A suffocating embarrassment filled the small room.
Emily took a quick step back, her cheeks burning. She quickly smoothed the front of her coat, avoiding Luke’s eyes as she desperately tried to rebuild her professional composure.
"I think... I will go now," Emily said, her voice slightly breathless. She cleared her throat and forced herself to look at him, though her gaze remained strictly official. "I'll take care of the alert. It's a simple trouble. I’m not going to ask what really happened out there, because I know you won't tell me the truth."
She paused, her tone softening just a fraction. "I just hope you don't do anything stupid."
In Emily’s mind, she had already pieced together a logical explanation. She assumed Luke had gotten into a brief scuffle with another awakener in the alley. It never even crossed her mind that Luke might have killed someone. He had only awakened his power a month ago. In her eyes, there was no way he possessed the combat experience or the raw soul power to defeat an assassin in such a short window of time.
She was just relieved he had survived the encounter.
Luke looked down, unable to meet the genuine relief in her eyes. "Thanks," he said quietly. "I owe you one."
Emily hesitated at the door, her hand lingering on the handle. She looked back at him. "When are you going to come see the kids?"
"I will make time within the week," Luke replied.
Emily gave a small nod. "Okay. Then just treat the kids and me to dinner. We can consider that your payment for this favor."
"I will."
And then, another heavy silence fell between them.
Emily stood there for a second longer, a deep sense of disappointment and sadness washing over her. She had just laid her heart bare, crying into his chest out of sheer terror for his life, and his responses were still so cold. So brief. Like he was talking to a stranger.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, opened the door, and stepped out.
Luke followed her downstairs in silence, standing by the entrance of the building as he watched her walk out into the snowy night and drive away.
When her taillights finally disappeared, Luke returned to his dark room. He sat on the edge of his bed, his mind racing through the events of the day. The assassination attempt proved that he was completely blind to the hidden currents of this world.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the smooth, glass-like band of the 3rd Ring of the Deep Sea.
He couldn't afford to waste any more time. He decided not to wait. He was going to activate the ring and meet Petra Kross tonight.
***
Far away from the snowy residential districts, deep underground in a room lit only by a single dim lamp, a middle-aged man sat at a heavy wooden desk.
His features were swallowed by the shadows, but his hands moved continuously, sorting through stacks of highly classified documents.
Suddenly, the heavy iron door opened. A young man stepped inside, his posture stiff and his face pale with nervousness.
The middle-aged man didn't look up from his papers. "What happened?"
"One of our chess pieces has fallen," the young man reported, his voice tight.
The middle-aged man’s hands stopped moving. "Who was the target?"
"Luke. The former Bureau agent who recently signed with the Silver Moon Corporation."
A heavy, oppressive aura instantly filled the dark room. The middle-aged man finally looked up, his eyes cold and sharp. "Did I not explicitly order you to avoid targeting officials and corporate members?"
The young man flinched but tried to defend himself. "But Master, he is on the list! The Dark Prophet designated him as a potential future threat. And now that he is being groomed by Silver Moon, he will only grow stronger—"
"Do you have any idea how many names are on that list?" the middle-aged man interrupted, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "If we start assassinating the special assets of the top organizations right now, before our main course of action is ready, they will unite and wipe us off the face of the earth! For now, we only target those who have not yet awakened or those who have lost their faction backing. And even then, we framed wanted criminals for the kills."
Looking at him, who was still unconvinced.
The middle-aged man stood up, leaning over the desk. "You foolish boy. Do you think the list was given to us simply to kill them?"
The young man blinked, confused. "Wasn't it?"
"No. The Dark Prophet gave us that list for reference. We are meant to observe these exceptional individuals." The middle-aged man walked around the desk, his voice echoing in the quiet room. "As the world gets closer to its final stage, legacies from ancient civilizations and forgotten ruins will begin to surface. The Will of the World favors these exceptional individuals. They are the keys. They will be the ones who naturally stumble upon those ancient legacies."
“They will become our real enemies only when they contact ancient legacies—legacies that will appear more often as the world approaches its final stage.”
His eyes were unreadable in the dark.
“Only by observing them can we interrupt those legacies at the right moment.”
The young man’s eyes widened in realization. "So... you are saying we slowly thin the herd of the unprotected ones, while keeping the rest alive as bloodhounds to find the ancient power?"
"Yes, the fewer they are in number, the more legacy one is gonna get, and it's gonna be easier for us to hunt, " the middle-aged man said coldly. "If we kill them all now, the legacies will remain hidden forever. Your reckless assassination attempt today risked exposing our entire operation."
"I... I understand, Master," the young man bowed deeply, sweating profusely. "I will do exactly as you say from now on."
"Get out," the middle-aged man commanded.
The young man hurriedly left the room, leaving the middle-aged man alone in the dark once again.
***
Meanwhile, at the very top of the Silver Moon Corporation tower, Selene Mondlicht stood before a massive floor-to-ceiling window.
The storm had passed, and the clouds had parted. She bathed in the pale light of the winter moon, her silver hair and pale skin making her look almost ethereal, as if she were blending directly into the moonlight itself.
The soft click of shoes on marble broke the silence.
An elderly man dressed in a pristine butler’s uniform approached from behind, bowing respectfully.
"Miss Selene," the butler said softly. "The main family has expressed dissatisfaction with your recent acquisition. They believe the former Bureau agent is a risk. There are murmurs that he might be a double agent planted by the Bureau to spy on our operations."
Selene didn't turn around. She kept her silver eyes fixed on the sleeping city below.
"Let them be," Selene said, her voice perfectly smooth, untouched by worry. "Double agent or not, it makes no difference. A tool only has power if the one holding it doesn't know its edge."
A faint, chilling smile touched her lips. "I have him exactly where I want him. The plan continues as scheduled."