merek and Solan, who still could not hear every word, it was obvious from Gonda's expression that the call had stopped being only about danger. Something useful had entered it.
Inside Gonda's head, the numbers began moving.
If even part of this was true, then staying near Wil's organization for a while could strengthen him fast. Money would widen his reach. Better weapons would steady his position against the gangs already leaning away from him. Outside-market access could open lines he had wanted for years.
And more than all of that, the arrangement came with information.
That part mattered the most.
As long as he stayed inside the flow, he could watch, listen, and learn how much of this organization was real, how large it truly was, and where its reach ended.
For now, that was enough.
He did not need betrayal yet.
He needed access.
"And if I accept this?" Gonda asked.
"Then you stop looking at my conditions as insults and start looking at them as the structure of a profitable relationship," Adam said.
Gonda hated the answer.
He also understood it.
Wil was doing exactly what powerful men did when they believed they held the board. He was setting the shape of the game before money entered it. That meant one thing clearly enough.
The old man believed he could survive anger.
Men who believed that usually had something behind them.
Or wanted others to think they did.
Either possibility still made caution the better choice.
So Gonda let some of the pressure leave his shoulders and asked the next question in a more even tone.
"What else do we receive besides promises?" he said.
Adam's reply came back colder.
"You are thinking too narrowly. We are not talking about one sale or one box crossing one district. We are talking about the shape of the future. If you stand in the correct place now, your rewards will not stop at today's trade."
Gonda leaned against the edge of the desk.
He did not like being spoken to that way.
Still, he let Wil continue.
"There is a larger structure coming," Adam said. "Markets will shift. Influence will shift. Routes will shift with them. Men who prepare early will hold far more than they deserve. Men who prepare late will beg to keep what they already have."
That line stayed with Gonda.
It sounded like prophecy, but not the stupid kind. It sounded like the kind of warning a man gave when he had already seen enough to stop treating tomorrow like an accident.
Merek saw the change again.
His boss was not calm, but he was listening in the way he only listened when profit and danger stood in the same place.
At last Gonda said, "Fine. I can accept the second condition for now."
For now.
That part stayed unspoken, but it mattered.
He would obey when obeying paid.
And if the old man ever weakened enough to exploit, then Gonda would exploit him.
That was not betrayal yet.
That was preparation.
Adam seemed satisfied with the answer.
"Good," he said.
The word came back through the line like a verdict.
Gonda endured it again.
He was already thinking ahead.
If Wil's group was real, then he would take what it offered and build on top of it.
That thought alone was enough to keep him listening a little longer.
"Then we understand each other?" Gonda asked.
Adam answered immediately.
"No. I still have one last condition."