The blue wave on the glass wall cast a cool glow across Leon’s face in room 616 of the Bulwark Hall when the early morning sun stretched across the sky.

Beside his bed, a gleaming spark glittered from the silver-black war suit, hung on a metal bar frame, as if waiting to be touched.

"Good morning, Leon Storm." Gia’s voice echoed from the walls of the room when Leon jolted awake and yawned.

"Morning Gia," he said while brushing the back of his palm across his eyes. "What is the synchronization percentage now?"

A clicking sound echoed while the blue waves slowly transformed into a flowing message on the glass wall.

[Synchronization level is at seventy-two percent.]

"Seventy-two percent?" Leon asked with a shocked voice and a pale face. "It should have gone higher. What am I doing?"

Leon swung himself off the bed, then rushed for a quick bath.

The moment Leon walked out with water dripping from his hair, Gia’s voice rose again. "Your body hasn’t recovered fully; please don’t strain it."

"Hmph," Leon shook his head as he shifted his gaze to the moving blue waves. "I will strain it till there is nothing to strain."

"Leon, where are you going?" Gia asked the moment Leon wore his training jam suit and began stretching his shoulders.

"I’m just going for a walk; that’s all," he said and smiled at the blue waves. "Thanks for caring, Gia."

A faint laugh echoed from Gia as if it were now able to feel human emotion.

"No need to thank me. Say it to Lon," it paused for a second, then continued. "Say it to Hei Yung. He’s the right person to be thanked."

"Why did it stop?" Leon said in his head and threw a confused expression at the blue wave. "Gia."

"Yes, Leon Storm."

"Why did you pause and change the word without completing it?" he asked with a slow nod, while stroking his chin with his left index finger.

"Did I pause?" Gia asked in a more sarcastic tone, then giggled. "Maybe. I don’t know. I sometimes forget my lines."

"Lon," Leon mentioned the unfinished word, then lifted a widened eye to Gia’s blue waves. "Longwei."

His expression died the moment he finally remembered the word.

"Leon, are you not going for your walk anymore?" Gia asked after Leon had stood in his position for more than two minutes without a single word or blinking.

He snapped his head once, then exhaled once. "I’ve changed my mind."

"Changed your mind? Why?" Gia asked, then flickered her blue waves once.

"Nothing, I just need to see someone first," Leon said and walked toward the wall the war suit was hung at.

He raised the right sleeve up and began watching the golden outline of the rose flower on the wrist of the suit, then smiled.

A clicking sound echoed as the door’s alarm echoed.

"Leon, Hei Yung is at the door," Gia said, then showed a live feed of a blue-haired man standing with one arm behind his back. "Should we let him in?"

"Why ask me this? Let him in," Leon said, then smiled.

Hei Yung smiled when he entered the room and saw the synchronization level printed at the center of the glass wall. "Seventy-two percent, wow."

He shifted his gaze to Leon, then walked toward him. "I guess the synchronization will be faster than I expected."

Leon smiled and tried to relay the joy in it, but Longwei’s memory caused his smile to falter. "I’m trying."

"Trying? Is that the word you use for something I used a full year to reach?" Hei Yung asked and threw a surprised gaze at Leon. "That is extremely good, if you don’t know that."

He turned, then took in a deep breath before relaxing on Leon’s couch. "Leon, are you ready yet?"

"Ready?" Leon said to himself, then turned and watched Hei Yung with an investigative stare. "Ready for what?"

Hei Yung’s expression shifted to wild stillness while slowly nodding his head.

"Sir, you’re scaring me with that look on your face," Leon said and giggled before moving close to Hei Yung.

Just as Leon sat beside Hei Yung, Hei Yung looked at him once, then stood up. He placed both hands at his back, then walked toward the glass wall.

"Am I in trouble or what?" Leon said in his head while shifting glances from Hei Yung to his closed door.

Hei Yung looked at the birds flying peacefully in the sky, then closed his eyes with a sharp exhale. When he cracked his eyes open, he turned slightly, then smiled at Leon once, then shifted his gaze back to the glass wall.

"How is it like living in a place full of love, peace, and warmth?" Hei Yung asked, then positioned his hand to gesture for Leon to near him.

He placed a hand on Leon’s shoulder, then pointed for him to also watch the two birds flying in the distance.

Leon gave Hei Yung a side eye before smiling when he looked at the birds.

"Do you want peace to remain or want it to scramble?" Hei Yung asked in a cold tone, then shifted his full attention to Leon.

"Sir," Leon giggled, but his eyes didn’t. "Is there something I need to know?"

Hei Yung looked straight into Leon’s eyes, then blinked once. "You’re being redeployed."

"Redeployed to where, Sir?" Leon asked with an unemotional look on his face.

"Tartarus." Hei Yung said the name in a voice and with a face that wanted to see fear, but instead saw a smile in Leon’s eyes. "They want you to go back there and neutralize every last one of the Varkhaza’s eggs."

"Tartarus," Leon said in his mind while he inhaled deeply, as if welcoming his soul to the land before his foot even touched it for the second time.

He pulled Hei Yung’s arm from his shoulder, then moved to his bed. "When should I start packing?"

The question hit Hei Yung like a blast he wasn’t ready to see take place. His eyebrow raised while a faint smile tore across his lips before his expression hitched. "Leon, this would be harder than the last mission."

"Hei Yung, I’m ready for anything," Leon said in a voice that caused all of Hei Yung’s warnings to trail down his stomach.

"Andrew didn’t just leave a son behind; he left someone to better live his legacy," Hei Yung said in his head as he smiled countless times, before moving closer to Leon.

He placed a hand on Leon’s shoulder, then shook his head once. "Your dad would be proud of the man you’re becoming."