Tiga hari kemudian.

Bilik mesyuarat rahsia ECLIPSE. Kuala Lumpur. 2:00 petang.

Ruang mesyuarat di tingkat paling atas bangunan lama itu seolah-olah terpisah dari dunia luar. Lampu malap, dinding kelabu, dan meja bujur kayu oak dengan kerusi kulit hitam tersusun mengelilinginya. Di dinding, projektor memancarkan wajah Tengku Rizz, ahli Shadow Council, ahli perniagaan ternama, dan kini, pengkhianat yang dibongkar.

Hadif menekan alat kawalan. Skrin bertukar, memaparkan bukti yang disimpan Sofea sebelum dibunuh. Rakaman transaksi dadah, laluan kapal penyeludupan senjata dari Asia Timur, serta senarai nama wanita yang diperdagangkan keluar masuk sempadan.

Salah seorang ahli Shadow Council, Teresa Darot mengetap bibir, matanya membulat marah. “Drug trafficking, weapon smuggling, human trafficking… This isn’t just business. This is an empire of blood.”

Dato’ Gerald Lim menyampuk, nadanya dingin. Dia menuding ke arah dokumen dengan gambar kabur yang terpampang. “Not just an empire. Look here contract killings. And this… the proof of Rizal’s assassination. Ordered directly by Rizz.” Matanya membulat tidak percaya.

Sunyi. Hadif menekan lagi alat kawalan. Rakaman CCTV kejadian Tan Sri Rizal ditembak tiga tahun lalu muncul di layar.

“Rizz has been making aggressive moves in real estate. Buying R&R share companies. Using them as a cover for laundering money from drugs and arms deals," ucap Hadif sambil menunjuk layar skrin.

Dato’ Shahrul menghela nafas berat, wajahnya serius. “This man is reckless. If we do not stop him now, the Malaysian government will connect the dots. ECLIPSE will be dragged along… and labelled as a criminal organisation," nada suara Dato' Shahrul memberat.

Dato' Gerald Lim menyilangkan tangan ke dada, keningnya berkerut . “A disease inside ECLIPSE. If we don’t cut it out, Interpol will also treat us as terrorists. And trust me… they won’t hesitate to take us down.”

“He killed Rizal. Who’s next? Maybe one of us. We need to clean house before he decides to clean it for us.” Teresa Darot bersuara perlahan tetapi tajam.

Andrei Kalashnikov yang dari tadi berdiam diri akhirnya bersuara, nadanya berat dengan loghat Rusia. "I don’t like ghosts in the dark. If he has betrayed us, then he’s more dangerous than any outsider."

Hadif memandang mereka satu persatu. “So… what’s the plan? Do we smoke him out… or do we cut the snake’s head first?”

Dato’ Shahrul mengetuk meja perlahan, irama jari menandakan fikirannya bekerja. “We monitor his movements. Infiltrate his circle. Find the mole in ECLIPSE that feeds him our intel. And if necessary…"

Dia berhenti, menatap wajah setiap seorang dengan tajam, “…we eliminate. Quietly, decisively.”

Dato Gerald Lim mengangguk perlahan, menambah dengan suara yang lebih dingin. “We need a surgical strike. No noise. If Rizz falls too publicly, questions will rise about our own involvement. And we cannot afford exposure.”

Teresa Darot memandang Hadif, matanya tajam. “Then it has to be internal. We take him down using his own network. Make it look like a rival cartel move. No trails back to ECLIPSE.”

Andrei Kalashnikov tersenyum nipis, nadanya sinis. “So… a ghost to kill a ghost.”

Kesunyian kembali mengisi ruang mesyuarat. Bunyi pendingin hawa berdesir halus, seakan-akan berdetik bersama degupan jantung semua yang berada di situ.

Akhirnya Hadif mengangkat kepala, suaranya tenang tetapi tegas. “Then it’s decided. We find the mole. We dismantle Rizz’s empire. And when the time is right… we cut off the head.”

