An unspoken tension lanced through Lord Luo Fang’s face when Leon shifted his gaze to him.

"Leon," Hei Yung called and drifted Leon’s gaze back. "This is all that we wanted you to know; you can go now."

Without hesitation, Leon rose from his seat and moved aside.

"Should I?" he asked, pointing at the three weapons.

"Yes, carry them along," Hei Yung said, then brushed a hand on Leon’s shoulder. "You’re the right person to carry them to the weapons room."

"Thank you," Leon said. He grabbed them one after another, starting from Wu Ze’s broken sword and ending on Liu Yan’s sword.

As he walked toward the door, he didn’t look back, but he felt as if darts were being thrown at him from behind when Lord Luo Fang’s face crossed his mind.

The heavy door of the hall hissed as Leon swung it open, then cut off the low hum of the officials’ power as it closed behind him. He stood in the hallway and sighed heavily while staring at his reflections in the blades. When he walked down the corridor, the three weapons tucked under his arm, their metal bit into his skin.

At the arched window of the second floor, Leon saw Kim and Eun-woo standing there. He changed his path toward them.

Eun-woo closed in and brushed his arm on Leon’s shoulder while slowly letting the silver badge embossed with the Agatha eagle symbol show.

"I’m a lieutenant now," he said and moved a step from Leon, then planted his palms on his waist while showcasing his muscles as if the badge came with extra body features. "I now have a badge to show."

Kim smiled, but her eyes remained on the wrapped weapons Leon was carrying. She stepped forward without showing her badge and placed a hand on Leon’s forearm.

"The gear inspectors came for ours for processing, but they said you won’t be staying in the Madhouse anymore. You’re going to the Bulwark Hall instead of Flint Hall."

"The Bulwark Hall?" Eun-woo said and grinned. "That’s the high-security hall. Only the elite soldiers stay there."

’Bulwark Hall? Why am I being moved from Flint Hall?’ Leon said to himself while staring at Kim’s face.

Eun-woo’s eyes didn’t smile when his cheeks rose. He moved and wrapped his hand around Leon’s shoulder. "Well, it’s good you have been moved to join us at our place."

The moment Eun-woo removed his hand and began moving toward the exit, Leon stayed still.

"Hei Yung said my path is being redrawn. What does that mean?"

Kim and Eun-woo turned sharp gazes at Leon, then exchanged glances, but they didn’t answer the question.

"It’s nothing; don’t stress your mind over it," Seo-jun’s voice rose from behind Leon. He wore a five-star silver badge, unlike Eun-woo and Kim who had four-star badges, when he stopped by Leon’s side. "Let’s get these a nice resting place before you join them unwillingly."

Kim and Eun-woo laughed off Seo-jun’s words and continued moving toward the elevator. Seo-jun walked by Leon’s side as they all exited from the second floor to the ground floor.

Kim kept shifting glances toward Leon as if she had found answers to something she had been secretly seeking. ’Redrawn, huh.’

When they stopped in front of the main exit gate of the Blackscale Citadel, Kim squinted at Leon’s face. "Leon, your eyes. They are no longer just brown anymore. There is something... dark and spiking in the center."

Leon loosened his left arm from the wrapped weapons, then brushed it over his face. "I’m fine, Kim. I’m just tired."

The moment Eun-woo stepped forward to check, two gear inspectors wearing black-and-gold plating closed in on them. They didn’t salute or smile; they simply stopped and waited behind Leon, carrying unspoken commands on their faces.

"Guys," Eun-woo said as he saw the lead gear inspector moving toward Leon.

"Leon Storm," the lead gear inspector said in a voice that was muffled by a respirator. "The Directors are waiting. We will take the weapons for the memorial archive now."

Leon threw a confused glance at the men, then at the three Ghost Squad members.

"Leon, let them have them," Seo-jun said in a low voice, then placed a hand on Leon’s shoulder. "They will take it from here."

Leon felt a cold pulse in his stomach when he looked at Liu Yan’s sword, then shifted his gaze back to the inspectors. He handed the weapons over one by one, and with every one he gave out, relief surged through him and caused his heart to feel lighter and hollow.

"We’ll see you at the ceremony, Leon," Eun-woo said and nudged Kim on the shoulder.

Leon looked at them for a moment, then followed the inspectors without saying a word. The more he distanced himself from the Ghost Squad, the more he felt as if his world was taking a different turn.

...

The Bulwark Hall was silent, unlike the Flint Hall, which echoed with the sounds of shouting soldiers and clashing steel. The inspectors took Leon to his new apartment. The room was a sprawling expanse of white marble and glass, which overlooked his entire mansion in Bastion City.

"Enjoy your stay here, impending Lord Storm," the lead gear inspector said and left without hesitation.

"Impending Lord Storm? Am I going to be ranked as a Lord?" Leon asked in a confused voice as he moved from the apartment entrance to the center, where a gold triangular glass table sat. The moment he placed his palms on it, a sonic wave pulsed through the table without a sound.

"What is this?" Leon moved a step back but kept his gaze locked on the table.

Air flashed into the room from the ceiling when the sonic wave vanished.

"Welcome home, Leon Storm," Gia’s voice echoed in every corner of the room, the walls, and the ceiling.

When Leon turned to the left, a massive screen flickered to life, then began displaying Leon’s vitals in real-time.

"Gia?" Leon asked when he saw the blue wave similar to the one he knew in the Triarch.

"Yes, Leon Storm."

Leon paused mid-step, shifted his gaze to the door, then back at the window. "How?"

"I have been integrated into the Bulwark Hall’s mainframe to better monitor your recovery and... evolution," Gia replied.

’Interesting,’ Leon said to himself as he walked to the bed and sat at its edge.

"Leon Storm, the data of your vital scan suggests a symbiotic resonance with the Heart of Tartarus."

Leon’s head snapped back while his face tightened. "And what is that?"

"Your cellular structure is vibrating at a frequency that shouldn’t be possible for a human."

Leon’s eyes opened wide. He looked at his hands, then focused on the coldness pulling up from his gut. ’I used to feel heat whenever the golden power burst or moved within me; how am I now feeling coldness?’ Leon asked himself as he began tilting his palm, scanning the veins.

When he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he saw himself standing in Yrendal, the land he only saw in his dreams. But now, he entered into it without even needing to sleep. Just as he saw the green ocean, a sharp chime echoed and pulled him out of the land and brought him back to his room in the Bulwark Hall.

"Leon," Gia said in a low voice that sounded more urgent than a shout. "Director Hayes is entering the floor. He is accompanied by the Research and Development combat team heads. They have requested a ’Signature Stress Test’ immediately."

Leon stood up and shook his head when Gia displayed the footage of the men nearing his door.

"Should I let them in?" Gia asked as the view zoomed in on Hayes’s face. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Let them in, Gia," Leon said in a flat but dangerous voice. "Let’s see what they want to find."

When the door slid open, Hayes walked in, followed by four men in gray suits carrying energy-dampening batons. Hayes’s eyes glowed wild while an eerie smile spread across his face when he looked at Leon.

"You look rested," he said while gesturing at the tactical team to form a circle around Leon, then folded his arms over his chest. "Now, show me how you survived Tartarus."