Jin's heavy footsteps echoed through the cold metallic corridors like the ticking of a doomsday clock. In his armored arms lay the unconscious Julia, her angelic face contrasting sharply with the harshness of the black armor surrounding her.
He carried her into his private quarters at the top of the steel tower. Placing her gently on the bed, he took a step back to observe her. The room resembled him; gray, desolate, and devoid of any pulse of life. At that moment, Dr. Aris's words echoed in his mind like an inescapable spell: "You are the shield chosen by fate to protect her."
Jin felt an unprecedented internal tear. Should he betray Zoro and the empire that forged his very being? Or should he kill this girl who, merely by breathing near him, resurrected his dead humanity?
His thoughts dissipated when Julia suddenly jolted. She opened her eyes, and in a fraction of a second, the fog of unconsciousness cleared to be replaced by the nightmare of memory. The laser flash... her father's collapsed body... and the smell of ash.
Her blue eyes turned into a storm of grief and anger. She jumped from the bed and rushed at Jin like a flame, striking his armored chest with her trembling fists as she screamed with a voice that tore the silence of the room: "You executioner! You soulless monster! Give me back my father! Why did you let me breathe? Kill me now!"
Jin didn't raise a hand to stop her. He stood like a statue of ice receiving her weak blows, but behind this cold mask, he was burning. His golden screen faded, and his field of vision was flooded with a bloody red color screaming with warnings: [Critical Danger! Emotion Index exceeds 30%... Breaking encryption... Sending coordinates to the Supreme Leader].
His system was about to explode and expose him. In a lightning-fast movement, his hand reached under his desk and pressed a hidden emergency button.
Crash!
The cover of the massive ventilation shaft fell from the ceiling, and with it fell a skinny, rat-like young man wearing goggles, hitting the floor in a comical and pathetic manner. It was Jax, the vent rat and hacking genius.
Jax sat up, rubbing his head in pain, then looked up and froze in place. He saw a human girl breaking down in tears, and he saw Inspector No. 1, the legend of terror, panting, his screen flashing red like a crazy traffic light.
Jax's eyes widened, then he burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. Hahahahaha! He slapped his hand on the floor as tears escaped his eyes.
"Oh my great God! What am I seeing? Did the perfect machine break down because of love? Does the First Inspector, the conqueror of rebels, hide a beating heart under this iron? Please tell me you write poetry too, Jin! The one who fought emotions now has a heart and loves too! Hahaha!"
Jin had no patience for jokes. In the blink of an eye, he lunged at Jax, grabbed him by the collar of his worn-out shirt, and lifted him into the air until his feet dangled. Jin's eyes gleamed with deadly anger, and he growled in a low voice like thunder: "Make an isolator for this room now, or I swear I'll make you breathe through a hole in your windpipe!"
Jax gulped hard, his laughter vanishing in a second. "Your orders are my command, my killer Romeo! Just put me down!"
Jax immediately pulled a small metal disk from his belt and stuck it to the wall. A silent blue electromagnetic wave shot out, enveloping the room like an invisible bubble. Jin's screen stopped transmitting signals, and the connection to the capital's system was severed.
Jax sighed in relief, then pulled a long leather coat lined with micro-wires from his bag and tossed it to Jin. "Wear this. It's an insulating coat. It will hide your body heat and stop Zoro's devices from hearing your teenage heartbeat. You owe me your life... and the story of this girl later!"
However, what no one in that room knew was that danger was breathing right behind their door.
In the dark hallway, Kyle stood pressed against the metal wall. He had placed a tiny listening device resembling a robotic spider on the crack of the door. He had heard everything. He heard Jax's mockery, Julia's crying, and most importantly... he heard Jin's faltering breaths.
A chilling, demonic smile formed on Kyle's pale face. His electronic eye gleamed with a malicious spark as he whispered to himself with sick joy: "What a fool you are, Number 1. You've exposed yourself. I won't just kill you, Jin... I'll make you kneel, and beg, while you watch your world burn." Kyle withdrew into the shadows like a venomous snake, planning his fatal strike.
Jin had barely put on his insulating coat when the walls shook with a piercing Red-Tier alarm. [Emergency Alert: Riot in the Outcasts' Outer Sector. System radars are facing systematic destruction. Immediate intervention ordered.]
Jin locked the door of his quarters on Julia and Jax, and shot off like an arrow.
In the Outcasts' village, the scene was closer to hell. Flames devoured the cabins, and black smoke embraced the sky. The armored vehicles landed, and Jin, Mika, and Kyle emerged with their heavy weapons.
Amidst this ruin stood a woman. Her features were harsh, hardened, and her eyes held the same deep blue as Julia's. It was her mother. She stood with the firmness of mountains, directing the rebels to destroy the watchtowers to force the capital's leaders to appear.
Jin stepped forward, trying to coldly control the situation while protecting the woman at the same time. He shouted loudly: "Drop your weapon immediately! Destruction will bring you nothing but annihilation. Surrender and I will guarantee you..."
"You guarantee nothing but death, Jin!" Kyle interrupted him with a provoking, demonic laugh. Kyle stepped forward and raised his massive thermal cannon, aiming it directly at the woman's chest. "The System does not negotiate with rebel insects. The System crushes them."
Kyle placed his finger on the trigger, and the muzzle of the weapon gleamed red.
And before the deadly charge could be fired... the sky split open.
It was no ordinary landing; it was a meteor of darkness. Supreme Leader Zoro dropped from his glider directly into the middle of the square. He slammed into the ground with such force that the metallic floor cracked, sending dust and debris flying like a miniature hurricane.
Zoro stood in his tyrannical majesty, wearing his black armor that absorbed the light, his eyes blazing with a soul-burning anger. His aura alone was enough to suffocate those present.
With a movement faster than a lightning flash, Zoro's massive hand reached out and seized Kyle by the neck. He lifted him into the air as if he weighed nothing, then threw him with terrifying, brutal violence into the wreckage of one of the towers. Kyle slammed into the steel with enough force to nearly shatter his spine, falling to the ground gasping in pain and shock.
Zoro roared with a voice that made the very air tremble: "Who gave you the permission... to kill her?!"
A funereal silence prevailed. Weapons dropped from the rebels' hands out of sheer terror. Jin and Mika took a step back, their minds refusing to believe what they were seeing. The absolute monster, the tyrant of the capital, intervening personally... to save a woman from the Outcasts?
And in the heart of this terrifying quiet, where everyone held their breath, the woman's eyes met Zoro's. She wasn't trembling, nor was she afraid. Instead, a calm, mysterious, and tired smile formed on her lips.
She spoke in a clear voice that sliced through the silence like a sword: "I knew you would come... I knew you would never abandon me."
Jin's heartbeat accelerated. Kyle was stunned as he lay on the ground. What was this cursed connection? Did this devil who ruled them have a human past? Was she his lover? His sister? How dare anyone speak to him this way without being turned to ash?
Julia's mother took a step toward the tyrant, and dropped a bombshell of words that left the entire capital standing on the edge of the abyss:
"Should I tell them, Zoro? Should I expose you in front of your hounds... and reveal the buried secret upon which your capital stands?