Even with the construction of the defense grid operating at a frantic, hyper-calculating pace, Hana refused to let her work completely sever her from her daughter.
She was a strategist, yes, but her instinct as a mother remained a fierce undercurrent that influenced every decision she made on the mountainside.
Every few hours, she would pause what she was doing just to look up and scan the rocky terrain.
Usually, she would spy a flash of bright white fur near the lower trenches. It would be Ren, his posture perfectly poised and his expression completely serene, carrying little Zariyah securely against his chest in a dark, fabric baby carrier that Hana had purchased from the system store.
The contrast was striking—a silent, lethal snow leopard apex predator gracefully navigating piles of rods and heavy steel pipes, all while carefully supporting the head of a sleeping newborn.
