The announcement surprised Phong almost as much as it surprised Team Nemean, which was impressive considering everyone had been bracing for the diver league to become worse, stranger, and more politically disgusting by the hour.
The national league's double elimination stage would remain exactly as originally planned.
For a few seconds after the notice arrived, nobody in the Tannenbaum clubhouse spoke. They had returned to the surface through the proper gate after making sure Baratok Town would not collapse into diplomatic chaos without them for half a day, and the transition from dungeon air to polished elite comfort felt more jarring than usual. The clubhouse was all glass, dark wood, private security, quiet climate control, and the scent of expensive coffee brewed for people who believed exhaustion should at least have good service. Compared to Camp Stymphalian, where trolls with mushroom armor were arguing with lizardmen over canal stones while Rico tried to invent crimes against tomato biology, the place felt almost unreal.
Emma received the message first.
Her tablet chimed as soon as they crossed into the private lounge reserved under the Tannenbaum name. She read the first line, paused, read the rest, and then looked up with the expression of someone who had just been spared a disaster and denied the satisfaction of proving she had prepared for it.
"Well," she said, "the league organizers failed."
Joanne dropped onto a couch with enough dramatic relief to offend several thousand dollars' worth of upholstery. "Please tell me this is the good kind of failure."
Emma's eyes moved across the message again. "It depends on how much you enjoy double elimination brackets."
Jake lifted both hands toward the ceiling. "I love them now. I have always loved them. I never doubted the sacred bracket."
Dominic, who had been standing near the windows with his arms folded, turned fully toward Emma. "The joined dive is cancelled?"
"Postponed," Emma corrected. "Preserved for the international tournament, according to my father. The national league will continue with group combat and double elimination as planned."
Phong stood beside Alex, still carrying the faint mental weight of Windrider threats, minotaur trade, pixie ambush logistics, and the half-reviewed strategy notes he had promised Emma he would answer properly. For a moment, all those concerns rearranged themselves around the new information. The league would not be throwing multiple teams into a joined dungeon dive yet. Cameras would not follow them through a manufactured spectacle of survival and betrayal. Team Nemean would not have to reveal nearly as much of Yuè-adjacent infrastructure as Phong feared, and Alex would not have to decide how openly to use Bīng in a dungeon environment where elites controlled the lens.
That should have felt like relief.
It did, but only partially.
"Why?" Phong asked.
Emma's mouth flattened. "Daniel Harlan's death."
That quieted the room.
Even Joanne did not make a joke.
Emma continued, reading from Hans Tannenbaum's message while paraphrasing the parts that mattered. "The elites wanted to introduce a joined dungeon dive format earlier than planned. They expected to use it to stress-test camera relay systems, multi-team monitoring, and sponsor-controlled narrative framing before the international stage. Daniel Harlan's death disrupted the schedule, the investor agreements, and the safety justification. Several parties panicked and tried to rush the infrastructure anyway, but they could not create a reliable camera network in time."
Alex's fingers tapped once against her thigh. "Couldn't wait to monetize us as dashing heroes, could they?"
"In their words, it's for safety," Emma said, then gave Phong a meaningful glance. "But yes, for them, only views can be monetized. Public would go riot if the joined dive was performed through radio."
Phong did not miss the implication. Since Yeak, Team Nemean was too valuable to ignore. Since Alexis Valantris's message, the team privately knew the world was more doomed than the league understood. Since Yuè had begun spreading through dungeon rumor, Phong himself had become the kind of variable governments and corporate boards hated most: useful, uncontrolled, increasingly difficult to categorize. And since a lot of people would prioritize personal benefits in the face of cosmic level horror, Phong decided to keep building his kingdom as long as he was permitted, and hope that he would be enough for the wider world to listen... one day.
Hans's message, filtered through Emma's voice, made the situation clear. The joined dive was not abandoned because the elites had gained wisdom. It was postponed because they had failed to build the ticket booths in time.
"So the circus stays a circus?" Joanne asked.
"For now," Emma replied.
"That sounded ominous."
"It was intended to be."
Phong rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Double elimination means the strategies matter again."
Emma gave him a dry look. "Half of them matter. The other half still require revision because your fiancée is now half the league battle flexibility combined."
Alex, who had been quieter since returning to the surface, took Phong's hand without looking away from Emma. The gesture was casual, almost absent, but it steadied him in a way he suspected she knew.
"Then we revise."
Before Emma could answer, movement came from the clubhouse entrance.
The Bronx Musketeers were already there.
Ron Takeyama entered first, hat tucked under one arm, his posture carrying the easy theatrical confidence of someone who knew he looked good even when he acted humbly. Tanya followed with her usual composed sharpness, eyes taking in the room in one sweep. James came last, broad-shouldered and quieter than the other two, though his gaze lingered on Team Nemean's gear.
The three had made it through the group stage as second place in their group. Not first, which mattered in the league's social ecosystem, but survival itself had become currency after the early chaos. They were not jokes anymore, even if their branding remained a little too charming for Phong's taste.
Ron smiled as he approached. "Team Nemean."
Joanne muttered, "The feathered hat approaches."
