Chapter 26: Revelations and Deadly Hunt

The silence weighed heavily upon them.

Mayu, Akira, and the stranger stood there, caught between shadows and blood.

The tension lingered in the air like a blade ready to fall.

Then, Mayu clenched her fists.

— Enough.

Her gaze pierced through the stranger's.

— I want answers. Right now.

---

The stranger didn't avert his eyes.

His expression remained stoic.

But he finally spoke.

— The Professor doesn't act alone.

Mayu furrowed her brows.

— What are you talking about?

He crossed his arms.

— He's part of a larger program. Something that surpasses everything we imagined.

Akira, despite his injury, grunted.

— Great. A conspiracy. What do we do now?

The stranger turned his head toward Mayu.

His gaze hardened.

— You already know what he's after.

Mayu opened her mouth…

And a shiver ran through her.

---

A brutal flash.

A laboratory.

Figures in white coats.

Whispers, numbers, screams.

Her.

Sitting on an operating table, a cable shoved into her skull.

Fuzzy memories.

Tests.

Experiments.

And…

A name.

Project AZUR.

---

Back to the present.

Mayu took a step back, her breath short.

Her troubled gaze fell on the stranger.

— What is… Project Azur?

He took a deep breath.

— You.

A chilling shiver ran down her spine.

— The Professor wants to retrieve you because you are the last subject of Project Azur. The only one who survived.

Mayu felt her heart stop.

Everything was collapsing around her.

Her past.

Her mission.

Her identity.

---

**BOOM!**

An explosion shook the building.

The walls trembled under the impact.

Akira cursed.

— What now?!

The stranger drew his weapon.

— They've found us.

Mayu gritted her teeth.

No more time to think.

The Professor had initiated the hunt.

They had to flee.