09:00 PM (The final night of the two-week lull)
Sector 7 Headquarters & Police Command Center
Heavy rain drenches Ironport. On the surface, the city is quiet, but within the data cables and radio frequencies, a massive war is beginning.
Two weeks of silence were enough. Sinclair had fallen into a false sense of security, and tonight, the "Black Group"—the name given by the public and media because the perpetrators always vanished into the nameless dark—would pull the real trigger.
A Call Amidst the Storm
At the Sector 7 Headquarters, Ren had just swapped her evening gown for tight, black tactical gear. Her hair was tied high, and her face had returned to its usual cold composure. Suddenly, her private phone—the one used for her socialite identity—vibrated.
The name on the screen: Sinclair.
Ren signaled the team for silence. Rion, who was checking his rifle magazine, paused and motioned for her to answer on speakerphone.
"Hello, Commissioner?" Ren's voice transformed instantly—soft, calm, and slightly sleepy—a perfect act, as if she were relaxing at home.
"Ren... thank God you picked up," Sinclair's voice was trembling. In the background, the frantic blare of police command center alarms could be heard. "The city... it's chaos again. The Central Bank's main servers and Sector 1's population data locked up simultaneously. Something big is happening."
Ren glanced at Rion. Rion gave a thin, lethal smile.
"Calm down, Commissioner. Didn't Father (Den) say he would help you? Perhaps it's just a technical glitch from the storm," Ren said with hypocritical reassurance.
"This isn't a glitch! They left a 'Black Circle' symbol on all our monitors. I... I don't know who else to call. I feel surrounded by shadows," Sinclair groaned.
"Take a breath, Commissioner. Get some rest. I'll try to get in touch with Father for you," Ren said before hanging up.
The moment the line went dead, Ren's expression sharpened drastically. "He's completely broken mentally, Rion."
Execution by the "Black Group"
"Good," Rion replied flatly. He pulled on his black mask. "Mia, initiate phase two. Kill all lights in Sector 1 except for the police headquarters. Let them be the only bright spot in the dark, so they feel like a target."
Mia hit a single enter key. "Confirmed. Blackout in 3... 2... 1."
CRACK! The entire elite district of Ironport plunged into total darkness. In the shadows, Mako, Zack, and Garry were already in position. They weren't stealing money. They were installing satellite transmissions in the city's blind spots.
Tonight, the "Black Group" didn't attack with bullets, but with the truth. On every public screen with backup power, the secret debt records of officials stolen during the two-week lull began to scroll like a grocery list.
Sinclair's Undoing
In his office, Sinclair saw his monitors flicker back to life. But instead of the police system, they displayed a list of his own illegal transactions that he had hidden for years.
He slumped into his chair, powerless. He had just called the only person (Ren) he considered a friend among the elite, never realizing that she was the one holding the knife to his throat.
"We won't kill him today," Rion said over the radio to his team. "We'll let him live with the fear that the 'Black Group' is everywhere—in his phone, behind his lights, and even within the people he trusts."
Nero Familia moved in silence, vanishing into the rain, leaving the city in a state of informational chaos that no law could ever repair.