Lin Xiao handed the tablet back to Nightingale, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the keycard in his pocket. The lights in the room seemed to grow colder, and the air was taut with tension, like a fully drawn bowstring. He looked at Su Ying. Her gaze had sharpened into a blade, her dagger spinning between her fingers and reflecting a frigid gleam. Wolf set the dismantled Communicator on the table, its circuit board glowing green in the dim room like some kind of warning signal. The wind outside grew louder, rattling the blinds as if something were closing in through the darkness. Lin Xiao took a deep breath, and the dry desert air stung his throat. "Everyone," he said, his voice especially clear in the silence, "the plan has changed. The purge may happen tonight."
No one spoke, but everyone's breathing grew quicker.
Nightingale's fingers paused over the keyboard, the screen's light reflecting off her pale face. "'Can be carried out simultaneously'... Does that mean they could make a move at any time?"
"Or they've already begun." Lin Xiao walked to the whiteboard on the wall and picked up a marker. The tip scraped harshly across the board. He circled several locations on the base map—the command communications center, main armory, backup power station, and administration building. "If I were Marcus, I'd seize these four places first. Cut communications, lock down the weapons, control the power, and take command."
Su Ying came to his side and sheathed her dagger with a faint metallic scrape. "Then comes the personnel purge."
"Right." Lin Xiao tapped the command communications center with the marker. "This is the key. Once it falls, the entire base becomes deaf and blind. The Radical Faction can issue fake orders at will, create chaos, and pick us off one by one."
Wolf took several miniature Communicators from his toolkit and placed them on the table. "I checked all our equipment. Our Communicators are fine, but the base's public network has already been infiltrated. The order Nightingale intercepted was relayed through internal channels, which means they control at least some of the relay nodes."
"Can we cut it off?" Lin Xiao asked.
Nightingale shook her head and rapidly typed on the keyboard, bringing up a network topology map. "It's too dispersed. And if we force a shutdown, they'll immediately realize we've caught on. I suggest... planting a few Logic Bombs."
She opened a program interface, complex code scrolling across the screen. "I left several backdoors in the system. I can remotely trigger false alarms, corrupt data, or even temporarily paralyze surveillance in specific areas. But the timing needs to be calculated precisely—too early and we'll alert them; too late and it'll be useless."
Lin Xiao stared at the screen, his mind racing. Outside, the sky was darkening. The last light of sunset filtered through the blinds, casting long orange patches across the floor. Time slipped through his fingers like sand.
"Do it," he said. "But set multiple triggers. First, monitor for irregular communication traffic at the command center. Second, unauthorized access to the armory's access control system. Third..." He paused. "Monitor the activation signal for the public address system."
Nightingale nodded, her fingers flying across the keyboard. The tapping echoed through the quiet room like the rhythm of a countdown.
Su Ying turned toward the inner room, took two Glock 17 pistols from the weapons cabinet, checked the magazines, and chambered rounds with movements as smooth as breathing. The clash of metal parts was crisp and cold. She holstered one pistol at her waist and placed the other on the table. "I'm checking the emergency routes. Wolf, come with me. We need to test signal strength at several key points."
Wolf grabbed the miniature Communicator and detector from the table, following Su Ying out. Their footsteps faded down the hallway.
Lin Xiao looked at Nightingale. "Any news from Grey Falcon?"
"He sent an encrypted signal ten minutes ago." Nightingale opened another window. "He said tensions among the Conservative Faction and neutral soldiers have reached the breaking point. Two minor fights broke out in the mess hall, both because someone criticized the Radical Faction and got overheard. Patrol shift changes have been delayed, and some posts still haven't been relieved."
"Where is he?"
"Near Dormitory District Three. He said several comrades he's usually close with have been asking around—whether the purge is real, when it's coming, what they should do." Nightingale looked up. "I told him to spread a vague warning—say he heard rumors that there might be an 'exercise' tonight, tell everyone to stay alert and keep their weapons close."
Lin Xiao nodded. It was the best arrangement they could make for now—they couldn't directly say, "The purge is coming," and cause panic, but enough people needed to be prepared. He went to the window and pulled open a narrow gap in the blinds.
