2025-10-14 16:06:27The apartment was dark except for the soft pulse of the city outside the window. Rick dropped his coat on the couch and pressed the heel of his hand against his eyes.
Every heartbeat still throbbed like an echo from the trauma ward. A voice came from the shadows. “Rough night, Doctor Franklin?”
Rick spun toward it. A tall man stepped out of the dim light, gray suit, precise posture, the faintest scent of cigar smoke following him.
“Victor Harrington,” Rick said slowly. “You don’t usually visit people unannounced.”
Victor smiled, all teeth and civility. “Unannounced visits tend to reveal the truth, don’t they?” He glanced around the small apartment. “You’ve been busy. The city hasn’t stopped talking about your little miracle.”
Rick exhaled. “If you came for gossip, you can find it on any screen.”
“I came for an opportunity.” Victor pulled a small black card from his pocket and set it on the table. “The Syndicate’s Council is watching you. They think you’ve touched something ancient, something profitable.”
Rick’s pulse quickened. “I’m not selling anything.”
Victor tilted his head. “Everything sells, given the right buyer. They could protect you from the inquiry. In exchange, you share whatever secret made that child glow.”
Rick laughed once, bitterly. “You mean to betray Yuren Sun? My oath? My work?”
Victor’s eyes hardened. “I mean survive. Men like you burn fast in systems like this.” He tapped the card. “Call me before dawn. After that, I won’t be able to help you.”
He moved toward the door, then paused. “The Syndicate doesn’t just erase licenses, Franklin. They erase people.”
The door closed softly behind him. Rick stared at the card on the table until the city’s glow blurred around it.
Behind him, Evelyn’s voice broke the silence. “You should have told me he was coming.”
He turned. She stood in the doorway to the bedroom, robe drawn tight, eyes sharp with anger and fear. “I didn’t invite him,” Rick said.
“But he found you.” Her tone trembled. “Do you understand what that means? They’re circling.”
Rick’s throat was dry. “I can handle it.”
“No, you can’t,” she snapped. “Not alone. Not this time.”
The silence after her words felt heavier than the city outside. Rain pressed against the windows, a soft, endless percussion.
Rick crossed his arms. “Evelyn, I didn’t ask for Victor Harrington to show up. He’s Syndicate, he does what he wants.”
“That’s exactly why you should have walked away the moment he spoke,” she said. “You think they offer protection out of kindness?”
“I didn’t agree to anything.”
“You listened.”
Her voice cracked on the last word. “Every time you listen to people like him, we fall a little deeper into their net.”
Rick turned away, staring at the skyline. “I’m not going to live my life hiding because they’re afraid of what I can do.”
“You think this is courage?” She moved closer. “It’s suicide. They’ve already decided what you are, a threat. Do you know what the Syndicate does to threats?”
He met her eyes. “I know what happens when I don’t act. A little girl dies. A family breaks. That’s what I know.”
Evelyn’s expression softened, but only for a heartbeat. “You’re not responsible for saving everyone.”
“Someone has to be,” he said quietly.
She shook her head, tears forming. “You sound just like Yuren Sun did when he lost his first team in the Pulse Collapse. He thought he could carry the world, too.”
Rick’s voice dropped to a whisper. “You’ve been talking to him?”
“He came to see me this afternoon.” She swallowed hard. “He said if you don’t stop, they’ll shut the whole department down, and him with it.”
Rick turned sharply. “He told you that?”
“Yes. And he asked me to make you understand what’s coming.”
He stepped closer, anger and desperation mixing. “So that’s it? He sends you as his messenger? You think I’m going to bow because the Syndicate threatens paperwork?”
Evelyn flinched. “This isn’t about pride, Rick! It’s about staying alive long enough to help someone again.”
“I’m alive,” he said, but the pulse in his wrist flared with golden light, betraying him.
Her eyes widened. “It’s spreading.”
He pulled his sleeve down quickly. “It’s nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me!” she cried. “You’re changing. Whatever that light is, it’s not human.”
For a moment neither of them breathed. Rick’s reflection glimmered faintly in her tears, half man, half halo.
Finally he said, low and raw, “Maybe that’s what healing costs.”
She stared at him as if seeing a stranger. “Then maybe I don’t know how to love a miracle.”
The words hit harder than any Syndicate threat.
