The King of War Powerful Return

Return to Hielux

Three months later.

The sky over the Free Zone was clearer than it had been in years—no drones, no surveillance clouds, just wide open blue stretching to the horizon. Brown sat on the worn steps of a reclaimed outpost-turned-school, a half-melted coffee mug in hand. He still walked with a slight limp from the bridge fight, but he wore it like a badge.

Clara emerged from the main hall behind him, sunlight catching the edge of her short hair.

“They finished the new transmitter station,” she said, dropping a folded piece of paper beside him. “We’re officially off the grid. And officially alive.”

Brown glanced at the list. Names of survivors. Kids saved from Echo. Their ages, their conditions, their chosen names now.

"They’re not numbers anymore,” he murmured.

Clara nodded, sitting beside him. For a while, they just listened to the wind.

“You ever think about going back?” she asked quietly.

"To the city?” he asked. “No.”

“To the past.”

Brown shook his head. “That place is ash now. We burn