The blade of the energy sword stopped mere millimeters from Julia's neck. Her words, "I love you," acted as a spell that shattered the steel walls within Jin's mind.
With a trembling hand, Jin dropped his sword. He reached out with cold fingers to touch her tear-stained cheek. The very moment their skin met... a spark ignited.
A current of warm, blue light surged from Julia's body into Jin's metallic veins, breaking through all the malicious codes Zoro had planted inside him.
In a fraction of a second, memories came rushing back into his mind like a raging flood.
He remembered the first day he saw her, terrified and trembling after her father was killed. He remembered hiding her in his isolated quarters. He remembered her gentle smile as she brought him food, and the sound of her laughter that used to break the silence of his desolate life. He remembered watching her sleep, and how, for the first time, he had felt a strange warmth creeping into his cold chest.
And for the first time in his life... a warm drop of water fell from the terrifying Inspector's eye. A real tear rolled down his cheek.
In that glorious moment, Jin realized the truth they had kept hidden from him his entire life: "I am not an execution machine... I am human. I have a heart that loves, beats, and aches!" He was finally free from the system's chains. The spirits of his parents—who had fought and died to spread affection and peace—returned to him. Jin was reborn to be their successor.
But the price of this awakening was heavy. Suddenly, every detail of the brutal torture in the Abandoned Castle crashed into his mind. He remembered the electric shocks that had nearly torn his soul apart. The sheer agony of the memories attacked him all at once, and his exhausted body couldn't handle the overwhelming pressure. The world spun around him, and he collapsed unconscious on the floor beside Julia.
On the other side of the hall, Supreme Leader Zoro took a step back.
For the first time in decades, fear crept into his heart. His eyes widened in shock as he watched his perfect killing machine cry and fall. How could a programmed soldier overcome a smart chip he had designed himself? How did the complex memory-wipe system fail to erase his emotions?
Zoro realized that his suspicions all these years had been entirely justified. The child whose parents he had killed right before his eyes was now growing up to take their place and threaten his throne.
Amidst his shock, Zoro remembered an ancient legend. His mind traveled back to the distant past, when the capital was known as "The White Pearl"—a city of beauty, clear rivers, and lush green trees. In those days, there was a sacred text known as the "Book of Destinies." It carried a prophecy stating that a "White Knight" would one day appear to save the city from the overwhelming darkness and restore the light.
Zoro whispered to himself, his voice trembling slightly: "Is Jin the White Knight? Has the prophecy come true? Impossible! The system I spent years building cannot collapse because of a child I raised with my own hands to be my weapon!"
Blinded by fury, Zoro screamed his orders to the robotic guards: "Get everyone out of here! Take them to the deepest cell in the Black Prison! Lock them up together!"
The hall was cleared. Zoro remained alone, sitting on his throne, consumed by anxiety and doubt. Will this soldier be my end?
Unable to bear these thoughts, Zoro rose from his throne. He decided to visit the only person who held the answer. He left the palace and headed toward the highest peak in the city's mountains, where the oldest man in the capital lived: the old sage, Aemon.
Aemon had been the just ruler of the White Pearl in the old days, long before his reign fell and Zoro occupied the city, turning it into the "City of Darkness."
Zoro's journey up the mountain was terrifying. He was no ordinary human; he was the very embodiment of ruin. With every step he took, flowers withered and died, and the green grass burned to ash. The light faded around him, replaced by a gloomy darkness. Even the animals and birds froze in their tracks, paralyzed by his imposing figure and dreadful aura.
Zoro arrived at a miserable, dust-filled wooden cabin. He kicked the door open and stepped inside, finding the old sage Aemon sitting quietly in his rocking chair, his eyes peacefully closed.
The old man spoke in a weak but confident voice: "I knew you were coming, Zoro. This day was bound to come, sooner or later."
Zoro stood before him like a mountain of darkness and asked with chilling cruelty: "Answer me in one word, old man... Is Jin the White Knight mentioned in the Book of Destinies?"
Aemon opened his tired eyes and looked at Zoro for a long time. Then, he smiled faintly and replied: "No... it is not him. Do not worry, Zoro, you are still safe. Had the true White Knight arrived, today would have been the last day of your miserable life."
Zoro was taken aback by the answer. For a fleeting moment, he flared with rage and raised the hilt of his sword, ready to crush the old man's head completely. But he stopped at the last second. He knew he still needed this sage's wisdom, and killing him now served no purpose.
Zoro wrapped his black cloak around himself and left the cabin, leaving nothing behind but the coldness of death.
On his way back to the dark palace, he began to think with the mindset of a cunning tyrant. If Jin wasn't the White Knight, it didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. Jin and Julia together had become like a "virus" threatening to destroy the capital's entire network.
Zoro looked up at the city's sky, thick with heavy red clouds, and said to himself: "I must find a way to get rid of this virus forever... a way to make them wish for death without ever finding it."