Chapter 165: The Old Financial Clique Is Secretly Stirring Up Trouble!

Chapter 165: The Old Financial Clique Is Secretly Stirring Up Trouble!

Ryan pulled on the black shirt, casually buttoning up two buttons, and strode out.

Osiris came hurrying toward him carrying a thick stack of data tablets.

"Commander!" Osiris thrust the tablets forward. "We've cleared eighty percent of the remaining alien mechanical forces worldwide. But the mess the Church left behind is huge. Several underground bases in North Novaria and Eldoria need your personal authorization before we can..."

Ryan stopped and raised his hand to cut him off.

"I'm out of the hospital," Ryan said.

Osiris froze, not catching on.

"So?" Osiris asked.

"So I'm on vacation." Ryan patted Osiris on the shoulder. "From now on, don't come to me no matter what happens. You're in charge of all the cleanup work."

"Huh?" Osiris's eyes went wide. "Wait, Commander, this involves post-war reconstruction and asset recovery across dozens of major regions worldwide! How am I supposed to handle all this by myself!"

Ryan didn't engage at all and walked right past him.

"If you can't handle it, ask Nicholas. If that doesn't work, go find War Ghost." Ryan waved his hand without looking back. "I'm going to spend time with my wife and kid."

Several hours later.

Hawaii, a private island owned by the Shadow Syndicate.

Sunlight beat down on the white, soft sand. Waves rolled in one after another, crashing against the shore with a splashing sound.

Ryan was bare-chested, his lower half changed into an outrageous pair of beach shorts printed with giant coconut trees.

His solid muscles gleamed with a healthy tan in the sunlight.

Those horrific wounds that had been deep enough to see bone just days ago now hadn't left even a trace of scarring.

Who could connect this man in flowery shorts with the savior who'd torn apart a micro black hole with his bare hands in outer space?

"Daddy! This part needs to be higher!"

Ella wore a pink little swimsuit, holding a plastic shovel in her hand, crouching on the beach and patting hard at the pile of sand in front of her.

"You got it." Ryan crouched beside his daughter, using both hands to quickly gather sand from around them.

He even quietly used a tiny bit of his powers to compress the loose sand's internal structure tight, making sure this sandcastle absolutely wouldn't be blown down by the sea breeze.

The mighty True Dragon Tyrant Blood, with terrifying power that could withstand alien main cannons, was now using it all to shape sand.

A delicate sandcastle over half a meter tall quickly took shape.

Ella cheered and ran barefoot to a nearby bush, picking a bright red hibiscus flower.

She ran back and carefully stuck the red flower on top of the sandcastle.

"It's done!" The little girl clapped the sand off her hands, jumping up and down. "This is Daddy's castle!"

Ryan smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Why is it Daddy's castle?" Ryan asked.

"Because Daddy is the best!" Ella lifted her little face and announced loudly, "Daddy is the king in the castle, Mommy is the queen, and Ella is the prettiest princess! If bad guys dare to come, Daddy will beat them all away!"

Ryan laughed out loud and scooped his daughter up, lifting her high above his head.

"That's right, Daddy will beat them all away." Ryan looked up at his daughter's giggling face.

Not far away, Sophia walked over from the direction of the beach house.

She'd changed into a black two-piece swimsuit. Large areas of snow-white skin were exposed directly to the sunlight, showing off the perfect curves maintained through years of training. Her long legs stepped into the soft sand, leaving shallow footprints one after another.

Having held a high position for years, Sophia always carried an air of authority. But right now, on this private beach with just their family of three, she'd completely set down the burden of being the Shadow Syndicate's empress.

Ryan put his daughter down and let the little girl go pick up shells by the water.

He walked toward Sophia and naturally took her hand.

The two walked side by side slowly along the shoreline. The seawater washed over their feet, bringing a refreshing coolness.

Sophia leaned her head against Ryan's broad shoulder.

"I really wish we could live like this forever," Sophia said softly.

"We will." Ryan squeezed her hand tight.

"You were hurt too badly this time. I was in the command center watching the images on screen, really afraid you wouldn't come back." There was a hint of lingering fear in Sophia's voice.

Ryan stopped, turned around, and cupped Sophia's face in both hands.

"I promised you I'd come back in one piece, so I'd never break my word." Ryan looked into her eyes. "Those alien bastards better not come. If they dare target Earth again, I'll slaughter them all and use them as fertilizer for planting trees."

Sophia laughed at his words and lightly punched his chest.

"You, tone down that temper of yours in front of our daughter," Sophia said.

Ryan grinned and took her hand again to keep walking.

The calm sea breeze blew across the island. Everything looked so perfect.

However, on the other side of the planet, undercurrents were surging wildly.

Sovereign City.

The Demon-Hunter Corps temporary headquarters was set up in a giant bomb shelter buried deep underground.

Osiris sat behind a large metal desk with over a dozen light screens floating in front of him, all covered in dense data reports and surveillance feeds from around the globe.

"Bang!"

Osiris slammed a thick file down hard on the desk.

"The Commander sure knows how to enjoy himself!" Osiris irritably ran his hand through his hair. "I've been up for three nights straight here! Haven't even had time for a drink of water!"

The shelter's heavy metal door was pushed open.

War Ghost's massive body squeezed through, carrying two bottles of high-proof liquor.

"Stop complaining." War Ghost bit open a bottle cap with his teeth and handed one bottle over. "The Commander risked his life to win this. What's wrong with taking a vacation? Your body won't die anyway. Think of the extra work as exercise."

Osiris took the bottle and tilted his head back for a big gulp, his brow furrowing.

"It's not that I'm complaining about the workload." Osiris pointed at several groups of red data on the screen. "The Church has fallen. By rights, all their assets and underground labs worldwide should be fully recovered by us. But look at these reports sent back from the front lines."

War Ghost leaned over for a look, his face full of confusion.

"What's this mean? I don't understand all these twists and turns in the numbers." War Ghost shook his head.

"Three secret gene bases in North Novaria—by the time our people got there, they'd already been emptied out." Osiris tapped on the desk, making knocking sounds. "Not even a screw was left! And several offshore accounts in Eldoria, with billions in funds transferred out in batches within a single day, routed through dozens of countries. There's no way to trace the final destination."

War Ghost froze.

"Someone dares to steal from us, the Demon-Hunter Corps?" War Ghost clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. "They got a death wish or what!"

Transparent ripples suddenly appeared in the air.

Shadow Reaper deactivated optical camouflage and appeared directly in front of the desk.

"Found it." Shadow Reaper's voice had no inflection as he casually tossed a micro data disk onto the desk.

Several blurry photos and an encrypted video immediately popped up on the light screen.

"Someone is secretly dividing up the Church's legacy." Shadow Reaper pointed at several cold-faced men in black suits in the photos. "Very professional methods, extremely strong counter-surveillance capabilities. I personally tracked them for three days before I could dig up some clues."

"Who did it?" War Ghost asked loudly.

"North Novaria's old plutocrats." Shadow Reaper pulled up a long list. "To be precise, remnants of those old plutocrats who refused the Church's extreme genetic modifications back then, were marginalized by Stargate Holy See, and later secretly built up their strength. They've reorganized into an underground tech syndicate called 'Omega.'"