章 225: Chapter 225

January 29, 1964

The evening sun cast long shadows across Alfonso's office in Malacañang Palace, the warm Manila breeze carrying the faint scent of sampaguita through the open windows. The emperor sat at his massive hardwood desk, surrounded by reports from across the globe. His mind, however, was in another time, another world – one where he had lived through a strikingly similar crisis.

"History repeats itself," he muttered, picking up the latest statistics. The numbers were grim: cases doubling every few days, healthcare systems buckling under the strain, and panic beginning to grip nations across the globe. The report from his Minister of Health showed an alarming pattern of spread that was all too familiar to him.