They reached Storage 27 just before dusk.
The sky was bruised purple, clouds heavy and low, pressing the city into a tense hush—as if even the air knew they were approaching something forbidden.
The building sat at the far edge of the Bureau's grounds, past old training yards and rusting utility sheds.Most employees didn't even know it existed.
Years of dust coated the windows.The walls had hairline cracks.A chain-link fence wrapped around the structure defying intruders, though it sagged tiredly with age.
But the worst part—
The sign.
SEALED BY ORDER OF CENTRAL AUTHORITY — 1967UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY STRICTLY PROHIBITED
Liu Fang shivered as she read it.
"Lin Wei… this place feels wrong."
He didn't disagree.
Master Yu looked around nervously.
"I've worked for the Bureau thirty years," he muttered. "I've never seen this."
Old Zhang grunted."Because they buried it. And buried it deep."
Director Li caught up to them at last—sweating, out of breath, frantic.
"Lin Wei—listen to me. You can't open that door. It's not safe, it's not allowed, and you're not ready—"
Lin Wei turned, the iron key already in his hand.
"Director Li," he said quietly,"My father left this for me.Not Zhao Ruitian.Not the Bureau.Me."
Li's face twisted with pain.
"You don't understand what you're walking into."
"Then explain it."
But Director Li didn't answer.
He couldn't.
And that silence sealed the decision.
Lin Wei stepped forward.
The Lock That Shouldn't Fit
The old metal door of Storage 27 had two heavy locks—one rusted shut,one newer, sealed with an old wax stamp long cracked.
Lin Wei held up the key.
Liu Fang whispered, "If it doesn't fit… we leave. Promise me."
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
Master Yu moved closer.Old Zhang pulled out a flashlight.
Director Li looked like he might faint.
Lin Wei slid the key toward the first lock—
—and froze.
It fit.
Perfectly.
Not a scrape.Not a struggle.
It clicked in like it belonged there.
Liu Fang grabbed his arm in shock.
"Your father… he knew you'd come here someday."
Lin Wei felt his throat tighten.
He turned the key.
CLUNK.
The lock fell away.
He moved to the second lock—
—and the same thing happened.
CLUNK.
Perfect fit.
Director Li stumbled backward, horrified.
"No—no, no—your father SWORE he destroyed all access keys—! How—how could one remain—?!"
Old Zhang muttered, "Because he hid it from you."
Li flinched.
Lin Wei pulled both locks free.
The door, ancient and swollen from humidity, groaned under his hand.He pushed once.
It didn't budge.
He pushed harder.
RRRRR—KHHHHH—
The old hinges screamed, scraping years of dust and silence away.
Finally—
the door swung open.
A cold breath of air washed over them.Old.Stale.Carrying the smell of metal, mildew… and something electrical.
Liu Fang whispered:
"…What is this place?"
Inside Storage 27
The warehouse was dark—pitch-black, swallowing the dim sunlight behind them.
Lin Wei's system pulsed sharply.
[Environmental Scan Activated][Structural Integrity: Stable][Human Presence: 0][Electronics: Minimal][Residual Energy Signatures: Active]
Residual energy?
Lin Wei's heart rate spiked.
"Flashlights," he said.
They clicked on.
Beams cut through the darkness.
And what they revealed—
froze them all.
Rows of metal cabinets.Stacks of sealed crates.Blueprint tubes with no identification numbers.Drafting boards covered with cloth sheets.
Everything organized.Untouched.Preserved.
Like a time capsule.
But the strangest part—
A workstation at the far end.A drafting table.Still set up.Still covered in papers.
As though someone had walked away one dayand never returned.
Liu Fang's flashlight shook.
"Lin Wei… I think this was your father's."
He felt something collapse inside his chest.
He stepped forward slowly.Every footfall echoed.
Master Yu whispered, "This place… it looks like a secret lab."
Old Zhang snorted softly.
"No.It looks like a place where geniuses go to hide their troubles."
Director Li didn't move.
He looked like a man seeing a ghost.
"Lin Cheng…" he whispered, "you stubborn, stubborn fool."
The Table
Lin Wei approached the workstation.
Dust coated everything.Except one spot.
A rectangle.
As though something had once rested there—something recently removed.
Lin Wei's breath caught.
"What was here?"
A missing notebook?A folder?A device?
Before he could search further—
Liu Fang gasped softly.
"Wei… look."
She pointed at the drafting table.
A massive blueprint lay there—half sketched, half erased.Lines crossed out.Notes scribbled all over in furious handwriting.
It was a structure.
A tower.
But unlike any tower Lin Wei had seen.
Complex.Elegant.Impossible.
Latticework that made no structural sense.Reinforcement patterns that contradicted all known engineering principles.
Master Yu's eyes widened.
"What… what kind of building is that?"
Old Zhang muttered, "This isn't architecture. It's madness."
Director Li stepped forward, trembling.
"This… this was the project they tried to erase."
Lin Wei swallowed hard.
"What is it?"
Li closed his eyes.
And whispered:
"Your father's final design."
Liu Fang covered her mouth in shock.
Lin Wei stared at the impossible blueprint.
Lines curved where they should be straight.Loads transferred through empty space.Support beams in patterns that seemed to echo…
Echo what?
His system pulsed.
[Analyzing…][Error.][Error.][Geometric logic undefined.][Human interpretation required.]
He took one shaky breath.
Then another.
His fingers brushed the edge of the blueprint.
And the moment he touched it—
something clicked in his mind.
Not a memory.Not a vision.
A pattern.
A concept.
A whisper of understanding deep beneath consciousness.
He froze.
Director Li whispered, terrified:
"Your father died for this."
Lin Wei raised his head slowly.
Eyes sharper.
Voice hollow:
"No."
He looked at the blueprint again—
and felt the weight of destiny tightening around him.
"He died trying to keep it from someone."
Liu Fang whispered, "From who?"
Lin Wei didn't look away from the paper.
He already knew the answer.
"From Zhao Ruitian."
And somewhere in the shadows of the warehouse,a faint echo—a metallic tick, like a cooling wire—
suggested they were no longer alone.
Something in Storage 27 had been awakened.