Chapter 24: Elena Ward [1]

Special Crime Branch Department

Inside a sealed interrogation room, Lorenzo sat alone.

The room followed the standard SCBD setup: reinforced walls, a metal table bolted to the floor, two chairs, and a mirrored observation wall. Lorenzo knew the glass was two-way without needing anyone to tell him.

The air was cold and sterile, carrying the faint chemical smell of cleaning agents used to remove blood between interrogations.

He had been waiting for a while now.

The officers were probably still collecting testimonies from the restaurant, reviewing CCTV footage, and piecing together a timeline of the attack.

It would take hours. Maybe even the entire day.

’Fine. I could use some rest.’

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and let his exhaustion settle into his bones.

His nerves had already been on edge before he met Sofia, and that meeting hadn’t gone as planned. Then he’d been caught in a terrorist attack, killed dozens of people, and dismantled a man one piece at a time.

For once, Lorenzo wished he could turn his brain off.

Unfortunately, his mind had other plans.

The moment he closed his eyes, Sofia’s terrified expression appeared in his thoughts.

The way she had looked at him after he killed the terrorist leader.

The way her body had stiffened when he hugged her.

And, most importantly, the way she hadn’t hugged him back.

Lorenzo’s eyebrows twitched.

’What’s wrong with her?’

He had saved her life.

He had risked his own life to reach the restaurant, fought his way through the terrorists, and killed everyone who had threatened her.

Yet, instead of being grateful, she had looked at him as though he were no different from the monsters who had held her hostage.

Unbelievable.

He clicked his tongue.

He could understand her being frightened by the terrorists. After all, they had killed innocent people without hesitation.

But him?

He was the one who had rescued her.

Sure, he had gone a little overboard with the terrorist leader, but the bastard had deserved it.

He had threatened Sofia’s life, insulted her, and even dared to touch her face.

What else was Lorenzo supposed to do? Buy him flowers?

’People these days have no sense of gratitude.’

Lorenzo sighed and rubbed his temples.

Perhaps he had been a little too harsh with her.

After all, Sofia had just experienced a traumatic event. It was only natural that she would need time to recover.

He could afford to be patient.

Besides, once she calmed down, she would eventually understand that everything he had done was for her sake.

At least, that was what he told himself.

Now that he was no longer in immediate danger, his thoughts had begun to settle. With the adrenaline fading, an uncomfortable realization slowly crept in.

’I guess I’m pretty fucked up in the head.’

Lorenzo couldn’t help but chuckle.

When the terrorist leader had pointed his gun at Sofia, Lorenzo had completely lost his sense of reason.

Samuel’s consciousness had faded into the back of his mind as Lorenzo took complete control. Combined with his [Perfectionist] trait, he had stopped thinking about anything else.

He had wanted only one thing.

To make his Sofia perfect again.

And to ensure that whoever had hurt her would never see the sun again.

Did he regret any of it?

Lorenzo considered the question calmly before shaking his head.

He didn’t.

...But what pained him was the way Sofia had looked at him.

As though he were nothing more than a psycho.

That was what bothered him.

Not the blood on his hands. Not the bodies he had left behind.

Her expression.

He needed to remain in control.

Emotions could be a source of strength, but allowing them to control him was another matter entirely. One moment of losing control could be enough to send him straight to hell.

Never again... If I’m going to carry both Samuel and Lorenzo inside me, I need to learn to control my emotions better.

He wasn’t going to let something like this happen again.

----

Meanwhile, the officers watching him through the observation glass had reached an uncomfortable conclusion.

The Lorenzo Riina sitting quietly in the interrogation room bore little resemblance to the young Awakener described in their reports.

They had reviewed the preliminary footage from Appetite of Heavens. They had seen how efficiently he killed the terrorists, how little hesitation he showed when confronting their leader, and what he had done to the man afterward.

The boy who had rescued the hostages had become something else entirely when he turned his attention to the terrorist leader.

Even experienced officers had found the footage disturbing.

"Is this really Lorenzo Riina?" one of them muttered.

The middle-aged officer had spent decades in the SCBD, interrogating Awakeners of every rank, from arrogant E-rank rookies to seasoned A-rank veterans.