Outside, the base lights were coming on one by one. Searchlight beams swept over the walls and watchtowers, carving pale trails through the darkness. The distant training field was empty, with only wind whipping sand into swirling yellow clouds beneath the lights. The air smelled of diesel and metal, along with the dry chill unique to desert nights.
He checked his watch: 18:47.
There was still over an hour until nightfall.
"Send Grey Falcon a message," Lin Xiao said. "Tell him to return to the squad area in an hour. Take Passage Seven and avoid areas with heavy surveillance. If anyone questions him, he's on a night patrol assignment."
"Understood."
Nightingale began typing. Lin Xiao turned to the whiteboard, picked up a red marker, and marked several points on the map.
The points were scattered throughout the base—an abandoned warehouse near the perimeter wall, a storage room beside an underground pipe maintenance hatch, and a ventilation room near the backup exit. Every point shared three traits: easy to defend and hard to attack, at least two escape routes, and far from the main corridors and surveillance-heavy areas.
He needed to disperse the squad among those locations.
They couldn't stay concentrated in one place—that would make it too easy to wipe them out in one blow. But they couldn't spread too thin either—otherwise, they wouldn't be able to support each other. He had to find a balance that let everyone react swiftly when the purge began, while still allowing them to regroup or retreat depending on the situation.
The marker moved across the board, drawing connections and marking distances and times. His mind simulated every possibility: if the purge began at the command center, the nearby positions would need to evacuate at once; if it began at the armory, then...
The door opened.
Su Ying and Wolf walked in, carrying the night's chill with them. Dust clung to Su Ying's combat uniform cuffs, and there were slight abrasions on her knuckles—apparently, they had run into obstacles while testing the routes. The detector in Wolf's hand glowed with a string of data.
"All emergency routes have been checked," Su Ying said, her voice calm but taut. "The hidden door in Passage Three was jammed. I forced it open with hydraulic cutters, and it's usable now. The ventilation system in Passage Five is malfunctioning. Carbon dioxide levels inside are high, so masks will be needed to pass through. The other routes are normal."
Wolf placed the detector on the table. "Signal strength results... most areas are fine, but there's severe interference in the underground pipeline zone. It's probably electromagnetic fields from aging cables. If we need to retreat through there, communications may be cut off."
Lin Xiao nodded, committing the information to memory. He pointed at the map on the whiteboard. "I'm planning to split the squad among six positions. Two people per position. Maintain radio silence, but send a safety signal every half hour on a designated frequency—three short beeps, two seconds apart. If you receive an emergency signal—five consecutive beeps, one second apart—move immediately to the designated evacuation point."
He explained each position's location, advantages, risks, and evacuation route in detail. Su Ying listened intently, occasionally nodding or offering adjustments. Wolf took notes in a notebook, sketching a simple directional map.
"What about weapon distribution?" Su Ying asked.
"Standard loadout is a pistol, two spare magazines, and a dagger for each person. Each pair also gets a compact submachine gun and four magazines." Lin Xiao went to the weapons cabinet and opened it. The metal door creaked softly, and the neatly arranged weapons inside gleamed coldly beneath the lights. "Nightingale and Wolf's group will carry a Disruptor and a portable computer. Su Ying and I will carry detonating cord and a medical kit."
He began handing out weapons. The weight of the pistol in his hand felt reassuring, its cold metal pressing through his gloves against his skin. A magazine snapped crisply into the grip. Knife sheaths rubbed against combat uniforms with a soft rustle.
Nightingale finished setting up the program and closed her laptop. "The Logic Bombs are planted. The triggers are set as you ordered, and I added another one—if my terminal loses signal for more than ten minutes, every bomb will activate automatically."
"What happens when they activate?"
"The command center's surveillance system will be paralyzed for three minutes, the armory access locks will seal, and the public address system will broadcast a false 'exercise concluded' announcement," Nightingale said. "But it'll only last three minutes. Their system administrators aren't amateurs. They'll fix it quickly."
"Three minutes is enough," Lin Xiao said.
Enough to create chaos, enough for some people to react, enough for the squad to retreat or strike back.
He checked his watch: 19:23.
Night had fully fallen. The base was shrouded in darkness, with only the lights outlining the buildings. On the distant watchtowers, searchlights rotated slowly, their beams sweeping the black desert like giant eyes searching for something.
