As the rain continued to fall in endless waves, the battle between Mars and the members of Black Heart never stopped.
Mars put his arms as blocks in front of his body, tanked the punches from Jake, and then did a quick side step, dodging Apollo’s golden arrows.
“Mars Left!” Mars slammed his left-handed fist deep into Jake’s abdomen, punching all the air from his lungs.
“Cough!” Jake coughed out saliva and fell down to his knees, his arms hugging his aching abdomen.
He gasped for air, struggling to catch his breath.
Swoosh—Zero jumped from the side and appeared in front of Mars, his hands open as if he were going to wrestle.
However, then he slid his front leg forward and put his right hand next to his waist, then threw a powerful palm strike.
“Zero Karate!”
The palm struck Mars with incredible force, forcing him to take one step backwards to balance himself.
“Whoo…” Zero let out a deep sigh.
The scientists in the laboratory, where he was locked in, taught him every sort of martial art. It was all to make him the most effective assassin in the world.
In the end, Zero created his own ‘Zero Karate’ style, which was specially created for him to utilize his strengths.
“Venus… Retaliation!” Mars suddenly moved like Zero, slid his front foot forward, and threw an open-palm strike. It looked exactly like a replica of Zero Karate!
“Zero Impact!” Zero quickly punched in front of him and stopped Mars’ palm before it reached him.
But then, a small shockwave shot out from the palm and struck Zero in the chest, sending him flying throughout the air.
He crashed into the ground with a thud, his body trembling in pain. Early in the fight, Mars punched him, breaking his teeth. Now, his nose was bent as if it were broken.
Mars stood straight and looked towards where Zero flew.
“You don’t have any gratitude. Do you?” Mars scoffed and spat on the ground, which was already drenched by the rain.
“You are different from the others.
“You were a child of bad circumstances, but I saved you, and while others might complain that their current life is worse than death, to you, this is better than being stuck in that white room.
“Isn’t it not, Zero? Do you have no gratitude?”
“I have gratitude…” Zero wiped the blood off his broken nose and sat up, the rain falling down on his white hair. “However, after hearing stories from Henri and Loki—what you did to their families and friends—I realized you weren’t any better than those scientists.”
“Hmph.” Mars opened his eyes wide and glared at Zero with fierce intensity. “Have you already forgotten your time there?”
Zero closed his eyes and whispered. “I never could. It’s etched deep into my soul…”
…
A year ago.
“What in the world…” Damian whispered as he stared through a wide window into a blank white room with only one bed tucked in the corner.
“…” Mars looked silently around the hallways of the underground laboratory.
The floors were strewn about by scientists, their flesh dried up, and their eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
In the corner of the white room, a young man with pure white hair sat silently on the floor, hugging his legs with variness in his eyes.
“Very interesting.” Mars opened the door, and as he entered the white room, he turned to Apollo and Leon. “Get all the research material. I am curious what they did in here.”
“Yes, captain.” Apollo and Leon echoed in unison, then went to look for anything from the nearby offices.
Mars approached the white-haired young man and said, “My name is Mars. Who are you?”
“…” Zero stayed silent, but he had a number 0 in the cheek.
“Zero…” Mars looked at the cheek and scoffed. “Fine, you are named Zero from now on. You are coming with me.”
“And… if I don’t?” Zero asked, his voice sounding dry and emotionless.
“That is not an option.” Mars grinned and took out his slave contract, and before Zero could resist, he pressed it against his forehead.
“Argh!” Zero slapped the medallion quickly away and backed off, but he could feel something burning on his forehead. There was now a black heart tattoo imprinted on his forehead.
“You are now part of my crew.” Mars exhaled loudly as he grinned. “Ahh, your fate is the highest I have ever encountered. It’s overflowing like a tidal wave.
“I wonder what your future holds, but, oh well, that is now mine.”
“What…” Zero rubbed his forehead.
“The others will fill you in.” Mars slipped his hands inside his pockets and left the room.
Zero looked around the white room, which had been his home for his entire life, and then hesitantly walked out of the door.
He had only left the room if there were some experiments he had to undertake. Now, it was the first time he walked out of his own free will.
“Yo.” At that moment, he saw a strange, red-eyed young man approaching him with a friendly smile.
“My name is Damian; what’s yours?”
“…” Zero stayed quiet and looked away from him, then saw the scientists, who had tortured him daily for over a decade, now lying dead.
“Ah…” He took a step backward in a sudden shock, and memories of different tortures flashed through his mind, every memory showing one of those scientists’ faces.
“Yeah, uhm, you are now with us, it seems.” Damian scratched the back of his head. “Wanna go to the ship? I’ll fill you in while we walk.”
Zero looked to the end of the hallway and saw two doors wide open.
Without any hesitation, he started running towards the doors and stepped out into the fresh air.
It was currently night, and when his barefoot landed on the soil below, he realized that the entrance of the laboratory was in the middle of a jungle.
He could see sky-splitting mountains in the distance and towers that looked abandoned and ancient.
“Wait!” Damian came running from inside and tried to stop Zero. “Where’re you going?”
“I thank you for saving me, but I don’t plan to go anywhere with that man.” Zero said and ran into the jungle, soon disappearing from view.
“Sigh…” Damian scratched his head. “You don’t have any other choice…”
As the night turned darker, Zero soon ran out of the jungle and came across a vast ocean covered in fog.
“Escape…” Zero bit his lip and felt emotional, looking like he wanted to cry.
As his bare feet touched the water, he was suddenly covered by black smoke, and the next thing he saw was a deck of black-sailed ship.
“?!” Zero looked around with panic and saw the faces of the people he saw inside the laboratory, who he thought killed those scientists and freed him.
“Escape is not an option.” Mars approached him and pointed at his forehead. “I imprinted you with a slave contract. You cannot leave me.”
“…” Zero touched his forehead and sighed. ‘I suppose this is still better than being there…’
He looked at the broad-framed man and nodded. “Ok…”
“You accepted it easier than others.” Mars laughed. “Mind telling me what happened in the laboratory?”
Zero looked over his shoulder at the island and saw the ship leaving the shore. Suddenly, he felt a strange feeling of excitement.
‘I have really left. I didn’t think this day would ever come…
‘I am free…’