The following day, the two cousins immediately flew to Mexico along with a few of Sota's select employees and several bodyguards. They traveled aboard a private plane, with Kenzii disguised as one of Sota's people. It was necessary to keep everything clean.
The moment they landed, they instantly got to work organizing the blueprint for Santiago's execution. Even before setting foot in the country, Kenzii had already meticulously plotted the entire assassination inside his head.
On their second day, Sota successfully executed his planned meeting with the five chosen elite businessmen and women. He was delighted, Santiago made his appearance right on cue.
Throughout the meeting, Kenzii quietly observed his target—up close, the man was even uglier in person.
The meeting dragged on for hours, moving from investment proposals put forth by the five candidates to Sota showcasing the true reach and capabilities of their conglomerate.
"Thank you for making the time to attend this meeting. Over the next few days, you will receive word on whether your company will be accepted. I still need to present today's proceedings and decisions to my grandfather."
As Sota spoke, he subtly glanced at Kenzii, giving him the cue to head out first and initiate the tailing.
Understanding the sign immediately, Kenzii quietly slipped away and made his way to the parking lot. He stepped into a prepped black sedan and changed into more comfortable gear while awaiting Sota's signal. He never forgot to wear a prosthetic face disguise on every mission; it was a must.
Moments later, Kenzii's phone beeps—the go-ahead from Sota.
He started the engine and drove up near the entrance of the Monteriel branch building.
He spotted Garza walking out of the premises, flanked by a squad of his men. Before Santiago could even step into his vehicle, Kenzii accelerated, driving past their convoy first.
This was Kenzii's method to avoid raising suspicions of being followed.
A man like Santiago Garza—a high tier drug lord—was no fool; he wouldn't allow himself to be tailed easily. His men undoubtedly possessed sharp, paranoid eyes.
But nothing can beat Kenzi's sharp intuition and keen eyes. He was a top tier…
Kenzii was always three steps ahead. Earlier, when Garza's main vehicle was sitting in the parking lot, Kenzii had already planted a tracking device onto the undercarriage using a remote-controlled toy car, cleverly bypassing the guards who remained stationed around the vehicle even while their boss was inside the building.
While driving, Kenzii monitored Garza's convoy trailing behind him through his display. Whenever they reached a two-way road, he intentionally slowed his pace, allowing Garza's vehicles to overtake him naturally.
An hour later, Garza's convoy veered off onto an exclusive, unmarked roadway. Rather than following directly, Kenzii kept his vehicle speeding straight down the main highway. He immediately dropped a GPS pin on the turn-off, marking the coordinates to revisit in the coming days.
That very same day, Sota flew back to the Philippines, leaving behind a few trusted staff members to handle the paperwork once the board of directors officially approved an investor from the meeting. It was also a tactical move to ensure Kenzii's presence in Mexico as one of his men remained completely seamless and airtight.
Over the next few days, Kenzii surveilled Garza's estate and infiltrated his properties. He had already broken into Garza's safe and secured several key documents, all while shadowing the man's every move.
This entire operation rested squarely in his hands, and failure was not an option.
He uncovered extensive intel regarding Garza's daily routines. The drug lord frequented four specific locations, one of which was his primary narcotics manufacturing facility. Kenzii kept tabs on all of them, switching between stolen vehicles taken from unsuspecting locals to stay completely off the grid.
By his fourth day in Mexico—the sixth day of his week long mission—everything aligned according to plan. Today was the day Santiago Garza would die.
He had gathered every piece of necessary intelligence; now, it was time to collect.
Parked in the dark shadows of a dense tree line near a tire manufacturing plant owned by Garza sat a matte-black car. Inside, Kenzii waited for the precise moment to strike.
Directly beneath the tire factory lay Garza's underground laboratory and main narcotics production facility—the very stronghold Kenzii was set to breach tonight.
Sitting in the back seat, Kenzii had his laptop open, maintaining an encrypted comms line with his two cousins.
