"Wenzhi!" Zhaohe burst into the tent like a hurricane, completely ruining the mood.

Xinyuan let out a miserable groan, letting his head drop heavily against Wenzhi’s shoulder. It was official. They weren’t going anywhere.

Wenzhi huffed a breathless laugh, though it made his stomach ache. He looked up at Zhaohe. The panic on her face instantly wiping away any lingering amusement.

"What’s wrong?"

"There’s a storm rolling in. A bad one. It’s going to pull more monsters with it." Zhaohe exhaled sharply. "And some of our Espers are already fighting with the CEA."

Wenzhi sighed. "Then we pack up. Are the evacuation jets on their way?"

"Chenxi radioed them, but the sky is crawling with mutated Dovos. Landing right now is a suicide mission," Zhaohe said.

Wenzhi pressed a hand against his stomach. "I don’t even know what to tell you, Zhaohe. I still haven’t recovered from your food poisoning."

"I said I was sorry!" Zhaohe gave a guilty laugh.

Xinyuan tilted his head back, giving her a flat, unblinking stare before he pushed himself off the cot and stood up. "I’ll handle the Dovos so the jets can land."

"Well, aren’t you a lifesaver," Zhaohe teased, trying to lighten the heavy air. "I’ll stay here and play nurse for Wenzhi."

Wenzhi glared at her over his mask. "Go away."

Xinyuan didn’t wait around for the banter. He turned and slipped out of the tent, his dark mist already humming under his skin.

The moment the tent flap settled and they were entirely alone, Zhaohe took a few steps closer, raising her hands in defeat. "Look, forgive me, alright? You said the food tasted like cardboard anyway, so I think it’s safe to say I’m retiring from the kitchen."

"That one bite is making me see God, Zhaohe," Wenzhi muttered, keeping a tight grip on his cramping stomach. His grey eyes narrowed as he looked her up and down. "Zhaohe, you’re an SSS-rank Esper. You don’t need my permission to clear a perimeter, and you could have easily gone with Chenxi to take out the Dovos. Instead, you came all the way here just to give a weather report. You wanted Xinyuan out of this tent, didn’t you?"

The playful look drained from Zhaohe’s face instantly. Her shoulders went rigid, and she glanced cautiously toward the exit, making sure Xinyuan was far enough away before she stepped closer.

"You are terrifying, Lin Wenzhi," she whispered, her voice dropping to a murmur. "Yes. I needed him gone. Doctor Bai Qinian is here."

Wenzhi scoffed in sheer disbelief. "What? Did she show her face?"

"No, no," Zhaohe said, shaking her head quickly. "She’s being incredibly careful around us, you know I have my ways of tracking people. They’re camped in the CEA tents. And Wenzhi? I’m pretty sure Shao Jingxin is with her."

Wenzhi’s eyes narrowed. "The Old Blood and the CEA are actively working together."

"It’s highly possible," Zhaohe sighed, crossing her arms. "These rifts appearing right on the border are putting pressure on everyone, which is the only reason we ran into each other out here. But we both know they haven’t given up on capturing Xinyuan. After that stunt they pulled two months ago, they went completely dark, but I’ve been uneasy. They’re quiet because they’re planning something massive to tear down what we’re building. I hate it. We’re finally starting to get a chance at being happy. Even you."

"I’m not happy," Wenzhi countered.

Zhaohe snorted. "Sure you’re not, Freckles. But... Wenzhi..."

The small smirk left her face. "They really believe that Xinyuan is the key to ending all of these. The red zones, the rifts, the corruption... Wenzhi, what if they’re right? What if he actually can fix it?"

Wenzhi froze, staring at her. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"You know exactly what. I know it’s coming out of nowhere, trust me, I know," she pressed on, her eyes pleading. "But look around us. We are working ourselves to the bone, and for what? The rifts just keep opening. The monsters keep mutating. We’re losing Espers and guides every single day, and the awakening numbers are dropping to zero. The world is being swallowed alive. We’re building that massive dome over the underground city for a reason, yes, but—"

"I am not going to die just to fix a broken world," Wenzhi cut her off, his voice ice-cold and entirely unyielding. "They don’t just want Xinyuan, Zhaohe. They want to use me as a twisted catalyst. They want to murder me to break his mind, believing a broken Disaster-Class will trigger the reset to fix the system."

He forced himself up onto his feet. "Why the hell do I deserve to end up like that?"

"Wenzhi, I..." Zhaohe stepped back, her breath hitching as she clocked the raw rage written across his face.

He really hadn’t expected this from her. He knew the world was a lost cause, but hearing her entertain the idea made something inside him snap.