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Chapter 90. Departure To The Ruins
Morning light crept over the valley like a slow-moving wave of gold. It touched the roots of the living mountain first, then slipped across the grass that had grown overnight, then flowed down toward the stone paths Rick had carved. The air smelled fresh, like earth after a gentle rain, though not a single cloud floated in the sky. Everything here breathed. Everything lived.Rick stood at the valley’s edge with his pack open, sorting bottles one by one. He moved carefully, almost reverently, as though each vial held something sacred. His face was calm, but his eyes were sharp, focused, and touched by a quiet weight. The Elixir of Mercy was tucked deep in a padded pocket of the pack. Several stabilizing mixtures, dried herbs, silver needles, and Qi-thread tools filled the rest.Beside the pack lay a small wooden box carved with rune lines. Inside it rested the Homunculus Seed, sealed in a thin layer of glass crystal. It pulsed gently, faint blue light flickering like a heartbeat wai
Chapter 89. The Soul Elixir Completed
The valley was quiet the next morning, too quiet for a place that had recently woken into strange life. Mist curled low around the roots of the living mountain, drifting like pale ghosts between stone ridges. The air tasted heavy, thick with the scent of soil and something faintly metallic, the lingering echo of Qi storms that had raged during Bloom’s sealing.Rick sat alone near his alchemy circle, shoulders hunched. His hair was unkempt, his breathing slow and low, and his right hand kept trembling no matter how tightly he held it against his knee. Before him lay rows of cracked vials, scorched bowls, and half-dissolved Qi crystals. The experiments from last night had not stopped until dawn.He had failed nearly every attempt. But he was close. He could feel it.The formula he sought drifted at the edge of his mind like a shy whisper, a fragile truth that refused to step fully into the light. The Elixir of Mercy, the perfect Soul Elixir, the one that could heal life and memory w
Chapter 88. The Limits Of Perfection
The morning light in the valley was soft and pale, but it did not feel warm. The air carried a quiet unease, as if the world sensed that something new walked within it. Bloom sat on a stone near Rick’s alchemy circle, its vine-like legs folded neatly beneath its small frame. Its eyes glowed softly, pulsing in rhythm with a faint echo of Rick’s heartbeat.Rick stood a short distance away, breathing slowly, hands trembling as he heated a small flask with controlled Qi flame. His face was tired, the shadows beneath his eyes darker than before. He had not slept properly since the night Bloom was born. Luna stood at the edge of the circle, arms crossed over her chest, watching both of them with a mix of protectiveness and dread.Bloom watched Rick’s hands carefully, its head tilted like a curious child. “Why do your fingers shake?” it asked softly.Rick forced a weak smile. “Because I am still hurt.”“But you made me even while hurt,” Bloom said. Its voice carried a gentle innocence tha
Chapter 87. The Soul Bloom
The night in the valley was quiet, but it was not peaceful. The silence felt heavy, like the land itself was holding its breath. Rick had placed the Homunculus Seed on a smooth stone platform inside the ring of obsidian slabs he had carved with his alchemist code. The small seed glowed faintly, a soft white light pulsing inside its crystal-like skin. It looked harmless. It looked innocent.But Luna stood several steps away, her body tense, her eyes fixed on it as if it were a coiled snake waiting to strike.Rick knelt beside the platform, studying the seed. His fingers hovered above it but did not touch. He breathed slowly, steadying his heart.His pulse felt uneven ever since the first experiments. It was like two rhythms inside his chest were arguing with each other, one mortal, one divine.Luna finally spoke, her voice low. “Rick, this thing is not alive. It should not become alive. It is wrong.”He did not look at her. “It is a vessel. Nothing more.”“That is the same excuse use
Chapter 86. The Homunculus Seed
The valley had grown quiet over the past few days. The strange Qi rain had stopped falling from the sky, the shimmering plants had settled into steady rhythms, and the air felt heavier, as if the land itself held its breath. The dawn light stretched across the ground like a thin golden sheet, touching every root and stone.Rick stood at the center of the Alchemist’s Ring, surrounded by the obsidian slabs he carved his laws into. His eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep, and his hands trembled slightly. But he did not stop. He had collected a small pile of pale Qi crystals from the valley’s heart, crystals formed from the titan’s lingering essence and the valley’s healing hum.Luna watched him from a short distance. She sat on a rock with her legs pulled close, her expression troubled. Her crystalline arm glowed softly in the morning light, but her eyes were fixed on Rick’s movements.“Rick,” she said, her voice calm but tight, “you have been at this since last night. You need to
Chapter 85. The Alchemist’s Code
The sun had not yet risen, but the valley was already awake. The strange new life growing across the land pulsed with a slow glow, like soft breath moving through soil. Roots shimmered faintly under the earth, veins of Qi running through stone and water. Rick stood in the center of the clearing, the air cold against his skin, his breath rising like mist.He had not slept. His eyes were heavy, but they held a sharp clarity, the kind that came from painful truths finally settling in the mind.Behind him, Luna stirred from her makeshift bedding, rubbing her eyes with her good hand. Her crystalline arm shimmered with early light, casting rainbow reflections on the stone wall beside her.She stood slowly, watching Rick with worry. “You are awake again,” she said, voice soft.Rick did not turn. His attention was fixed on the obsidian slabs he had dragged from the valley’s edge. Dark, smooth, heavy stones lay arranged in a circle around the clearing. They reflected nothing, light simply sa
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