Hadif menukar paparan hologram. Muncul imej seorang lelaki bersut hitam, wajahnya separuh terlindung balaclava hitam. “Black Shadow has already been deployed. Operation code name: Dark Hunter.”

Sejenak hening, sebelum Hadif menyambung. “The operation is designed to destabilize Rizz’s supply lines cut his funding, intercept his couriers, and dismantle his private army piece by piece.”

Dia menghela nafas perlahan, lalu menukar paparan hologram kepada peta bandar. Titik-titik merah menyala di lokasi tertentu.

“In two weeks, Tengku Rizz will attend a private gathering in Langkawi. Our objective: capture him alive. This will not be a simple extraction. His men are former military, well-armed, and loyal. We’ll need surgical precision.”

Andrei Kalashnikov bertanya perlahan,
“And who will lead the ground team?”

Hadif tidak ragu, matanya tajam.
“Ivan will lead both Ghost Team and Knight Team.”

Beberapa senyuman kecil terukir di wajah ahli lain, namun cepat kembali hambar.

"The Black Shadow is back in the field... Are we truly ready to let him off the leash again?" Nada Teresa Darot penuh kebimbangan. Dia menyilangkan tangan sambil merenung skrin holografik yang masih menayangkan imej operasi Black Shadow terdahulu.

"His reputation precedes him. He gets the job done, but the collateral damage... it’s not something we can always justify."

"Control. That is the real issue. You cannot control Black Shadow. He obeys his own code, not ours." tambah Teresa Darot lagi.

Hadif yang sejak tadi berdiam diri akhirnya bersuara, matanya tajam menatap mereka satu persatu.
"Without him, we risk losing the upper hand against Rizz. You know it as well as I do."

Dato Shahrul yang jarang bersuara menghela nafas berat.
"Yes, but every time we unleash him, the line between an asset and a liability becomes thinner. One day, his darkness may turn against us."

Hening seketika menyelubungi dewan. Semua menyedari bahawa Zayan, dengan nama kod alter egonya, The Black Shadow bukan sekadar aset. Dia ibarat sebilah senjata yang tajam, mampu menebas musuh dengan kejam, namun pada bila-bila masa juga boleh menikam tuannya sendiri tanpa amaran.

Bilik mesyuarat itu sunyi, hanya bunyi kipas pendingin hawa berdesir di siling. Cahaya lampu redup memantul pada meja kayu oak yang dipenuhi fail. Di sekeliling meja, beberapa wajah serius ahli Shadow Council saling berpandangan.

Zayan atau lebih dikenali dalam dunia gelap sebagai The Black Shadow menjadi topik utama malam itu.

Hadif duduk di hujung meja, matanya tajam namun tetap tenang. “We all know who Zayan is,” katanya, memecahkan keheningan.

"Zayan is a weapon, but also a storm. The more targets he takes, the less humanity he has left. You know this. He is losing empathy piece by piece. And when the last fragment of humanity is gone... what will remain?” nada Teresa Darot keras, sedikit meninggi.

Dia menunduk sedikit, suaranya dingin. “He’s a monster. We… ECLIPSE built an assassin we can’t even control. And monsters don’t serve anyone.” Teresa Darot menggeleng kepala perlahan. “…and I bet he’s still taking pills to hide his monster self for these whole eight years. And we can’t let that monster escape again.” Teresa Darot mengetuk-ngetuk gambar Zayan di dalam fail yang terbuka di atas meja dengan jari telunjuknya. Seorang demi seorang wajah sahabatnya dipandang tajam.

Suasana kembali tegang. Semua sedar kata-kata itu bukan sekadar amaran, tetapi realiti yang sudah mula kelihatan.

Hadif menghela nafas dalam, sebelum akhirnya bersuara. “...If Black Shadow loses himself completely, then he is no longer our ally. He becomes a threat...And if that happens…” Dia berhenti sejenak, pandangan matanya keras.

“I will be the one to put him down. And I will bring Zayan back.”

Hadif mengetap rahang. Dia menghela nafas dalam sebelum menyambung, "I will bring him back. He is my comrade, my friend, and my brother in law... I must bring him back," tekad Hadif.