Leaves spun in the air and drifted at Kim’s face when she stopped two feet away from Leon, with one arm stretched forward.

"Please," she said in a low voice while shifting her eyes from Leon to the blood streaking down from Seo-jun’s neck. "I know it hurts to lose a partner. But trust me and let him go, please. I know that’s what she would’ve also wanted. Please."

Leon’s expression calmed when he inhaled deeply, then shifted his gaze to Liu Yan’s pale face.

Leaves began falling on him and Seo-jun when he slowly drew back the war disc and moved a step back.

"Thank you," Kim said in a soft voice that collapsed Leon’s fury and caused him to crouch down.

Leon wrapped his hands around his face, sobbing, but all his tears were no longer coming, only his eyes were reddening.

Kim crouched down over Liu Yan’s body, then whispered words that didn’t reach her ears before standing up.

"Are you okay, Seo-jun?" she asked, staring at Seo-jun who had now crouched down coughing while holding the part of his neck where the war disc’s blade had scratched.

"I’m fine. I’m fine." Seo-jun answered, then cleared his throat before standing up.

"Joon, you and Mo should come carry the body." He gestured at the two guys standing right behind Kim, then pointed at the body.

Just as the two guys carried the body and unfortunately let the arm slip, slamming the side of the tree, Leon stood up and threw a sharp glance at them.

"Handle her with care!"

Mo’s hands trembled as the words went deep inside him, but Joon stood there, watching Leon as if waiting for the right time to fight him.

"You heard that, make sure you send her to the craft safely. We would catch up with you in no time." Seo-jun said in a firm voice, then brushed the dust and tiny leaves from his palms.

Leon watched as the two masked men carried Liu Yan’s body away with a clenched fist and wild eyes, then shifted his gaze to Kim.

Kim stared back at Leon, then exhaled sharply. When she opened her mouth to speak, she froze when she saw Starfire Opal stones scattered on the ground.

"Eun-woo, look." She said and pointed at the stones.

Seo-jun stood there unshaken by the discovery of the legendary stone, but Eun-woo dashed toward them like they were his lost ribs.

Leon watched Eun-woo and Kim for a while, then walked toward the direction the two masked men had taken.

"Leon Storm, wait." Seo-jun called to Leon then began walking toward him. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Leon stopped and turned his head slowly, and looked at the man closing in on him.

"I didn’t introduce myself or my group to you before." Seo-jun said and pointed a hand toward Kim and Eun-woo who were now gathering the Opal stones in a bag.

"We are the Ghost Squad of the Agatha Special Force, just like the lady said. She’s Kim, by the way." He paused then pointed at the broad-chested guy. "The guy standing beside the lady is also Eun-woo, and I’m —"

"I know, you’re Longwei’s relative." Leon said in a swift voice, countering Seo-jun before he could even speak.

"How, how did you know? Many think it’s a lie because of our skin color and body structure." Seo-jun asked as he stumbled two steps backwards, his brow raised in shock.

Leon turned and then gave Seo-jun a look. "Your voice and the color of your eyes."

When Kim reached Seo-jun’s side, she paused and looked at Seo-jun’s sudden sad face. "Are we going back to the craft or not?"

"The stones are heavy, I can’t stand here; I’m taking the lead." Eun-woo said in a tired voice then began walking ahead without even stopping to look at Leon or Seo-jun’s faces.

Seo-jun turned to Kim then placed a hand on her shoulder. "We are moving out of here."

Leon remained the last person standing under the tree’s branches. He looked at Liu Yan’s blood still clinging to the ground beneath the oak tree, then exhaled once and followed Seo-jun.

When Leon walked past two fruitless trees, a sharp pain rattled through his bones and ignited his eyes to glow red for just a second before turning brown.

As soon as Leon vanished from sight, the smaller pieces of the Opal stones that were left behind began to glow when the blood stretched and touched them.

...

Dark clouds gathered above the Agatha Special Forces ground while soldiers marched around MRAPs that had their engines running.

At the center of the ground, all their soldiers lifted their eyes and watched as the Black Falcon 401 lowered itself onto the ground.

Smoke gassed out of the craft when its ramp pushed open, filling the ground like the clouds in the sky.

"Welcome, Sir," they all screamed in one voice and slammed their boots on the ground, saluting Hei Yung when he stepped out of the craft.

Hei Yung looked at the soldiers’ faces, then moved without hesitation and walked toward the Blackscale Citadel.

Inside, Lu Wang and Hei Luo were there, seated behind a round table that had two extra chairs unoccupied.

"Welcome home, brother," Lu Wang said as he stood up from his seat, grabbed Hei Yung’s hand and shook it before gesturing at him toward the seat next to him.

Lu Wang smiled and nodded at Hei Yung when he locked eyes with him. "How did the meeting at Seol-Mujin go?"

Hei Yung’s expression changed for a split second when he looked back at Lu Wang. "We’ll talk about that later."

Hei Luo’s eyebrow raised as he turned and glanced at Hei Yung’s face as if those four words alone were enough to shake the ground they were standing on.

"Have the ghost squad communicated back?" He said, placing his hands on the table, while trying to hide the frustrated smile he was showing.

"Yes." Lu Wang said, then stood up. He pulled out a communicating device from his pocket, then dialed the number of the senior tech scientist. "Bring the recordings."

Within minutes, Amed, the senior, came in holding a tablet that had a video playing on it. "Sir, here it is."

He handed the tablet to Lu Wang then walked out of the room without waiting a second.

"Here is what they reported to us." Lu Wang said in a calm voice, then passed the tablet to Hei Luo.

Hei Luo’s eyes widened as he wowed at the image on the tablet before handing it to Hei Yung.

Just as Hei Yung’s fingers wrapped around the tablet, Amed rushed back into the hall, pushing the door hard. "Sir, you’ve got to see this!"

Hei Yung lifted his gaze from the tablet, watched the senior tech scientist’s face for a moment before shifting to Lu Wang.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get going." Hei Yung said and stood up abruptly, leaving the video paused on the tablet untouched.

The curtains covering the hall’s windows frayed up and down as the three officials walked into the control room, while Leon’s transformation from E to B showcased on the screen.

Inside the control room, Amed rushed toward the front of the screen with his eyes wide open. "They found it. They actually found it, Sir."