For a brief moment, an old memory surfaced.

“Old” only meant a few years ago. It had been William Walker who first introduced me to the old spider. Back then, I didn’t even remember why I had chosen humanity’s side — let alone that I had once stood at the head of my kin.

The one who reminded me of that stood before me now.

Still don’t know her name.

“Hello.”

I closed the door behind me and greeted her.

“Sorry. I still don’t remember your name.”

“That’s a relief,” the old spider replied with a kindly smile.

“Even if you did, it wouldn’t change much. As I said before, knowing my name wouldn’t be particularly useful to you.”

“What?”

Lynn stared back and forth between us, bewildered.

“You know each other?”

“She claims she was one of the scientists who came to observe us before. Said one of my parents was among them.”

“Huh?”

Lynn looked down at the old spider, clearly unconvinced.

She was so small that he had to bend quite a bit to meet her eyes.

His brows furrowed.

“Does that age even make sense?”

“I showed some promise when I was young,” she said mildly. “Not enough to truly draw the attention of those here, but enough to be noticed.”

“Lynn.”

I spoke quietly without taking my eyes off her.

“Bring the drug packages.”

Lynn’s head snapped up.

His eyes opened so wide it made me wonder if he normally walked around half-lidded. I didn’t look at him directly.

I was thinking about cocoa.

The cocoa she had offered the first time we met.

And what she’d said then — hadn’t she mentioned receiving chocolate from me?

Could she be...

...

No. Identifying Kyle’s spies wasn’t urgent right now.

What mattered was the position she would take between Colton and me.

But given how boldly she had come to Lynn’s place, she was likely declaring neutrality — or choosing my side.

I opened my mouth to ask, but Lynn cut in.

“How did you know?”

Did he seriously think I wouldn’t find the drugs?

“I told you not to wander around my house!”

I set down the night-vision goggles and removed my balaclava.

Holding both in my left hand, I met Lynn’s brown eyes. He flinched and stepped back.

He studied my face carefully, then asked,

“...Is casual speech mode over?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if riots break out within the hour.”

It wasn’t hard to rile up addicts and those who’d failed to stay aligned with society.

“Put on the vest. And the balaclava.”

I tossed him the one I’d been wearing. He caught it instantly.

Without a word, he pulled it over his head and looked at me desperately.

“It’ll be ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) fine, right?! You’ll transfer us out immediately like last time, right?”

“As long as you don’t die instantly. Now get the drugs.”

“...What are you planning to use them for?”

He had already shifted back into subordinate posture.

That quick situational awareness was his strength.

But his tendency to stray never disappeared. He had a cowardly streak too — give him slack like casual speech mode and he’d slowly push boundaries.

You had to tighten the reins at the right moments.

I was quite practiced at handling this type. More than half the so-called knights had been cut from Lynn’s cloth. Loyal ones like Igor or Yvon — who stayed true whether the reins were tight or loose — were rarer than people thought.

“We’ll need them while running from rioters.”

“Commander!”

Lynn shrieked.

He rushed forward and dropped to his knees.

“That’s too much!”

“That’s why I let you enjoy casual speech mode. Didn’t you live comfortably for a few days?”

“You can just outrun them without drugs!”

He grabbed my pant leg.

“Can’t you just sweep them away?! No matter how many come at you, it doesn’t matter! Why would you need drugs to run? What are you even planning to do with them?!”

“How interesting,” the old spider giggled, covering her mouth.

I exhaled lightly.

“Lynn.”

I didn’t explain that I had no intention of fleeing while flaunting swordsmanship.

Nor that I had no desire to start cutting down civilians enraged because of the Elders.

I didn’t need to explain.

Casual speech mode was over. The positions had reversed again.

He was the one who owed explanations — not me.

“When I came back from the social gathering and asked where you’d put the drugs, didn’t you say you didn’t know what I was talking about?”

Lynn went rigid.

“You lied to me.”

Cold sweat gathered between his brows.

He looked up at me, eyes filled with fear, then immediately flattened himself against the floor.

“I’m sorry.”

Once discipline is set once, it’s not hard to set again.

“Please forgive me.”

“Fine.”

I answered easily.

If I’d had time, I might’ve added a light scolding. I didn’t. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Turning away from him, I said,

“Bring the drugs. And be ready to run the moment things get loud.”

