According to legend, every so often, the phoenix sheds all its feathers and dies, then ignites in flames within the ashes, reborn through fire. The day he chose to escape happened to be the day of the phoenix’s nirvana; all the manpower in the organization was mobilized to deal with this fire phoenix. Just as the phoenix was reborn, it was at its weakest moment, which is why the organization’s espers were able to surround it. But his single shot created a gap in the encirclement, allowing the fire phoenix to escape.

In the darkness, a voice asked him, “Thank you. What do you want?”

“I…” He opened his eyes wide.

“…I want freedom.”

Section One: Return to the Past

In the darkness, someone spoke.

“It’s really cold. Huh? There’s a child here.”

“Oh, the clothes are pretty decent. Doesn’t look like a beggar. How did he faint here?”

Poking and prodding.

“No. 9, what are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re a pedophile?”

“Whatever the case, No. 7, look at this kid’s bones—they’re not bad. We need to find one anyway. Rather than let him die here and go to waste, we might as well take him back.”

More poking and prodding.

“He’s a bit lacking, but it doesn’t matter if we take him back. Anyway, he looks like he’s about to starve to death. Pick him up and let’s go.”

“Alright.”

What does that mean?

What does that mean?

What are they talking about…

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

His long-cultivated alertness made his gaze fall first on the gun handle at the other man’s waist. As the man bent down, his hand shot out, snatching the gun.

In an instant, all three froze.

The child lying on the ground gripped the pistol tightly with both hands. The man who had bent down instinctively raised his hands, while the other man in black instinctively reached for his own gun. The sudden surge of killing intent made them almost think they’d walked into an ambush. But the next moment, the two men exchanged a surprised glance, then smiled with a mix of suspicion and amusement.

Because the child lying on the ground was simply too young and looked frail, the safety on the gun wasn’t even off, and his finger could barely reach the trigger.

“Oh, No. 9, your first lost-gun incident is going down to this kid, haha.”

“Anyway… what sharp reflexes, like a wild animal. He must feel really unsafe. We’ve found a treasure.”

“Hey, kid, that’s not how you hold a gun…”

Before No. 7 could finish, a cold glint flashed in the child’s eyes. The moment his finger flicked off the safety, the gun fired.

Bang—a shot rang out, the bullet passing through No. 9’s chest, blood spraying from his back. The recoil jerked the child’s hands backward. No. 7 reflexively drew his gun, but as he aimed at the child, he still couldn’t believe what was happening.

It couldn’t be this kid—someone must be ambushing us…

That thought caused a brief hesitation. Then, gunshots rang out simultaneously. A bloody hole appeared in No. 7’s forehead, and he fell backward; the child, meanwhile, was wounded in the right shoulder, blood instantly soaking half his body. Trembling in the pool of blood, the child actually struggled to get up.

Shot in the same place as not long ago, but this time… why does it hurt so much…

But pain wasn’t his biggest problem. The real problem was, where was he, and…

“What small hands…”

Staring at his left hand holding the gun, he muttered. These were clearly a child’s hands, and his height had obviously shrunk to that of a dwarf.

The night wind blew, especially cold. Looking around, he seemed to be on the street of some very backward small town—extremely old buildings, dim streetlights. He felt the energy in his body slowly draining away. With such a frail body, he probably wouldn’t last much longer…

Scenes from before flashed through his mind, and he remembered what the fire phoenix had said: “Then you will have a chance at freedom.”

A chance at freedom…

There were too many things to sort out now, and in the distance, police sirens wailed. Out of habit, he wiped his fingerprints from the pistol, placed it back in No. 9’s hand, and, clutching his shoulder, walked a few steps away. Then, the whole world began to spin…

In a daze, he remembered his childhood.

In fact, his memories of himself only began at age ten. That’s because Laura Parker started training assassins at age ten. Before that, he had neither memories nor clues.

Later, of course, he learned that every child brought in by Laura Parker would have their previous memories wiped. If the brainwashing was undone at the time, some memories might be recovered, but by the time he found out, it was meaningless—if anything, it only strengthened his resolve to defect.