"Grey Falcon is back," Nightingale suddenly said, staring at the screen.
Seconds later, the door was pushed open. Grey Falcon entered, carrying the night's chill and the scent of sand. His combat uniform cuff was torn, and a thin scratch on his face beaded with blood.
"Trouble?" Su Ying asked.
"A patrol stopped me on the way back." Grey Falcon caught his breath and took a large drink from his canteen. "They were Radical Faction people. The leader was one of Blood Axe's minor bosses. They asked why I was in that area. I said I was on a night patrol assignment, but they didn't believe me. They wanted to inspect my credentials and assignment order."
"Then what?"
"I showed them the temporary pass Fletcher issued." Grey Falcon took a keycard from his pocket and placed it on the table. "They studied it for a long time before letting me go, but their expressions were ugly. I heard them whispering about 'people on the list' and 'high priority.'"
The room went silent for several seconds.
Lin Xiao picked up the keycard. Its edges were worn, and the chip glimmered faintly with metallic light. It was one of the two temporary access cards Fletcher had given him. He had handed one to Grey Falcon so he could move freely around the base.
Now, it seemed that card might have become a mark as well.
"A purge list..." Nightingale murmured. "They really do have a list."
"Of course they do." Lin Xiao put the keycard back on the table. "Marcus isn't crazy. He's a shrewd executioner. A purge needs to be precise. He can't kill indiscriminately, or it'll provoke a full-scale rebellion. He'll eliminate the biggest threats first—officers, technical specialists, influential soldiers. Then the wavering middle. The rank and file who can be absorbed will come last."
He looked at Grey Falcon. "What was the situation like in the base when you came back?"
"Quiet," Grey Falcon said. "Too quiet. At this hour, there are usually people doing extra drills on the training field, people drinking and talking in the mess hall, music from the dormitory area. But tonight... nothing. When I passed Dormitory District Three, all the windows were dark, but I could feel people inside looking out through gaps in the curtains."
"What about the patrols?"
"Fewer than usual. I only encountered two teams on the way back, and both were Radical Faction. The Conservative Faction patrols seemed to have... disappeared."
Disappeared.
The word fell into the room like a block of ice.
Lin Xiao went to the window and opened a gap in the blinds once more. The base outside was still quiet, lights flickering in the dark. But upon closer inspection, there were abnormalities—some areas were dimmer than usual, some buildings had completely black windows, and some surveillance cameras along the passages moved with an unnatural stiffness.
He had seen this scene in his previous life.
On the night S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed, at the moment Hydra emerged from the shadows, the world had suddenly gone quiet like this. Like the dead stillness before a storm, like a beast crouching before it pounced.
"Begin deployment." Lin Xiao turned, his voice decisive.
There was no more time to hesitate.
He assigned tasks quickly: Grey Falcon and another squad member would go to the abandoned warehouse position; Wolf and Nightingale would go to the ventilation room; Su Ying and he would take the observation point near the command center; the remaining members would split into two groups and head to the underground pipeline maintenance hatch and the ruined watchtower near the perimeter wall.
Everyone collected weapons, Communicators, and emergency supplies. Backpack zippers, clashing gear, and footsteps intertwined throughout the room. No one spoke, but their eyes exchanged the same messages—vigilance, resolve, and a trace of suppressed fear.
Su Ying checked everyone's equipment, adjusted their pack straps, and ensured nothing would hinder their movements. Her fingers moved with swift precision, as if she were playing an instrument. Wolf tested every Communicator and confirmed the encrypted frequencies were functioning normally. Nightingale installed emergency signal transmission programs on everyone's terminals.
Finally, Lin Xiao stood in the middle of the room and looked at his squad.
Six people. With Su Ying and him, eight.
They might be facing a hundred people, two hundred, or more.
"Remember," he said softly, but every word struck the air like a nail, "our first priority is survival. Don't play the hero. Don't get drawn into a prolonged fight. If the situation turns bad, retreat immediately. Follow the planned route to the rally point. If the rally point is compromised, activate the backup plan, scatter and withdraw, then regroup at the abandoned gas station twenty kilometers outside the base."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across every face.
"If... if anyone is captured, do not attempt a rescue. Continue executing the evacuation plan."
