The Billionaire Twins Need A New Mommy!-Chapter 658: The Region of Ashkar

[Ashkar]

Men raided the governor’s residence, but all they found were a handful of people—mostly servants of the manor, whose only role had been to maintain the place. Clearly, they hadn’t done much, considering the governor’s body — along with his wife’s and son’s — had been left to rot until nothing but skeletons remained.

The roar of a helicopter’s rotors thundered across the vast lot near the residence.

Several members of the Order, selected for this mission in Ashkar, stood on the ground, guiding the aircraft as it descended. The moment it touched down, one of them rushed forward, fighting against the violent wind whipped up by the blades.

"Sir!" the man shouted as Atlas stepped out, walking beside him. "This place is empty! We’ve checked the main residence and surrounding areas for the governor’s men, but they’ve already fled! We’re still gathering information."

Atlas listened as the report was practically yelled into his ear.

"Sir Slater is at the back of the residence!" the man added. "And Baby has already arrived — he’s taken charge of raids at the other major points in Ashkar!"

Atlas nodded in acknowledgment and continued walking, leaving his men to follow standard procedures. After all, they were taking over Ashkar, Halvik, and New Gehran—essentially the entirety of Ravah.

Lola had already taken charge of New Gehran, and Atlas trusted his wife to handle it well. He, on the other hand, had dealt with Halvik first.

Based on his intelligence, Halvik was the easiest target. It was the most fragile of Ravah’s regions. Gehran had Jarvis to enforce structure and control, which explained the resistance there.

Halvik, however, operated under Godfrey’s absolute rule. Though an administration existed on paper, its members were nothing more than decorative placements. Godfrey wasn’t foolish—but he craved total control, and that made his governance brittle.

Not to mention, Godfrey was indulgent to the point of addiction. Hence, his long list of wives. Yet even when one of them went missing or died unexpectedly, his first wife maintained real influence over the region and its people—including the so-called officials Godfrey had slapped titles onto.

Atlas knew that if he made Godfrey’s first wife listen, Halvik would offer no resistance. She understood better than anyone that the region wasn’t prepared for war or rebellion.

The clashes between Halvik and New Gehran had been nothing more than posturing—a show to suggest Halvik could still fight. In truth, if Gehran—specifically Jarvis—had initiated a civil war, Halvik would have fallen quickly.

New Gehran had Jarvis.

Halvik had only Godfrey—a selfish, vain bastard who had grown complacent in power and neglected the region’s development.

In recent years, Halvik had become little more than a placeholder. It existed, but barely. And the first wife knew it was already hanging by its last thread, especially once the other governors realized Godfrey had been steadily losing military strength.

As for the Malveks of Ashkar, there were too many inconsistencies and unanswered questions surrounding them. One thing, however, was certain—of the three regions, Malvek would be the hardest to conquer. That was why Atlas had dispatched his best men from his elite unit, a separate branch of the Order known as the Phantom Circle, straight into Malvek’s heart while he handled Halvik.

Unsurprisingly, the Phantom Circle arrived to find an empty residence.

And a governor’s carcass.

When Atlas reached Slater’s position, he found his brother seated in a corner, leaning against the outer wall of the residence.

"That’s the place," Slater remarked without turning his gaze. "No doubt about it."

Atlas followed his line of sight, drawn to the first thing that had caught his attention upon arrival.

Several hundred meters from the residence stood towering walls—taller even than the governor’s estate itself.

Atlas had noticed them from the air and already suspected what lay within.

"So that’s what it was," he murmured. "A maze."

When Atlas had first seen it from above, he understood why Slater had mistaken the structure in New Gehran for something from his previous life. From afar, the layouts were nearly identical.

But up close, the difference was staggering.

The structure in New Gehran was far too small. It looked more like a decoration.

This one, however, was colossal. Even Baby would look insignificant beside those walls.

"It was built for isolation training, I suppose," Atlas said quietly. "A place where one has nothing to do but train."

Though his voice was low, the wind carried the words to Slater. A shallow breath escaped him as he pushed himself off the wall and walked over.

Slater had wanted to say that it wasn’t just training.

It was torture.

In his first life, when Slater had entered this maze, he’d known nothing about fighting. Hell—he couldn’t even swat a fly. But when he emerged, it was safe to say he was no longer the same person.

"Slater," Atlas called as his brother stopped beside him. "I wonder... how many people were trained inside that maze?"

"I don’t know," Slater replied, eyes on the towering walls. "But I do know it can hold a lot of people. People... who have nothing left to lose."

Silence settled between them as they stared at the strange patterns etched into the stone.

"Did you find anything else here?" Atlas finally asked, tearing his gaze away. "Anything... interesting?"

"Yes." Slater tilted his head slightly, then looked back at him. "I found... nothing."

And finding nothing meant something.

"Whoever assassinated the governor—or whoever was operating here—left long before we arrived," Slater concluded. "There’s nothing here, and I’m certain every base under the governor’s control is just as empty."

As the words left his mouth, Baby’s voice crackled through their earpieces.

"Master," Baby reported, his tone grim. "We’ve checked every base point they had... and everything’s gone. Even those who worked for the governor are found dead in their homes."

Standing inside one of the governor’s military lodgings, Baby scanned the abandoned quarters. It looked like a ghost town.

"But I spoke to a resident nearby," Baby added. "According to him, the base was abandoned days ago—right around the time you accepted the mission from the Bellemonte family."