The ₱5 million fee from Nexus Tech now sat securely in ASL's coffers. The System had ensured that the operation's costs had generated an even larger net gain for Aiden personally. The immediate crisis was over. The need for cash was now secondary to the need for protection and loyalty.
Aiden now shifted his focus from the logistics operation to the small, cold apartment he still shared with his only kin.
Echoes of Monteverde
Aiden's true motivation was rooted in the opulent life stolen from him and the violent deaths of his parents.
Leonardo Monteverde (The Negotiator): Aiden's father was not a simple oligarch; he was a revolutionary businessman who built his wealth on merit and global efficiency, threatening the entrenched family monopolies. He was killed in a staged vehicular ambush on EDSA when Aiden was twelve.
Andrea Cruz-Monteverde (The Shield): His mother was a high-powered, fearless corporate lawyer who knew where every body was buried. She spent a year trying to dismantle the conspiracy that killed her husband before her car was forced off a cliff road—ruled an "accident"—when Aiden was thirteen.
Aiden inherited their genius: his father's strategic mind and his mother's meticulous, legal rigor. He also inherited their enemies.
The Anchor: Leo Monteverde
Aiden quietly entered the cramped two-bedroom apartment near Tandang Sora. Their uncle, who had successfully stolen their inheritance through forged documents and political payoffs, was currently out, presumably drinking away their parents' remaining liquid assets.
In the small living room, Aiden found his younger brother, Leo Monteverde, now fifteen.
Leo was different from Aiden. He possessed their mother's warmth, but the trauma of loss had left him fragile, prone to depression and anxiety. He was a brilliant but deeply introverted student, buried in advanced physics textbooks.
"Where were you?" Leo asked softly, looking up from his worn book. His eyes held a flicker of fear.
"Working," Aiden replied, stripping off the sharp suit jacket and hanging it carefully. The suit was a necessary façade; this small, crowded space was his reality. "I closed the deal we talked about. The refilling station money is recovered, and much more."
Leo looked at the new, expensive fabric of the suit, then at his brother's calm face. "The system is rigged, Aiden. You know that. Be careful. They killed Mother and Father just for being successful."
"They killed them because they played by the old rules, Leo," Aiden corrected him, his voice firm but gentle. "I am playing by new ones. I promise you this: They will never touch you. This will end."
Aiden didn't explain the System, not yet. Leo needed stability, not terrifying, impossible magic numbers. He just needed to see results and safety.
Recruiting the Discarded: The "Ghost Legion"
Aiden knew that the oligarchs and corrupt officials didn't just sideline their rivals; they destroyed the careers and lives of honest professionals who refused to cooperate. These victims—frame-up targets, whistleblowers, and moral dissenters—were Aiden's next target for recruitment.
He tasked Silencer Cruz with a specific, deeply confidential mission: identify highly skilled professionals who had been unjustly framed, fired, or blacklisted by corrupt forces in the last five years. They were seeking not mercenaries, but loyalists driven by righteous anger and a desperate need for reinstatement.
Aiden called this group his "Ghost Legion": people erased by the system, now waiting to be resurrected.
Dr. Elias "The Ethicist" Reyes (Age 45, Former Hospital Director):
The Frame: Ousted from his position at a top private hospital for refusing to certify substandard medical equipment bought by a political ally of a major family. Blacklisted from practicing medicine legally.
The Skill:Medical/Chemical Expertise. Essential for security, counter-surveillance, and understanding biological threats.
Atty. Clara "The Needle" Villanueva (Age 32, Former Corporate Lawyer):
The Frame: Destroyed by a smear campaign and disbarred for refusing to tamper with land documents crucial to a major mining oligarch's illegal acquisition.
The Skill:Legal/Compliance Warfare. Crucial for creating perfectly legal business contracts and finding the microscopic weak points in enemy corporations.
Capt. Miguel "Sentinel" Dela Cerna (Age 38, Former Army Intelligence):
The Frame: Dishonorably discharged after exposing a high-ranking official's links to arms trafficking and illegal gambling syndicates. Now working as a minimum-wage guard.
The Skill:Intelligence Gathering and Tactical Command. Essential for training and running external security and information networks.
The Recruitment Pitch: Revenge as Investment
Aiden met each recruit individually, away from the prying eyes of Manila. He didn't offer them money first; he offered them justice and purpose.
"You were destroyed by the very system you tried to protect," Aiden told Sentinel Dela Cerna during their meeting. "I am building a firm that operates outside their jurisdiction, a firm that will eventually dismantle the power structure that broke you. I am not offering you a wage; I am offering you a chance to fight your war again, but from a position of absolute strength."
He then showed them the money. Not a bribe, but the legitimate, highly secure salaries and contracts ASL could offer.
Aiden invested ₱2.5 million in their initial recruitment: covering their immediate debts, setting up new, legal residences, and providing a significant annual retainer—all structured as legal business consulting fees to ASL.
[Transaction Log: Spending Event]
[Amount Spent: ₱2,500,000 (Ghost Legion Initial Retainers)]
[Purpose: Human Capital Acquisition (Specialized Consulting Fees)]
[REIMBURSEMENT EXECUTED: +₱5,000,000]
Aiden had solidified his core leadership—men and women of impeccable skill, driven by a deep, personal hatred for the corruption he intended to destroy. His investment in human capital was immediately doubled, funding his war with the very cost of recruiting his army.
The Ghost Legion was placed on standby, ready to deploy their specialized skills for the next, much larger, strategic acquisition.