Chapter 2 Penumbra

Lilah fumbled through her bag, her fingers trembling as she pulled out a bottle of pills. With effort, she shook a few into her palm and swallowed them dry.

Gradually, the ghostly hue drained from her face, leaving behind a trace of color.

On the other end of the line, Cory Higgins, her assistant, immediately caught the shift in her breathing. "Lilah, are you having another episode? Don't panic-the team is already running simulations for various emergency scenarios. The lab is pushing the new formula ahead of schedule based on the information you have provided..."

While his voice carried frantic concern, Lilah's tone stayed level, almost detached. "If luck isn't on my side and I don't make it till the surgery, tell them to keep at it. Their work will eventually save someone who needs it."

Cory hesitated, wanting to protest, but she didn't give him the chance and ordered, "Circulate a rumor that Panacea is overseas. Let Blackhawk chase ghosts. I'm the only one who can perform this operation, and as long as you don't help him alleviate the pain, he'll stay in agony. Consider it payback."

A cold light burned through her frail features. "Blackhawk wants me dead?" Her lips curved faintly as she muttered, "Then he'd better reserve his own grave first."

She ended the call, set the phone aside, and let exhaustion drag her under.

When she finally stirred, sunlight was already spilling across the room-it was well into the afternoon.

Her eyes needed a moment to focus, and when they did, a faint, self-mocking laugh escaped her lips. The great Panacea, the miracle doctor praised by the world, couldn't even cure herself.

A soft buzz cut through her thoughts. Her phone lit up with a message-a shared location and three simple words. "Waiting for you."

It was from an old friend. Her fingers lingered on the screen, hesitating, as she was unsure whether to go.

Just then, the device vibrated with a message, and the sender introduced himself as Albin Dawson.

Confusion lingered as she frowned at the message. When no memory of Albin surfaced, she ignored the message altogether.

But Albin didn't give up. The phone rang again. And again. With a weary sigh, Lilah finally swiped to answer.

"Is this Panacea?" The voice was low, tentative-almost reverent.

Lilah didn't recognize the voice. Without a word, she ended the call. Choosing to meet her friend after all, she stepped out of the room.

At the same time, in a high-end hospital office, Albin, the director, dabbed the cold sweat from his brow and risked a glance at the man lounging on the sofa. "Mr. Spencer, perhaps Panacea is just busy-or maybe the number has changed. I'll... keep trying to reach Panacea."

Cayden Spencer, legs crossed with effortless composure, inclined his head slightly. "Appreciate it."

Even that quiet reply carried a weight of authority.

Albin, still slick with nervous perspiration, went back to making frantic calls.

Panacea had always been an enigma-few had ever met her, not even the elite specialists who'd once worked with her. Her identity and location were shrouded in secrecy.

Albin had only obtained Panacea's number after begging his mentor for a favor.

"Mr. Spencer! We've got something!" a subordinate called from the hallway.

Hope flashed across Albin's weary face. "You found a lead on Panacea?"

Cayden rose in one smooth motion, his expression turning razor-sharp as he strode out of the room.

...

"Keep going-good, just two more steps forward." Lilah offered an encouraging smile. "Feeling tired? Want to take a break?"

Lilah handed a bottle of water to a delicate-looking girl whose determination burned brighter than her frail appearance suggested. Even now, the girl stubbornly shook her head and pushed through her rehabilitation routine.

Lilah didn't interfere. She had recognized that fierce will the first day they had met-by pure chance-and she respected it.

At that moment, Lilah's phone buzzed. Cory's name flashed across the screen. "Someone tried tracing your IP using your number," he reported briskly. "I caught it before they got anywhere."

Lilah raised an eyebrow. Whoever that was, they weren't an amateur. She'd built her own security system, layer by layer, and this was the first time anyone had gotten that close. She asked in an even tone, "From GhostNet?"

"No. The method is similar to Penumbra's style, but nowhere near as refined."

At that name, a flicker of emotion crossed her face. Penumbra was the legend of the hacking world, the one whose retirement had left a void no one could fill. Penumbra had once offered her guidance in hacking. Even now, she couldn't help but feel a trace of regret over his retirement.

"I've tightened your defenses. No one's tracing you now." Cory's easy confidence carried through the line, followed by a thoughtful pause. "By the way, you've heard of the Spencer family, right? Big players in Rulpus. They just put up a billion-dollar bounty to have you perform a surgery."

Realizing his slip, he rushed to soften it. "Not that a billion even comes close to what you're worth."

Lilah offered no response. The call ended with a quiet click. Melancholy clouded her gaze-she knew she was in no condition ever to set foot in an operating room again.

Bitterness tightened her chest, but then her attention shifted to the girl before her, who had slipped in the mud and was struggling upright, stubborn and fierce.

Sunlight broke through the clouds, brushing the girl's profile in gold-a glimpse of raw defiance, fierce and unyielding.

That same spirit mirrored the man in the oncoming car.

"Mr. Spencer, we're less than a kilometer from Panacea!" exclaimed Saul Tucker, the subordinate seated beside Cayden. He gripped the edge of his seat as the distance shrank, his pulse quickening with every turn of the car.

"Eight hundred... Five hundred-damn it! We've been cut off!" Saul slammed a fist against the console as the signal vanished. Jaw tight, he frantically retried the tracker, even dialing the number Albin had managed to get-only to hear the cold tone of a disconnected line.

Running a hand through his hair in defeat, Saul muttered, "Sorry, Mr. Spencer. But if Panacea is anywhere in Rulpus, I'll find her-even if I have to turn the whole city upside down."

Cayden's expression didn't flicker. His deep voice came steady and low. "Turn the car around. We're heading back."

The wheel had barely shifted before the driver blurted out in alarm, "Mr. Spencer, look-could that be Miss Spencer?"

Cayden, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them to see a disheveled figure sprawled on the ground, and for a heartbeat, he froze.

"Who is that woman? Is she bullying Miss Spencer? I'll go down and grab her right now!"

Cayden's expression fell as he bellowed, "Stop the car!"

The car screeched to a halt.

Just as Cayden reached for the car door, about to hop out, he noticed Ava Spencer-his younger sister-already on her feet, smiling at the woman beside her with an innocence and brightness he hadn't seen since the crash. He couldn't bring himself to interrupt the moment.

After a long while, Cayden ordered curtly, "See who that woman with Ava is."