Chapter 168: Recruitment

Leo lay on his back beneath the heavy frame of the truck, a grease-stained rag resting near his shoulder. The smell of engine oil filled the hot air. Behind him, footsteps crunched against the dry dirt.

"Sir Leo, how have you been?"

Leo kept his focus on the undercarriage, his wrench gripping a rusted bolt.

"I’m fine. Danny, have you gotten used to your powers? No signs of losing control and going mad, right?"

Danny gave a tight, forced smile, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"I’m sorry for worrying you. Everything is fine. I can control my powers. I feel stronger now, and I seem to have gained knowledge of the skills and abilities I can use."

Leo gave a short nod.

"Everyone experiences something similar when they step into the superhuman realm."

He threw his weight against the wrench, securing the bolt with a sharp squeak of metal, before he went on.

"But don’t become complacent or arrogant just because you’ve gained some abilities. There are more dangerous and skilled people in this world than you can imagine."

"I’ll take your advice to heart."

Danny opened his mouth to add something else, then pressed his lips together, his gaze dropping to the dirt.

Leo slid out from under the truck just enough to look at the younger man.

"What is it?"

Danny drew in a long, shaky breath, his chest rising high.

"Sir Leo, the military approached me yesterday. They want to recruit me."

Leo let his wrench drop to the ground with a dull thud.

Danny pressed on.

"I wanted to reject them immediately, but they told me to take some time to think about it before making my decision."

He dropped his chin, staring hard at the toes of his boots.

"I thought about it the whole night, and I think I’m going to reject their offer."

He lifted his head, meeting Leo’s steady gaze.

"Sir Leo, I want to join you."

Leo pulled himself out from under the vehicle and rose to his feet. He grabbed a piece of rough cloth from the bumper and scrubbed the thick, dark oil from his knuckles. Tossing the rag aside, he closed the distance between them, the easygoing mood vanishing from his face.

"Why do you want to join me?"

Danny started to speak, but Leo cut him off.

"It’s because you think you owe me, isn’t it?"

Danny went rigid, his breath catching in his throat.

"You owe me for helping your family survive. Even the power you gained was because of me. That’s what you’re thinking, right?"

Danny shut his mouth and gave a single, firm nod.

Leo stepped closer.

"That feeling is influencing your decision. That’s why you can’t bring yourself to choose the military."

He let the words hang in the air for a few seconds.

"But let me give you a different perspective."

Leo locked eyes with Danny, holding his gaze without blinking.

"Do you think I can always protect your family?"

Danny had no answer.

"Do you think that when push comes to shove, you’ll choose to protect me over your family?"

The muscles in Danny’s jaw tightened.

"I have no problem with you and your family joining me," Leo continued. "But first, think about this. Can Linda and Lily always remain safe if you travel with me?"

He threw a glance over his shoulder at the battered metal of the truck before turning his attention back to the younger man.

"Can you guarantee that what happened to Linda on the battlefield won’t happen to Lily or Linda again?"

Danny stared at the ground again, unable to meet the older man’s eyes.

"You might think that what I gave Linda was an absolute cure, but it wasn’t. Linda survived because she was lucky."

Leo kept his tone even, yet the weight behind his words seemed to press down on them both.

"If you travel with me, you’ll have to face the dangers of this world. You’ll fight, you’ll encounter monsters, and you’ll be dragged into situations where even I might not be able to protect everyone."

He stopped speaking, letting the harsh truth sink in.

"Linda and Lily could be caught in that danger."

Leo took another step forward.

"Are you sure you’re ready to put them through that?"

Danny curled his fingers tight against his palms.

"The military is different," Leo continued. "They value your abilities. They’ll likely place Linda and Lily in one of their most secure locations, allowing you to fight for them without constantly worrying about their safety."

"They might even be able to provide Lily with a far better education than she could receive while traveling with me."

"Your powers are also valuable to them. They’ll invest more resources in you than you can probably imagine."

Leo gave Danny time to digest the options before speaking again.

"Think about it carefully, Danny."

"What is it that you truly want right now?"

He kept his sharp gaze pinned on the younger man.

"Decide what matters more to you. Your family or the favor you think you owe me."

Danny parted his lips to speak, but his voice failed him.

A long, tired breath escaped Leo’s chest.

"I’m not expecting you to repay me. What I did was the bare minimum. I only wanted to wash away some of the guilt I carried from my past failures by helping you and your family. That’s all."

He reached out, resting a heavy hand on Danny’s shoulder and giving it a soft, reassuring squeeze.

"You can repay me in another way someday. But trust me on this..."

A shadow fell over Leo’s face, tracing the lines of old grief.

"Once you lose someone dear to you, they’re gone forever."

Danny raised his head, watching the deep sadness in Leo’s eyes.

"So make your decision after considering that."

Leo let his hand drop back to his side.

"To survive in this world, you have to be selfish sometimes. If you blindly follow every virtue and put everyone else before yourself, this world will eventually get you killed."

Finished with his piece, Leo turned his back and walked over to the hood of the truck, grabbing his tools to resume his work.

Danny stayed frozen in place.

He stood in the quiet dust for several minutes, chewing over the heavy truth in the older man’s advice.

Finally, without a single word of goodbye, he pivoted on his heel and headed back the way he came, moving toward his family.

After Danny left, Leo turned his focus back to the truck. He barely had his tools in hand before the system’s voice echoed in his head.

[Host, I don’t understand you. Why did you try to push him toward the military?]

[You have helped him and invested resources in him. The power he has awakened is also going to be very useful.]

[Why push away such a valuable ally when he is willing to remain loyal to you?]

Leo stopped what he was doing before replying.

"You don’t understand."

He grabbed a wrench and cranked down on a loose bolt.

"But after nearly dying and hearing you tell me that my heart had burst, I’ve come to realize how careless I’ve become."

"I’ve always told myself to be careful and never become arrogant. But after gaining power, powerful weapons, and various skills, I started becoming reckless."

He stared at the greasy machinery in front of him.

"Today, I’m standing here only because of a series of coincidences and the skills I’ve managed to acquire. If even one of those factors had been missing, my cold body might be rotting inside this truck right now, waiting for someone to find it."

Leo let out a heavy breath.

"In my previous life, I was just a normal human being. But I was never this careless."

He lowered the wrench to his side.

"I was even ready to use a precious Epic Upgrade Card to save Linda, but you objected . ."

His face hardened.

"I’m still too weak. I can’t afford to become distracted by all these other affairs."

"I need to get stronger."

His knuckles turned white as his fingers locked around the metal handle.

"A bunch of people helped me finally overcome the failures of my past."

"I can’t die now."

"I can’t fall now."

For a moment, the only sound was the faint clink of metal against metal. Then, a low chuckle slipped from his lips.

"And besides, I never said I wouldn’t let Danny join me."

He went back to his repairs.

"I only made it clear that I won’t babysit him or his family anymore. If they decide to join me, they better be prepared for the dangers that come with it."

"Now it’s up to him to choose."

Leo looked over his shoulder, staring down the empty path Danny had taken.

"But I already know what decision he’ll make when he gets back to his family."

With that, Leo ducked his head back under the hood. In his mind, the system stayed quiet.