Yet he couldn’t remember the last time he’d watched someone so young commit such violence without displaying the slightest hesitation.

"His file says he’s seventeen," another officer replied. "He’s Aldric Riina’s only son and the designated heir to the family. Our reports describe him as talented, but nothing suggests he’s capable of this."

"Then our reports are incomplete."

Silence followed.

"Look at his expression," a young officer said.

On the monitor, Lorenzo opened his eyes, glanced toward the mirrored glass, and leaned back in his chair.

There was no panic in his eyes, nor any visible anxiety about the interrogation awaiting him.

Instead, he looked bored, as though he were waiting for an inconvenient meeting to end.

"Does he know we’re watching him?" someone asked.

"Of course he does," the middle-aged officer replied. "He’s the heir to the Riina family. Do you honestly think he wouldn’t notice the cameras?"

"Then why hasn’t he said anything?"

"Because he doesn’t care."

Captain Marcus Scout finally broke the silence.

"I think we should hurry up and send him back as soon as possible."

The other Awakener officers understood what Marcus meant.

In this world, everything revolved around hierarchy.

Rank. Power. Status.

And Lorenzo Riina possessed something that mattered more than his own rank.

His family name.

He might only be an E-rank Awakener, but his father was an Overlord, one of the four individuals standing at the pinnacle of the world’s power structure.

Aldric Riina held the rank of SS-, a level of power far beyond that of ordinary Awakeners.

There were only four Overlords in the entire world.

And, unfortunately for the World Government, none of them belonged to its ranks.

Below the Overlords stood the Saints, S-rank Awakeners whose strength placed them among the world’s most formidable individuals. Beneath them were the Masters, A-rank Awakeners who formed the backbone of many powerful organizations.

Even these ranks were exceptionally rare. The world had only a few hundred Saints and a few thousand Masters.

Compared to them, ordinary Awakeners were practically everywhere.

That was the reality of their world.

Power determined influence, and influence often determined how far the law could reach.

"Even so, I won’t compromise my duty just because his father is an Overlord."

A woman’s voice cut through the silence.

Everyone turned toward her.

Elena Ward had remained quiet throughout the discussion, carefully reviewing the CCTV footage. Now, she finally looked away from the monitor.

She was an S-rank Awakener—a Saint—and one of the most dangerous officers in the Special Crime Branch Department.

The Appetite of Heavens incident had triggered a wave of outrage among the World Government’s higher authorities. An attack of this scale in the capital was already an unforgivable security failure, and the deaths of innocent civilians had made the matter even more serious.

Elena had been dispatched to handle the investigation personally.

Unlike the others, she had no intention of letting the Riina family’s influence dictate how she did her job.

No one dared to challenge her. She was their superior, after all.

Elena replayed a particular segment of the footage.

Lorenzo had been surrounded by armed terrorists. Within moments, he had moved with startling precision, using whatever was available to eliminate his opponents.

At one point, he had even killed a terrorist with a fork.

Elena narrowed her eyes.

An E-rank Awakener shouldn’t be capable of moving like that.

His recorded rank didn’t explain his speed, the precision of his attacks, or the way he had reacted under pressure.

Perhaps his family had provided him with exceptional training. Perhaps the Riinas had concealed more about his abilities than their reports revealed.

Or perhaps something else was going on.

Whatever the explanation, she wasn’t going to draw conclusions before speaking to him.

She closed the footage and turned toward Marcus.

"Let’s go."

Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"You’re going to question him yourself?"

"Of course. He’s a witness to a terrorist attack, and his actions afterward raise questions that need answers."

Elena stood and straightened her uniform.

"I don’t care if he’s the heir to the Riina family. If he has nothing to hide, he has nothing to worry about."

Marcus studied her for a moment before sighing.

"I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into."

Elena gave him a cool glance.

"I’m an investigator, Captain Scout. Not a politician."

With that, she headed for the door.

"Let’s have a chat with Lorenzo Riina."

Inside the interrogation room, Lorenzo remained seated, seemingly unaware that his next visitor would be far less willing to let him leave without answers.