The phone had barely completed a single ring before the line clicked open and a voice answered from headquarters. "Hello?"The guard swallowed hard, his hands trembling slightly around the radio. The arrogant confidence he had displayed moments earlier evaporated into thin air. "Sir... we have a problem here."A sharp pause echoed over the speaker before the representative snapped back. "What the hell is going on? What kind of problem have you gotten yourself into this time?"The guard opened his mouth to explain, but the words died in his throat as a flicker of motion down the main road caught his attention. He glanced toward the exit gate, his pupils dilating.A convoy was approaching.It was not just one or two cars. A full fleet of more than five latest-edition, limited-production Mercedes-Maybachs glided toward the gate in flawless formation. The guard's heart slammed against his ribs. There was no mistaking a movement like this; these were not vehicles that affluent visitors cas

The moment Mr. Zakaria collapsed, the entire dynamic at the gate fractured.Before anyone could fully process the gunshot or the patriarch falling, doors across the convoy swung open almost in unison. People spilled out onto the pavement, but two figures reacted faster than the rest. A young woman bolted from one of the Maybachs, followed closely by a young man leaping out of an adjacent vehicle. Both sprinted straight toward the fallen patriarch."Grandfather!""Grandfather, what happened?"They dropped to the ground beside him at the same moment. The young woman slid onto her knees, carefully cupping the back of his head to lift it off the pavement. "Grandfather, are you okay? Talk to me, please."The young man crouched right next to her, panic written across every feature. "What the hell happened? Why did he suddenly collapse?"Security personnel swarmed the area in a tight perimeter, but no one had an answer. A heartbeat ago, Mr. Zakaria had been standing with absolute authority,

Derek stayed at Mr. Zakaria’s side, his fingers pressed firmly against the patriarch’s pulse. His face was entirely unreadable, but every ounce of his attention was fixed on the man's unsteady rhythm. Beside him, Rebecca watched his every movement in silence. She had a dozen questions she wanted to ask, but she held them back. Her grandfather had trusted Derek, and for now, that was enough.Outside the vehicle, Ben stood near the gate, his face tight with tension as he watched the convoy disappear into the winding estate roads. He hated everything about the situation. He hated that his grandfather had collapsed, he hated that this stranger had appeared out of nowhere, and he especially hated how quickly Rebecca had accepted the boy.Turning on his heel, Ben walked briskly toward the main house with a single goal in mind: keeping his grandfather safe. His relationship with his father had always been strained, and he knew his grandfather held a poor opinion of his father as well. There

"Step aside."Marcus's voice was remarkably calm. There was no trace of anger, no edge of desperation, and not the slightest inclination to explain himself. He spoke with the quiet, absolute expectation that everyone in the room would simply obey.For the first time since entering the house, Dr. Kyle truly focused his attention on Marcus. Turning his head, his face instantly twisted into a mix of confusion and irritation. Who was this young man?Dr. Kyle had been entirely consumed by the crisis surrounding Mr. Zakaria. He had barely spared a glance for the household help moving in the background, and he certainly had not anticipated an unknown outsider interrupting him at such a critical moment.He scrutinized Marcus again. To his eyes, the young man appeared entirely ordinary. Nothing about his plain attire or relaxed posture suggested he was a person of distinction or an invited guest of honor. For a brief, dismissive second, Dr. Kyle had even assumed Marcus was merely one of the do

Dr. Kai stared at the formation in disbelief, his voice dropping to a whisper. "This is definitely the Life Tree."He quickly examined the eight golden acupuncture needles again, studying their precise locations: one set into the forehead, two in the chest, one in the abdomen, and two each in both arms and feet. Everything was linked in an intricate pattern he had only ever encountered in ancient records.This technique was lost to history, he thought, barely able to pull his gaze away from the formation. Even the most comprehensive historical texts on ancient medicine merely acknowledged its existence. No practitioner in recorded history had ever mastered it completely, and no one living knew how it was originally performed.He recalled the old medical history books he had pored over decades ago. Only a single surviving illustration remained: a strange acupuncture diagram labeled as the Life Tree. The records provided no complete instructions, no explanation of how the practitioner's