"Hold on, Axel, if you still want to hear the truth about the blood running through your veins."Damian Benjamin’s voice echoed inside Axel’s skull like a death knell. The piercing cold was no longer just a physical disturbance, it had become an enemy slowly shutting down his motor nerves. Axel crawled across the jagged ice, his fingers stiff and unresponsive. His hands clutched the Kronos Project book beneath his jacket with all the strength he had left. Every inch of movement felt like it drained what little remained of his bionic battery.The world in his eyes was nothing but a series of flickering neon blue lines. This digital wireframe vision appeared only once every five seconds when the pulse sensor activated. The rest was suffocating darkness. Axel could not see the color of the snow or the depth of the chasm. He saw only unstable, trembling topography."Energy status," Axel whispered, his lips turning blue.[ENERGY LEVEL: 8%][CRITICAL HYPOTHERMIA DETECTED][OPTICAL SYNC: 01:

"If you die in this snow, Kaelen, your entire tribe will rot along with you."Axel pressed the tip of his bionic index finger against the swollen right side of Kaelen’s abdomen. The nomad leader groaned, cold sweat pouring down his forehead despite the freezing temperature inside the cave. Axel did not wait for a response. He closed his eyes and issued a command through neural impulses.[SYSTEM 2.0: EMERGENCY MEDICAL PROCEDURE INITIATED][TARGET: EXTERNAL BIOLOGICAL ORGAN][OUTPUT: LOW-FREQUENCY ELECTRICAL IMPULSE]A small shockwave transferred from Axel’s finger into Kaelen’s body. The large man jolted, his back arching before collapsing onto a pile of deer pelts. His ragged breathing began to steady. Kaelen opened his eyes, clutching his stomach in disbelief. The pain that had been stabbing him relentlessly vanished, replaced by a spreading warmth throughout his body."What did you do, Iron Devil?" Kaelen asked hoarsely."I shut down your pain receptors and forced your immune system

"We can’t stop now, Axel, Vancouver Harbor is right in front of us!"Arlo’s voice was nearly drowned out by the roar of the old cargo ship’s engine as it cut through the storm from the Arctic. The vessel lurched violently, slamming against the cold, dark waves. Axel leaned against a stack of metal containers, feeling traces of Arctic frost still clinging to his torn jacket. Beside him, Vayu stared at a portable radar whose screen flickered erratically from lingering electromagnetic interference."Goran won’t chase us into civilian territory anytime soon," Vayu said, wiping dried blood from his temple. "They fear diplomatic scandal more than losing us for now. We have time to disappear.""Disappear?" Axel looked up, his tired eyes fixed on the faint outline of Vancouver’s night sky on the horizon. "That last page is still missing, Vayu. I don’t have forever.""We’ll find it later." Vayu placed a firm hand on Axel’s shoulder. "Trust me. I have access to old police archives that might ho

"You can’t just leave after all the tears we’ve shed for you, Axel."Elara stood in the doorway of the kitchen, holding a tray with three cups of tea still steaming. Her swollen eyes locked sharply onto Axel, who had just slung his thick jacket over his shoulders. The warmth in the living room seemed to freeze instantly. Lena, still seated on the sofa with tear tracks on her cheeks, looked up with a pleading gaze more painful than a bionic blade. The silence between them grew unbearably heavy, as if the walls of the old house themselves were pressing Axel to stay."There’s something at the harbor that can’t wait, Elara. Arlo needs my help handling the remaining cargo that’s being held up," Axel said, his voice calibrated to be as flat as possible."Your lies are terrible, Axel. Look at yourself now. You’re no longer the man who used to read books in the corner of a shop. You look like a soldier ready for war at any moment," El

"You just gave up five years of your remaining life for a piece of scrap that wants to kill you, Axel."Arlo stood frozen in front of the rusted sliding door of his workshop. His eyes widened as he stared at Axel staggering inside, supporting Gery’s rigid body. Axel’s breathing was heavy and ragged, accompanied by the uneven clicking of mechanical components inside his chest. Dried blood lingered at the corner of his lips, a remnant of the energy backlash from forcibly severing Goran’s control. The dim, flickering neon lights overhead sharpened the gaunt, pale look on Axel’s face."Have you lost your mind? That’s Gery. The leech who insulted us for years. Why did you bring him here?""You remember how he always humiliated you, Axel. Took your money and slandered you until you lost your job. Remember that, Axel.""We’ll deal with that later. Help me lay him down first, Arlo. Now," Axel whispered, his voice barely audible.Arlo grumbled, but his hands moved quickly as he helped Axel lif