Time seemed to skip as the heavy rain muffled the city's noise at two in the morning. Beneath the drizzle seeping through the doorway, Ethan reached into his inner pocket. He didn't pull out legal documents; he didn't pull out a weapon. His steady fingers produced a pure gold badge shaped like dragon scales with a blue diamond eye at its center—the symbol of the Sovereign Fund International, an entity that held power over central military defense stability. Ethan held the badge out directly in front of Clara. "The news calls me a killer because I hunt the enemies of global peace. They call me a traitor because I ignore the commands of tyrants to follow my own justice," Ethan whispered, his aura radiating such majesty that Clara found it hard to even blink. Clara trembled as her cold hands
