Adam did not move away from the table after saying that.

The copied phone stayed in front of him, its screen still open to Rovan’s mail. A few minutes later, another message refreshed inside the same account. Then another. Rovan was sending short updates now, the kind a frightened man wrote when he wanted the other side to understand quickly.

World Zone men seen leaving two rented rooms near south road. No watchers found near the old broker’s warehouse. Questions around George’s transport line have stopped for now. Two sources say the foreign group pulled people back after the Frontier Force move.

Adam read each line carefully.

The more messages came, the clearer the shape became. The people who had been circling Bruno’s outer contacts were no longer visible. The ones who had been digging through Rovan’s planted trail toward George had disappeared. Even the small street mouths that had been repeating questions about the forest road had gone quiet.

For a moment, Adam felt his shoulders loosen. World Zone had stepped back, at least for now.

Adam closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again.

’Do not relax too much.’ Adam thought.

He did not know where those people had gone. Pulling back did not mean leaving. World Zone could be regrouping, waiting for George’s side to calm down, or preparing a sharper attack from a cleaner distance.

Adam leaned back in the chair and looked at the ceiling.

Bruno and Tobin were safer than yesterday. Gonda had stood with Tobin in public, George had unknowingly pushed World Zone backward, and Rovan had redirected the pressure without exposing Bruno. On paper, the underworld side was not collapsing anymore.

But Adam did not let that thought become comfort.

He could not protect every asset forever.

That was the next truth he had to accept.

Bruno, Tobin, and even Gonda were useful, but useful did not mean untouchable. Adam had spent time and risk building those pieces, so losing them would hurt, but they were still assets.

If a day came when Bruno had to burn so Adam could keep the larger board hidden, then Bruno would burn. If Tobin had to become bait, then Tobin would become bait. If Gonda’s fear could buy Adam time, Adam would spend it.

The thought was ugly, but he did not push it away. He had already crossed the point where he could pretend every person on his board was someone he intended to save.

"The strategy changes now," Adam said quietly.

Until now, he had tried to keep his pieces alive because he needed a network. From this point onward, he would still protect them when useful, but he would be ready to sacrifice them when the bigger plan demanded it.

Adam lowered his eyes from the ceiling and looked at the chips spread across the table.

The underworld fire had lowered for now. Bruno and Tobin’s problem looked controlled, Gonda had been tested, and George had become a wall between World Zone and Adam’s side.

That left the problem sitting in front of him.

Aster Core.

The company was growing faster than his body could support.

Every chip on the table existed because Adam had pasted it. Every delivery, every promise Kiri shaped into a deal, and every new inquiry stood on Adam’s stamina.

That was dangerous.

His body could handle the load for now, but only barely. Pasting hundreds of chips again and again left his hands heavy and his head dull. ORS, food, and rest helped, but none of them changed the truth.

He was not a factory.

If Aster Core kept expanding, the current method would break him before it built the company.

He needed a manufacturing unit.

He needed it soon.

The normal route was simple on paper. Spend money, hire engineers, buy machines, build a clean facility, and start production. But the normal route had two problems.

It would take too long, and it would attract too many eyes.

Even if he had enough money, a sudden company buying semiconductor equipment and setting up a chip line would not stay quiet. Suppliers, engineers, government offices, and competitors would all ask questions.

And Adam did not want to become visible yet.

Not while John was waiting, World Zone was angry, and Aster Core still looked like a small company with impossible supply.

Adam placed the chip back down.

There was another way.

He could copy the machines.

The thought had come before, but now he looked at it seriously. If he could copy enough of a manufacturing line, he would not need to keep pasting every chip by hand. Lithography, etching, deposition, testing, packaging. He did not need the best machines on the first day, only enough to start replacing his body as the source.

But thinking it was easy.

Doing it was different.

Where would he copy such machines?

The real semiconductor machines were not sitting in an open shop. Only a few countries had the kind of companies and older fabrication equipment he could target. Even there, the machines would be inside secure factories, auction yards, research centers, or protected industrial zones.

Adam could not simply walk in, touch a machine, and leave. He needed a reason to go, a cover, and someone who could build that cover without asking the wrong questions.

Kenji came to mind first, then Adam rejected the idea immediately.

Kenji would ask too much.

If Adam told him to arrange a foreign visit connected to semiconductor equipment, Kenji would ask why, which machine, which supplier, and what production plan. Kenji was useful because he cared about the company properly, but that same quality made him dangerous for this kind of work.

Adam needed someone who dealt with money, not manufacturing, and could be told to create a front while focusing on how to make the numbers look clean.

Darien Holt.

Adam slowly smiled.

He had almost forgotten the other work waiting for that man.

Darien was already tied to the market play. He had money and enough fear to obey. He did not need to understand Aster Core’s real supply. He only needed to believe that the organization behind Walter had information worth following.

And Darien was perfect for another reason.

Adam did not have only one job for him.

He had two, maybe three.

The smile stayed on Adam’s face as he looked at the copied phone and the chips.

Darien was going to become much busier.