John kept looking at the table.

Leon stood quietly in front of him.

"Why would Aster Core support Adam?" John asked.

john though ’That too, an unknown student who has just been expelled from the university, what will they get by saving Adam.

Is there any other reason, does Adam have some rich successor whom we do not know who helped him through this company.’

Leon did not answer.

He knew the question was not really for him.

John’s gaze stayed low.

’A company doesn’t move like this for an unknown student.’ John thought. ’There has to be a reason.’

Adam had been weak before. He had entered the college through marks and a scholarship. His family had no city power and no clean way to reach a company that was rising this fast.

That meant Aster Core was not the real answer.

’It isn’t the company.’ John thought. ’Someone inside the company helped him.’

He looked up at Leon.

"Who owns it?"

Leon lowered his head slightly. "With my current access, I could only get basic details. I could not confirm the owner."

John’s eyes narrowed. "You couldn’t?"

"No, young master. If you want to know who really owns it, you will need your father’s help."

John leaned back.

He understood what that meant.

This was not the same as pressuring a student. This company was outside the reach he normally used.

John raised one hand and covered his mouth for a moment.

’Adam is looking bigger than I thought.’ John thought. ’Or someone behind him is.’

Adam had disappeared for days. No one had found him. Now he had returned with a company standing behind him.

’this is why we could not find him.’ John thought. ’or this company kept him hidden.’

But that did not fully fit either.

Leon had said Aster Core was a new company. If it had only appeared recently, then it was unlikely that the company itself had grown around Adam by chance.

’Someone powerful is behind this company.’ John thought. ’That person is using Aster Core as a front.’

But one question still did not fit.

Why Adam?

Why would a hidden person spend this much money on him?

John kept thinking about that point, but no clean answer came.

John could not answer that yet.

But one thing was clear.

This was outside his current network.

He stood up.

"This is part what you can reach," he said. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Then you will need your father," Leon said quietly.

"I will speak to my father."

The scene changed to a large meeting hall inside Mayor Victor Gray’s house.

A long table stood in the middle of the room. Campaign workers and office aides sat around it. Files were open. A city map was spread across one side of the table, and a few areas were circled in red.

Victor Gray sat at the head of the table.

His assistant stood beside him, pointing at a paper and explaining the next rally route. The mayor listened with a calm face, but his attention moved the moment the door opened.

The room had been busy a second ago. People had been talking about vote areas and the next rally before night.

John stepped inside.

Victor looked at his son. John did not say anything. He only stood near the door. That was enough for Victor. Victor lifted one hand. The assistant stopped speaking.

"Leave us for a minute," Victor said.

The room went quiet.

One of the campaign workers looked surprised. The meeting had been in the middle of an important election plan. No one had expected the mayor to stop it so easily.

But no one questioned him.

Chairs moved back. Files closed. One by one, the people left the room. The assistant collected the most important papers and followed them out.

Before leaving, the assistant glanced once at John, then lowered his eyes and closed the door carefully. Everyone in that room understood one thing. When Victor Gray gave his son time, even the election had to wait.

When the door closed, only Victor and John remained.

Victor stood from his chair.

"John," he asked, "is something wrong?"

He did not ask it like a mayor.

He asked it like a father.

John rarely came to him like this. He did not ask for small things. Since childhood, John had always found a way to get what he wanted. Victor had given him everything he needed, but John still did not come to him without a reason.

That was why Victor’s eyes became colder.

’If someone touched my son, I will make him regret it.’ Victor thought.

Victor had many faces outside. He smiled in front of voters. He spoke gently in public. He shook hands with businessmen and listened to party workers. But inside this room, in front of John, none of those faces mattered.

John was his son.

If John had come during an election meeting, then Victor knew it was not a small thing. His son would not walk into that room just to waste his time.

John saw the change in his father’s face.

"Relax, Father," John said. "Nothing happened to me."

Victor did not fully relax. "Then tell me what you need."

"I need one thing from you."

"Say it."

John walked closer to the table. Victor watched him with full attention.

"I need you to shut down a company," John said.

Victor stayed silent for a moment.

Victor thought, "Does a company have the guts to harass my sons?"

That was not what he had expected.

"A company?" he asked.

John nodded.

Victor did not ask why at once. His son had come to him directly, and that was enough to make the matter serious.

If it was a company, then there would be records and people who could be made to ask questions. Victor did not need every detail yet. He only needed the name.

"Tell me the name," Victor said.

John looked at him and spoke clearly.

"Aster Core."