The Grim Reaper Returns

Lonestar State, Wharton Field JRB.

Over a thousand base members stood in formation on both sides of the runway, surrounding a private jet.

At that moment, a young man stepped out, like a god descending to earth.

This young man was Novaria's youngest candidate for five-star general.

He had once infiltrated enemy territory while surrounded by ten thousand troops, personally hung an enemy commander's head atop a castle tower, and struck such terror into his enemies that they collapsed and surrendered.

In a single night, beneath the dome of Novaria's presidential building at the heart of the nation, he had effortlessly taken down three world-class assassins, shocking the entire world and earning him the name "the Reaper."

Now he had been given the title "the Northern Reaper" of Novaria, recognized by the presidential palace as the "Empire's Blade," and regarded as the most lethal weapon in the Western world.

In the intelligence networks of several other major powers, there was only one word used to describe him, a word that sent chills down people's spines: the Reaper.

Yet no one could have expected that this man who stood at the very top of Novaria's military would, just days earlier, submit his resignation to the Supreme Command.

The senior figures gathered around him now were all elite officers he had personally trained, every one of them a name that commanded respect.

But standing before this young man, they couldn't find the words; their eyes blurred with tears.

"General, are you really leaving?"

"With the General gone, there will be no more legends in this world."

One of the commanders, a gray-haired man in his fifties, choked out the words.

"I've fulfilled my mentor's dying wish. I've put down the unrest on the Thalassian border. No one will dare challenge Novaria for years to come."

"There's something else I need to take care of, something I left unfinished."

The young man's face was calm and hard, his hands clasped behind his back, radiating a steadiness and sharpness that seemed beyond his years. "But if war comes again, that's when I'll return. Anyone who dares threaten Novaria, no matter how far, will be destroyed."

"Remember this. I'm no longer the Reaper General. My name is James Rockefeller."

With those words, delivered with full authority, the young man picked up his tactical pack, turned without looking back, and strode onto the jet.

The thousand-plus members gathered to see him off raised their right hands in salute and called out together at James's retreating figure, "Farewell, the Reaper General!"

James walked to the car without looking back.

Inside, a short-haired woman was already waiting for him.

She was the second most prominent figure in the organization. James had once pulled her out of a pile of bodies, and since then, she had been completely devoted to him, never leaving his side.

Her name was Erin Smith. She was tall, cold, and intimidating, with beautiful ice-blue eyes that carried a faint edge of danger that kept people at a distance.

"The Reaper General, where are we headed?"

"Home."

An hour later.

Luminous City, downtown.

"General, we're here."

The car stopped. Erin spoke from the driver's seat, looking at the man beside her with nothing but admiration and respect.

"We're here? This doesn't look like my home."

James frowned. After four years of military service, finally returning home with the honor of a general, the person he had missed most was his wife, Sophia Wilson.

His thoughts drifted back to the past.

He and Sophia had known each other since they were young. The memories from middle school and high school were the best ones he had.

But everything changed the day the Rockefeller family threw him out.

"General, before I came, I took the liberty of looking into things. Your wife, Sophia, gave birth to a daughter about a year after you left. Her name is Stella. She's confirmed to be yours."

The moment Erin finished speaking, James's expression shifted to pure disbelief.

"What? You said, my daughter? I have a daughter?"

Erin smiled and shrugged.

"That's right, General. Congratulations. Here's a photo, take a look."

It hit him all at once. James was overjoyed. He stared at the photo for a long moment.

The little girl's eyes, her face. He was the Reaper General, a man who had faced hundreds of thousands of enemies on the battlefield without flinching. But right now, his heart was racing.

"General, the reason we stopped here is that your wife and her family are upstairs having dinner."

James let out a laugh, pushed open the car door, and snapped his fingers with a grin.

"Ha! Thanks, Erin."

"General, wait!"

Erin suddenly remembered something important and called out quickly.

"The commendation is coming through any moment now. The first Honor Cross Medal, awarded for your..."

But James had already walked into the restaurant. His mind was completely on his wife and the daughter he had never met. Everything else could wait.

Erin could only spread her hands and shake her head with a helpless smile.

Up in a private room on the third floor, several members of the Wilson family had gathered together, and one by one they kept heaping praise on Sophia.

"Sophia, it's good that you've come around. Richard Black is the son of the Black family, one of Luminous City's most powerful families. Marrying him, you'll have a wonderful life."

"Exactly. James was a broke nobody who disappeared for four years. You should have put him out of your mind long ago. You're doing the right thing."

"Sophia's had it so hard all these years, wasting her time with that useless James."

The flattery kept coming, and Sophia, the one it was all aimed at, could only smile bitterly to herself.

Beside her, her parents, Robert Wilson and Josephine Wilson, were beaming, especially Josephine.

Josephine nudged Sophia's arm and said quietly, "Listen. If you say a single word against this today, don't expect to see Stella again."

Sophia looked at Stella, who was gripping her hand tightly, and felt a hollow sadness spreading through her chest.

Not long ago, these same aunts and uncles had done nothing but look down on their family. Now they were singing her praises. It was almost funny.

Sophia's beauty was the kind that stopped men cold, like Venus stepping out of a Renaissance painting. That was exactly why someone like Richard was willing to marry a woman who had already been married before.

No matter what, the man she loved was still her husband, James. When Richard showed up, she would turn down this whole arrangement, completely and without question.

"Mommy, is the person coming... Daddy?"

Stella's question sent a sharp pain through Sophia's heart. She was about to answer when the door to the private room swung open.

Josephine immediately broke into a smile. "Look! Our son-in-law is here! Richard, you're finally..."

But the next moment, Josephine went silent, and the smile vanished from her face entirely.

Because the person who had just walked in was not Richard. It was James, the useless man who had been gone for four years.

"Daddy!"

Stella's small figure shot forward, arms wide open, calling out at the top of her lungs.

James nearly broke down in tears right then and there.

"Stella!"

James knelt down and kissed Stella on the forehead. With that one sweet word, "Daddy," he felt like there was no happier moment in the world than this.

"James! Let go of Stella. What kind of father are you? What kind of husband? You disappeared for four years. Why didn't you just die out there on the battlefield? And now you have the nerve to come back?"

Josephine snapped back to her senses, rushed over, yanked Stella away, and unleashed a torrent of accusations at James.

"Mom! What are you saying!" Sophia cut in.

James dropped to one knee and held out his hand. "Sweetheart, forgive me for leaving without a word. Starting today, I'm going to give you and our daughter a different life."

Before he could say another word, someone else walked in.

"Ladies and gentlemen, sorry I'm late. I just got out of the military today, so my schedule has been a bit packed. I hope you'll forgive me. These are little gifts for everyone."

Richard had arrived. He was dressed in a white suit, and gave a graceful bow.

The people he brought with him immediately began handing out gifts, Hermès bags, and Cartier jewelry, sending the Wilson family into a flurry of delighted praise.

"Look at Richard. Every move he makes is so refined, like true nobility."

"Exactly. This is what real class looks like."

Among them, Tommy, the son of Sophia's uncle, was holding a box of cigars and turned to look at James with a contemptuous whistle.

"James, if you had any self-awareness, you'd sign the divorce papers right now and stop embarrassing yourself. Take a good look in the mirror."

The moment Tommy finished, others chimed in, and one of them even gave an exaggerated shrug.

"Tommy's right. James, a smart man, knows when to step aside. Sophia has already agreed to marry Mr. Black. It's time to let go."

James's expression shifted. He slowly turned to look at Sophia. "Sophia, are you really going to remarry?"