Chapter 34: Hero City · Embers
The steam hissing behind Jackson’s armor finally went silent.
He stood there,
like a statue that had suddenly lost its power source.
The manic laughter beneath his visor faded,
replaced by a bottomless exhaustion—
and something that felt almost… relieved.
Slowly, he raised a hand,
unlatched the helmet,
and removed it.
The face that once burned with conviction and fanatic resolve
now held only confusion
and a sorrow carved deep.
He didn’t look at the blades and guns aimed at him.
His gaze passed over everyone,
settling on the ancient pulse core—
its rhythm now steady,
its glow a gentle blue.
“Kyle,” he rasped, voice dry and frayed,
stripped of its former cold authority,
“your wife and daughter… they’re in the Old District,
Third Water Purification Plant, underground maintenance level,
Compartment B?7 of the reserve tank. They’re safe. I… never harmed them.
They have food and water every day.”
Kyle Roan broke into violent coughing,
Amy held him up with both arms.
He stared at Jackson,
emotions surging—anger, confusion, pain,
and a faint, fragile echo of the friendship they once shared.
“Why… Jackson? If you still cared, why do all this?”
“Because I thought I was right.”
A bitter twist pulled at Jackson’s lips.
His eyes finally returned to Kyle.
“I thought that if I controlled this power, built absolute order,
I could bring prosperity and peace.
For that, a few lies, a few sacrifices, even… betraying my best friend—
I told myself it was a price worth paying.
I told myself that after you ‘confessed,’ once things quieted down,
I’d take care of Maya and Lily,
give you a new identity…
I even prepared a job for you at a remote monitoring station.”
He shook his head.
“Ridiculous, isn’t it? Destroying everything you had,
while pretending I could somehow make it up to you.”
He turned to Sunri and Ye Lingyun,
his gaze falling on the necklace in Sunri’s hand.
“That thing… the legends were true.
The first Overseer wrote about an ‘ancient token of balance’—
something that could calm the pulse core’s agitation,
but would sever any forced extraction link.
We searched for years, thought it was just a myth.
Never imagined…”
He drew a sharp breath,
as if bracing himself,
and his voice quickened.
“You need to leave. Now.
With the core stabilizing,
the monitors in the upper power chamber will show a cliff?drop in output.
In half an hour at most, the military will notice.
They’ll seal every passage leading underground.
They… won’t be like me…”
He didn’t finish the sentence,
but the meaning was clear—
the soldiers who came after would kill every witness without hesitation.
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“Come with us!” Kyle blurted out,
despite his failing voice.
Jackson slowly shook his head,
a faint, almost peaceful smile touching his lips.
“My empire… my order… everything built on this lie is already collapsing.
I should stay here.
Go.
Kyle—take Maya and Lily and get as far from this city as you can.”
The last sentence came out as a roar.
Sunri and Ye Lingyun exchanged a glance,
then nodded.
This was not the time to argue.
Sunri pocketed the necklace.
Ye Lingyun sheathed his sword.
Together with Amy, they lifted Kyle.
“Take care,” Sunri said quietly,
voice layered with conflicting emotions.
Jackson didn’t respond.
He simply turned away,
put his helmet back on,
and faced the now?silent pulse core—
a lone, resolute silhouette.
The journey back to the hidden refuge was tense and wordless.
When Lin Che saw Kyle’s injuries and heard the urgent intel,
he immediately began another round of emergency treatment.
But when Kyle heard where his wife and daughter were,
a fierce will to live ignited in his eyes.
“We have to… we have to go now!” he struggled.
“Your wounds—” Lin Che tried to hold him down.
“Doctor Lin, give me that medicine again!”
Kyle grabbed his arm, desperation burning in his gaze.
“I’ll pay any price.
I can’t let them wait another second!”
Lin Che looked at Sunri.
Sunri nodded.
“We go together. Lin Che, keep him stable.
Brother Ye—can you still fight?”
Ye Lingyun steadied his breath.
Though the earlier battle had drained him,
his eyes remained sharp.
“No problem.”
This time, Lin Che, Pardy, and Mo?Dou stayed behind.
Sunri and Ye Lingyun supported the barely?mobile Kyle,
with Amy leading the way toward the Third Water Purification Plant.
Night was their best cover.
The plant had long been half?abandoned,
its security far looser than the core district.
With Kyle’s familiarity with the layout
and Ye Lingyun’s ghostlike precision,
they dispatched the few guards silently
and found the hidden B?7 compartment.
When the heavy iron door was pried open,
the dim light revealed Maya and Lily huddled together, trembling.
They lifted their terrified faces—
and froze when they saw the blood?soaked man at the doorway,
barely standing, yet forcing a smile.
“Kyle…?”
“Daddy!”
Tears, choked sobs,
and desperate embraces
filled the cramped space.
Kyle held his wife and daughter as if afraid they would vanish again.
The man who had not shed a single tear through injury and pursuit
now wept without restraint.
Maya wore a gear?shaped necklace identical to Kyle’s,
though the gemstone on hers glowed with a softer light.
Sunri and Ye Lingyun kept a vigilant watch outside.
Once they secured the two, they withdrew at once,
following the pre?planned,
winding and concealed route
back to the safe hideout deep within the Lower District.
When Maya and Lily saw Lin Che’s practiced medical work,
the tension that had held them rigid
finally eased a little.
Pardy peeked out from behind Sunri,
curiosity written all over his face
as he studied the newly arrived mother and daughter.
He offered little Lily—her eyes swollen from crying—
a slightly squashed sugar cake he had bought on the way.
The kindness shared between children
is often the gentlest balm for the human heart.