Ron heard her and bowed as if complimented. "Spellsniper. Always a pleasure to be wounded by your warmth."
"Give me time. I can upgrade warmth to bullets."
Tanya ignored the exchange and inclined her head to Emma, then Alex. "Congratulations on first place in your group."
James nodded to Dominic. "And on surviving whatever caused your level jump. The rumors are insane."
Dominic smiled mildly. "Most rumors are."
Jake leaned toward Jack. "He says that like he knew how insane the real deal was."
Jack replied without changing expression. "I'd rather take rumors than political earthquakes and global pandemoniums."
Ron's smile widened, but his eyes went to Phong next. "Coach Phong. May we speak directly?"
Phong already disliked that sentence. "You can."
Ron looked briefly at Tanya and James before continuing. "The format remaining double elimination changes the math for smaller teams. We survived the group stage, but a three-person roster is fragile in a bracket built around repeated combat. Injuries carry. Matchups punish gaps. A single bad pairing can end a run before a team's best tools matter."
Emma's face revealed nothing while Phong listened.
Ron took a breath. "We would like to join Team Nemean as additional members for the elimination stage."
The room went still in a different way than before.
Joanne sat up slowly. "That is a very big request to make."
Ron did not flinch. "It is."
Tanya stepped forward. "We understand Team Nemean does not need us to qualify. This is not charity we are asking for, and we will accept restrictions if required. We bring mobility, mid-range coverage, and coordination under pressure. We also bring information on teams you have not faced directly."
James added, "And bodies. Double elimination punishes low roster numbers. You have stronger members, but if the bracket forces repeated fights, having three extra trained divers reduces strain."
Phong's first instinct was suspicion.
His second instinct was more suspicion, only better organized.
He looked at the Bronx Musketeers and considered the obvious possibility. They had not merged with eliminated teams because they lacked resources compared to Josh Harlan and the Brooklyn Knights. Josh had money, fear, ambition, and enough connections to turn failed divers into temporary tools. The Musketeers had style, some skill, and a decent run, but perhaps not the money or leverage to recruit a collapsed roster.
Then Phong dismissed the idea as incomplete.
Being in the same clubhouse as Team Nemean was already a prize. Since Yeak, since Dominic's level jump to 49, since Alex's surge in fame and power, Team Nemean had become the center of attention whether they wanted it or not. For an eliminated team, the Bronx Musketeers was a really good option if fame, money, or a good spot on Hans Tannenbaum's line of sight right next to team Nemean was what they were looking for.
So, it must have meant the Musketeers had turned them down.
Maybe they were ambitious and thought that team Nemean would be their biggest short at lifting the trophy and won the whole thing.
Or they could be someone's eyes.
Phong looked at Emma.
She was watching him too.
That meant she had already run through at least four versions of the same concern.
Alex's grip on his hand tightened once, a silent question.
Phong knew what the expected answer was. He should refuse politely, cite roster stability, avoid exposing strategies to outsiders, and send the Musketeers away with enough courtesy that the clubhouse cameras and gossip networks could not twist it too harshly. That answer was safer in the immediate sense. It kept the circle clean. It kept Emma's revised plans contained. It prevented Ron, Tanya, and James from seeing how Team Nemean operated after Zhen Wu Pavilion, after Bīng, and after the Celestial Skeletal headpiece had gone to Joanne.
He did not choose it.
"Fine," Phong said.
Everyone looked at him.
Joanne's eyebrows went up. Jake almost slipped off the arm of the couch. Dominic's expression sharpened, and Emma's eyes narrowed by a fraction. Alex did not react outwardly, but Phong felt the question in her hand.
Ron was the first of the Musketeers to recover. "Fine?"
"You can join as additional members," Phong said. "Provisional status. Emma controls tactical access until trust is earned. Dominic handles field command integration. You do not touch internal strategy documents without permission. You do not speak to the press on Team Nemean's behalf. You do not negotiate sponsorship using our name. If those terms are too restrictive, say so now."
Tanya answered before Ron could. "Accepted."
James nodded. "Accepted."
Ron smiled again, though this one was more careful. "Accepted, with gratitude."
"Do not be grateful yet," Joanne said. "Our practices are traumatic."
Jake pointed at her. "That is true. Also, the snacks are worse when Phong is not here."
Phong ignored them and kept his eyes on Ron. "We will discuss details after Emma reviews the bracket information."
Ron bowed, not deeply enough to look submissive, but enough to mark the moment. "Then we are in your care."
The phrase made Phong dislike the whole thing even more.
The Musketeers were escorted to a guest preparation room by clubhouse staff. They left with smiles, polite nods, and the kind of controlled excitement that might have belonged to people who had just secured a future or people who had just gained access to something they had been sent to observe.
Only after the door closed did the silence break.
Joanne stood. "Okay, what the hell?"
Jake pointed at Phong with both hands. "Yes. That. I want to file a formal what-the-hell."
Dominic did not raise his voice. "Phong."
Emma had already moved toward a private room deeper inside the Tannenbaum wing. "Inside. Now."