Lynn disappeared into the dressing room, shoulders drooping.

I shifted my gaze back to the old spider.

“Why are you here?”

She curved her lips.

“I came to give you a warning. In return for how well you looked after Will. Though it seems you already know.”

“That riots are coming?”

“Yes. And that the police will soon seal off entry and exit from this area.”

“That part I didn’t know.”

But it was plausible.

If they blocked movement in and out of Harlem, the chances of my face being revealed — either during chaos or escape — would increase.

It would hinder my push toward wherever Colton was.

“Traffic control or temporary subway shutdowns are nothing to them.”

“Of course.”

She closed her eyes gently in agreement.

“What can the Black Badgers do? They’re special forces bound by regulations. No matter how vigilant, they cannot protect every Badger’s family. Nor can they prevent the President from appointing an incompetent superior. Even if they do not age. Even if they hold power capable of killing civilians like insects. They have no authority to halt the tides of politics.”

She was referring to the general’s death and the new Commander’s appointment.

I wasn’t surprised she already knew events from mere minutes ago.

I understood her message.

This would inevitably become a fight between me and the Elders.

I already knew that. That’s why I didn’t resent skilled seniors gathering in one place just to get a glimpse of someone like me.

Even if they had been elsewhere, they couldn’t have stopped the general’s death or the appointment.

They were brilliant against Creatures — not wielders of societal power.

The mistake was ours.

I went to save Yun without realizing Luke was being targeted.

Yekaterina failed to track Colton perfectly.

Erich Erhart, focused on protecting others, failed to protect the President and Luke’s family.

“And you?”

Colton must be laughing at me — at how I had increased the number of things I wanted to protect.

“Where do you stand?”

The old spider raised her head.

I studied her features again.

Still nothing.

Despite filling the massive holes in my memory, I couldn’t retrieve anything useful.

I had once prided myself on remembering faces and names. If I couldn’t recall hers despite trying, perhaps we truly had no significant connection.

Or perhaps her claim about meeting me in the lab was false.

“An old information broker like me would hardly attract their attention,” she replied kindly.

“As I said, I only came to repay Will’s debt.”

“If that’s truly all, leave. Riots will start soon. I won’t have the capacity to protect you too.”

Then I realized something.

I paused, then looked down at her.

“Walker?”

She laughed softly.

“He lives nearby. But there is no need to worry about him. In this neighborhood, no one would dare lay a hand on that child.”

“Did you know he’s mixed-blood?”

Is that why she took him in?

In a place filled with orphans and abused children, why did William Walker catch her eye?

“Is that why you helped him?”

She smiled briefly.

“I knew.”

“Huh.”

“That wasn’t the only reason. But it was significant. My own small repayment — returning what I received from your kind.”

I couldn’t tell whether “your kind” meant me and those who followed me — or my entire kin.

I didn’t ask.

More precisely, I didn’t have time.

The moment I narrowed my eyes at her, gunfire erupted outside.

Gunfire alone wouldn’t have concerned me.

But the swelling roar that followed was not normal.

Excited voices, rising.

I listened as the shouting grew louder, then sighed and walked toward the room.

“You won’t get out safely now. I’ll drop you near a safe house along the way. Prepare to move through rioters.”

I still had things to ask her. I couldn’t have her die yet.

After packing essentials and waiting by the entrance, Lynn came running out fully geared.

A stuffed backpack hung from his shoulders.

I tapped his gloomy, terrified shoulder.

Bang! Tatatatatat! BOOOOM!

“That sounded like an RPG, didn’t it?”

“You put the vest on.”

I pulled on my mask and lowered the hood.

Lynn nodded miserably.

The old spider typed something into her phone.

I glanced at the barred window.

Dawn was faintly brightening.

“Good. Use the bathroom. We’re leaving soon.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer to stay here?”

“An apartment full of Harlem’s big players? Safe? Don’t be ridiculous.”

I pulled on my boots and strapped my sword — wrapped to resemble a rifle — to my back.

Then I activated the communicator.

Yoow responded immediately. Rose. Igor.

Lee Seunghyun and Shashinsky’s voices followed.

After hearing their brief reports, I answered:

“Good. Activate.”

Let’s see the end of this long-standing feud, Colton.

Reports of Core devices activating came in one after another as I opened the flat door and stepped out.

At the end of this drawn-out political war —

Only us remained.