Chapter 156: A Layered Game

"Wang Jia," Ethan repeated the name as he looked at the name displayed before him, alongside the information.On the screen was a tall man wearing a suit, completely unaware of the camera that had taken the photo of him... which was to be expected since the image was from one of the public cameras.

{Yes,} Athena confirmed, {and according to the cameras at the airport, he left with three other people, one of which was unconscious, with a private jet.}

Ethan turned to the monitor showing Jia entering the airport with another man walking by him, just behind them a buff man walked.

But Ethan’s attention was fixed on what the man held, or rather, who was in the man’s arms.

Laying peacefully asleep was Lillian and apart from her messy hair, she seemed completely fine, causing Ethan to feel a bit of relief.

She was safe...for now, but whether or not that’ll remain the case was unknown to him, so he had to get her back before that changed.

The footage continued playing. Jia moved with calm authority, holding a passport folder in one hand while he spoke to a security officer. The man smiled, nodded, and waved them through without even checking the papers.

{He bribed the officer,} Athena said before Ethan could comment. {Payment confirmed to the officer’s account five minutes prior to the exchange.}

Ethan remained silent for a while, the officer wasn’t an important enough piece to extract information from, so he’ll remain safe for... Well, safe in the physical sense.

He was going to make sure the officer lost everything just as he had done to Victor, but for now, Ethan would let him have a moment of victory.

"The other man with Jia," He zoomed in on the second man, "who is he?"

{Zhao Ming, age thirty seven.} Athena answered, {he seems to be the representative of Hua imports and one of the two connected to the ones who actually hired Helix.}

"Hua..." Ethan repeated, "do you still have no face behind the company?"

{Well, I’ve been running a search on the code name Xu and Elderwoods,} Athena started, {and I think I’ve discovered exactly why Lillian was kidnapped.}

"Continue," he said as he leaned back a bit on his chair.

{From what I’ve gathered,} she continued, {the Elderwoods are currently in jail for over a month now and it’s because of Sentinel...or rather, Google’s use of Sentinel.}

Ethan thought about it for a while, before making a conclusion, "project Aurora."

{Precisely,} Athena confirmed, {Amelia Rhodes, with the help of Sentinel, had discovered all the infiltration routes the Elderwoods used to breach Google and several other major infrastructures. The exposure led to their arrest..well all of them expect one.}

The monitor showing the feed changed, bringing up a man that looked to be in his forties or maybe fifties, before Ethan.

{Elder Wood himself.} she completed.

He looked at the image before saying, "so he blames OmniTech for his team’s failure and decided to kidnap Lillian to get to me?"

{Not quite,} Athena answered as the screen changed from a picture to a camera feeds, {this was of the night his team was arrested. Elder wood had left earlier which was how he was able to avoid getting caught, so I tracked where he was going and he led me straight to one person....}

"Xu," Ethan concluded.

{Yes,} she confirmed, {Xu, or madam Xu, as Elder wood calls her is the same xu that had been funding the Elderwoods and also the owner of Hua imports, a shell company which she used to pay Helix.}

"I see," he nodded.

Although it felt like everything was in place, he felt like he was missing an important piece of the puzzle.

A fact which Athena soon confirmed, {although Zhao Ming works for Madam Xu, Wang Jia, on the other hand, seemed to have no connection with her...at least not until this job.}

"Which means there’s a second person."

{Exactly,} she answered, {so I ran a check on him but like a ghost, he doesn’t seem to exist in any machine... until, I ran a check on Longfield Logistics and Jian Long.}

There was silence as Ethan waited for her to continue, which she did.

{They’re the same person,} Athena finally said, {Wang Jia is Jian Long.}

Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he leaned forward. "You’re sure?"

{A hundred percent.} She answered {Although there are a couple of changes compared to his current self, the facial recognition gave a ninety percent match, this also aligned with the fact that Jian Long flew private from Shanghai to California around the same time Wang Jia was also first seen in one of the airport’s camera’s.}

Then that meant, like him, Jian Long...or Wang Jia also had two personas.

