The clock in the corridor pointed to 3:47 a.m.
Lin Xiao opened his eyes, his gaze settling on the tightly shut door of Room 203. The smell of disinfectant filled his nostrils, mixed with the pungent stench of blood and iodine. Suppressed groans drifted from afar, as if squeezed from deep within someone's throat—intermittent and trembling with the nearness of death.
Su Ying's fingers lightly touched his shoulder.
"Someone's coming."
Footsteps came from the direction of the stairs, heavy and orderly. Lin Xiao turned and saw Fletcher enter the medical wing with two soldiers. Under the ghastly white lights, the major's face looked especially grim. Deep bags hung beneath his eyes, as though he had not slept for days.
When he saw Lin Xiao, he paused.
"You're still waiting." Fletcher's voice was flat, impossible to read.
"You said I should hear her out once she woke up." Lin Xiao stood.
Fletcher stared at him for several seconds, then nodded. "Come with me."
They reached the door to Room 203. Fletcher did not knock; he pushed it open and went in. The room was small, with only one hospital bed, an IV stand, and a chair. Anna Koch lay in the bed, her face pale as paper. Her left shoulder was wrapped in thick bandages, with dark red blood faintly seeping through.
She was awake.
Her eyes were open, fixed on the ceiling, her pupils somewhat unfocused. Hearing the door open, she slowly turned her head. Her gaze lingered on Fletcher's face for a moment before shifting to Lin Xiao.
"You..." Her voice was soft, hoarse like sandpaper scraping together. "You saved me."
Lin Xiao nodded. "We did what we could."
Anna's lips moved, as if she wanted to say something, but she merely closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Drops fell one by one through the IV tube, their steady ticking echoing through the silent room.
Fletcher walked to the bedside, pulled over the chair, and sat down.
"Doctor Anna." His voice softened slightly. "How are you feeling?"
"Still alive." Anna opened her eyes. This time, they were a little more focused. "Is that supposed to be good news?"
"Of course." Fletcher smiled, though the smile never reached his eyes. "Headquarters is very concerned about your condition. Those samples... you protected them well."
Anna's expression changed.
Her fingers clenched the sheets, her knuckles turning white. Her breathing became rapid, and the liquid in the IV tube suddenly began flowing faster.
"Samples..." she repeated, a suppressed tremor in her voice. "Those weren't samples."
The smile vanished from Fletcher's face.
"What do you mean?"
Anna turned toward Lin Xiao, then back to Fletcher. Her gaze shifted between them. Her lips trembled, as though she wanted to speak but did not dare to.
"Doctor Anna." Fletcher's voice turned cold. "I need the truth. What exactly were those blue reagents?"
The room fell quiet for several seconds.
There was only the drip of the IV and Anna's increasingly ragged breathing.
"They were bait." At last, she spoke, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible. "Bait for testing."
Lin Xiao's heart suddenly tightened.
"Testing what?" Fletcher pressed.
"Testing..." Anna closed her eyes. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes and disappeared into her hair at the temples. "Testing who could be trusted, who would risk their lives for so-called 'important supplies,' and who... could be sacrificed."
She opened her eyes and looked at Fletcher.
"Those reagents were prototype 'biological enhancement samples' supplied by A.I.M. But prototype means... unstable. Extremely unstable. They are highly corrosive. Skin contact causes third-degree chemical burns within thirty seconds. If they enter the bloodstream, they trigger uncontrollable cellular mutations."
She paused, lowering her voice further.
"Our group—I mean, the Moderate Faction research group—opposed using them rashly. We demanded at least another six months of safety testing. But the Radical Faction couldn't wait. They wanted to begin human trials as soon as possible and create 'super soldiers.'"
Fletcher's face turned livid.
"Who is leading the Radical Faction?"
Anna shook her head. "I don't know any specific names. I only know... they are connected to Blood Axe. Blood Axe is only the executor. Someone higher up is pushing this plan from behind the scenes."
She looked at Lin Xiao, pleading in her eyes.
"Those reagents cannot be touched. Absolutely not. If they are used in human trials... they will create monsters. Not super soldiers—monsters. Cells will multiply without limit, tissue will rot away, and the subjects will die in unbearable agony, or... become something uncontrollable."
The room fell silent again.
Lin Xiao could hear his own heartbeat, heavy and slow, pounding against his chest like a drumbeat. Images from his past life began surfacing—those failed super-soldier experiments, those twisted and suffering "products" that had ultimately become killing machines.
He knew Anna was telling the truth.
