Chapter 32: Investigation (2) (1/2)
Chapter 32: Investigation (2)
Aldrich spent the next several hours just poring through all of Ghost's communications about the Red Circle His focus was unbroken, his mental sta undead
Ghost and the Odinson boss all talked on private chatrooms located in as known as the Darknet
The regular Net was for and was considered an evolution of the world eb It accoh virtual space with theira universal, unified space that the Panopticon and various Net cyber security coulate and secure
However, there werethe Panopticon's ever-present eye watching over them, and so the Darknet was formed An evolution of the dark web just as the Net was an evolution of the internet
The Darknet required specific software, configurations, and authorizations to access, and any data on it was encrypted so heavily that h impossible to forcibly crack into it from the outside
However, with a Darknet surfer's fully cracked phone or personal device, this became a different story With access to their personal device and information like passwords and personal account information, it was relatively easy to access user data on the Darknet
Ghost's Darknet conversations were largely held between hi dealer There were e of a year - almost the entire time that Ghost had been in Blackwater
Most of these conversations were about Ghost buying drugs
Drugs not only for himself, but for others, and,women Aldrich remembered the way that Ghost had looked at and touched Elaine, and once rateful that he had ended Ghost with the pain and suffering he deserved
What Aldrich noted was that in these communications, Davis Shane talked to Ghost with a subservient tone, always asking his to buy were, giving him discounts, and so on
The technician even tried to stop Ghost fro hinored his onto Ghost He was trying to keep Ghost and the Blackwater students he dealt with happy, even at the cost of profit
Aldrich found an especially interesting conversation dated back to around the same tii case to the Red Circle It was a request by Ghost asking when the 'special package' was getting here, that Seth Solar personally needed this, and that it was urgent
This was no coincidence Seth Solar needed whatever was in that case
To which Davis replied that he kneas on the way, but he had no idea exactly when it would arrive as he could not directly ask the Trident Davis further stated it was better to ask Casimir for details
A search on the word 'Casih Ghost's phone indicated that he was the owner of the Red Circle nightclub Ghost did not have any virtual communications with Casimir, but he and Seth Solar's crew routinely talked about the club owner in good light, appreciating the owner's hospitality and willingness to always set up a private rooly, Casiave Seth Solar's crew access to Connectors
Connectors were individuals that, as the title suggested, 'connected' another to a cri job listing for est criained even er organizations were also responsible for contacting and keeping in the good graces of the strongest villains, pae for a few 'favors' here and there They also reached out to potentially recruit independent villains and anization, listing out co for them
In essence, they were job recruiters The HR departanizations, so to say
Seth Solar and his crew, no, not just theroup chats implicated almost the entirety of Blackwater's A-class, went to the Red Circle for not only VIP service, but also to get in touch with Connectors for the largest crianizations
The only A-class student that Aldrich could not find a mention of was the current rank 1 Mel Morales
In the Red Circle, the Connectors would proh-end positions in their organizations, recognizing the talent and potential that the A-class students had
Aldrich came to the realization that Blackwater was not truly a functional hero academy It trained either corrupt heroes ould use their position in the AA (Alterhuency) to function as hest ranks of criminal syndicates as villains
It all made sense now Why Blackwater was so isolated and so hidden Why there was so little information about it hell, when Aldrich had tried to research the academy, he could not even find a list of past alumni, no doubt because they all noorked as villains or mercenaries
It explained why the acade so obscure and ranking so low
It explained why they did not give a damn about psych evaluations
It explained the brutality of the acade survived
It also implicated the Solar family as the academy's current head was Selina Solar and, of course, Seth Solar attended it
The fact that this had not becoht: the Solar faanizations to keep any inforhly hidden
Aldrich had done so to create his contingency plans against Seth Solar and knew that he and his mother were not part of the main branch of the Solar dynasty
They were an illegiti the product of a one-ti from the previous head of the Solar fahter of the previous Solar head and a villainess, hence why Selina had such strong connections to the criitimate He could never step into the fold of the olden costuame He could share their last nahtly controlled secret kept within the confines of Blackwater and its crinificant aanize andwas clear to Aldrich: he was not just going to take down Seth Solar and his friends, but also Blackwater - the acade but abuses to him and his friends
And by take down, he h for him to just leak this inforet taken down or smeared as fake news by the wealth of both the Solar family and various crime syndicates with vested interests to keep their villain and fake hero factory up and running
No, Aldrich had to destroy Blackwater Break it down so that it could never, ever produce villains The very same kind of villains that had killed his own parents
Aldrich had the information he needed He just needed to act
He knew Seth Solar and his crew made a visit to the Red Circle every Saturday That was the perfect ti them out one by one would leave far too row
But the proble the Red Circle was no joke If there were Connectors there, there were likely bodyguards Mercenaries and decently rankings villains And also the majority of Blackwater's A-class
Aldrich would have to take down all of them