Chapter 53: Out in The Open

"Well, well, what do we have here?" the soldier said, his voice dripping with mockery.

"We were searching for Alyssa, and look who we stumbled upon instead. Hello there, Zero."

Drake felt a chill run down his spine at the use of his old codename. It had been a long time since anyone had called him that. The realization hit him hard—his past had finally caught up with him.

The soldier's words drew the attention of the other Germinal soldiers, who turned to face Drake. The scarred man stepped forward, his eyes glinting with malice. "You thought you could run, Zero? Thought you could hide? We've been looking for you for a long time."

Drake clenched his fists, he knew that he had been exposed; who would have thought that all this while after playing dumb he was affiliated with the same Germinal organisation he had pretended not to know of; the whole rush of emotions felt all too foreign to him, he couldn't place it.

The shadow base members stood frozen in shock, their eyes wide with di