The words came out with difficulty. He saw Grey Falcon's Adam's apple bob, Wolf's fingers tighten, and Nightingale bite her lower lip. Su Ying stood beside him without expression, but her breathing slowed.
It was the cruelest order, but it was also a necessary one.
Once the purge began, it would be a race against death. Any hesitation, any delay, could lead to total annihilation. He had to make a choice—sacrifice a few so the majority could survive.
Just like in his previous life.
Just like the moment Su Ying had shielded him from the attack.
"Do you understand?" he asked.
A brief silence followed.
Then Grey Falcon was the first to nod. "Understood."
"Understood," Wolf said.
"Understood." Nightingale's voice was quiet.
The other squad members nodded in turn.
Lin Xiao took a deep breath. "Good. Synchronize watches. 20:07. In half an hour, at 20:37, send the first safety signal. After that, once every half hour. If the signal is interrupted or you receive an emergency signal, act immediately."
Eight hands rose at once, all eyes turning to their watches. The second hands moved steadily across their dials, ticking almost silently. Time flowed onward, like sand in an hourglass, like a countdown to death.
"Move out."
Doors opened one after another, and figures disappeared into the night.
Lin Xiao and Su Ying were the last to leave. They turned off the room's lights and let darkness swallow everything. Nightingale's laptop was closed, Wolf's toolkit had been taken away, and only empty canteens and several discarded sheets of paper remained on the table. Wind blew through the open window, lifting the papers into the air. They spun before drifting back down.
Like some kind of farewell.
Lin Xiao shut the door. The lock cylinder turned with a sound that echoed through the empty corridor. He and Su Ying walked side by side toward the stairs, their footsteps heavy against the concrete steps. The stairwell lighting was dim, and faded safety slogans covered the walls. Some had been torn halfway off, trembling faintly in the wind.
They descended to the first floor and left the building through a side door.
The cold night wind struck them head-on, carrying the smell of sand and diesel. There was no moon in the sky. Thick clouds covered the heavens, with only a few stars glittering through gaps like distant eyes. The base lights stretched through the darkness, but some areas had already gone black—areas controlled by the Conservative Faction, where the power might already have been cut.
Lin Xiao and Su Ying moved along the shadows of the buildings, avoiding the searchlight beams. Their steps were light, their combat boots making barely audible rustling sounds over the sand. Patrols occasionally passed by, flashlight beams sweeping the ground. They hid quickly and held their breath until the footsteps faded away.
Twenty minutes later, they reached their designated observation point—the rooftop of a three-story building. The building was close to the command center but not beside any main passage, making it relatively concealed. The rooftop was piled with discarded construction materials and ventilation ducts, forming natural cover.
Lin Xiao climbed the ladder beside a water tank while Su Ying kept watch below. The iron ladder was rusted, creaking faintly under his weight. He reached the top, lay prone at the edge of the roof, and took out his binoculars.
The command center was three hundred meters away.
It was a four-story building with light gray blast-resistant coating on its exterior walls and bulletproof glass windows. Communication antennas and radar equipment stood on the roof, resembling a giant metal skeleton against the night sky. The building was surrounded by walls and guard posts. Normally, there would be at least eight sentries, but tonight...
Lin Xiao adjusted the focus of his binoculars.
There were only four people in the guard posts by the wall. Their stances were loose; one leaned against the wall, while another looked down at a phone. There were only two sentries at the building entrance as well, and one was yawning.
Too lax.
Or perhaps the laxity was deliberate.
He moved his binoculars toward the armory. The lights there were normal, and sentries patrolled at the entrance. Everything seemed ordinary. But he noticed that the patrol route had changed—it should have covered the entire perimeter, yet now it was concentrated around the main entrance, leaving the sides and rear unguarded.
As if they were deliberately leaving an opening.
"How is it?" Su Ying's soft voice came from below.
"Something's wrong." Lin Xiao lowered the binoculars and climbed down the ladder. "There are fewer sentries, and the patrol routes have changed. Either the Radical Faction has already taken control of those places and doesn't need tight defenses, or they're setting a trap and waiting for someone to walk into it."
Su Ying thought for several seconds. "Which do you think it is?"