"No. Save it," Wenzhi growled, glaring at her. "You even suggesting this just proves this entire Sovereign Faction project is completely useless. If you regret your choices and want to save the world so badly, you should have just sold me and Xinyuan out to the CEA on day one. You shouldn’t have come to me, built a goddamn faction, and begged me to lead it. This whole thing is just a massive waste of my time. If you want to play martyr and fix the world, be my guest. I quit."

Zhaohe looked at him in shock as Wenzhi snatched his jacket off the rack and threw it over his shoulders.

"No, no, Wenzhi, come on! You can’t just—" She stopped herself, taking a sharp, panicked breath as he reached for the tent flap. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean it like that."

Wenzhi stopped dead in his tracks. He turned and slammed her with a look so freezing, so utterly vicious, that she immediately recoiled.

Wenzhi’s frown deepened. He had never imagined he could be this furious with Jiang Zhaohe.

After everything they had built. After all the strategies, the late nights. Why the hell would she suddenly bring up using Xinyuan as a reset button?

Wait.

He instantly raised his guard, turning his back to bolt for the exit but he was a second too late.

Pshhk.

A brilliant, glowing blue sword of condensed energy shot cleanly through the tent, driving straight through Wenzhi’s back and tearing out from his stomach. His grey eyes widened.

The filtered air caught in his throat. He choked, his knees buckling beneath him as he dropped heavily onto the dirt floor of the tent.

"I’m sorry, Wenzhi," Zhaohe’s voice rang out. "I didn’t hit a vital organ. You’re going to live."

Wenzhi convulsed, coughing a dark splatter of blood straight into his mask. He ripped it off his face, his chest heaving as he stared down at the glowing blade protruding from his torso.

With a soft hum, the energy sword vanished into thin air. Zhaohe stepped into his line of sight, standing directly in front of his kneeling form. Her hands were shaking, her face a mask of profound guilt, but her posture remained steady.

Wenzhi wiped the blood from his chin, staring up at her. "You’re the mole, aren’t you?"

Zhaohe didn’t say a word. She just stared at him, her silence screaming the confirmation.

Looking at her face, Wenzhi suddenly burst into an unhinged, breathless laugh. "Fuck... you are good, Zhaohe. You really got me good."

"I didn’t want you to find out like this," she said. "It’s just... this is the perfect opportunity. The storm, the rifts, the chaos... Everyone is here. And Xinyuan is not here. I made sure Chenxi and Kaiwen went with him. Wenzhi, please. We don’t want to fight you."

"We?" Wenzhi looked up at her through his messy fringe, his eyes dead. "So you became my friend just so you could eventually convince me to die?"

"No, no!" Zhaohe cursed under her breath, looking genuinely pained.

Wenzhi laughed again, the movement agitating the wound so badly he thought he was going to vomit up the rest of Zhaohe’s toxic cooking. Instead, he just coughed up another mouthful of blood, letting out a sharp sigh.

"Wenzhi... you have to understand the grand scale of this—"

"That’s why you wanted Shao Jingxin alive," Wenzhi interrupted, his voice terrifyingly calm. "And it’s also why you weren’t pissed when I ended up killing him. I am genuinely impressed, Zhaohe."

Zhaohe let out a heavy, defeated sigh, realizing that any justification she offered was just going to bounce off. "Every man for themselves, Wenzhi. The Sovereign Faction will continue to grow under my name. And as the world finally heals, our organization will be—"

"They aren’t going to fix anything," Wenzhi spat, his vision beginning to blur at the edges.

"Wenzhi, please stop," Zhaohe pleaded, closing her eyes. "This hurts me more than you think."

"You fucking stabbed me!" Wenzhi barked, a bitter, bloody smile pulling at his lips as he forced his muscles to lock. Using every ounce of his remaining willpower, he dragged himself back up onto his feet. "If you hadn’t stabbed me, I wouldn’t even be half as mad as I am right now."

Zhaohe watched him stand, but she didn’t move to strike again. She didn’t need to. She was an SSS-rank Esper who was on par with Xinyuan. A dying Guide was zero threat to her.

Wenzhi stood tall, flashing his blood-stained teeth in a vicious grin.

"You are going to regret this, Jiang Zhaohe. I promise you."

Zhaohe only sighed.

The severe blood loss finally hit Wenzhi. The light cut out from his eyes completely, his knees giving out as he blacked out, his body collapsing heavily onto the dirt floor.

Jiang Zhaohe stood over him in the quiet tent, the distant alarms and storm winds howling outside. She slowly lowered her head. "I’m sorry."