"perez, are your men ready?"

"yes they are, admiral"

"very well, our acanthopis will be there tomorrow, she will be carrying my orders"

"a confirmation will be delivered tomorrow then"

"i'll be waiting"

"count on it admiral"

emil perez smirked as he ended the phone call while puffing his cohiba maduro #5. it was a little over a month ago when he received a message from an unknown and untraceable number about making him a part of their expansion. he dismissed the message at first, thinking it's just a prank or just some random small gang who wanted his attention. but when a sum of 10million US dollar was deposited on his off-shore account. that caught his attention. his undivided attention.

with the request of his distant partners he had gathered three men they will be needing to carry out their plan for tomorrow. eliminate their competition. his tie up with the red serpents indeed boosted his capabilities. their mission, monopoly.

the three men he recruited, theo asuncion a notorious guy from tondo who had been in and out of jail for drug dealing and human trafficking, the second, janus deceno an ex cop who was framed by his colleagues in uniform whom perez offered to help carry out a revenge, the third one, james ocampo a fugitive from US whose was name given directly by one of the red serpents upper echelon.

from what he know, red serpents were headed by a man they only called admiral, below him would be the 1st rank echelon known as the viper, and the 2nd high rank known as the mamba. no one knew their real identity. and as for emil, just so long that his business is well-protected he does not care.

he signalled one of his men to come closer

"brando, kumusta yung pinapaasikaso ko sayo?" he asked his trustee

"boss ok na yung private room sa emperial palace" brando proudly answered

"maaasahan ka talaga. sinigurado mo ba na yung jade room ang nakuha mo?"

"oo naman boss. singkwenta mil ba naman itapal ko sa mukha nung intsik behong manager eh"

napangiti naman si emil, wala talagang hindi nagagawa ang pera

"boss pano pala yung mga bodyguard nya?"

"wag kang mag-alala. pag babae ang usapan siguradong hindi magdadala yung demonyong yun. mukha lang matapang pero pagdating sa asawa bahag ang buntot nun, hindi yun nagsasama ng bodyguard pag nambababae"

naguluhan naman ang tauhan ni emil "boss babae? akala ko ba tayo ang yayari kay kan?"

"relax brando, masyado kang mainit. tayo lang ang may pakana sa pagtumba kay kan, pero hindi kamay natin ang madudumihan" emil stood up then tapped brando's shoulder "pahinga ka muna"

kahit naguguluhan walang nagawa si brando kundi sumunod. kunsabagay, bayad pa rin naman siya ang mahalaga nagawa nya ang inuutos ng kanyang amo.

"boss ibig mong sabihin babae ang tirador nung bago mong kaalyado?"

he laughed at his trustees contemplation

"siguro. ang importante, mawawalan tayo ng isang malaking kakumpetensya."

^^^^

meanwhile... at nbi's headquarters the following morning...

the four men were busy preparing for javier's insertion.

"sigurado ka ba dyan sa naiisip mo kris?" dir. trajano asked "sigurado ka bang hindi nila yan madedetect kay galvez?"

"sir, aaminin ko this has never been tested yet at kung sakali si galvez pa lang ang unang ahente na gagamit nito, but i have faith in my works"

the two men crossed their arms. they needed more assurance.

"sir based on the information i have gathered about red serpent, they are very meticulous and highly sophisticated, they would go thru several lengths para mapatunayan ang loyalty ng mga taong nasa loob ng organisasyon nila. hindi sila basta-basta na lang magtitiwala" kris explained further

"that we know of, but what are you getting at?" salazar asked wanting to hear his resolution

"you asked me to make sure everything is invisible. sa ganitong paraan kahit hubaran nila si galvez wala silang madedetect na wires. and his analog phone? only his contact lenses can acknowledge the program i have installed. and if there's one thing you should know, hinding-hindi ko ilalagay sa alanganin ang buhay ng kaibigan ko"

that sent assurance to the director and to their unit chief. the two men nodded signalling kris to move forward with his plan

"your analog phone has a scanner program that you can unlock by going to your calculator, your pair of contact lenses will be your passcode. once you're in you can send in numeric codes only. so it would be best to go old school. keypad assigned letters para mabilis kong ma-decipher ang message mo" kris explained

"makakatanggap ba ako ng mensahe galing sa inyo?"

"that is the flaw jay, we cannot send in anything. yet. but i'm working on it" kris sighed

"as long as you're in it. i trust you" jay said patting kris' shoulder "oo nga pala, what if i lost my lenses? where do i get the replacement?"

"i have an extra for you, send me a message if you already used your extra pair para makagawa ako ng bago"

"good enough. so pano sir, i should get going" jay extended his hand to salute his officers

"mag-iingat ka galvez"

the young agent nodded at his superior's message

"jay, umuwi ka. hindi ko kayang magpaliwanag sa mommy mo pag may nangyari sayo" paalala ng kanyang ninong

"ninong, hindi ka magpapaliwanag. tsaka isa pa bibigyan ko pa si mommy ng apo. babalik po ako"

he then turned around and started walking towards the exit but just as he was about to shut the door close, his friend, kris shouted

"galvez!"

he stopped and turned around

"ninong ka pare" he joked but as he looked at his friend's expression and the image on his computer his smile faded

the picture showed the face of a man he will never ever forget. the man he considered as the devil. the devil who took the life of his father.