"Basement Level Two." Anna suddenly spoke, her voice even softer, as if afraid someone might overhear. "They may have already transferred some early samples and data to the sealed laboratory on Basement Level Two. Blood Axe controls that place directly. Its security level is the highest in the base."
Fletcher stood.
"How do you know?"
"I... I saw the transport records." Anna's voice trembled. "Three batches of special supplies were shipped into the base last week. Their destination was all Basement Level Two. The code names on the manifests... matched the original code names of those blue reagents."
She grabbed Fletcher's sleeve, her fingers turning white with the force of her grip.
"Major, you have to stop them. Those samples... that data... if they fall into the wrong hands, it will cause a disaster. Not just a disaster for this base, but for the entire region."
Fletcher looked at her, his expression complicated.
A few seconds later, he gently pried her fingers from his sleeve.
"Get some rest, Doctor Anna. Headquarters will handle this."
He turned and gave Lin Xiao a look before walking out of the room. Lin Xiao followed him. In the final second before the door closed, he looked back at Anna.
She lay there, staring at the ceiling as tears silently rolled down her face.
In the corridor, Fletcher lit a cigar and took a deep drag.
"What do you think?" he asked without looking at Lin Xiao.
"She's telling the truth," Lin Xiao said. "Those reagents... I've seen similar things elsewhere."
Fletcher turned to him. "Where?"
"In intelligence reports," Lin Xiao said calmly. "S.H.I.E.L.D. files mentioned A.I.M.'s biological weapons project. Its code name was 'Extremis,' and it later evolved into the Extremis Virus. The principle is similar—enhancing human capabilities by forcibly rewriting cellular genes. But its stability is extremely poor, and the failure rate exceeds ninety percent."
He paused.
"The consequences of failure... are horrific."
Fletcher silently smoked his cigar. Smoke spread through the corridor, mixing with the scent of disinfectant into a strange, nauseating odor.
"Does headquarters know about this?" Lin Xiao asked.
"They know part of it," Fletcher said. "But they don't know the Radical Faction has progressed this far. Nor do they know... about Basement Level Two."
He stubbed out the cigar in the ashtray on the wall.
"Lin, you're a squad leader now. There are some things... I need you to do."
"What?"
"Find out the actual situation in the Basement Level Two laboratory." Fletcher looked at him. "But don't go yourself. Use your subordinates, your authority, any indirect method you can think of. I need to know exactly what they are doing down there, who is in charge, and the precise location of the samples and data."
Lin Xiao nodded. "Understood."
"And one more thing." Fletcher lowered his voice. "If possible... make their experiments fail 'naturally.'"
Lin Xiao's eyes flickered.
"You mean..."
"I mean the Radical Faction's plan is too dangerous. It has to be stopped," Fletcher said. "But the factions within headquarters are complicated. I can't step in directly. So... we need a few 'accidents.'"
He patted Lin Xiao's shoulder.
"You're smart. You know what to do. Remember, protect yourself and your people. Blood Axe may have been captured, but the people behind him are still watching."
With that, he turned and left. His footsteps faded farther and farther down the empty corridor.
Lin Xiao remained where he was, looking in the direction Fletcher had disappeared.
He knew the major was using him—using him to deal with the Radical Faction while keeping himself out of it. But this was also an opportunity. An opportunity to access core secrets, build his leverage, and weaken potential enemies at the same time.
He returned to the bench and sat down.
Su Ying and Wolf looked at him without speaking.
A few minutes later, Lin Xiao rose to his feet.
"Let's go."
They left the medical wing and crossed the base's central corridor. At four in the morning, the base was unusually quiet. Only the footsteps of patrol soldiers occasionally echoed in the distance. Emergency lights cast a ghastly white glow along the walls, throwing long shadows across the floor.
Lin Xiao led the two of them back to the Third Action Squad's rest area.
It was a small room, originally an office attached to a warehouse and now temporarily converted into the squad's base. Four camp beds, one table, and several chairs. A map of the base was pinned to the wall, with the locations of various key areas marked in red.
Lin Xiao closed the door, pulled over a chair, and sat down.
"What did Doctor Anna say?" Su Ying asked. She leaned against the wall beside the door, one hand resting on the dagger at her waist.
Lin Xiao recounted the conversation in the hospital room.
When he mentioned "bait," "testing," and the "Basement Level Two laboratory," Wolf's face turned pale. When he spoke of "uncontrollable cellular mutations" and "creating monsters," Su Ying's brow furrowed tightly.
"So..." Wolf's voice trembled. "What we risked our lives to protect... was a trap?"