Using his hacking capabilities, Sota had already bypassed the factory's security grid, confirming that Garza was currently inside his private office—the exact office housing his hidden fortune, a secret known to no one except Garza and the three cousins.
Once the factory's innocent day-shift workers had cleared out and the clock struck 2:00 AM, Kenzii pulled his tactical balaclava over his face. He geared up with two sidearms, a combat knife, and several extra magazines. In a situation like this, he couldn't rely solely on the demonic system. Truth be told, if it weren't for his grandfather's special request, Kenzii could have claimed Garza's heart on day one without breaking a sweat. But retrieving the hidden assets meant things wouldn't be quite so simple.
"Be careful, Kenzii. Wait for my mark before every move," Sota's voice reminded him through his earpiece. A body cam mounted to Kenzii's chest fed a live video stream back to Sota, allowing him to track his cousin's every action.
"Copy that."
Once Sota confirmed that the feed covering a specific perimeter wall was looped and clear, Kenzii scaled the barrier effortlessly, dropping silently into Garza's territory—just as they had rehearsed with Garza's other safehouses.
Breaching the main structure, he carefully navigated through the corridors dictated by Sota over the comms.
"Head straight down to the end of the hallway. You'll see a stack of wooden crates there."
When Kenzii reached the dead end, he raised an eyebrow. There was nothing out of the ordinary—just wooden crates.
"What am I looking at?" Kenzii whispered softly, tapping his earpiece.
"That's the sole entrance leading down. Feel around the bottom-most crate, there's a hidden trigger mechanism."
Kenzii dropped to one knee and ran his fingers along the base of the crates. Sota was right—there was a hidden switch.
"Wait!"
Just as Kenzii was about to engage the switch, Sota's sharp command halted his hand.
"Before you press that, I need you ready. The moment you reach the bottom of those stairs, Garza's armed guards are scattered across the floor," Sota warned as Kenzii listened intently. "Take them down one by one without raising a loud alarm. Once you hit the second level, you'll reach Garza's main lab. And... Grandfather left a specific order for that room."
Kenzii went rigid at the mention of the old man. Of course—another demand.
"He wants you to kill everyone inside…"
Kenzii froze, stunned by Sota's words. Over the line, he could hear a heated argument breaking out between Alas and Sota, but Sota's instruction echoed repeatedly in his mind.
"Would you shut up for a second?" Sota's voice cut through the comms, silencing Alas before addressing Kenzii again. "Grandfather says kill them all. If you leave them alive, other cartel bosses will just recruit them to resume production elsewhere. Leaving them breathing means the supply chain never stops."
Sota paused, letting the weight of the order settle.
"Grandfather despises that trade above all else. The drug Garza manufactures down there is among the top eight most dangerous illicit substances in the world, and he wants the entire line wiped out."
"Is that all?" Kenzii replied calmly, leaving Sota momentarily speechless.
Sota hadn't expected Kenzii to agree to such a cold directive so willingly. Even Alas, who had been fiercely protesting their grandfather's brutal demand, went dead silent over the line.
A fleeting seed of hesitation had lingered in Kenzii, but his cold logic instantly swallowed it whole. He was already a killer—why draw a line now? Besides, this act would indirectly spare countless innocent lives from being ruined by Garza's poison. Consider it his grim contribution to society.
"A-Are you sure about this?" Sota asked, still incredulous. Kenzii offered a firm yes.
"Do I even have a choice? Is there one?" Kenzii asked, only to be met with silence as the other person froze, completely speechless.
"T-Then you're clear to proceed. Just make sure you get out of that building alive." Sota exhales, leaving everything in Kenzii's hand.
Kenzii threaded the suppressor onto his gun, taking one deep, measured breath. It was time.
He pressed the hidden button and immediately stood back up as the heavy crates slid smoothly sideways, revealing a dark concrete staircase plunging into the earth.
The moment his boots stepped onto those stairs, he would become a pure, unadulterated murderer—not driven by the curse of his left hand, nor by the demon coiled within him, but by his own conscious choice for the sake of his family and… the people.
He had truly become the monster everyone always claimed he was.