<h4>Chapter 98: Six Uninvited Visitors</h4>


    The day passed without incident. Eleanor began her morning by visiting Rossiyskiye Kosmicheskiye Sistemy of the Angstrem Group. The facility specialized in manufacturing radiation-hardened microcontrollers... resilient against cosmic rays and ideal for control modules in orbit. Their analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and digital signal processors (DSPs) were essential for telemetry data processing andmunication subsystems.


    Theseponents would soon find their ce in the satellite systems of NyxOrbital Technologies, Eleanor’s U.S. based aerospacepany for designing, manufacturing, andunching advanced rockets and spacecraft.


    In the afternoon, she visited Crocus Nano Electronics, a firm producing cutting-edge MRAM (Maoresistive Random-ess Memory). MRAM was non-vtile, radiation-resistant, and capable of operating under extreme conditions... a perfect choice for satellite applications. It served multiple purposes: onboard data logging and storage, boot memory in critical subsystems, navigation cache, and camera data buffering.


    For Eleanor, MRAM also held significant value for Heimdall’s securitywork, the AI-driven surveince and threat-response system she was nning to deploy. These memory chips would ensure uninterrupted frame capture from high-resolution surveince cameras, even during unexpected power outages or signal disturbances.


    Though theseponents were already secured from the U.S. market and weren’t urgently needed, Eleanor ensured long-term supply chains by signing preliminary agreements. The technical discussions and integrations would be handled by professionals from bothpanies in theing weeks.


    By evening, Eleanor and her team returned to their hotel to rest. Everyone understood that the true mission was yet to begin.


    ***


    At exactly midnight local time, the team prepared to move. Raphael sat behind the wheel of a rented ck SUV, dressed in a ck overcoat appropriate for the biting cold of Zelenograd. Eleanor sat beside him in the passenger seat, equally wrapped in elegant but functional attire.


    Behind them, hidden in the shadows of the back seat and rearpartment, were Sebastian, Isadora, ric, and Elias... all fully equipped. Cassandra remained at the hotel as theirst line ofmunication.


    To any observer... like the hotel’s night staff... it appeared as though two tourists were heading out for a midnight drive. Perhaps to enjoy ate casino run or visit one of the city’s exclusive nightclubs. They had no reason to be suspicious. The car’s tracking system will inform them where they went in case of any ident.


    What they didn’t know, however, was that their car’s GPS feed had been hacked, their CCTV camera feed was intercepted, and the guests they were seeing off were on their way to confront one of the most dangerous organizations in Russia.


    Imperial Haven was not just a name... it was a warning. In the underworld of Eastern Europe, even whispering against it could get you killed in an ident. It was a fortress for gangsters, a haven for assassins, and a neutral ground for transactions thew could never touch.


    After about thirty minutes, the car came to a halt on a clearing beside the road, approximately two hundred feet away from the mainpound of Imperial Haven. The air was thick with fog and frost. Raphael stopped the engine. One by one, the others silently disembarked.


    Raphael removed his coat and donned a mask that seamlessly blended with his ck battle suit. The rest were already dressed in identical gear... ck suits with reinforced ting,plete facial masks, and only one feature exposed was their eyes.


    Those unmistakable grey eyes were a mark of the nc n... sharp, intelligent, and always watching. Whether or not a member had awakened their shadow power, the eyes were a symbol of their lineage and their strength.


    Eleanor stood tall among them, her presence striking in contrast. Although not in full battle gear, her purple business suit beneath the overcoat screamed authority. With a single nod, the team began walking toward Imperial Haven.


    ***


    That night seemed no different than usual inside the towering facility. Laughter and conversation echoed in the restaurant on the ground floor, filled with gang members rxing after a day of dubious business. Some drank themselves into stupors; others exchanged stories and gossip. Upstairs, several private rooms were upied with poker games and quiet negotiations.


    Many were already asleep in their rooms on the upper levels.


    At the front desk, two beautiful girls sat chatting with each other. A security monitor on the desk in front of them disyed a group of six people walking toward the building at a rxed pace, captured from several angles by different cameras. However, the girls paid no attention to the screen—after all, no one dared to cause trouble on their turf. Or so they believed.


    Their gossip was abruptly interrupted when the door slid open and an extraordinarily beautiful woman entered with effortless elegance. She stood nearly six feet tall, with striking silver hair and a long ck overcoat. The moment their eyes met her emerald green gaze, the receptionists felt momentarily lost. Every movement she made... no matter how subtle... was so captivating that both girl forgot what they were supposed to do. It was as if they had been ced under a spell.


    The woman walked to the center of the front hall, removed her ck coat, and revealed a sleek, purple business suit that instantly elevated her striking beauty. She handed the coat to another woman dressed entirely in ck... distinguished only by a single ck ponytail trailing down her back, who took it without a word.


    The receptionists were so mesmerized by the most stunning woman they had ever seen, they failed to notice herpanions. All of them were d in ck battle suits, their bodies fully covered except for their eyes. Unlike the elegant woman, these figures exuded danger. rms rang in the receptionists’ minds at once... these people meant business, and possibly trouble.


    Finally, one of the ck-d figures stepped forward and stopped in front of the desk.


    His voice was muffled yet firm through the mask. "My Madam wishes to speak with your boss... Major General Tatiana Lebedeva. Inform her. Please."


    Both women blinked. For a moment, they didn’t react. Then, after a quick nce at each other, one nervously reached for the inte and dialled the highest-ranking officer she could contact.


    It rang twice before a groggy male voice answered, "What is it?"


    "Sir," she stammered, "there are five masked men and a woman. They’re asking to see the boss."


    "What?" the man snapped, annoyed. "Then call the manager."


    "No, sir. Not our manager. Pakhan! The big boss! They asked for her by name."


    The man on the other end of the line sat bolt upright. "Are you absolutely sure?"


    "Yes, sir," she replied, voice trembling slightly.


    "I’ming." He hung up immediately.


    The security officer jumped out of bed and rushed to the table, hastily flipping open hisptop. He muttered under his breath, urging the machine to boot faster... as if sheer desperation could speed up its loading time.


    Finally, the screen lit up. He clicked a shortcut on the desktop, and a grid of live camera feeds filled the disy. His eyes scanned the interface until he selected the feed showing the reception desk.


    There she was... an unfamiliar woman standing confidently with a group behind her. But what truly made his blood run cold were the masked men dressed in ck. He didn’t know who the woman was, but the sight of her silent, ck uniformed entourage immediately set off internal rms.


    His mind shed back to the ambush from months ago... masked individuals with simr ck suits had attacked their Pakhan’s convoy. They had all been killed in the end, but before that, they managed to kill several of their top fighters, which had shaken the foundation of their organization.


    Without another second of hesitation, he dashed out of his room, ran to the end of the hallway, and opened a ss panel on the wall. Behind it was a red emergency button.


    He pressed it.


    A thunderous rumble rolled through the entire building. Outside, thick steel panels began to descend from the roof, sealing the structure like an armoured fortress. The once-inviting Imperial Haven transformed into a gleaming, imprable citadel under the moonlight.