"Yes," Lin Xiao said calmly. "A trap to test loyalty and sacrificial value."
"Damn it." Wolf cursed under his breath, clutching his head in both hands. "I knew it... I knew it couldn't be that simple..."
Su Ying walked to the table. Her finger moved over the map before stopping at the area marked Basement Level Two.
"Here," she said. "The entrance is in the basement of the central command building. It requires Level Three clearance to enter. As for the interior layout... there are no detailed blueprints."
She looked up at Lin Xiao.
"You want to infiltrate it?"
Lin Xiao shook his head. "No. Direct confrontation would be unwise. Basement Level Two has security that is too tight. Forcing our way in would be suicide. Besides... we don't need to go in ourselves."
"Then what do we do?" Wolf raised his head, confusion filling his eyes.
Lin Xiao stood and walked over to the map.
His finger moved across it, from the location of the Basement Level Two laboratory upward to the base's energy supply system, then to the ventilation network, before finally stopping at a backup circuit connection in the warehouse district.
"Any sealed laboratory needs three things to keep operating," he said. "Power, ventilation, and supplies."
He looked at Su Ying.
"Is the power supply independent?"
Su Ying thought for a moment, then nodded. "Based on the base's standard design, high-security laboratories have independent backup generators and circuit systems. But... they still need initial power from the main grid, and they automatically switch back to it if the generators fail."
"What about the ventilation system?"
"In theory, it also has an independent circulation system, but emergency exhaust ducts connect to the upper floors." Su Ying's finger traced a line over the map. "Here... an old ventilation shaft in the warehouse district. It was built in the 1960s and later partially sealed, but the structure remains."
Lin Xiao nodded.
"What about supplies?"
"This..." Wolf suddenly spoke. His voice still trembled, but some of his composure had returned. "I... I sorted through transport records before. Deliveries to Basement Level Two are very regular. Every Tuesday and Friday at ten p.m., a dedicated elevator transports supplies directly down from the surface warehouse. The escorts are always the same—four people. They all wear full-face protective masks, so you can't see their faces."
Lin Xiao looked at him. "You can access transport records?"
"I can." Wolf nodded. "I'm an intelligence officer... or at least I used to be. There are loopholes in the base's electronic archive system. I... I know how to bypass permissions to view some of the records."
"Good," Lin Xiao said. "Then we have three lines we can work with."
He returned to the table, picked up a pen, and wrote three words on a sheet of paper:
Power, ventilation, supplies.
"We need a more subtle method," he said. "Not direct confrontation, but making their experiments fail 'naturally.' Or... drawing the attention of someone higher up."
Su Ying stepped beside him and looked at the words on the paper.
"Specifically?"
Lin Xiao put down the pen.
"First, Wolf will use the system loophole to monitor the underground laboratory's energy consumption patterns. Find out when they conduct high-energy experiments—for instance, when incubator temperatures are being controlled, centrifuges are running at high speed, or sample activity is being maintained."
Wolf nodded. "That... I can try."
"Second," Lin Xiao continued, "at that moment, create a brief but full-spectrum power fluctuation. We don't need a complete blackout, only unstable voltage and fluctuating frequency. The laboratory's precision instruments are extremely sensitive to power quality. One fluctuation would be enough to ruin a batch of samples currently being cultivated."
Su Ying frowned. "How do we create a power fluctuation?"
"The backup circuit in the warehouse district." Lin Xiao pointed to a spot on the map. "There's an old transformer here, connecting the base's main grid and backup grid. If it 'accidentally' overloads, it will cause localized voltage fluctuations."
He paused.
"Of course, we can't do it ourselves. We need a little... indirect help."
"Such as?" Su Ying asked.
Lin Xiao did not answer directly. Instead, he looked at Wolf.
"Are there any people in the base... dissatisfied with the current situation? Technicians who have been sidelined, maintenance workers whose pay has been cut, or... Moderates who have doubts about the Radical Faction's plan?"
Wolf thought for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Yes. There's an old electrician in the warehouse district named Ivan. He worked here for thirty years. Last year, he argued with the logistics supervisor over the demolition of the old circuit system, and afterward he was reassigned to guard the backup generators. He complains all the time... says young people these days don't understand technology and only know how to bulldoze their way through things."
"Good," Lin Xiao said. "Find a chance to talk to him. Don't mention the laboratory. Just talk about the circuit system, the value of old technology, and how... 'accidents' always happen when people neglect the fundamentals."
Wolf understood.
"I get it. I'll... hint to him that there's a problem with the base's power system and that its stability needs to be 'tested.'"
