The moment he stepped in, everyone rose to their feet. With slow, deliberate strides, the boss approached the head of the table and began the meeting. After everyone took their seats, a man with a tattoo on his neck stood up.

“Good day, sir. As requested, I’ve brought all the reports.”

“What’s the situation?”

The boss’s voice was calm yet carried a sharp edge.

The man hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“As you are aware, sir, three of our warehouses were attacked in the past week. Additionally, some of our men are missing.”

“Any high-ranking personnel among the missing?”

One of the Seven asked with a serious expression.

“Yes. One of the high-ranking members of my team, Peter, disappeared after his last mission. In fact, all the attacks on the warehouses began shortly after he vanished.”

A strange man with long hair, who had remained silent in the corner, finally spoke.

“I heard rumors about children with special powers being involved. This Peter you mentioned… he went with Kaji to capture them, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” the man nodded.

“And he failed, despite Kaji being with him? How pathetic. I suppose that’s the best we can expect from your men.”

Another one of the Seven smirked as he leaned back in his chair. Unlike the others, who appeared tense, this man seemed entirely at ease. Idly twisting a massive green gemstone on his ring, he cast a mocking glance at the man standing before him.

“But I told you, Henry,” the smirking man continued, “you really should be more selective when choosing your high-ranking men.”

“Peter successfully completed nearly every task I assigned to him,” Henry replied with a firm tone. “In terms of experience, he far surpasses you, Ryan.”

“Oh, really?” Ryan retorted with an exaggerated shrug. “And yet, where is he now? Not only did he fail to bring in those kids, but he’s also gone missing himself. And after his disappearance, our warehouses were attacked. There’s only one explanation for this.”

Henry was about to respond when another member of the Seven cut in.

“That’s enough! Both of you, shut it. Let’s focus on the real question—who’s attacking our warehouses?”

“We don’t know.” Henry replied. “The men who survived the attacks all reported the same thing. At night, the shadows and darkness seemed to come alive, moving suddenly. Some claim it was the work of a single person.”

“A single person?” Ryan’s smirk widened slightly. “Now that’s interesting.”

For the first time in a long while, something had truly piqued Ryan’s curiosity. The chaos unfolding around them was, for him, nothing short of entertainment.

 "Then it’s certain that the ones behind this are those with superpowers. If even Kaji couldn’t defeat them, they must be incredibly strong. Have you interrogated the men Peter took with him for the mission?"

"We couldn’t find any of them. In fact, we even tried tracking down the people who first informed us about their existence, but they’ve also vanished without a trace."

At this, Ryan couldn’t contain his laughter anymore. Ignoring the sharp looks from the others, he kept chuckling, as if thoroughly entertained.

"Ahh, this just keeps getting better and better. Whoever did this—I already like them. Imagine wiping out every single witness."

"We still don’t know if it’s just one person," another added. "It could be more than we initially thought."

Throughout the conversation, the boss remained silent, lightly tapping a small metal figurine on the table. The moment the soft clink echoed, everyone, except Ryan, straightened up, adopting a serious demeanor. A few moments of tense silence passed before the boss finally spoke.

"I was told they were just a group of five or six kids. And now you’re telling me that a group of children is responsible for all this chaos?"

No one dared to respond. Henry lowered his head and answered cautiously.

"This all happened in my territory, and I’ll handle it. You have my word."

"You’ve got one week. Bring those kids to me within that time, Henry. Or have you forgotten what happens when someone fails me?"

"Of course not, sir. I’ll have them in front of you very soon."

"Speaking of failures," the boss said, his cold gaze sweeping across the room, "where is Kaji? I haven’t heard from him in a while. Don’t tell me he’s been captured too?"

Ryan interjected with a dismissive tone.

"Has he been captured, Henry? Or are we dealing with another failure?"

Henry coughed lightly, masking the tremor in his voice, before turning toward Ryan.

"No, he wasn’t captured. When we stopped hearing from Peter, we went to the warehouse ourselves. There, we only found Kaji unconscious. Once he regained consciousness, he used his powers to escape immediately."

"Ohhh," Ryan drawled mockingly. "Guess he ran because he knows what happens to failures."

Ryan's taunt hung in the air, followed by a brief silence. One of the other men asked cautiously,

"Why was the meeting with the kids set in such a remote warehouse?"

"Because they’re just kids, I left all the arrangements to Peter. Maybe it was the depot closest to them? That’s why we’ve started investigating the villages near that warehouse."

Suddenly, the boss rose from his seat, and with him, everyone else quickly stood, except Ryan, who deliberately took his time. The boss looked at Henry.

"You have one week. No excuses. I don’t tolerate failure."

Henry bowed his head.

"Understood, sir."

The boss left the room, followed by the other Elite Seven members, one by one. As Henry was about to leave, Ryan stepped in his path, smirking.

"Hey, I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll make you an offer. Beg me for help, and I might just lend you a hand. What do you say?"

Henry shot him a look of disgust.

"Beg? From a kid like you? Listen, just because you climbed the ranks young, don’t let it get to your head. I’ve completed more missions than you’ve had birthdays."

"True," Ryan replied, his grin widening, "but at my age, you weren’t even dreaming of a high rank. You were running errands for the grunts. That’s the difference between us."

The jab hit a nerve, but Henry swallowed his anger and stormed out. Ryan wasn’t wrong. He was the youngest to ever reach the Seven Elite at the age of 22. Henry, on the other hand, had only made it past 40, after completing over a hundred missions.

Seething, Henry immediately gathered his men and barked orders.

"Search every village near that warehouse. Find those kids, now! And summon Ethan to my office. If Kaji failed, then we’ll take Ethan with us. With his abilities, it’s impossible for anyone to stand against him!"

His men nodded and got to work immediately. Meanwhile, the kids, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing around them, were sound asleep in the comfort of their home.