"You sitting here like that kinda makes you look like a toad next to a lion."

  Without looking up, Skye flicked his cigarette butt toward the speaker and grumbled, "Fuck off."

  Kieran chuckled, stepping closer. He crouched next to Skye and pulled out a cigarette of his own.

  The Crown Hotel sat on high ground, giving them a perfect view of both sides of the avenue. Below, the city was already waking up.

  Breakfast stalls had begun their daily routine, filling the streets with the comforting smell of food. Pedestrians moved along the sidewalks, going about their ordinary lives, completely unaware of the extraordinary events that had unfolded in the dead of night.

  "Not bad," Kieran said, exhaling a slow stream of smoke.

  Skye nodded absently, staring at the street below.

  "The kid’s future is probably fucked, though."

  Neither man said anything for a while after that. They just sat there, smoking in silence.

  "What the hell were you people thinking?" he snapped at Axel’s team, his voice sharp with angry. "He’s this badly injured, and you waited until now to bring him in? He’s young and reckless—I get it. But you? You should’ve known better!"

  He waved his hand furiously toward the emergency room doors. "Move! Get him in there, now!"

  Axel’s condition wasn’t life-threatening—his body was strong, and his constitution resilient—but that wasn’t what worried Skye and Kieran the most.

  The test.

  Kieran had warned Axel before: injuries, blood loss—any kind of physical strain—would drastically impact test results. Even if his Force value was high, his weakened state would drag his numbers way down.

  And now, after taking a knife straight through, losing all that blood? Four days wouldn’t be nearly enough time to fully recover.

  Skye exhaled a long breath, rubbing his face with calloused hands.

  "This kid’s had a rough life," he muttered. "An orphan. Got a little sister to take care of. Fought like hell just to afford a place in the slums. Clawed his way up, and now? Now he’s caught up in all this shit."

  Kieran stayed silent, his cigarette burning down between his fingers.

  "...Where’s his sister?"

  "She’s at the hospital. Sticking by his side." Skye huffed out something like a laugh. "Tough kid. Didn’t cry. Just insisted on being with him."

  They kept talking, not realizing that someone had been standing behind them.

  Listening. Vince had been there for a while, quiet as a shadow, taking in every word.

  "Mr. Vince, when did you—?"

  Skye stopped short, stiffening slightly. Vince waved a hand dismissively.

  "Just Vince is fine." His voice was relaxed, easy. "I overheard something interesting. You said Axel planned tonight’s operation?"

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Skye hesitated, then nodded.

  He’d always thought of the Whisper Syndicate as an untouchable force—mysterious, powerful, unapproachable. Compared to them, the Enforcement Bureau felt amateur. He’d never met an official Syndicate operative who was this… approachable.

  "Yeah," Skye said after a beat. "Not just tonight. All the leads on Wolfe, the infected—it was *all* him. Hell, if it weren’t for Axel, I’d probably be *unemployed* right now."

  Skye wasn’t exaggerating.

  Vince’s sharp features lit with something—curiosity? Amusement?

  "Oh?" He crouched slightly, balancing effortlessly on the balls of his feet. "Isn’t he just a student? Tell me more about him."

  Skye wasn’t sure *why* Vince was so interested, but he figured it couldn’t be a bad thing.

  If Axel somehow caught the Syndicate’s eye, he wouldn’t even need to go to war school.

  "Alright, it started like this..."

  For the next half hour, Skye laid it all out.

  Kieran filled in the gaps, adding details from Axel’s time on campus—things Skye wouldn’t have known.

  Vince listened intently, nodding here and there, his expression thoughtful. He looked *different* from the two of them—his posture, his clothes, the way he carried himself. He had an air of precision. Refinement.

  When Skye and Kieran finally turned in for the night, Vince remained.

  Yawning, he stretched, staring off into the quiet streets. Then he muttered to himself. "Exceptional talent. Sharp mind. Brutal on himself."

  He’d noticed something earlier—Axel hadn’t collapsed until it was over. Until he was sure Wolfe couldn’t make a comeback.

  Axel had only passed out after ensuring Wolfe was completely neutralized. That alone told Vince everything he needed to know. The kid didn’t let his guard down until the job was done.

  Most teenagers—hell, even adults—would crack under pressure when thrown into something far beyond their capabilities.

  But Axel didn’t. He moved strategically. Used every available resource to push himself forward.

  That kind of mindset—that level of discipline—was rare.

  "And then there’s his Awakening skill…" Vince’s fingers tapped against his knee.

  If his hunch was right, Axel possessed Undead Guide—one of the top 50 abilities in the internal sequence.

  A slow smile spread across Vince’s face. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

  "Kaia, you awake?"

  A groggy voice answered on the other end.

  "Tch—do you have any idea what time it is?"

  Vince chuckled. "I found our candidate."

  A lazy, disgruntled female voice drifted through the phone.

  "You seriously called me this early? Do you know what a lack of sleep does to my skin? How are you gonna make it up to me, huh? Wait—hold on. What did you just say? You found a candidate? What level? Male or female? Hot? What kind of Awakener?"

  Vince pulled the phone slightly away from his ear as her rapid-fire questions buzzed through the speaker. Keeping his voice calm, he responded, "I’ll bring you a face mask when I get back. As for the candidate… Level One, probably. You’ll find out the rest when you meet him. Just sign me up."

  Before she could protest, he hung up.

  On the other end of the call, Kaia scowled, tossing her phone onto the bed. Buried under an opulent gold-trimmed quilt, her bare arms—pale and smooth as polished porcelain—clutched the covers in frustration.

  "That bastard Vince has lost his damn mind. A Level One? Our recruitment plan is doomed again this year."

  Grumbling, she raked her fingers through her tousled hair before deciding it wasn’t worth losing more sleep over. With a press of a button by her bed, the automated curtains transformed into a simulated starry night, dimming the massive room. A grand fireplace flared to life, crackling softly, filling the air with warmth.

  The quiet luxury of her 200-square-meter private mansion wrapped around her like a cocoon. And with that, Kaia drifted back to sleep.

  .....

  Axel stirred after a full day and night of unconsciousness.

  His eyes fluttered open to an empty hospital room. The only other person there was Annabelle, asleep in a chair beside his bed, her head resting on her arms.

  The first thing he did was check his belongings. His outer clothes had been changed, but his most valuable possessions were still there. Reaching into his pockets, his fingers brushed over the cool, solid weight of the crystals. Only then did he exhale in relief.

  They were his biggest haul yet. One for a regular human. One for an Awakener. Two from infected. And a red crystal.

  Even the two green crystals he’d picked up were massive—far larger than the seven or eight smaller ones he’d gathered before.

  Not wanting to wake Annabelle, Axel carefully retrieved the red crystal and started absorbing it. A familiar warmth spread through his body, and he slipped into the trance-like state of inner vision.