Chapter 1

Even though I knew an open flame at a gas leak was a death sentence, I, a firefighter, still let my girlfriend’s childhood friend light a cigarette on-site, supposedly “to calm his nerves.”

Just like in my previous life. At a party, a gas leak suddenly happened, and my girlfriend’s childhood friend insisted on lighting a cigarette to steady his nerves.

I slapped the lighter out of his hand, yelling at him that he was trying to kill everyone.

His ego was badly bruised, and ignoring all warnings, he stormed out, only to be crushed to death by a billboard hurled by the blast.

Later, when I was dangling in mid-air after saving a child from a fall, my girlfriend, who was my second-in-command, deliberately severed my safety rope.

She looked at my lifeless body and said, “If you hadn't publicly humiliated him, he wouldn’t have died!”

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in that room, thick with the smell of gas.

“Caleb, what are you staring at?”

Chloe’s annoyed voice dragged me back from the bloody memories.

I… I had been reborn.

I looked at her, then at Jax, who stood beside her, clutching a lighter and muttering curses.

I clenched my fists, forcing myself to calm down through the pain.

I couldn’t make the same mistake again.

Rushing over to stop Jax would only enrage him, making him repeat the past.

But this time, if I let him light that lighter, all of us would die here.

I couldn’t die, and my crew, standing behind me, were innocent.

Taking a deep breath, I put on an urgent expression and sharply ordered Jax:

“Jax! What are you doing! Put that lighter down! This is a gas leak!”

Jax flinched at my shout, almost dropping the lighter.

However, before he could react, Chloe instantly blew up.

She stepped in front of Jax, glaring at me with her chin defiantly raised.

“Caleb, what are you yelling for! Look how you scared him! He’s just nervous and wants a cigarette; do you have to be such a jerk?”

Her self-righteous tone made it sound like I was the unreasonable one.

What a dramatic show, “the damsel defending her doltish hero.”

Too bad I wasn’t the same fool who only knew how to give in my last life.

“Chloe! Snap out of it! This isn’t a joke!”

I stared at Chloe, who was shielding Jax, a cold smirk forming in my heart, but on my face, I forced a desperate, conflicted expression.

“Chloe! Snap out of it! This isn’t a joke!”

“Our monitors are screaming – the gas concentration is at a critical explosion point! Forget an open flame, even a static spark could ignite everything and take us all down with it!”

While I pleaded desperately, I subtly positioned my body to block their view, my finger lightly pressing the record button on the camera clipped to my chest pocket.

Seeing Chloe defend him so fiercely, Jax’s courage instantly returned.

He peeked half his head from behind Chloe, challenging me with a brazen smirk, “Seriously, Captain? You’re overreacting. Exaggerate much? It's just a cigarette. What's the big deal?”

“Besides, Chloe said it’s fine. Can’t you, a grown man, just calm down and stop being so uptight?”

The old me might have been provoked, but now, I just found it pathetic.

Realizing words were useless, I quietly gave an inconspicuous tactical hand signal to my crew behind me.

—Prepare to evacuate, find cover, stay alert.

Mike, an experienced firefighter standing behind me, his pupils contracted sharply, but his face remained impassive. He understood immediately.

He shifted his body to block Chloe and Jax’s view, giving me a subtle nod, then inconspicuously stepped back half a pace, bumping the two other firefighters next to him.

Almost simultaneously, the three of them silently moved towards the kitchen door, ready to retreat at a moment's notice.

Everything was in place.

I feigned helplessness and turned to Chloe, a hint of desperation in my voice. “Chloe, please, I’m begging you, talk some sense into him! This is genuinely about all our lives! You’re a firefighter too, you should understand!”

However, Chloe showed no sympathy.

She even seemed to enjoy my pleading, believing it made her look good in front of Jax.

She turned to soothe Jax, and then, she said something that sealed everyone's fate.

“Don’t worry, Jax, I’ve got you. Just light it, nothing will happen.”

I watched their intimate display, as if they were on the same side, and used every ounce of strength to roar at my crew:

“Get down!”

That yell was my command to the brothers who trusted me.

The instant my shout left my lips, Jax pressed the button on his lighter.