In Dallas, Texas, America, Marco finished his training for the day, drenched in sweat, inside the local richest man's mansion.
He sat on the sofa, chewing an iron ball and toying with Musa's glasses.
Since escaping New York, he had drifted from place to place before arriving in Texas.
Marco had a longstanding connection with Pick, Dallas's richest man. His father and Pick were good friends.
When Pick learned that the rebels had framed Marco and that he had barely made it here with nowhere to stay, he took him in without hesitation and concealed his whereabouts.
With this local power broker sheltering him, Marco had gone months without being found by the Illuminati.
Pick was an Illuminati member too. He fed Marco well and gave him refuge, despite the risk of being charged with harboring him if they were discovered. The man truly stood by his friends.
"Hm?" Hearing a noise, Marco looked toward the door and saw his wealthy uncle walking in with a smile.
Pick was already in his fifties, but in his tracksuit, he looked full of energy, with even fewer wrinkles. He seemed ten years younger. Marco almost failed to recognize him.
"Uncle, how did you get younger?" Marco exclaimed.
Pick smiled mysteriously. "Can't you tell what medicine I took?"
Marco drew a sharp breath. Did he mean... the Longevity Elixir?
"The Longevity Elixir has been distributed? How much have I missed while I've been hiding?" Marco sprang to his feet.
Pick had previously told him Santa Fe had been destroyed, which had shocked him enough. Seeing Pick ten years younger now made him feel as though the world had changed.
"The organization didn't distribute this medicine," Pick told him. "Since Santa Fe fell, its Longevity Elixir has been nowhere in sight... But it's different