Adam did not touch the chips for several minutes.

He sat in the second apartment with the curtains closed and the lights dimmed, but his mind was still in that small food shop. The television image kept returning again and again: Mayor Victor Gray on the stage, John standing behind him, and Dinesh beside them.

His father had been smiling politely, like a man who believed he had met his son’s friend and was only waiting for Adam to return from some college work. That smile hurt Adam more than fear would have.

His first urge had been simple.

Run.

Go to the rally. Drag Dinesh away from John. Put his father on the first bus back to the village. After that, find John and wipe that calm smile off his face.

The thought was so strong that Adam’s hand had already moved toward the phone once.

He stopped himself.

’No.’ Adam thought.

He leaned forward, pressing both hands together so tightly that his fingers hurt.

’If I rush, I lose. If I call, he knows I saw it. If I go there, he sees the shape of my disguise. If I panic, Father may be the one who pays for it.’

That was the part his heart did not want to accept. John had not grabbed Dinesh in an alley. He had not hidden him in a room. He had placed him in front of cameras, beside a public stage, wrapped in polite lies.

That meant John was not trying to kill him.

Not yet.

He was trying to make Adam move.

Adam took one long breath and let it out slowly.

"No," he whispered. "I need another way."

He stood and walked once around the table. The rows of chips watched him like another problem waiting for its turn. He had already pushed his body too far for three days. ORS packets, empty water bottles, and half-open medicine strips were scattered near the work area.

His body wanted sleep, and his mind wanted one clean answer.

Neither came.

The original keypad phone vibrated on the table.

Adam turned at once.

The message was from Aster Core’s side.

Sir, this is Kenji. We have received four more serious inquiries today. Two companies are asking for confirmed delivery within seven days. One wants to book an expanded trial batch if the first units pass. Kiri says we should not commit without knowing the safe stock limit. Current requested units are already above the earlier plan. Please confirm how much we can promise.

Adam read it once, then read it again.

For a moment, he only stared at the numbers.

The company was growing. That was supposed to be good. This was the result he had wanted when he gave them the push, when he arranged the files, when he created the shortage pressure and let Kiri run with it.

But the growth had reached his throat too quickly.

Three hundred chips a day had already become difficult. Three hundred ten and three hundred twenty had started making his hands shake and his head pound. Even after ORS and food, he could feel his body staying empty in a way normal tiredness could not explain.

Now the orders were not small test orders anymore.

They were turning into a schedule.

Adam looked at the chips on the table.

"How long can I keep doing this?" he muttered.

The answer was clear enough to make his jaw tighten.

Not long.

If he kept going like this, he would not be building Aster Core. He would be trapped under it. Every new customer would become another day of copying until his body broke or one mistake exposed the whole supply lie.

The phone vibrated again.

Adam’s eyes moved to it.

This message was from Bruno.

He opened it.

Sir, many of my outer men have been hit. Some are dead. One is missing. World Zone has started cutting everyone connected to me. Rust Gate has also split. They raised a man named Harlan Pike against Tobin. Half the gang is going toward Harlan, half is staying with Niko under Tobin. If this continues, Tobin may lose the crew.

Adam’s hand slowly moved to his forehead.

"Damn it," he said under his breath.

World Zone had understood the structure faster than he wanted.

They could not catch Bruno, so they were cutting the men around him. They could not catch Tobin, so they were breaking the gang under him. It was simple, efficient, and exactly the kind of method a real organization would use.

Bruno was alive with a bleeding network, and Tobin was alive with his chair splitting in half.

Niko was holding one side, but Niko was not a real boss yet. Harlan did not even need to win quickly. He only needed to stand in the open, call Tobin a coward, and keep pulling angry men toward him.

Adam walked away from the table, then turned back before reaching the wall.

He wanted to call Bruno immediately. He wanted to tell him to move again, to cut loose men, to stop trying to save every small contact. He wanted to tell Tobin to abandon weak warehouses and keep only the loyal core. He wanted to message Kenji and say yes, promise the orders, everything will come.

But every answer created another cost.

If he focused on Aster Core, Bruno and Tobin might collapse.

If he focused on Bruno, Aster Core might overpromise and fail its first real delivery wave.

If he focused on his father, World Zone would keep cutting his underworld line.

If he focused on World Zone, John would keep Dinesh close and wait for Adam to make one emotional mistake.

The room felt too small for all of it.

The pressure was not coming from one direction anymore.

The company needed chips, his father needed safety, Bruno needed protection, and Tobin needed control.

And Adam needed a solution that did not expose the man behind all of them.

He stood still for a long moment.