The room she selected was shielded, swept, and private in the expensive way only old money and mana-tech paranoia could create. The walls were paneled in dark wood, but it was used by Hans according to Emma, and her father had too much to be stolen to let anyone he did not wanted eavesdropping on him. Emma placed her tablet on the center table and activated one more local field, likely created by another formation master the Tannenbaum had hired. A low hum settled around them.
Only then did she turn to Phong.
"That was out of character."
Phong sat down because his legs suddenly remembered the last several days. "Yes."
Alex remained standing beside him. "Explain."
"I do not trust them."
Joanne threw up her hands. "Great. Wonderfu evenl. That clarifies why we invited them into our team."
Phong accepted the sarcasm without reacting. "I think they are eyes and ears for someone else."
Emma's expression did not change, but the room's attention sharpened around her.
"Evidence?"
"Timing, framing. The request is too reasonable." Phong leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "They were not desperate, and I doubt that no eliminated team had ever contacted. The DC Otters certainly would jumped at the chance of being in the same house as Alex or Dominic. Yet, they were here, conveniently without a coalition despite their low number of members. I did not see the ambition in their eyes either, almost like they did not care about the trophy. Strange for an 'ambitious team', agreed? They emphasized the format, roster size, repeated injuries, matchup gaps, and useful information. All true. All convenient."
Dominic folded his arms. "You think someone coached them."
"I think someone may have sent them because direct approaches keep failing." Phong looked at each of them in turn. "The president could not recruit you. Josh is compromised but still useful to someone. Kitahara is doing something slimy I did not know, and let's not forget about the Ellisons. Hans supports us, but that also makes other elites nervous. Since Yeak, since Alex, since Dominic, since all the public attention, anyone trying to understand Team Nemean needs access."
Emma tapped one finger against the table. "The clubhouse already leaks social information. Staff gossip, sponsor pressure, public matches, interviews. They would want operational information."
"Yes," Phong said. "How I make decisions. How you adjusts plans. How Dominic commands under stress. How Alex hides new capabilities. What were the loots of our boss fight, have we gotten any Celestial Skeletal? Those type of questions..."
Alex's eyes cooled. "And if we refused?"
"Then whoever sent them stays in the shadows and learns that the polite method failed." Phong rubbed his thumb against the side of his hand, thinking through the shape again. "They send someone else. Maybe a staffer, maybe a sponsor, maybe an eliminated diver with a better sob story, maybe someone planted near Hans, maybe someone near me. I would rather know which possible knife is near us. Then we can tell what we want the mastermind to know."
The room settled into reluctant understanding.
Joanne sat back down slowly. "So we keep the suspicious Musketeers close so we can spy on the spies?"
"Maybe they are innocent," Phong said.
Jake snorted.
Phong shrugged. "They could be. Ambition too well hidden explain the request well enough. That is why... I will stay observant, just to be certain."
Emma's gaze became approving despite herself. "Compartmentalization."
"Yes."
Dominic nodded slowly. "And if they are reporting to someone?"
"Then we learn what that someone wants by watching which information is leaked out."
Alex finally sat beside him. "You should have signaled me."
"I know."
"You chose fast."
"I did." Phong met her eyes. "I was afraid that if I hesitated, Emma would refuse them too cleanly and we would lose the chance."
Emma's mouth curved faintly. "I would have refused beautifully."
"That was the problem."
For the first time since the clubhouse announcement, Alex smiled. It was small, but it softened the room.
"At least this time you did not try to anger the Pillars."
Phong sighed. "I blame politics."
Joanne pointed at a certain someone. "I blame the raccoon."
Rico, who had absolutely not been invited into the private room but somehow emerged from beneath a side table with a cookie, froze. Everyone stared as he slowly placed the cookie behind his back.
"In my defense," Rico said, "I am also here to spy on the spies."
Emma closed her eyes. "How did you bypass the room sweep?"
"Love."
"Try again."
"Alex's armor."
Dominic laughed under his breath, and the tension cracked just enough to let air back into the conversation.
Alex, after having too many options, and her fighting style had become too loud, decided to gift Rico the half-plate the Greencap Captain had given her. She believed Rico's Killer Form would be more suit for that.
Phong had to give the raccoon extra rules on "assassination of shiny big fish", because a kamen rider raccoon was already a menace to society, an invisible raccoon kamen rider without restraints or boundaries would be devastating for the health of his heart. The Lambert, the Delacroix, and the Vogels would all be happy now that Phong had started to learn proper parenting by putting clear boundaries and restraints, even though he did that to a raccoon first.
Phong looked at Emma's strategy notebook again, then at Alex's steady hand resting near his, then at the team waiting for the next instruction.
"Okay," he said. "We plan as if they are useful, brief them as if they are compromised, and fight as if tomorrow's bracket is trying to make us reveal something."
Emma picked up her pen.
"That," she said, "I can work with."
Rico raised the cookie. "And I supervise counterintelligence?"
"No," Phong and Emma said together.
Rico nodded solemnly. "Deep cover. Understood."
This time, even Alex laughed, though her eyes remained sharp. The elimination stage had not begun yet, but the first move had already been made, and Phong suspected the match they could see on the bracket was only the smallest part of the game waiting for them.