"jay, let me make some calls. you don't have to do this" dir. trajano held on to his arm

he looked at his officer "sir, you don't have to"

his statement sent in a sense of coldness felt by everyone in the room.

"no galvez. this is way too personal" ruben broke the silence "i will not let yo—"

"i might want to inflict a devious kind of pain on him right now because he killed my father, but i won't. not until we save the eagle. i can wait to have my revenge. and that is seeing that devil behind bars"

trajano let out a sigh of relief. he trusted the young man's judgement. he stood straight and gave a salute as a sign of respect to his subordinate

"pero sir hin—" ruben tried to rebut

"carry on soldier. you have my trust" dir. trajano said cutting off ruben

and with that jay, made his way out of the room. his words were honest and true. yes he had long wanted to avenge his father's death but he knew better to trust the justice system. at least now he has a name to work on with.

finally the picture of the devil has a name.
emil perez.

as he close the door, ruben still continued to protest.

"sir, he needs to be pulled out from this."

"ruben naiintindihan kita. alam ko kung saan nanggagaling ang pag-aalala mo. pero may tiwala ako sa inaanak mo"

"sir it's not even a matter of trust. sir—"

"elie raised a good man. he will never let his mother down and he will never scar his father's name, have that in mind ruben"

at what his director said, ruben fell silent. that was true. elie raised javier well. she had never implied that he should be angry by the loss of his father instead she brought him up believing that his father was a great man who faced death for a greater cause.

^^^^^

in another side of the world....

"would you like to have another glass of champagne, madamme?" the flight attendant offered

a gorgeous girl wearing a pair of prada sunglasses smiled reading out the attendant's name "yes please lia..." then she held her champagne flute for lia to fill. still have a few hours she thought.

"first time in the philippines?" lia asked the lady as she noticed her southern european accent

"oh yes yes... first time" she answered with a sweet smile

"visiting a family or friends perhaps?" lia pryed.

"a friend. just for a week or two. it depends"

"i see. well, i hope you enjoy your stay. let me know if you will be needing anything"

"certainly dear. thank you" she politely wave her hand as she saw lia step forward

she opened her laptop and check any messages from the admiral. none so far.

she looked out the window. 17 years. it has been 17 years since she and her sister were forced to leave their hometown. of course she lied about visiting the country for the first time. this was where she was born. this was her home. was.

it did not even cross her mind that she will return home. and that she can return home. she looked at her passport. of course she can. with the name she's carrying. of course she can. because no one can link her name any longer to what happened 18 years ago.

zynna brooke roswell

and in her passport, the flag of her saviour. the flag of the country that took care of her and her sister.

she was brought back to reality when she heard a ding from her computer. finally.

she opened the message and smiled at what she had read.

robert kan
chinese businessman. ties with hongkong's mafia, 14k and soifung. holds 65% of drug circulation in the metro. sen. vidanio, sen. leharez and doj usec. parguelas under his paycheck.

i want him out.

make sure to put on the red dress in your luggage.

she looked at the message once more her then closed her eyes. she has to engrave in her mind the name of her target and what does he do. she had to remind herself why she's here. and what she's here for.

for the past two years, she had been regarded by the red serpents as their assassin, which earned her the title of acanthopis, a snake commonly known as death adders.

she was the one behind the murders of a governor, a monarch, a senator, a prime minister, a marshall, a general and a president. of which countries. that would be a guessing game. not to mention those without ranks and titles.

this has also been her ticket to become part of the upper echelon. ranking 4th but considered as the right hand of the admiral, the red serpents' highest rennaissance. whose identity has never been revealed. only the the first and second ranked echelon knew his identity and was able to meet him personally.

that was her goal. to be the first rank. the viper. so she would know the identity of the admiral. but for now, she has to earn more of his trust. she has to lay more deaths upon his orders. no room for error.

as the plane made its final descend, zynna held on to her necklace. she closed her eyes as her finger traced the letters at the back of it's platinum pendant.

these letters will always be her courage. this necklace will always be her strength.

as she deplaned from the aircraft, she pulled out her phone and dialled the number included on the message sent to her prior to her getting on the plane.

"i have arrived. 15:30 i want to meet the recruits" she told the person on the other line

"where?"

"the coordinates were sent already"

"i'll be there"

"you're not a recruit. you don't need to come" she answered sternly

"are you sure?" the man checked

"i only need the recruits. i need to know if you have the good ones"

"i checked their rap sheet myself" the man defended

"rap sheets that can always be fabricated. send me the names. i'll deal with it" she hanged up the phone and went straight to the limo waiting for her

"magan— mali... tanga amerikana yan oh. yung tinuro ng anak mo" the driver reprimanded himself trying to remember what his daughter taught him "ahhh naku ano na nga ba yun?" he scratched his head "gu— ahh gud morneng po mam" he finally greeted in a funny accent

his smile disappeared when he heard the lady's reply.

"magandang umaga din po kuya"

******

maraming salamat po... for those who continued to read...

😇🙏💕