"Smart." Lin Xiao nodded. "Third, the ventilation system."
He looked at Su Ying.
"I need you to investigate the exact condition of that old ventilation shaft. Its entrance, how thoroughly it has been sealed, its internal structure. You don't need to enter it. I only need to know... if a small-scale leak occurs in the laboratory, whether toxic gas could spread to the upper levels through the ventilation system."
Su Ying's eyes sharpened.
"You want to create a leak?"
"No." Lin Xiao shook his head. "I want to know how much damage a leak would cause if it happened 'naturally.' Then... let that information slip 'by accident' to certain people."
"Which people?"
Lin Xiao fell silent for several seconds.
"There is a third type of person in this base besides the Radical Faction and the Moderate Faction," he said. "The observers. They don't take sides or state their position. They only care about their own safety and interests. If they believe the laboratory threatens the safety of the entire base... they will apply pressure."
He walked to the window and looked at the sky gradually beginning to brighten outside.
4:37 a.m.
The eastern horizon had begun to show a faint grayish blue, like faded ink.
"The final step." Lin Xiao's voice was soft but clear. "We need an anonymous report. Its contents will be vague intelligence about a Hydra outpost conducting high-risk biological experiments. It doesn't need to be too detailed. It only needs to attract... outside attention."
Su Ying and Wolf looked at him at the same time.
"Outside?" Wolf lowered his voice. "You mean... S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Lin Xiao did not answer.
He merely stared out the window, watching the sky gradually brighten.
Scenes from his past life surfaced again—the S.H.I.E.L.D. archives, the folders labeled "Hydra-Related Projects," the biological experiment records classified as "Extremely Dangerous."
He knew that by this point, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already been riddled with Hydra infiltrators.
But some channels... were still clean.
Some dead drops, some encrypted channels, some contact methods known only to the outermost undercover agents—these were in the original host's memories.
"Not an official channel," Lin Xiao finally said. "It's an abandoned dead drop. The original host... received emergency backup contact training while working as a S.H.I.E.L.D. undercover agent. That mailbox hasn't been used in three years and should theoretically be defunct. But if someone deposits intelligence into it... the signal will be caught by an automated relay station and forwarded to some... highly encrypted server."
He turned and looked at Su Ying and Wolf.
"All we need to do is send the intelligence in. Let the system handle the rest... on its own."
The room fell silent.
Only the wind outside the window and the low rumble of a distant generator could be heard.
Su Ying walked over to Lin Xiao's side and stood beside him, looking out the window.
"It's risky," she said. "If they trace it..."
"They won't," Lin Xiao said. "The relay station was designed for one-way anonymous transmission. Once the signal is sent, it randomly hops between twelve nodes around the world before disappearing. Even S.H.I.E.L.D. itself can't trace it back."
He paused.
"Besides... we don't need a signature or details. Just one sentence: 'Hydra peripheral base, high-risk biological experiments, coordinates unclear, reconnaissance recommended.'"
Wolf swallowed.
"Then what? Will S.H.I.E.L.D. send someone?"
"Maybe they will, maybe they won't," Lin Xiao said. "But what matters is... pressure. External pressure. If the Radical Faction's experiment faces both internal 'accidents' and the threat of outside investigation... the higher-ups will have no choice but to reassess the risks."
He returned to the table and sat down.
"The plan has three phases. First, Wolf will approach the old electrician, Ivan, and lay the groundwork for problems in the power system. Second, Su Ying will investigate the ventilation system and assess the risk of a leak. Third, I'll prepare the anonymous report and look for an opportunity to send it."
He looked at the two of them.
"Any questions?"
Su Ying shook her head.
Wolf hesitated for a moment, then shook his head as well.
"Good," Lin Xiao said. "Rest now. At dawn, we move separately."
Su Ying walked over to a cot, sat down, and began inspecting the edge of her dagger. Wolf curled up on another bed and closed his eyes, though his breathing remained rapid.
Lin Xiao sat in his chair without sleeping.
He looked at the map on the table, at the area on the second underground level circled in red ink.
Images from his past life kept flashing through his mind—the failed super soldiers, the twisted monsters, the test subjects howling in agony.
He knew he had to stop this plan.
At the very least, delay it.
Outside the window, the sky grew brighter and brighter.
The gray-blue gradually faded, replaced by pale golden dawn. The base's outline slowly came into focus in the morning light—barbed wire, watchtowers, concrete buildings, and the silhouettes of distant mountains.
A new day had begun.
And the game hidden in the shadows had only just begun.
Before you continue