Chapter 502: New Variable

Meanwhile, Stan slowly leaned back against the sofa, his fingers resting against the armrest as he considered what Damien might do if he had actually managed to escape.

Damien wasn’t someone Stan could afford to ignore.

The man had already caused enough trouble in the past, and allowing him to disappear completely would create an unpredictable variable that Stan couldn’t account for. As long as Damien remained imprisoned, the situation was relatively straightforward. The authorities could deal with him, and Stan wouldn’t have to concern himself with the matter.

But if Damien was free...

Stan’s eyes narrowed.

Then everything could change.

"I hope I’m wrong," he said quietly.

Camilla’s eyes remained fixed on him.

"About what?"

Stan reached toward the chessboard and picked up one of the pieces, slowly turning it between his fingers as he considered the possibilities.

"About Damien being one of the ones who got out."

His voice remained calm, but the relaxed atmosphere that had existed earlier was gone.

Camilla didn’t respond immediately. She simply watched him, seemingly understanding that Stan’s concern wasn’t based on certainty. It was the potential consequences that bothered him.

Stan eventually lowered his hand and carefully returned the chess piece to the board.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Outside, the city continued moving as it always did. Cars traveled along the streets, their headlights occasionally sweeping across the windows. People went home from work, met with friends, ate dinner, or simply enjoyed another ordinary evening without knowing that anything significant had happened.

To anyone looking from the outside, nothing had changed.

But Stan knew better.

Major changes rarely announced themselves immediately. Sometimes they began with something seemingly insignificant, something that could easily be dismissed as an isolated incident until its consequences gradually spread.

The world had already been moving quietly toward something much larger for some time. Events that initially appeared unrelated were beginning to intersect, and this prison break had introduced yet another unknown variable into an already complicated situation.

Stan looked at the chessboard again, his fingers resting lightly against the edge of the table.

The game had been interrupted by a single phone call, but somehow the chessboard now felt strangely appropriate.

One piece had moved.

Then another.

And now a piece had disappeared entirely from the board.

Stan didn’t know who had moved it, where it had gone, or what its next move would be.

He simply knew that the game was no longer as simple as it had been before.

And somewhere out there, Damien Bale might have just become another piece on the board.

The only question was where that piece would appear next.

...

Across from him, Camilla remained seated in her chair.

"Whoever this Damien is, the strength of the new-age humans can’t compare to yours."

"No. That’s not what concerns me." Stan’s eyes narrowed as he finally looked toward her. "I’ve got people to protect. And something about this doesn’t add up."

Camilla studied him for a moment.

Stan wasn’t the kind of person who became unsettled simply because something unexpected happened. He had encountered situations far stranger than a prison break and dealt with dangerous enemies before.

If he was concerned now, there was clearly something about the incident that didn’t sit right with him.

Before Camilla could respond, Stan’s phone suddenly vibrated against the table.

The unexpected sound immediately drew his attention.

He glanced down.

The commissioner’s name was displayed across the screen.

Stan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The timing was almost suspiciously convenient.

He had just asked the commissioner to find out whether Damien was among the escaped prisoners or had already been recaptured. If the commissioner was calling now, he had probably found something.

Without hesitation, Stan picked up the phone.

"Commissioner?"

"Stan."

The commissioner’s voice sounded different from before. The casual tone he had used during their earlier conversation was gone, replaced by something considerably more serious. There was a noticeable tension in his voice, as though whatever information he had uncovered wasn’t something he was comfortable discussing casually over the phone.

Stan immediately straightened.

"I’ve got the information you asked for."

Stan’s expression hardened.

He already had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what came next.

"You found out about Damien?"

...

"You found out about Damien?"

"Yes."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the call. Stan’s expression remained calm, but his attention sharpened immediately. The moment the commissioner had mentioned the prison escape, he had already suspected that Damien Bale might be among those who had disappeared. Hearing confirmation only made the situation more troublesome.

"He’s one of the escapees," the commissioner finally said.

Stan’s expression hardened slightly as he leaned back against the sofa. Damien wasn’t someone he could afford to ignore. The man had already caused enough trouble in the past, and allowing him to disappear completely would create an unpredictable variable that Stan couldn’t account for. If Damien had remained imprisoned, then the situation would have been relatively straightforward. The authorities could deal with him, and Stan wouldn’t have needed to concern himself with the matter.

But now Damien was free.

"I see," Stan replied calmly.

"I figured you’d want to know as soon as possible."

"Tell me what happened."

The commissioner’s voice became more serious as he began explaining what he had learned. "I spoke with the prison administration and the officers who were on duty during the breach. At first, their reports were difficult to believe."

Stan’s brows furrowed slightly. "What did they tell you?"

"They told me that one prisoner essentially tore his way out of his cell."

Stan’s eyebrows rose.

"By himself?"

"That’s what they said."

For a moment, Stan said nothing. The statement sounded absurd on its face. Blackridge Correctional Facility wasn’t an ordinary prison, and its cells weren’t designed to be escaped from through brute strength. Even a physically powerful prisoner shouldn’t have been capable of simply forcing his way through the reinforced security measures.

’Did he awaken?’ Stan sighed, he already had plenty on his hands

The commissioner seemed to take his silence for skepticism.

"While they said that, I didn’t take their word for it," he continued. "I asked the prison heads to send me the surveillance footage covering the incident."

"And?"

"I watched it myself."

The commissioner’s voice lowered slightly.

"That’s when I realized their reports weren’t exaggerated."

Stan’s gaze sharpened. "What did you see?"

The commissioner took a slow breath before answering.

"Damien Bale appears to have awakened some sort of... ability."