“Congrats, Arthur…”

  He muttered the words under his breath, sarcasm laced with bitterness.

  “You’ve successfully wasted an entire week overthinking.”

  Silence lingered.

  His jaw tightened.

  Seven days replaying Antarctica.

  Seven days analyzing movements, uniforms, formations.

  Seven days without a single update.

  His fingers curled into fists.

  Irritation rose.

  Controlled. Focused.

  “Damn it…”

  The word came out low.

  “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

  He inhaled slowly.

  Held it.

  Then exhaled.

  Think.

  “I have to find out the truth.”

  —

  Arthur waited until night.

  Then he slipped into the New York X-Cut facility unnoticed.

  The building was quieter after dark.

  Dim corridors. Low lighting. Security cameras positioned with calculated precision.

  But he knew the blind spots.

  His footsteps were silent against the polished floor.

  Measured. Balanced.

  Halfway down the corridor, he slowed.

  Voices.

  Faint at first.

  Then clearer.

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  He stopped.

  Listening.

  Calculating.

  Rey and Nord.

  Arthur held his breath.

  Rey’s voice was calm.

  “We’ve taken down the strongest people from multiple nations… all thanks to Arthur.”

  Arthur’s jaw tightened.

  A brief pause.

  Then Nord.

  “I suppose so.”

  A faint scoff followed.

  “You’ve got yourself a very useful dog.”

  Arthur’s fingers slowly curled into fists.

  Rey’s voice lowered slightly.

  “And you know what’s even more amusing? He doesn’t know that I was the one who killed Rachel.”

  Nord’s expression shifted.

  “Rachel?”

  He paused.

  “You mean the dangerous agent from the International Aegis Division… IAD?”

  Rey gave a small nod.

  “Yeah. That one.”

  Rachel?

  Rachel Morgan?

  My sister?

  Rey said it calmly.

  “And Rachel is Arthur’s sister.”

  Nord exhaled slowly, genuine surprise crossing his face.

  “Oh… so that’s why he’s the chosen one, huh.”

  Rey gave a faint smile.

  “Yeah. And my plan was to get rid of Rachel from the start. She was IAD. She would’ve been a problem for me.”

  She folded her arms.

  “To lure her out, I used Arthur as bait.”

  “Readers might think Rachel was killed because Arthur didn’t have any enemies.”

  “After all, he is the main character.”

  A slight shake of her head.

  “That’s not true.”

  “I stalked them first. That’s when I realized Rachel washes Arthur’s clothes.”

  “So I kidnapped Arthur… and slipped an X-Cut card into his pants.”

  “She came to me exactly as I expected.”

  “And she died.”

  A brief pause.

  “And you know… I’ve watched too many movies.”

  “If I just told Arthur Morgan I killed his sister and shot him, and he somehow survived, he would’ve come after me.”

  “So I thought sending Arthur into the Antarctica war would finish him.”

  “How was he supposed to survive that?”

  She exhaled quietly.

  “But he did.”

  “And now he’s in a New York hospital.”

  “He might be thinking he’ll be my dog forever.”

  Nord gave a low chuckle.

  “I can’t expect anything less from my little sister.”

  Arthur remained completely silent.

  Rage burned inside him.

  Violent.

  Uncontrollable.

  His fingers trembled slightly, nails pressing into his palms.

  But his face stayed cold.

  Empty.

  Unreadable.

  Arthur slowly calmed himself.

  The rage didn’t vanish.

  He forced it down.

  I could kill both of them if I wanted to.

  The thought was steady.

  Cold.

  But something stopped him.

  Not fear.

  Something else.

  There are too many mysteries about me.

  I have to uncover them first.

  A strange heaviness settled in his chest.

  I’ve always felt… reborn.

  I can’t remember anything before I was seven.

  Nothing at all.

  Even after that, I was always alone.

  Yet somewhere deep inside, there was a faint, persistent feeling—

  That I had friends once.

  That I had a life before this.

  Arthur clenched his fists.

  Morgan…

  I’ve always hated that name.

  I don’t know why.

  Maybe for no reason at all.

  And I didn’t even know my sister was an IAD agent…

  Whatever that means.

  “Damn it…”

  I’ll find out the truth.

  From this moment on—

  From the United States of America.

  From New York.

  From X-Cut.

  I swear…

  I won’t be anyone’s dog.

  I’ll find out who I really am.

  Arthur stood up.

  Silently.

  And walked away in stealth.

  That entire week, Arthur studied everything he could about the IAD — the International Aegis Division — an organization formed to protect the world from evil crimes, composed of soldiers from every nation.

  On the weekend, Rey went to Nord at X-Cut.

  “Arthur has only two weeks left to live.”

  To be continued.