"Calm down…"
As soon as Leo slipped into the hideout through the alternate entrance, he froze. Voices. Four strangers.
He peeked around the corner.
Three of the girls — Anya, Rem, and Tessia — were sitting on stacked boxes. Beside them was another girl, slightly older, her short sky-blue hair matching her equally striking blue eyes.
A blonde man with a buzz cut stood near her. His eyes were sharp, and both his arms looked bulkier than normal — cybernetic implants.
The remaining two strangers wore full protective gear, each holding a gun.
Vince, Levi, and Nick sat stiffly on the old sofa. Their faces were hidden from Leo's angle.
"Are you planning to hide there forever?" the buzz-cut man called out.
His gaze wasn't even on Leo — it was on the wall — but it felt like he could see straight through it.
Leo followed his eyes and noticed a large mechanical camera-spider attached to the wall, pointed directly at him.
He sighed, tightened his grip on his gun, and stepped into view.
"Who are you people?" Leo demanded, raising the Harpie.
The man chuckled. "Heh… a Harpie. Haven't been threatened by one of those in years."
Leo glanced at the girls. They looked like they wanted to speak, but the blue-haired girl quietly signaled them to stay silent.
"Calm down, kid," the buzz-cut man said. "We—"
"Don't move," Leo cut in. "Talk from there."
The man laughed harder. "Lower your gun. That little thing won't hurt us."
The others smirked.
Leo didn't.
He shifted his aim suddenly — not at them, but toward the broken-handled fire extinguisher mounted on the wall.
Bang!
The bullet hit dead center.
BOOM!
The extinguisher exploded off the wall, pressure launching it like a rocket.
It slammed straight into the blue-haired girl's forehead and knocked her out cold.
Everything happened in a single heartbeat.
Everyone blinked.
Leo was already sliding across the floor.
He rolled forward, grabbed the fallen girl, and pressed the Harpie against her temple, glaring at the others with sharp, vigilant eyes.
Only then did he notice something strange.
The boys on the sofa weren't panicking.
They were wearing wireless headphones, watching something on a tablet.
The girls weren't terrified either—they were eating snacks.
Leo blinked, confused.
Before he could say anything, dizziness hit him. His world spun. In the next instant, he was pinned to the ground.
The girl he'd knocked out was suddenly awake — sitting on top of him. Her knees pinned his arms, her weight holding him down.
"That hurt…" she muttered with teary eyes.
"Uh… sorry?" Leo said with a forced smile.
---
A Few Minutes Later
"So you people came here for us?" Leo asked, standing now with the other kids.
"Yeah," the buzz-cut man said. "More specifically — the girls. We were commissioned to locate the survivors of the Dream Orphanage. Priority: the girls."
His name was Jake.
Leo had a thousand questions spinning in his head.
Jake looked at the old notebook on the table — filled with different handwriting from the kids.
"I'm surprised you brats know how to read and write," Jake said.
"Sister taught us…" Vince replied.
"Of course she did. She loves teaching," Jake sighed.
"You knew her?" Leo asked sharply.
"Hmm. Actually… we're mercs," Jake said proudly. "Mercenaries from Echo Haven."
The kids blinked.
They'd heard of Rangers, Techie and other professions — but mercenaries from famous cities were on another level. They will take any jobs and their team always consists of different professions.
Jake groaned. "Seriously? Did Sister teach you nothing? You don't even know Echo Haven?"
The blue-haired girl — Lucy — stepped forward.
"We're from a different city," she explained, "under the Nexuscore Domain. The big corporations rule the continent. Dozens of cities fall under their control."
She paused, then added, "This city is under—"
"Pentagon Corporation," Leo finished.
Lucy nodded.
"Correct. And the thing is…" Lucy sighed, her expression growing serious. "Natasha — the nun who ran your orphanage — was actually a former member of our team."
Everyone froze.
Lucy continued, "She had a separate mission: to protect a certain individual. But the enemies of that person eventually discovered her location. They attacked the orphanage."
---
Flashback — The Night of the Attack
Natasha had just finished serving dinner. The kids were laughing. The hall glowed warm.
Then —
She paused.
Her eyes sharpened.
"Looks like you weren't just some ordinary nun," a cold voice mocked from outside.
Figures stepped out from the shadows. Surrounding the orphanage.
Natasha's hand split open, revealing a small laser weapon embedded in her palm.
Then chaos erupted.
---
Back in the present, Lucy continued:
"Natasha could've escaped. She was trained. But she refused to abandon the children." Lucy's voice softened. "They all died… and the attackers disguised it as a fire."
The children's eyes reddened.
The girls were already sobbing.
Lucy sighed softly. "Fortunately, Natasha managed to send a final message before she died. She reported that the protection target was alive."
Lucy looked at the girls.
"One of you is the protection target. We don't know which one — just the description. But Natasha asked us to save all surviving children."
Jake crossed his arms proudly. "We're taking all seven of you to Echo Haven. It's one of the best cities in the world."
"Better than Neon City?" Vince asked excitedly.
"Neon City?" Lucy scoffed. "That experimental hellhole? Worst place under Pentagon Corporation."
Vince's hope shattered instantly. Slum rumors painted Neon City as the land of freedom and opportunity. Hearing otherwise felt like someone flipped his entire world upside down.
Lucy turned to Leo briefly. He avoided her gaze.
Jake clapped his hands. "Alright. We're taking all seven of you back to Echo Haven."
---
Leo walked toward the corner where they kept their water jug and took a drink.
Lucy followed him quietly.
"My head hurts just looking at you…" she muttered loudly.
Leo turned, startled.
"Beautiful sister… I'm sorry…" he said, glancing at her forehead.
"Beautiful?" Lucy gave him a skeptical look — but Leo's expression was honest.
"How about this… you can hit me back," Leo said. He gently took her hand and pressed it to his cheek. Closing his eyes, he waited.
But instead of slapping—
Lucy softly brushed her hand against his cheek.
"Alright, alright," she laughed. "You're smart. That move you pulled? Even a trained professional like me got caught off guard."
Leo froze.
Heat spread across his face.
He turned away, cheeks burning.
Lucy's eyes brightened.
She stared at him, amused.
This boy… is unexpectedly cute.