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Rhodes walked down the long driveway, fully aware of the guards watching him leave. A few of the younger ones couldn't hide their smug expressions, whispering quietly among themselves after the broken recorder incident.
One of them let out a low chuckle.
"Thought he was slick," the guard muttered.
Before the mood could turn careless, a sharp voice cut through the air.
"That's enough."
The laughter died instantly.
The Chief Guard stepped forward—broad-shouldered, heavy boots that make this sound everytime he moved. His presence alone shifted the atmosphere from casual to razor-tight discipline.
"Eyes up," he said coldly. "You're not here to mock visitors. You're here to protect Ethan-sama. Stay vigilant."
"Yes, Chief," the guards answered in unison, straightening immediately.
The man—known within the mansion simply as Chief, though some whispered another name… Frank—watched Rhodes' retreating back in silence. His expression didn't carry amusement like the others. It was sharp, observant… and always serious.
Rhodes paused briefly near the gate, glancing back once at the massive estate before getting into his vehicle.
Frank looked in his eyes as he mumbled.
"…He's under lot of pressure," Frank muttered under his breath. "now after this failure, the government and military will surely try something more funny."
One of the guards beside him asked. "Should we increase external surveillance, Chief?"
Frank didn't look away from the departing car.
"They'll come back," he said calmly.
The gates opened with a low mechanical rumble as Rhodes' vehicle rolled out.
Frank finally turned his back to the road.
"Double perimeter scans," he ordered. "See if they used another funny trick."
The guards nodded and moved immediately, communication lines lighting up across the compound.
High above, cameras adjusted silently.
Inside the mansion, Ethan stood near a window on the upper floor, watching the car disappear beyond the gates. His expression remained unreadable.
Behind him, Sharon approached quietly.
"He left," she said.
"Hmm," Ethan replied calmly.
"It didn't end well?" she asked.
Ethan nodded once. "No. They tried to threaten me into handing Blonsky over without any compensation."
Sharon frowned slightly.
"And they still want the NDA?" she asked.
"Yeah," Ethan scoffed. "That part I don't mind. I'll sign it if the deal is worth it—but they think they can get everything for free."
Sharon nodded, already understanding the situation.
"Right now you're definitely on the Pentagon's radar," she said. "They're not at SHIELD's level, but they still have good spies. From now on, don't approve any new staff entering the mansion without clearance."
Ethan raised an eyebrow slightly.
"As far as I remember," he said, "it's your job to screen workers for the mansion."
Sharon crossed her arms.
"Yeah," she replied, "but you keep adding people whenever you find someone interesting. Like the last chef—you tasted one dish and immediately hired him."
Ethan smiled sheepishly.
"…The food was really good," he admitted.
Sharon sighed. "Just be careful."
"I will," Ethan said seriously this time.
Silence settled between them for a moment before Sharon's tablet buzzed softly. She glanced at it and frowned.
"They're moving faster than expected," she said. "Satellite activity increased near our offshore facilities… and there's a spike in digital probing attempts."
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Testing boundaries," he muttered. "They want to see how far they can push without starting a war."
"What do you want to do?" Sharon asked.
Ethan walked toward the large screen on the wall. With a simple gesture, multiple surveillance feeds appeared—airspace, networks, shipping routes.
"Nothing aggressive," he said calmly. "Increase counter-surveillance. Let them know we see everything… but don't escalate."
Sharon nodded and began issuing silent commands through her tablet.
A moment later, one of the internal AI alerts flashed.
[ UNAUTHORIZED DRONE – HIGH ALTITUDE – OBSERVATION CLASS ]
Ethan glanced at it and smirked faintly.
"They really are impatient," he said.
"And these idiots are even using my own tech to spy on me," Ethan added dryly as he examined the drone feed. "How dumb can they be?"
Sharon zoomed in on the analysis screen.
"It's not the original Crystal Coat," she said. "Just a variation of it. They can't produce the real version without our approval."
She continued scanning the drone's signals.
"Hmm… it's attempting a full-spectrum scan of the entire mansion," she added.
Ethan shrugged casually. "As if that will work."
He shook his head slightly. The mansion's systems were layered with countermeasures—signal distortions, false geometry mapping, and adaptive interference fields. No matter what scanning technology was used, the results would always come back corrupted.
On the large display, the drone's scan map flickered… then began producing nonsense layouts—walls where there were none, empty space where entire floors existed, rooms looping endlessly into each other.
Sharon raised an eyebrow. "It's receiving a false structure feed now."
On the Pentagon's end, the data stream collapsed into static… and then suddenly reformed into a brightly colored Dancing Dragon.
"Just how much tech does that Arasaka kid even have?" one senior official muttered, staring at the screen in disbelief.
Several others exchanged uneasy looks.
"…Okay, that's just nasty," another officer said under his breath as the dragon spun in circles—flashing a middle finger and shaking its rear in an exaggerated, mocking dance.
The room fell into an awkward silence.
One analyst cleared his throat. "Sir… I think the system has been… compromised."
"No," the senior member replied slowly, eyes narrowing. "We've been trolled."
Back at the mansion, Ethan watched the drone disappear from the skyline.
"But why are they scanning the mansion?" he asked casually, glancing at Sharon.
Sharon reviewed the intercepted signals for a moment before answering.
"Most likely they're trying to confirm whether Blonsky is being held here or inside the Tower," she said. "They don't know which facility you're using."
Ethan nodded slightly. "Paranoid and impatient. Not a good combination."
He tapped the console, pulling up a list of recent satellite passes and drone movements.
"Have they scanned the Tower yet?" he asked.
"Yes," Sharon replied. "Twice in the last twelve hours. Same result—corrupted layouts and false readings."
Ethan gave a faint, amused smile. "Good. Keep them guessing."
He leaned back against the desk.
"If they think Blonsky is here, they'll watch the mansion," he said. "If they think he's at the Tower, they'll try to infiltrate it."
"So we give them both answers and neither," Sharon concluded.
"Exactly."
Another notification appeared on the screen.
[ INCREASED SATELLITE OBSERVATION DETECTED ]
Sharon looked at the message and said. "They're escalating surveillance."
Ethan didn't look concerned.
"Then escalate confusion," he said calmly. "Move one of the empty containment pods between locations. Let them chase ghosts."
Sharon nodded. "Understood."
She paused, then added, "Do you want to move Blonsky at all?"
Ethan shook his head.
"No," he said. "The safest place is the place they're least certain about."
" Plus if they remain at that location more than they can make excuses for blast it out of the space" Ethan said and Sharon nodded.