Chapter 150

Chapter 150

Jack glanced once more at the documents Freya and the others had obtained.

After Robyn's analysis just now, Jack could now confirm that Karina's company was conducting memory transfer experiments—experiments that violated both ethics and the law.

The Illuminati wanted to use memory transfer to achieve immortality.

To enjoy wealth and glory forever.

But the price was the lives and dignity of countless innocent people.

Jack tossed his phone onto the table. The screen went dark, reflecting his face—cold as ice.

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the bustling, cold steel jungle below.

From the outside, this city was incredibly prosperous. But beneath that prosperity, how many unspeakable evils lurked?

Those lunatics in The Illuminati were willing to turn humans into lab rats, all for the sake of immortality.

They thought they were gods who could control life and death at will.

But they forgot one thing—even gods can fall.

Jack.

He would never let them succeed!

.......

Clayton Military Academy.

After a full day of training.

Mia lay sprawled on her bed, completely drained.

She looked like a kitten wrung dry of every ounce of energy, flopped out shamelessly on the stiff military-issue mattress.

After a full day of high-intensity, almost brutal tactical training, her dark green workout gear—already form-fitting to begin with—was now completely soaked through with sweat.

The fabric clung to her body, outlining every curve of her youthful, athletic figure in vivid detail.

Mia turned slightly onto her side, her breathing rapid and uneven. With the movement, her full, proud chest strained against the tight fabric, rising and falling with each labored breath in a way that was almost mesmerizing.

One hand rested lazily on her flat, toned stomach, fingers absently hooking the hem of her training top.

The intense workout had caused the hem to ride up slightly, exposing a sliver of her impossibly slim waist and the faint, tantalizing outline of her abs.

Her legs were long and straight, crossed carelessly in exhaustion.

The firm, toned muscles of her thighs gleamed faintly in the dim light of the dorm room, radiating a powerful, predatory strength.

A few strands of sweat-dampened blonde hair clung to her flushed cheeks and slender neck. She frowned slightly, her sapphire-blue eyes half-closed, their usual sharpness replaced by a hazy, languid exhaustion.

"So tired…"

Mia mumbled softly, her voice hoarse with a hint of unintentional sultriness she didn't even notice.

Then.

Mia pulled a photograph from under her pillow.

She gently traced the silhouette in the photo with her fingertips, murmuring softly, "But I won't let you down. I know I'll see you again!"

.......

"Mia."

Just then.

One of her roommates walked out of the bathroom, toweling off her hair.

"You know what? Next week, the school's bringing in some top instructors from Zero Squad to put us through a month of hell training!"

"What?"

Another roommate lying on the bed next to Mia lifted her head, looking completely bewildered as she scratched at her messy hair and groaned, "Are you serious? Zero Squad? I heard those people crawled out of literal piles of corpses. They're gonna torture us so bad our own mothers won't recognize us! I can't handle that kind of abuse…"

"Right, exactly," another roommate chimed in, joining the conversation with a shudder. "And I heard the one leading them this time is the youngest, most ruthless female colonel in Zero Squad. Supposedly she's a total ice-cold machine. Even though she's a woman, she doesn't give other women even a second glance. Let's just pray we don't end up on her radar."

Listening to her roommates' laments and complaints, Mia—still sprawled on her bed—didn't join in the usual griping like she normally would.

Instead, the moment she heard "Zero Squad," those sapphire-blue eyes—still hazy with exhaustion just seconds ago—flashed with an incredibly sharp light.

She remembered. The man in the photo was from Zero Squad.

.............

"Ring, ring."

Jack had just finished his call with Robyn.

Suddenly, his phone on the table rang.

Jack walked over and picked it up.

He paused for a moment.

Then answered. "Long time no see, Viper."

"Captain."

A crisp female voice came through the line—decisive, resolute, carrying the unmistakable edge of a soldier's lethal precision.

Viper.

She was one of Jack's former teammates.

Jack had been their captain.

Including Jack, their squad had thirteen members.

And they had once been the most formidable special ops unit in Zero Squad. Jack had led them through countless life-or-death situations, carving bloody paths to victory time and time again.

Under Jack's leadership, their squad had completed countless impossible missions.

But now.

Jack had become the Commander of the Three Armed Forces.

A figure even politicians didn't dare underestimate.

Aside from the President, no one could hold authority over him!

Still.

Viper still preferred to call him Captain. Because in her eyes, Jack would always be her captain.

"I heard you're in Imperial City now?"

Viper asked directly.

"Yes."

Jack said quietly. "Taking care of some personal matters."

"Why?"

"Miss me?" Jack asked with a smile.

"Yes." Without hesitation, Viper answered.

Jack froze, momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

"You're a captain-level officer now, right?" Jack asked with a smile, changing the subject.

"Yes."

"I'm a special ops squad captain now," Viper said quietly.

But she didn't want to be a captain. If she could, she'd rather be a regular operative—and stay by Jack's side forever.

"Captain."

Viper's voice dropped lower.

"I'm in Imperial City now," Viper continued.

"Oh?"

Jack raised an eyebrow slightly.

"What for?"

"Clayton Military Academy just recruited a new batch of students. I'm here to train them," Viper said concisely.

"I see."

Every year when Clayton Military Academy recruited new cadets, the special forces would send people to train them. It was an old tradition.

"That's great. Means you're one of the military's rising stars now."

"Maybe someday you'll catch up to me."

Jack chuckled softly, his tone carrying both teasing and genuine pride for his former comrade.

"I only agreed to come because I wanted to see you."

At those words.

Jack's smile froze.

He'd always known that Viper had feelings for him.

But.

He never knew how to respond to those feelings.