Dust swirled in the air as Zoe stopped and lowered her sweat-filled face, her heart pounding against her chest.

"Leon," she said in a ragged voice, stepping forward while holding a brown bag. "Li Mei wants you to have this before you go."

Hei Yung tried to stop Zoe, but he froze when he saw Leon shake his head once while descending the Triarch’s ramp.

Zoe moved forward and stopped in front of the three officials of the Agatha Special Forces and Feng, tears slowly welling in her eyes.

The moment Leon reached her, he placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. "Thank you, Zoe."

Zoe’s eyes rolled back for a couple of seconds before she threw herself into him in a tight hug.

"Leon," her soft voice whispered near his ear as the hug’s intensity increased. "We will be waiting for your return."

"Lily?" Leon asked, slowly pulling himself from the hug while keeping his hands on her arms.

"She has been running all over the place, Leon," Zoe said with a faint laugh. "Lily talks about how she will tease you the moment you step through the mansion’s iron gate."

Leon shook his head, a faint laugh escaping him. "Does she still talk about me in her sleep?"

"She shouts your name like she is calling a bird from the sky," Zoe said, moving a step forward with eyes glowing with joy. "She misses you, but she is happy. Everyone is okay, Leon."

’Is she lying?’ Leon thought, his smile slowly faltering. ’Why do I feel as if all her words are false?’

When Leon loosened his grip on Zoe and took the brown bag, Zoe walked back to stand beside Feng, and they watched Leon step into the Triarch.

Leon stopped at the edge of the ramp and glanced at the five faces before finally entering the control section of the craft.

"Mom," Leon said with smiling eyes when he opened the bag and saw the red-gold cloth folded inside. "Thank you."

Li Mei’s face flashed in Leon’s mind when he turned his gaze to the previous cloth he had hung on the left wall beside the control seat.

’I cannot use this one to also decorate the craft,’ he thought, taking a deep breath. He pulled the cloth out of the bag and brushed his palms against it before wrapping it around his neck.

"Mom has really upgraded herself in weaving these cloths," he said, staring at his reflection in the smooth surface of the interior.

Leon flipped the master power switch, which activated the flight-core and made the cockpit come alive with layers of blue light.

He engaged the navigation hub, thumbed the thruster’s ignition stud, and set the stability-asset to active, which turned the canopy seal to green.

He moved the mode selector to Pursuit Standby and released the brake clamp before pushing the lift thrusters online.

The moment he wrapped his hands around the steering wheel, Gia’s voice echoed with a yawn.

"Hello, Leon Storm. Are we ready for the ride?"

"Hello, Gia," Leon said, pulling the wheels and making the Triarch climb high into the clouds.

Just as birds began hovering alongside the craft, a message with a photo of his mansion appeared on the screen.

"I have been able to crack into the Storm Mansion’s security, but the result carries information I do not think you would want to see."

Leon lowered his grip on the wheels, then turned his gaze to the cloth wrapped around his neck with a sharp exhale. "Show me."

...

The moment the Triarch vanished from the skies of Agatha, Lu Wang and Hei Luo exchanged glances before returning to their work.

Hei Yung walked to Zoe with a slightly saddened look on his face. "I am sorry."

"Oh, do not worry, I know how measures work in a military camp," Zoe said with a smile. "And I came in without following the proper protocol."

Hei Yung smiled with a single nod then turned and walked to Feng. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Me?" Feng said, his eye changing color for a split second before he burst into laughter. "Maybe. The world is round."

"I have to go do something in my office," Hei Yung said, waving at Feng and Zoe. "If you need anything, you are free to come to the Blackscale Citadel."

"Sure," Feng said, watching Hei Yung vanish from sight. He turned a wild expression to Zoe, then cleared his throat. "Why did you leave the mansion?"

The warmth in Zoe’s face turned to confusion as she turned her gaze to Feng. "Li Mei asked me to give her gift to Leon. That is the reason I left."

She looked toward the empty sky and then back to Feng’s face.

Feng squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head once before cracking his neck with a sharp exhale. "We need to get back there now. Otherwise."

He paused and stared with a wild gaze at the sky.

"Otherwise what?" Zoe asked, her heart pounding and sweat beading on her face. ’Every security patch was added to the system before I left, right?’

"I will tell you once we get back to Thule," Feng said, placing a hand on Zoe’s heaving shoulder. "We need to leave now!"

Dust burst from the tires of the silver Ferrari 250 GTO as it drove like lightning across the streets of the Agatha Special Forces base.

"Hey!" soldiers screamed, jumping out of the way as they saw the vehicle heading toward them.

Just as the vehicle drove through the Eastgate and closed in on the border of Agatha, Feng exhaled sharply and glared at the border soldiers. "You would not like the outcome if you stop us."

"Uncle Feng," Zoe said, turning shocked eyes to Feng and the soldier stepping back. "What is going on? I need to know."

’If they have already gone there,’ Feng thought, sighing. ’Then Leon would be coming back to meet the corpses of his mother and sister.’