The morning sky over New York was clear.
Sunlight reflected off the tall glass towers of the city as traffic moved steadily through the streets below.
At a private airport on the outskirts of the city, a sleek black jet slowly descended onto the runway.
The aircraft taxied quietly toward a secured hangar.
Several black SUVs were already waiting.
When the jet door opened, a tall man stepped out.
Victor Hale.
He adjusted the cuff of his dark coat as he walked down the stairs, his expression calm and unreadable.
One of his subordinates approached immediately.
"Welcome to New York, sir."
Victor nodded slightly.
"Status."
The man handed him a tablet.
"Our agents failed during the Carter estate operation."
Victor skimmed the report silently.
"The team leader and two agents were captured. Two others were neutralised."
Victor paused at one particular section of the report.
Scarlett Carter.
Combat specialist.
Responsible for subduing the remaining intruders.
Victor leaned slightly against the car door.
"That's expected."
Scarlett Carter had a reputation in the underground world.
Anyone who underestimated her usually regretted it.
But that wasn't what caught Victor's attention.
He scrolled further down the report.
Security footage timestamps.
Movement records.
Bruce Carter.
Victor's eyes narrowed slightly.
"This boy appears everywhere at the right moment."
His subordinate hesitated.
"Sir… he's only ten years old."
Victor closed the tablet slowly.
"That's exactly what makes him interesting."
The subordinate stayed silent.
Victor stepped into the waiting SUV.
"Take me to the hotel."
The convoy of vehicles left the airport and disappeared into the city.
Back at the Carter estate.
Bruce Carter sat in the mansion library once again.
A book lay open in front of him.
But his attention wasn't on the pages.
Inside the space world, the archive system displayed the latest update.
Victor Hale had arrived.
Bruce leaned back in the chair slowly.
"Right on schedule."
He studied the updated information carefully.
Victor had chosen a luxury hotel in Manhattan.
But Bruce knew someone like Victor Hale never stayed in obvious locations without preparing several backup plans.
Bruce closed the archive interface.
Then he opened the drone control panel.
Several surveillance drones rose quietly from hidden locations around the Carter estate.
Bruce sent them toward the city.
The drones were small.
Fast.
And extremely difficult to detect.
If Victor Hale wanted to study him…
Bruce would study him first.
Bruce whispered.
"Let's see how careful you really are."
Meanwhile, inside a luxury penthouse hotel suite in Manhattan.
Victor Hale stood beside the large glass window overlooking the city skyline.
The view was spectacular.
But Victor wasn't looking at the city.
He was studying the tablet in his hand.
Several surveillance photos filled the screen.
The Carter estate.
Security patrol routes.
Building layouts.
Then he switched to another file.
Bruce Carter.
Age: 10.
Adopted by the Carter family.
Medical history.
School records.
Victor scrolled through the data slowly.
Every piece of information looked normal.
Too normal.
Victor leaned back slightly.
"That's the problem."
Everything about Bruce Carter appeared perfectly ordinary.
But the failed infiltration suggested otherwise.
Victor replayed the security footage again.
Scarlett is confronting the intruders.
And Bruce is standing behind her.
Watching calmly.
Victor paused the video.
He zoomed in on Bruce's face.
"Those eyes…"
Victor whispered.
"…belong to someone who understands danger."
Not a frightened child.
Not a confused boy.
Someone observant.
Calculating.
Victor smiled faintly.
"Interesting."
He turned off the screen.
Then he spoke to the man standing near the door.
"Send two teams to quietly observe the Carter estate."
"Yes, sir."
"And one more thing."
The man waited.
Victor's smile grew slightly colder.
"Do not approach the boy."
The man frowned slightly.
"Sir?"
Victor walked back toward the window.
"If he truly is what I suspect …"
His eyes focused on the distant skyline.
"…then pushing him too early would be a mistake."
Victor wanted to see more.
How Bruce moved.
How he reacted.
What he protected.
Victor loved studying puzzles.
And Bruce Carter had just become the most interesting puzzle he had seen in years.
Inside the Carter Mansion library.
Bruce suddenly closed his eyes.
Through the drone network, he had already located Victor Hale's hotel.
Bruce watched the penthouse window through a distant drone camera.
Victor Hale stood there calmly.
Looking out over the city.
Bruce studied him carefully.
For the first time since his rebirth…
Bruce faced an enemy who truly understood the game.
Bruce smiled slightly.
"Good."
"This will be fun."
He closed the drone feed slowly.
Victor Hale wanted to observe him.
But Bruce intended to do much more than that.
This time…
The hunter might discover that the prey was far more dangerous than expected.
Later that evening.
Luna Carter stood quietly on the mansion balcony.
The night sky stretched endlessly above her.
But her thoughts were focused elsewhere.
Bruce.
She had watched him again today.
And something about him still didn't make sense.
She whispered to herself.
"You're hiding something."
But strangely…
She didn't feel threatened.
Instead…
She felt curious.
And slightly impressed.
Luna smiled faintly.
"Whatever it is …"
She looked toward Bruce's bedroom window.
"…I hope you win."