Chapter 164: Mother christmas.

Sabrina frowned at the name given by Kalinda. Of course, she knew who Bianca was. It was her niece. Someone that she called her protege proudly. A young woman that was as precious to her as Andrea.

Bianca was loyal to the guild, she would never do anything that harmed it in the slightest. "Bianca?!" Sabrina barked, her eyebrow twitching. "Are you out of your mind? Are you absolutely sure it’s her? You are not talking about anyone else but my niece here Kalinda, so I need you to be sure. It can’t be a suspicion; it has to be an accusation backed by iron clade proof."

Kalinda nodded gravely. "More than sure. She is the most famous Mother christmas among the low-borns. The mysterious donor who delivers tech and energy stones to them to better their lives. The team that has been investigating the thefts for over six months. They have confirmed that it was she that was intercepting the supply trucks. What she stole was repackaged and handed to the low-borns at no cost. There is evidence."

Sabrina exhaled, narrowing her eyes. "And she has been doing this alone? She must have had people helping her."

Kalinda held out the tablet, the video playing on loop. On the screen, Bianca was a force of nature__ laying tire spikes across the road, bringing the lead truck down in a screeching halt, and neutralizing the armed guards with terrifying efficiency. But what caught Sabrina off guard was what came next, Bianca expertly took out the armed men and bound them, then she administered quick, deliberate first aid to the bruised driver, and casually took the wheel before driving off into the night.

Sabrina felt her pulse spike with sheer fury, yet a betraying spark of awe flickered in her chest. Her protege was almost outdoing her. She thrust the tablet back to Kalinda.

"Once I confirmed her identity I ordered for a deeper investigation into her whereabouts. The investigating team discovered that she has also been stealing from the vaults." Kalinda added. "Not only has she been quietly looting technology, but also high-grade supplies meant for the noble families from our physical storage. In addition to that, she has been stealing information. She has been hacking into the central core servers and extracted classified data! Your niece has been a busy woman."

Sabrina’s heart skipped a beat. "What data exactly?!"

"We__ we don’t know the exact files yet," Kalinda admitted, her voice dropping. "The IP address was tracked back to her secret apartment. It looks like she’s been selling information especially about trade routes to someone that is untraceable. She has been doing this right under our noses for two years!"

"Damn it!" Sabrina hissed, slamming her palm against the elevator wall. "That brainless, foolish, treacherous little viper! What is she thinking?! And why the hell did it take you so long to know that our servers were being hacked__ you are useless."

A sudden wave of cold sweat broke out on Sabrina’s neck. The Black Flower Guild was involved in dozens of shady, illegal, black-market operations. If Bianca had managed to copy sensitive guild secrets, the whole guild could be dragged into a legal and political mess. She looked at Kalinda and thought, you will be taking the fall for this as the administrator here, I will pretend to know nothing.

"Where is she now?" Sabrina demanded, her tone laced with deadly intent. "Did you lock her up in the dark dungeon? You must have found her already I presume."

Kalinda scratched her cheek awkwardly, looking away. "Well, __ Boss, you know Bianca. She’s literally the best in the guild when it comes to going underground. When our guards went to pick her up, they discovered her apartment was empty. She has not been back to her secret apartment, and nobody has seen her for two days. She vanished like smoke in the wind."

Sabrina let out a long, exhausted sigh, rubbing her throbbing temples. "Unbelievable__" Betrayal truly comes from your own family! She walked into the building, pressed an elevator button and gestured for Kalinda to join her. As the metal doors slide shut, she wondered how to handle this hot potato. Bianca, youstupid girl, Sabrina cursed silently in her heart, wherever you ran off to, you better not do anything brainless with that data__ for your family’s sake and that of the guild.

A few minutes later, the elevator doors opened into the guild’s vast underground warehouse. Row after row of wooden crates filled with devices like phones, watches, motorcycles and other things stretched as far as the eye could see.

Kalinda escorted Sabrina down the central aisle, stopping in front of a long steel examination table with new items.

"Look at these, boss," Kalinda said, picking up jar of rich, fragrant harmonization liquid and herbs. "These items just hit the black market some days ago, and they’re spreading like wildfire. All of them are top-tier beast supplies."

Sabrina picked up the jar of harmonization liquid, opening the lid. A rich, pure aura immediately wafted into her nose. Her eyes narrowed. "Oh wow, this is strong!"

She picked up a training manual for teaching beasts to tracks scents. The ink was vibrant; the paper made from wood pulp. It was standard quality.

"The black-market vendors are selling ten types of skill books; we only got this one. They are also selling resonance collars that calm aggression in beasts. Drones, beast food, pulse-in ink that tattoos an image of your half-life beast on your body. Small energy stone powered tricycles that carry two people and a few goods." Kalinda added, her voice heavy. "If these mystery goods keep flooding the market, Apex Scavenger Industries is going to lose half its high-paying clientele within a month!" ℯℯ𝑙.

Sabrina put the book back down, her face looking like she had just swallowed a bitter liquor.

"We have a rival," Sabrina said coldly, her fingers clenching into fists. "And a damn good one at that. Where in the world is this stuff coming from? Who is backing this? Somnivore tech is our advantage over other guilds. We have to control the supply chain for these things."

"We’re already trying to trace the supply chain," Kalinda explained hurriedly. "But you know how the black-market works. Everything passes through ten different fake hands, masked merchants. It’s like trying to catch fish in a muddy swamp."

Sabrina turned her glare toward Kalinda, her sharp voice echoing loudly off the stone walls of the warehouse like a crack of thunder.

"I don’t care if you have to dig up every swamp in the world!" Sabrina shouted, her eyes blazing with cold fury. "Find out who is making these goods! Find them, or don’t bother coming back!"

Kalinda shivered, cupping her fists instantly. "Understood, Boss!"

With a soft swish, Kalinda’s shadow blurred, and she vanished instantly into thin air to execute the order.