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The following day, as the sun sunk on the horizon in the evening hours, Kaito drove into the Shadow Brotherhood compound. He would have arrived at the scene earlier, but he needed to handle things at Shuriken Logistics first. Usually, he managed most of his work on the corporation remotely from Mountain Ridge. 

Furthermore, he had reliable personal assistants, and the new vice-president was great at his job. However, he still needed to check up on things in person on occasion to resolve any major problems in the operations. As it turned out, when he went to the company, he found there was an issue with one of the major clients. 

That person was threatening to pull out his business after numerous years of working well together. 

Kaito was certain that Ayumi had a hand in the problem because the two people interacted in private. However, he was able to convince the client to remain with the company. Ultimately, the man put his business first. 

While Shuriken Logistics could stand to lose clients, Kaito did not like seeing such a meaningless form of defeat. He wanted to win, regardless of the situation. In any case, he did not mind earning more money because it would secure a good future for his two cuties. 

The Shadow Brotherhood headquarters was built on prime real estate in the outskirts of Tokyo. When Kaito bought the piece of land, it did not have much value because the neighbourhood was a little bleak and dull at the time.

However, with the development in the city accelerating, the area had become a gold mine. Unfortunately, more activity was not good for a place like the Shadow Brotherhood. Granted, the only incriminating thing about the building was the underground prison. 

The rest of the building looked like a regular low-rise commercial space for a normal business. Still, it was easy for people to draw strange conclusions if the mercenaries who went in and out of the area were not careful.

Kaito stepped out of his silver sports car and looked at the four-storey building with a hint of nostalgia. Originally, he wanted to name the building Guild House, but he had decided against labelling it in the final moment. He was a little concerned about it being conspicuous. 

He looked to the wide entrance doors with hidden emotions. 

It was a good thing he did not name the building. If he did, he would be attached to it. But now, he would not have trouble parting with it, now that the structure and the people in it had become a liability. He walked to the building with a clear heart and mind. 

When he gave the Shadow Brotherhood to Ayumi, he had anticipated that there was a day that he might need to return and destroy it. He understood the extent of Ayumi's abilities. She was smart, but she was always overreaching. 

She did not have a good understanding of her strengths and weaknesses. As a result, she would push herself to accomplish something that was out of her range of capabilities. 

It was not a bad thing for her to push herself, but she spent a lot of time and energy on things that did not yield significant value for her. As for things she could do, she would, more often than not, ignore them. 

She would claim that they did not suit her.

If she focussed on her strengths, she would not have played second fiddle to Kaito. And she would never have chosen to lead the Shadow Brotherhood. Unfortunately, her lack of control and spite after being rejected led her to make questionable decisions. 

Now, she would no longer have the Shadow Brotherhood. 

Kaito stepped into the lounge of the building and found a few mercenaries sitting and lying down haphazardly. The lounge was designed to give a casual vibe to the interior space and provide a welcoming environment to the mercenaries. 

The last time Kaito had stepped into the lounge, it was a functioning coffee shop and bar. However, now, it was a messy space with a few cups strewn on the floor, broken bottles, damaged furniture and a strange odour of rotting garbage. 

Kaito frowned. 

He knew that the Shadow Brotherhood had fallen, but he did not know it was to the extent that they could not maintain a café. It was not an integral part of the operation, but it showed an intrinsic problem in the building. 

"Oh, it is the boss man." One of the mercenaries noticed Kaito. 

The man was completely drunk, judging by his slurred speech and the number of bottles strewn before him. Kaito did not recognise him, but it was not unusual for all the people in the building to know him. His sharp eyes focussed on the drunk man, and he walked towards him, ignoring the other people. 

The signs of overindulgence were obvious. Moreover, it was not only this person who looked like they had given up on life. Some of the other mercenaries were so deep into their cups that they did not awaken when Kaito entered. 

"What happened here?" Kaito asked. 

The drunk man laughed. "What did not happen?" 

"Be clear." 

The person shook his head and assumed a more serious appearance.

"After the rumours of your death, things got a little bit out of control. The Brotherhood became chaotic. I am not a major player, so I do not know the specifics. But there were a few disagreements about who should be in charge. You know, with you dead and all." He explained with coherence. 

"Where was Ayumi?" Kaito asked. 

The man laughed a little hoarsely. "Do you think that she could keep control of the top assassins by herself? No offence meant towards her or you for leaving her in charge, Boss. I mean, I respect women a lot. I am a feminist, you know. I support female empowerment." 

"Continue." Kaito prompted without care about offence. 

"What I mean is, this business is about power. People respect those with real power and ability. Without you around to keep the restless guys under control, she was under a lot of pressure. She did not know how to negotiate with the mercenaries who wanted to take the top position." He continued. 

"You know how predatory most of the assassins here are. They can sense the smallest weakness. Instead of showing absolute power before them, she gave in to some of their demands, like decentralising the decisions about the missions." 

The drunk man picked one of the bottles on the table and shook it, looking for a bit of a drink. The moment gave Kaito a chance to consider the information he had just received about the Shadow Brotherhood he built with his blood and sweat. 

Even though he did not want it anymore, he did not think that it would fall so far. 

When it came to organised mercenary groups, they were in essence like mafia crime families. There had to be rules and order to ensure peace and prosperity. However, Ayumi did not understand the work he had done to stabilise the group. 

She was there during the initial phases, but she did not have the stomach for the unsavoury side of the business. She had only become actively involved after he had organised everything. And her primary work was checking on the mission requests and looking into the background of the cases. 

The final approval would always go through Kaito, so she did the most menial of the administrative work, despite having a high position in the organisation. 

Kaito did not blame himself for her failure to learn how to deal with the mercenary group properly. He tried to bring her in to learn more about the things he did to keep the assassins under control. But she said it was not necessary. 

No, she laughed and said that men only knew how to use threats and force. 

She had even refused to go into the Ground after the one time Kaito took her there to understand the system more. She felt it was a bit of a pity to keep those prisoners there. In her words, long-term torture was inhumane and unnecessary. 

Ayumi had proposed a plan for rehabilitation or outright execution for the mercenaries who rebelled against the rules. It was a good plan in theory and would work in a normal society. However, when dealing with hardened killers, it was useless. 

Mercenaries were used to pushing the boundaries of their existence. Moreover, they were not afraid of death. They were constantly facing life and death situations and lived with the knowledge that they would probably die on the job. 

As a result, they were never cautious. They did not see the need to play by anyone's rules. Being able to create a mercenary group and maintain control of it was almost impossible. If the mercenaries did not have any fears, they would be wild and careless. 

One had to find something worse than death to ensure compliance. 

Kaito had discovered that most of the people who lived that lifestyle were afraid of the denial of freedom and prolonged death. Most had seen inhumane torture beyond human comprehension, so they would be afraid of not getting a quick death. 

For that reason, Kaito built the Ground to ensure absolute compliance. 

As long as the mercenaries thought of being held in that prison for countless years, they would not dare to stray and make bad decisions. Their fear of Kaito only increased when they saw how he dealt with the likes of Spider and Snake. 

He demonstrated the fact that he would not condone unrestrained action.