The metal hatch sealed above Lin Wei with a final, suffocating CLANG—cutting him off from the chamber, from the warehouse, from Zhao…
…but worst of all, from Liu Fang.
For a moment, he just stood there in the dark, chest heaving, fists clenched so tight his nails dug into his palms.
The ladder trembled faintly.The air smelled of rust and old wiring.
His system pulsed weakly:
Emotional Overload Detected Stability Recommended
Mission Priority: Escape and Shutdown Sequence
He exhaled shakily.
"Fang… please be safe."
He forced himself down the ladder, one rung at a time.
The darkness swallowed him whole.
Descent Into the Forgotten
After ten meters, the ladder ended.
Lin Wei dropped lightly onto a concrete floor.
His flashlight flickered to life.
The underground space was… vast.
A long maintenance corridor stretched into the shadows, pipes lining the walls like exposed veins.Old valve wheels.Red emergency lights barely alive.Dust thick enough to stifle every footstep.
Lin Wei's skin crawled.
This place wasn't on any blueprint he'd seen.
His system hummed:
Subsystem Identification:Cold-War Era Infrastructure
Status: Decommissioned
Warning: Ventilation Minimal
He muttered:
"So this was beneath the storage warehouse… all this time."
And yet—
His father never mentioned it.
His mother either.
Someone hid it.
Someone powerful.
He tightened his fist, remembering Zhao's words:
"Your mother designed the sphere's mind."
If that were true—
Then this underground maze may be part of her work.
Or her prison.
Lin Wei's chest tightened.
"Mother… what happened to you?"
He took a step forward.
Then another.
The corridor stretched endlessly.
But he kept walking.
Aboveground — Liu Fang's Stand
The hatch sealed.The mechanism hissed.Dust floated lazily.
Liu Fang faced Zhao and two armored soldiers alone.
Zhao regarded her with a strange mixture of annoyance and… pity.
"You do not understand the gravity of what you've done," Zhao said calmly.
Liu Fang spit blood onto the floor.
"Enlighten me."
Zhao's expression sharpened.
"You bought him survival for a few minutes. Not more."
One soldier lunged forward.
Liu Fang darted sideways—snatching a heavy fuse box from the wall and smashing it into the soldier's visor.
CRACK!
The soldier staggered.
The other came at her fast—
Liu Fang dodged, but he caught her arm, slamming her into the wall.
Pain exploded across her ribs.
Zhao sighed.
"This is unnecessary. You're not my enemy."
She gasped:
"Then stop chasing him."
Zhao's eyes hardened.
"I cannot. He is the sequence. The key. The culmination of two generations of work."
Liu Fang's voice shook:
"He's a person, not a tool!"
Zhao's jaw tightened.
"Both can be true."
He gestured.
The soldiers grabbed her.
Liu Fang tried to twist away—but a baton cracked painfully across her thigh and she collapsed to her knees.
Zhao approached, kneeling to meet her gaze.
"Tell me where he is going."
Liu Fang smiled, blood streaking her lip.
"You'll never catch him."
Zhao studied her.
Then stood.
"Lock her in the chamber," he ordered."No unnecessary harm. She may still be useful."
The soldiers dragged her toward the hidden door as Zhao turned back toward the rubble.
A faint smile curled his lips.
"Don't worry, Lin Wei… I will find you."
Belowground — The Beacon in the Dark
Lin Wei reached a fork in the underground tunnel.
Left:A narrow hall, dripping with condensation.
Right:A wide corridor, emergency lights flickering weakly.
His system chimed:
Threat Prediction: UnknownOptimal Path: Right Corridor (64%)
Lin Wei hesitated.
"Only sixty-four?"
Margin of Error: High
Environmental Data Incomplete
Proceed with caution
He turned right.
As he walked, he noticed something strange—symbols etched into the walls.
Circular designs.Geometric spirals.Patterns that hummed faintly when he passed.
He froze.
The exact same symbol his father showed him.
The override.
But these markings were older—faded—carved by hand.
His voice trembled.
"This wasn't built by Zhao."
His system responded:
Correct.Estimated date: 22–28 years ago
Around the time his mother vanished.
His heart pounded painfully.
"Mother… were you here?"
He reached out and touched the carved spiral.
The wall responded—softly glowing, as if awakening from decades of sleep.
His system jolted:
Resonance Link Detected
User DNA Match: 48%Possible Maternal Signature
Lin Wei staggered backward.
His mother was here.
Alive?Present?Leaving instructions?
But before he could process—
A loud metallic CLANK echoed from behind him.
Lin Wei spun around.
Footsteps.
Heavy.
Close.
His heart dropped.
Someone else was down here.
His system flashed:
Alert:Multiple Life-Forms Approaching
Distance: 23 meters Hostile Probability: 89%
Zhao's soldiers.
Lin Wei backed away.
No—not just soldiers.
One of the footsteps was lighter.
Measured.
Calm.
Zhao.
Lin Wei ran.
Zhao Enters the Underground
Back in the warehouse, Zhao surveyed the broken rubble.
"Open it," he ordered.
The soldiers used an industrial cutter.
Sparks flew.
Concrete crumbled.
Within minutes, there was a hole large enough to descend.
Zhao looked down into the dark shaft—emotionless.
"He can't hide down here forever."
He climbed down himself.
One soldier followed.
Two more behind.
The darkness swallowed them.
And for the first time—
Zhao smiled.
A small, terrifying smile.
"This ends tonight."
Meanwhile — Lin Wei Reaches the First Gate
The corridor opened into a massive circular chamber.
A large metal door dominated the far wall—and on its surface lay the largest version of the spiral symbol he'd seen yet.
Below it, words were carved by hand:
"If you've come this far,turn back.You're not ready."
A woman's handwriting.
Lin Wei's breath shook.
His mother.Her warning.Her message.
He reached out, brushing the lettering gently.
Then—
His system surged violently:
Critical Data RecognizedHidden Protocol Opening…Override Gate Initiating
The giant door trembled.
Dust fell.
Ancient gears awakened.
Lin Wei stumbled back.
"No—stop—!"
But it was too late.
The door split open with a deafening rumble.
A cold wind rushed out—bringing with it the smell of sterile air and electricity.
Lights flickered inside.
Something enormous hummed.
And beyond the threshold—
Lin Wei saw the impossible.
Rows of consoles.A massive machine like a sleeping titan.A glowing chamber at its heart.
And floating in the center—
another sphere.
Bigger.Brighter.Awake.
Lin Wei whispered:
"…This is what you didn't want Zhao to find."
Behind him—
echoing faintly—
came Zhao's voice from the corridor:
"Lin Wei…I'm coming."