Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

As the last note of Swan Lake slowly faded away amidst the orchestral chorus, the figures of the white swan and the prince froze in the center of the stage.

After a brief silence, thunderous applause erupted from the audience. From the first floor to the second floor, from the stalls to the luxurious boxes, thousands of hands clapped simultaneously, and the cheers were deafening and prolonged.

Then, all the dancers of the Silver Moon Dance Troupe went on stage, held hands, and bowed deeply to the audience.

The applause and cheers suddenly grew louder, with some shouting "Bravo" and others tossing bouquets onto the stage. Only when the giant crimson curtain slowly closed did the audience reluctantly flow towards the various exits.

Backstage at the theater.

The narrow corridor was crowded with dancers who had just finished their performance. Some were wrapped in thick coats and squatted by the wall, gulping down water. Some were leaning against prop boxes, rubbing their sore ankles. Others had already removed their makeup, revealing their young, still somewhat childish faces.

"Hey, what was with that toe spin you just did? It scared me to death."

"You can argue with that, my legs were shaking, but thankfully I managed to get through it."

"Who cares? Anyway, those nouveau riche and politicians in the audience won't be able to tell."

"What should we eat out for tonight? This is my first time in West Berlin."

"Don't be ridiculous, don't forget there are two more games tomorrow and the day after."

Maggie stood at the corner of the corridor, leaning against the wall, listening to the group of young girls laughing and joking. A faint gentleness flashed in her gray-green eyes.

After a long pause, Xina, standing behind her, finally couldn't suppress her frustration any longer and whispered, "Director, are we just going to... let them control us like this?"

Her tone carried a suppressed anger.

Maggie glanced at her indifferently: "...So what do you want?"

"Of course—" Xina opened her mouth, but found herself unable to say anything.

Of course she wanted to fight back, to teach those bastards a lesson in Roscalom's might. But she also knew—that was impossible.

The fact that the enemy was able to take down the main base without anyone noticing, and even without bloodshed or casualties, speaks volumes.

Maggie seemed to have known all along that Xena would be speechless. She didn't look at her again, but instead took out a cigarette from her handbag and slowly exhaled a wisp of pale white smoke.

"Lu Chen's goal is simple: to give me a hard time so that he can easily recruit me... Just like when I insisted on snatching that batch of goods at the High Table Conference in Prague, it was all to increase my bargaining power."

"But—" she paused, "I failed, he succeeded."

Xina bit her lip.

"Hmph... If you're not as skilled, you have to accept it," Maggie stubbed out her cigarette on the doorframe, her tone calm. "Faced with the mercy of the strong, the weak must maintain proper submission. This is the most basic rule, it was the same in the KGB, and it's the same here." Xina remained silent for a long time, finally bowing her head in complete submission.

Maggie straightened up and casually patted the dust off her skirt: "Alright, let's not discuss this topic anymore. Our top priority right now is to do everything we can to fulfill the three membership requirements that Lu Chen set out for us."

"...Yes." Upon hearing this, Xina also became serious.

In the private room tonight, Lu Chen made a total of three requests.

Article 1: Effective immediately, all intelligence nodes, money laundering channels, and logistics transit points in Roscalom shall be unconditionally opened to the High Table Group, which shall have absolute control over and priority access to these resources.

Article 2. All orders accepted by Rosscalom in the future must be reported to the High Table Group immediately. Any task involving the interests of the High Table or detrimental to its strategic layout must not be accepted. The High Table Group has the right to send personnel to conduct spot checks on order records and execution at any time.

Maggie found all of these conditions acceptable; what truly troubled her was the last condition.

"Unify the underworld of Eastern Europe," Maggie said, looking at the fluorescent light above her head, her tone tinged with self-mockery, "Ha... this Mr. Lu really thinks highly of us."

After all, while Roskalom currently wields considerable power, its actual control extends only to Poland, Belarus, and the Czech Republic. The vast and chaotic heartland of Eastern Europe south of Hungary, however, is entirely in the hands of another ruthless criminal gang—Chernoberg.

Chernobog, named after the "Black God" in ancient Slavic mythology, symbolizes absolute darkness, disaster, and bloody terror.

Their leader, Pushkin, was once a top figure in the Soviet underworld. It is said that he had officially joined the most mysterious "Law Thieves" organization in his early years. He can be said to be a giant standing at the top of the pyramid of the Eastern European underworld.

However, in order to expand his business, Pushkin began engaging in quid pro quo exchanges with political and intelligence circles, which violated a major taboo of the Law of the Thieves. As a result, the Law of the Thieves Association punished him and expelled him from the organization.

However, Pushkin did not sit idly by. Seeing that Moscow could no longer tolerate him, and with the situation in Eastern Europe becoming turbulent, he immediately fled to Hungary with his loyal followers.

In the following years, Pushkin, taking advantage of the natural port advantages along the Black Sea coast, rapidly established a transnational human trafficking and heavy contraband smuggling hub, with operations spanning the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, making a fortune every day.

"Chernobog is currently developing very rapidly," Sina recalled the previous intelligence, her brow furrowed. "They control some of the largest smuggling routes from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. If we confront them head-on with our current strength, our chances of winning are slim."

Maggie didn't speak, but turned to look at the group of girls in the dressing room who were still oblivious and laughing and joking, and remained silent for a long time.

She certainly understood why Lu Chen brought this up.

Rosinger-Rom is currently too weak to be a qualified representative of the High Table in Eastern Europe. Only by unifying the entire Eastern European underworld and controlling all key passages and resource nodes will she be qualified to engage in deeper cooperation with the High Table.

Of course, this also means that she needs to win this victory with minimal cost.

After all, her goal was to expand her strength. If she fought a brutal war of attrition, even if she won by chance, a severely weakened Rosingarom would lose its value as a potential recruit.

"...What is the Lawyers' Association's opinion of Pushkin? Is it possible to cooperate with them to deal with him?"

"That won't work," Xina shook her head. "Although Pushkin broke the law against thieves, the punishment has already ended, and he paid a large sum of money to the Lawyers Association afterward. Therefore, there is no enmity between the two sides; on the contrary, they have a good relationship."

"Tsk..."

Just as the two were at their wits' end, a strange footstep suddenly came from the corridor of the dressing room.

Maggie and Sina simultaneously turned their heads warily, only to see a man walking gracefully towards them in the dim light.

He was around thirty years old, rather thin, with meticulously combed blond hair, deep-set features, and a polite smile that always graced his lips, but his eyes concealed a chilling coldness and scheming.

Xina instinctively became alert. She stepped forward to block Maggie's path and asked coldly, "Who are you?"

The man didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked over Xena's shoulder at Maggie behind him and smiled slightly: "Ms. Maggie."

Maggie raised an eyebrow, sizing up the uninvited guest at the door: "You know me?"

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Silva. Mr. Lu sent me," Silva said with a slight smile, getting straight to the point. "My boss guessed that you two are currently worrying about the third condition."

Maggie's eyes narrowed slightly.

As Silva spoke, he took a brown paper document bag from the inside pocket of his trench coat and handed it to Maggie.

"The solution lies within this."