Sherry, the woman who once stood as Wilson's warrior, now appeared here. Could she have tracked them down to this private clinic? Fear filled Ethan's eyes as he recognized her. Aria, still strong despite her injuries, struggled to her feet and grabbed a nearby scalpel, holding it defensively. Sherry was dressed in a black leather jacket and wore brown sunglasses—a stark contrast to the uniformed figure they had always known. It was the first time Ethan and Aria had seen Sherry out of her uniform, and it puzzled them.

"We’re not going back. If you come any closer, I’ll use this," Aria warned, clutching the wound on her abdomen.

Sherry ignored the threat entirely, remaining calm and composed as she walked forward. She removed her sunglasses and sat on a chair in front of the operating table. The cold white light of the room illuminated her face, highlighting her thick, sharp eyebrows and the piercing, determined look in her eyes. Just by sitting there, she exuded an aura of chilling authority.

"I'm not here to kill you," Sherry said, her voice flat but firm.

Aria slowly lowered the scalpel, placing it on the pillow beside her, within easy reach. Though she hadn't entirely let down her guard, she was now more curious than wary. Ethan, too, was filled with questions.

"You're part of the Phoenix Guard. Why would you come here?" Ethan asked, his confusion evident.

"I'm here to save you," Sherry replied, her gaze softening slightly.

"Save us? But you’re one of Wilson's people! Why would you choose to help us?" Aria's voice was laced with suspicion.

Sherry sat down on a bench, her posture relaxed yet poised. The story she was about to tell carried the weight of long-buried secrets.

Twenty Years Ago…

The autumn of 2015 was unusually quiet. I lived in the Aphria Orphanage, where Sister Maria took care of us. Life there was peaceful, and I spent six relatively pleasant years in that place. But that summer, someone arrived who shattered the tranquility—that person was Caesar, the mastermind behind the Phoenix Guard.

He entered the room. Though I was only six, I was already taller than most kids my age. He wore black-rimmed glasses and a vintage hat, his back slightly hunched. Sister Maria told us he was a biologist. All the children at Aphria were called into the room, and after a round of selection, Caesar chose me.

Despite being chosen, I never truly saw his face. He always wore a black mask. In fact, no one knew what he really looked like, not even Wilson.

I was flown by helicopter to the Omega Fortress, where I was taken to a training camp. This camp was a place where orphans with strong physiques were raised and subjected to brutal training. At first, I was terrified. Everyone there lived under strict rules—no smiles, no laughter.

Every day, I underwent rigorous training and was often punished, going without food. The fortress was a place devoid of sunlight, heavily guarded. I lost the freedom and joy of my childhood and became withdrawn and isolated, accustomed to hiding quietly in the corners.

"Caesar? Victor mentioned him once," Ethan said.

"What did he say?" Aria asked, immediately intrigued.

"He told me a story—a story about the end of the world. In that story, Caesar was a Russian scientist specializing in reproductive biology, focusing on cloning experiments. Yes, cloning experiments. So, it's him," Ethan realized.

"That's right. Unfortunately, no one has ever seen his real face. Legend has it that he has dozens of human-skin masks, switching between different identities..." Sherry explained.

"And then? What happened next?" Aria asked, looking at Sherry intently.

Sherry paused, her eyes filled with memories. For her, it was a painful recollection, a past full of scars.

But later, a cloned child brought a glimmer of light into my dark days. Her name was Olivia—bright and optimistic. The happiest moments in the Omega Fortress were when we hid in the storage room, sharing secrets. She would secretly bring me leftover fruit and milk from the cafeteria.

A year passed like this. The human parents who commissioned Olivia’s creation found Caesar and demanded to speed up the surgery. Olivia’s original, a human child, had a rare form of leukemia. Her parents had paid a fortune to Caesar to create a human clone. Olivia was created solely to donate her bone marrow to save that child. For a six-year-old clone, this was a death sentence. I watched it all happen—my best friend was taken away, lying small and helpless on the operating table.

When she returned, she was covered by a white sheet, lying motionless on a small cart. She was taken to the morgue. I could hardly imagine the terror she endured in that operating room. After that, I lost my only friend—and my hope.

Ethan and Aria listened intently, feeling the sadness in Sherry's words. The fortress was a place full of deceit, and as clones themselves, Ethan and Aria faced a similar fate—a fate of sacrificing their lives for their original humans.

A wave of anger and sorrow surged through Ethan. He realized that their fate might be no different from that of the cloned child.

"So, what do you need us to do to survive?" Ethan asked, his voice firm and resolute.

Sherry sat there silently, contemplating. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag—a transparent plastic bag containing two chips.

"I need you to blend into the human world, to appear as your original selves. Get close to Caesar and retrieve a hard drive. It contains a list of all the clones and their originals. We need to expose this to the police."

"What if we refuse?" Ethan understood the magnitude of the task. No one had ever truly seen Caesar. It would be easier to just live quietly, avoiding involvement in this dangerous struggle.

"Finding Caesar isn’t just about uncovering this conspiracy; it’s about saving yourselves. You won’t live past twenty-thirty. Just like Dolly the cloned sheep, who only lived four years…" Sherry crossed her arms tightly, her eyes filled with a deep, somber intensity.