Morning came quietly to the villa, but peace was a lie.
Luo stood on the balcony, staring at the city beyond the trees. Smoke rose from distant streets, and the faint echo of gunfire reminded him that survival was temporary—never guaranteed.
Behind him, Lily stretched and yawned. "You didn't sleep again, did you?"
Luo smiled faintly. "I did. Just… not deeply."
Lily stepped closer, her fingers brushing against the railing. The water in a nearby bucket trembled slightly without her noticing.
Luo noticed.
He said nothing.
---
Yuna paced the living room nervously, clutching a cracked tablet. The screen flickered weakly, showing a fragmented message log.
"This is the last signal I got," she said, pointing at the screen. "Two days before the network collapsed completely."
Mia leaned over her shoulder. "That's deep White Hand territory."
"I know," Yuna replied, swallowing hard. "But she's strong. Smarter than me. If anyone survived…"
Luo turned from the balcony. "What's her name?"
Yuna hesitated. "Harin."
The name lingered in the air.
"She was the first person who helped me when I became a streamer," Yuna continued quietly. "When I was scared. When I didn't believe in myself."
Mia crossed her arms. "So now you want to go straight into hell to return the favor?"
"Yes," Yuna said without hesitation.
Lily tilted her head. "You're braver than you look."
Yuna laughed weakly. "People say that a lot… right before I panic."
Despite herself, Mia smiled.
Luo nodded. "We'll scout first. No reckless moves."
White Hand was listening somewhere. He could feel it.
---
Later that day, Lily stood in the backyard again, sweat on her brow.
"Okay," Luo said calmly, "same drill. Slow. Controlled."
A thin stream of water rose from the bucket, twisting unnaturally in the air. Lily's breathing steadied as she focused.
For a moment—just a moment—the water hardened, forming a sharp edge.
Then it exploded outward, soaking Luo from head to toe.
There was a long silence.
"…I'm so sorry," Lily said quietly.
Luo wiped water from his face, then laughed. "Progress comes with casualties."
Mia, watching from the window, snorted. "You look ridiculous."
"At least she didn't drown me," Luo replied.
The water around Lily stilled.
She frowned. "I didn't even feel angry… it just reacted."
Luo's smile faded slightly. "That's what worries me."
Again, that strange familiarity stirred in his chest.
Like he had once stood exactly where Lily was standing now.
---
That night, Mia found herself alone with Luo in the hallway.
The villa was quiet. Too quiet.
She opened her mouth—then closed it.
Luo noticed. "You okay?"
"…Yeah," she lied.
Her fists clenched at her sides.
Say it.
"I just wanted to say—" She stopped. Took a breath. "Never mind."
Luo watched her walk away, confusion flickering in his eyes.
Mia leaned against the wall once she was alone, pressing her forehead against the cold stone.
I'll say it when the world isn't ending.
---
Far away, beneath a collapsed metro station, Aria stood before a makeshift lab.
Zombie corpses lay dismantled with disturbing precision.
Cores—small, glowing fragments—were arranged in a circle on the ground.
"They're not power sources," Aria said quietly. "They're records."
Her team listened in silence.
"These cores contain traces of what the zombies were," she continued. "Memories. Adaptations. Failures."
She closed her eyes.
"If White Hand is harvesting them… then they're not trying to stop the apocalypse."
She opened her eyes slowly.
"They're trying to control evolution."
A cold realization settled over her.
"And Luo is part of that equation."
---
Back at the villa, the night shattered suddenly.
An alarm blared—one Luo didn't remember installing.
Red lights flashed.
Yuna froze. "That's… White Hand tech."
Luo's heart dropped. "They found us."
Outside, floodlights ignited in the forest.
Figures moved between the trees.
Lily instinctively raised her hands—water surged around her feet, reacting violently.
"Lily!" Luo snapped. "Not yet!"
She nodded, barely holding it back.
Mia grabbed her weapon. "Guess scouting time is over."
Yuna swallowed hard. "This is my fault…"
"No," Luo said firmly. "This is our fight."
Somewhere beyond the trees, a White Hand operative spoke calmly into a communicator.
"Sanitizer, we've confirmed the group's location."
A pause.
Then—
"Do not engage fully," Sanitizer replied. "I want to see how far Subject L can go."
The forest went silent.
Too silent.
And in that silence, Luo felt it again.
That sealed door.
Cracking—just slightly.