The owner of Longfield Logistics and also an employee of the same company, according to the data Athena had presented to him.

But then again, how did this connect to madam Xu?

Well, that question was soon answered when the feed switched again.

This time, to an overhead shot of a boardroom meeting from two years prior. The timestamp read Beijing, 2008. In the footage, a younger Jian Long sat at the end of the table.

Beside him, a woman — elegant, poised, wearing a crimson cheongsam.

Madam Xu.

Ethan looked at the footage, from what he could see, this seemed like the early years of Longfield Logistics, and Madam Xu was one of the board members.

{Madam Xu was one of his earliest investors,} Athena explained, {but for a reason or another, she had withdrawn from the company, though Jian Long still went onto become successful....but—}

"Longfield Logistics is just a cover," Ethan completed her words.

{Yes,} she answered, {I did a bit more digging on the name, this time, specifically in the underworld and the discoveries were pretty surprising.}

Ethan listened as Athena continued.

{Jian Long is otherwise known as The Reaper,} Athena finished, her synthetic voice carrying an edge of gravity. {An underworld broker — one of the most efficient and elusive facilitators of high-risk contracts in East Asia. Smuggling, assassination, cyberwarfare, you name it. If it required precision, anonymity, and absolute deniability, The Reaper was the one they called.}

Ethan’s gaze sharpened. "So the owner of Longfield Logistics isn’t just another corporate façade — he’s one of the underground elite."

{Exactly,} Athena confirmed. {Longfield was never built to move cargo. It was built as a cover for the reaper, after all, they moved

weapons under the guise of freight, and people under the guise of cargo}

She pulled up a map — red lines connecting China, Singapore, Dubai, and San Francisco, multiple of them bled across oceans.

{Every shipment Longfield ’transported’ in the past two years was actually high-value intelligence or someone that had been comissioned to disappear. Most of it funneled into proxy labs owned by Madam Xu. She funded him early on to expand her influence — but the relationship soured.}

Ethan leaned forward slightly, "Soured?"

{After the Elderwoods’ collapse, Xu’s empire fractured. She lost her grip on several of her companies and several of her offshore networks. Jian Long took advantage. He bought out several of her smaller shell subsidiaries and began rebranding them under his logistics chain. Essentially, he used her downfall as his stepping stone.}

Ethan exhaled slowly. "So the Reaper stole from the Queen."

{Precisely. And now, having no other choice, he was the only one he could hire for this job, since he was the best she knew,} Athena answered, {Though, she’s also trying to reclaim both her respect and what was stolen from her.}

"By kidnapping Lillian," Ethan muttered, "she hopes to find out who’s behind OmniTech and make them disappear, and by using Jian Long, she keeps her hands clean. And if things go well, she gets both revenge and her place back at the top....maybe even find a way to bring the reaper down."

{Except Jian Long has his own agenda,} Athena said, her tone darkening. {Xu may think she’s using him, but in reality, she’s just another piece in his game.}

Ethan’s fingers stopped tapping on the desk. "What kind of agenda?"

{He’s running a project of his own, one that involves creating his very own OmniTech Corp,} Athena answered, {he plans on getting you before Madam Xu does, all they need is for Lillian to reveal your identity to.}

"I see," he nodded.


Everything was clear now. This was a game of multiple layers, one which the reaper was winning.... Until they involved him.

He was going to completely destroy the two, in worse ways than he did Nathaniel, worse if anything happened to Lillian, and they wouldn’t even see it coming.

"What about the plane?" He switched the focus, "I’m guessing it’s headed to China."

{Exactly,} she answered, {its headed to Beijing, where I’m sure Madam Xu will be waiting, though Jian might have other plans.}

"Let’s get her back before anything happens to her," Ethan said with a sigh before standing up.