"The first," Lin Xiao said. "Marcus isn't patient. Since he's decided to act, he'll do it in the fastest, most ruthless way possible. Seize the key facilities, cut off the possibility of resistance, then begin the purge. Setting traps is too slow, and it carries risks."
He checked his watch: 20:35.
Two minutes remained until the first safety signal.
He and Su Ying sat behind cover in a corner of the rooftop, their backs against the cold concrete wall. Night wind blew through the gaps, carrying the chill of the desert. The distant rumble of generators was low and steady, like the heartbeat of the earth.
Su Ying took out a canteen, unscrewed the cap, and drank. Then she handed it to Lin Xiao. He accepted it. The water had nearly reached the ambient temperature, cool as it went down, but it soothed his dry throat. He handed the canteen back, and Su Ying's fingers brushed his in a brief exchange of warmth.
"Are you afraid?" Su Ying suddenly asked, her voice very soft.
Lin Xiao looked at her. In the darkness, her face was hidden in shadow, with only her eyes reflecting the faint glimmer of distant lights.
"Yes," he answered honestly. "I'm afraid of dying, of failing, of being unable to save those who should be saved."
"So am I." Su Ying rubbed the surface of the canteen with her fingers. "But I'm more afraid... afraid of becoming like them. Doing anything to survive, until in the end we forget why we fought in the first place."
Lin Xiao fell silent for several seconds.
"We won't," he said. "As long as we remember why we began, we won't become like that."
Su Ying looked at him. "Why did you begin?"
The question came suddenly. Lin Xiao froze for a moment, scenes from his previous life flashing through his mind—war, ruins, the light when Su Ying faded away, endless regret. But he could not tell her those things, at least not now.
"To survive," he finally said. "And to let more people survive."
Su Ying nodded and did not press further. She picked up the binoculars and looked toward the command center. Lin Xiao looked at his watch as well: 20:36:50.
Ten seconds.
Five seconds.
Three, two, one.
Three short beeps sounded in his Communicator earpiece, two seconds apart. Clear and steady.
Grey Falcon's side was safe.
A few seconds later came another three beeps—Wolf and Nightingale were safe.
Then came the other two groups.
Every safety signal had been received.
Lin Xiao let out a breath, but his taut nerves did not relax. This was only the beginning. The purge could start at any second, in the next minute, or in the next hour. They had to remain alert, waiting, waiting for the moment that was destined to come.
Time passed second by second.
21:07, the second safety signal.
21:37, the third.
22:07, the fourth.
The base grew quieter and quieter. The occasional sounds of vehicle engines, voices, even the wind, gradually disappeared. It was as though the entire world had been muted. Only the generators continued to rumble, but even that sound seemed distant, as if it came from beneath the ground.
Lin Xiao shifted his stiff shoulders. After lying prone for so long, his muscles had begun to ache. He glanced at Su Ying. She still maintained her watchful posture, binoculars pressed to her eyes, breathing steady.
"Switch shifts," he said. "Rest for ten minutes."
Su Ying shook her head. "I'm not tired."
"That's an order."
Su Ying looked at him, then finally lowered the binoculars and leaned against the wall. She closed her eyes, but her fingers remained on her holster. Lin Xiao picked up the binoculars and continued observing.
The command center lights were still on, though some windows had gone dark. The patrols near the armory had changed shifts once. The new sentries looked more alert, their stances more disciplined.
Time: 22:41.
A burst of static suddenly came through Lin Xiao's Communicator.
It wasn't a safety signal—it was interference. He adjusted his earpiece. The static continued for several seconds, then vanished. He looked at Su Ying. She had already opened her eyes, one hand pressed to her earpiece.
"You heard it too?" she asked.
Lin Xiao nodded. "Maybe Nightingale was calibrating the equipment, or..."
He did not finish.
Because the base's public broadcast system suddenly came on.
First came a piercing burst of static, like metal scraping, like signal interference, like some agonized scream. The sound echoed through the night sky, spreading to every corner of the base, slipping into every building and pounding against every window.
Then the static weakened, and a cold, mechanical voice altered by a voice changer rang out:
"For Hydra's purity and future—"
The voice carried on the night wind, like a declaration of death.
"Operation 'Purge'—"
Lin Xiao's fingers tightened, the metal rim of the binoculars digging into his palm.
"Begins."
Before you continue