Clang—The automatic doors slid open. Lights flared to life, chasing away the shadows.
This was the Meeting Room the central chamber of the underground base. Vast enough to host hundreds, it offered a vantage of every sector within the compound, both through massive displays and with the naked eye.
Dozens of monitors filled the walls, each broadcasting scenes so varied it was hard to believe they belonged to one place: farmland, livestock, a nuclear plant, waterworks, residential blocks, even leisure gardens. People moved about, smiling, working, living—not merchants in an economy, but ordinary residents carrying out daily duties for the sake of the community.
"I hope that blank face of yours," Ash said evenly, "is the last time you wear it in here." He turned to the console. "I'll explain this once. Understand or don't it's up to you. This place lies at 789/155 Main Street. Your house. Five kilometers underground."
Beep—
The wall screen shifted. A familiar house appeared Kira's own home. Black-suited men with dark glasses stood guard on every corner. Even inside the house, agents patrolled.
"Who are they?" Kira's voice was calmer now, though tinged with unease. He was starting to feel numb to impossibilities.
"Government operatives," Ash replied.
"Police? Why would the police occupy my home? That assassin even said I had no criminal record…"
Ash's gaze sharpened. "Shadow Lotus. A covert government unit. Their mandate is national security handling individuals deemed dangerous. Targets are marked as threats to stability, their existence erased from public record."
Kira gave a bitter laugh. "So… an abduction squad, then."
"Call it that if you like," Ash said flatly. "But not just anyone meets them. Only those with above-average Prana."
"…Prana," Kira murmured.
Beep—
The screen changed again footage of Rin, Bai Feng, and the assassination attempt the night before.
"This is Prana," Ash explained. "An energy that flows through the body like blood or oxygen. Fundamentally, it divides into six elements earth, water, wind, fire, lightning, and poison. Ordinary people hold all six in balance, keeping their bodies stable. But some are born with one or two elements that resonate stronger with their DNA. Those can be trained far beyond the norm."
Kira's mind replayed the night. The assassin's lightning tearing across the streets. His own body, leaping free of gravity as if by miracle.
"…So I have it too," he whispered.
Ash's sharp eyes bore into him. "What do you think?"
Kira shuddered. That moment he had risen through the storm, beyond reason.
"You have Prana stronger than most. That much is clear," Ash continued. "But what you did last night it was only leakage. An uncontrolled burst. Like adrenaline, triggered in crisis."
Kira clenched his teeth. "But then… shouldn't everyone be capable of it? Why hasn't anyone in the army, or any athlete, ever used powers like this?"
Ash raised a brow. "Because no one knows it exists."
"No one knows…? Impossible. Everyone has Prana…" Kira's words faltered. Ash's earlier phrase echoed in his mind: Only those with higher-than-average Prana ever meet Shadow Lotus.
"Higher than average…" he murmured.
"Tell me, Kira," Ash asked quietly. "How many years has the Arcangel Party held power?"
Kira frowned. "Arcangel… When I was seven, the name was on every broadcast. That was the year my parents abandoned me with my grandfather. I cried nonstop until he turned on the TV to drown the silence. Arcangel had just won the election. I never forgot."
"And you never wondered," Ash pressed, "how a single party could win four consecutive terms without any real accomplishments?"
He touched the screen again. His voice turned cold.
"Every election, rival parties fell to scandal or political disqualification. Every time, Arcangel won in a landslide. For ten years, the economy lagged behind, yet they poured national funds top twenty in the world into the Paradise Tower Project. And to this day, no one knows what it truly is. The entire internet forced under a single gateway—supposedly for 'cyber sovereignty.'"
Kira's chest tightened. The pieces began to align. "And the academics who spoke out… all disappeared."
"Exactly." Ash nodded. "Anyone who opposed was branded a threat to national security. And erased."
Kira's voice dropped to a whisper. "…The only thing every government fears is revolution."
"Think about it." Ash's eyes locked onto his. "If power exists power to move like lightning, to fire beams that split the sky do you think they could ever sleep soundly?"
Kira's jaw trembled. "So they… eliminate it."
"Correct. Those old enough to know are hunted and destroyed. The children taken, raised, and trained as assassins."
The words struck Kira like steel spikes.
"…Then what about us?" His voice cracked.
Ash turned, gaze sharp as knives.
"We… are the ones who survived."