Bits of Love, Lines of Code
Chapter 78 - 73 — Awaken the Hunter

Chapter 78: Chapter 73 — Awaken the Hunter

Rain streaked across the glass towers of Tokyo, their surfaces glowing in the neon light of passing traffic and blinking signs. The streets bustled even this late at night, but Aoi wasn’t walking—she was running.

"Lucia, where now?!" she panted.

"Head two blocks east and enter the red alley beside the pharmacy. I will unlock a gate remotely. Keep moving, Miss Aoi."

Footsteps echoed behind her. Black-suited pursuers were closing in, blending into the crowd with practiced ease.

Aoi’s heart pounded in her chest. Her heels clacked against the pavement until she kicked them off mid-sprint and sprinted barefoot through the alley. Rain soaked her hair, her blouse sticking to her skin, but she didn’t stop.

A chain-link gate stood ahead.

"Unlocking now. Ten seconds."

Behind her—yelling. Running. A gun being cocked.

"Lucia!!"

"Three... two... one."

CLICK.The gate creaked open and Aoi burst through it, stumbling into a quiet passage lit only by a vending machine and flickering lamplight.

"Keep going. A motorcycle has been dispatched for pickup. ETA: 90 seconds."

Aoi leaned on a wall, catching her breath. She whispered through her tears, "Ren... where are you?"

Meanwhile — Ren’s Secret Lab, Underground Vault

The air shimmered with static energy.

Inside the vault, a dozen machines rotated around Ren as he stood bare-chested, the skeletal framework of the Mark 85 suit surrounding him in pieces. The core of it all—the arc reactor—hovered inside a chamber, humming with infinite power.

Lucia’s voice came through clearly.

"Sir, the armor is untested. You have not completed the nano-weapons calibration or neural sync latency correction. Risk of internal rejection is—"

"I don’t have time," Ren said firmly, stepping forward. The arc reactor floated toward him, glowing bright blue.

He held it up, looked down at his chest—then pressed it in.

THUMP.

The reactor clicked into place with a magnetic seal, light bursting through the veins of the suit in golden pulses.

His body flinched—but he stayed standing.

"Sir... shall I initiate first-time system boot?"

Ren’s voice was calm. Cold.

"Lucia. Test it later. She needs me now."

The AI hesitated—then obeyed.

"Acknowledged. All systems at 62% readiness. Initializing HUD and stabilization..."

Nano plating folded around his arms, chest, legs. A helmet clicked down onto his head.

Ren stepped into the central lift platform, rain seen pouring above through the retractable ceiling.

"I’m coming, Aoi," he muttered.

Then, with a flash of blue light, he shot upward—into the sky.