CHAPTER 142 — BEYOND HEAVEN
The desert was quiet.
The cave behind them stood like a wound in the stone, dark and ancient, as if it had swallowed something it should never have held.
The sky above was clear. Blue. Ordinary.
But Long Hao knew better.
Heaven had retreated.
Not surrendered.
Retreated.
Bronze Squad had moved ahead along the ridge, giving Long Hao and Zehell space without saying so. No one wanted to interrupt whatever silence had settled between them.
Zehell walked beside him, spear resting loosely across her shoulder.
"You're thinking too loud," she said after several minutes.
He glanced at her.
"That's not possible."
"It is when your face looks like that."
He almost smiled.
Almost.
But something was wrong.
Not outside.
Inside.
The void was stable.
His core was calm.
The Sovereign fragment was quiet.
Too quiet.
He slowed slightly.
Zehell noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
He closed his eyes briefly.
"Longyu."
Her name hung in the air.
