Somewhere in the city, a shadow moved across the rooftop edges as a whisper carried on the wind. The figure paused, high above the streets, eyes scanning, calculating. Below, the city thrummed with life unaware, ignorant, fragile.
Ethan didn't know this shadow existed yet. He didn't know the unseen forces testing the Mitchells weren't just frightened creditors or rival investors they were something else entirely. And for the first time since his release, he sensed a presence that felt like his own: sharp, deliberate, and dangerous.
Back in the Dragon Chamber, the night stretched on. Ethan's eyes were fixed on the holographic city grid. Every flicker, every micro-movement was recorded, analyzed, and interpreted. Financial anomalies, suspicious activities, even subtle changes in personal behavior they all appeared in patterns, lines, and pulses that no human could comprehend. But he could.
Miller approached quietly, carrying a tablet glowing with live updates. "Master… one of the Mitchell subsidiaries has just been breached. Not financially—digitally. Someone accessed the private servers. The logs are wiped clean. They left only one trace."
Ethan didn't flinch. His Golden Finger pulsed faintly beneath his skin. "Show me."
The screen displayed an encrypted signature, almost impossibly sophisticated. Someone had slipped past layers of firewalls, surveillance drones, and proxy encryption. And yet, the intruder had left a mark that only the Dragon's sight could detect a faint signature in the digital energy, a ripple that hinted at power, intention, and audacity.
"Interesting," Ethan murmured. "They aren't just testing the Mitchells. They're testing me."
Miller paled. "Sir… should we"
"No," Ethan interrupted, voice calm, razor-sharp. "We observe. Let them think they have the advantage. Let them believe this is a game they can win."
He turned back to the holographic city, every street, every building, every alleyway laid bare before him. And then he saw her. Lisa. A faint pulse on the Dragon Sight a tremor in the black mist around her heart. She had been hiding it. Always hiding it. But tonight, something had changed. A faint shadow of exhaustion, sharper than usual, threaded through her movements.
Ethan's lips curved into a thin, calculating smile. He hadn't intended to involve her yet. She was supposed to remain a variable, a ghost of his past, for now. But the Dragon could not ignore the imbalance.
Miller spoke hesitantly. "Master… you could intervene."
Ethan shook his head. "Not yet. She needs to survive, yes. But she also needs to see the world she ignored… unravel."
Across the city, the shadow figure moved again. Unseen by anyone but the faintest sensors Ethan had planted, they navigated the streets with impossible agility. Every building they touched, every system they infiltrated, they left behind a whisper an echo that Ethan could feel in the currents of the city.
And then it happened.
A financial alert blinked across the Dragon Chamber screens another Mitchell subsidiary, this one tied directly to Lisa's personal accounts, had been emptied. Not enough to bankrupt them outright, but enough to send panic through their household. And there, etched into the digital residue, was a signature Ethan recognized not the intruder's, but someone he had thought long gone.
A low hum of realization vibrated through him. This wasn't just an anonymous player. This was someone with access, someone close to the Mitchells, someone who had been inside all along.
"Show me everything tied to the account," Ethan ordered, voice ice-cold. "Cross-reference anyone with prior access who disappeared without explanation in the last five years."
Miller's hands moved fast, tapping the holographic interface with precise, practiced motions. "Sir… there's… one match. A former financial advisor… vanished the same week you were imprisoned. Name: Darren Zhao."
Ethan's eyes narrowed. The Zhaos. He hadn't expected them to move so quickly or so boldly. Their fingerprints were all over the Mitchell Group's unraveling, but there was another layer to this. Darren wasn't acting alone. Someone or something—was orchestrating events with far more subtlety than any human hand could achieve.
Outside the city, the wind carried a distant echo, faint but distinct. A pulse. A warning. And for the first time in five years, Ethan felt a flicker of unease. Not fear—never fear but recognition that the game had layers he hadn't yet seen.
Meanwhile, at the Mitchell mansion, chaos had already begun. Phones rang constantly, the household staff whispered in panic, and Lisa's father, Robert, paced like a caged animal.
"Where are our creditors? Why isn't anyone answering?" he demanded.
Martha Mitchell's nails dug into her designer handbag. "Robert, it's everywhere! All our accounts… there's nothing left! And Lisa… she's… she's asking questions!"
Lisa stood near the window, her arms crossed, eyes fixed on the city below. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn't name it. Something unseen was moving, reshaping their world, and the Mitchells were powerless.
She clenched her fists, whispering to herself, "Who… is doing this?"
No one answered. Not even Robert. Not even her mother.
And in the shadows of the city, someone was watching her, too. A faint glint of movement on the rooftop, a whisper of a figure that vanished when noticed, leaving only a pulse of anticipation. The Mitchells were no longer just under threat they were being manipulated. By whom? They didn't know.
But Ethan did. Or at least part of him did.
He didn't yet know the identity of the shadow figure. He didn't yet know their intent. But he knew one thing: their moves were deliberate. They were testing the Dragon. And every test, every whisper, every shadow would be answered… in time.
Back in the Dragon Chamber, Ethan's hands hovered over the holographic screens. A subtle golden glow beneath his skin traced the lines of the city, the flows of power, the tremors of fear emanating from the Mitchell mansion. And then, without warning, the screens flickered.
A single message appeared:
"I see you, Dragon. But the game has only begun. Are you ready to play?"
Ethan's eyes narrowed. The Dragon pulsed, bright and fierce beneath his skin. A small smile curved his lips. "I've been waiting for you," he murmured.
And in that moment, the city itself seemed to hold its breath.
Somewhere in the financial district, Darren Zhao stared at his tablet, a thin smirk on his lips. He didn't know Ethan Hunt. He didn't know the Dragon God had returned. But he did know the Mitchells were vulnerable. And he had his own plan one that would shake even the Dragon to his core.
Unseen, unknowing, yet threading the same web… fate was beginning to converge.
The city lights flickered. Shadows lengthened. And for the first time in years, Ethan felt the thrill of the unknown the unmistakable scent of a predator in the darkness, one that might finally match him.
The Dragon had awakened.
But in the shadows, something waited. Patient. Calculating. Watching.
The city didn't know it yet, but everything was about to change.
And now… dear reader, tell me if you were in Ethan's place, would you strike immediately at the unseen threat, or wait and let them reveal themselves first?
The Dragon is awake, but the game… the game has only just begun.