The Fragile Foundation of Trust

Su Ying's fingers tightened slightly in the darkness. Lin Xiao could feel the subtle tremors in her muscles as her body tensed. The patrol's footsteps stopped twenty meters away. Someone muttered a curse, boots kicking aside dead branches on the ground.

Wolf's breathing was as heavy as a broken bellows. Lin Xiao pressed hard against his shoulder, conveying the command to stay quiet. He could feel Wolf's shoulder trembling, a physiological reaction on the verge of collapse.

Su Ying shifted her gaze from Lin Xiao's face to the steep slope on the right. She made several extremely concise gestures—she would go down first, Lin Xiao would cover her, and Wolf would stay in the middle. Lin Xiao nodded, tightening his grip on the MP5 and aiming its muzzle toward the sound.

Su Ying moved.

She slipped down the steep slope like a shadow, making almost no sound. Lin Xiao shoved Wolf, who staggered after her and crushed several fallen leaves underfoot. The sound was especially piercing in the silent night.

"Over there!" a low shout came from the patrol's direction.

Lin Xiao did not hesitate. He lowered his body and quickly moved several steps in the opposite direction from Su Ying, then deliberately kicked away a stone. The sound of it rolling spread through the darkness.

"Over there! Chase them!"

The footsteps gave chase in the direction he had just gone. Lin Xiao immediately turned and slid down the steep slope along Su Ying's route. At the bottom was a dried-up streambed, where Su Ying and Wolf were already waiting. Su Ying glanced at him, something flickering in her eyes—perhaps surprise at his simple tactic to lure the enemy away, perhaps something else.

"Go." She said only one word.

The three moved upstream along the streambed. It was filled with smooth pebbles that made faint scraping sounds beneath their feet, but it was still quieter than stepping on dead leaves. Lin Xiao could smell the lingering damp earth in the streambed, mixed with the scent of gunpowder smoke drifting over from afar.

After walking for about ten minutes, Su Ying stopped and listened closely. The sounds of their pursuers had vanished in the distance, but farther away, alarms from the base could still be faintly heard.

She turned to Lin Xiao, her sharp eyes meeting his even in the darkness. "You can explain now. How did you know that was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s specialized hemostatic gel?"

Her voice was calm, but Lin Xiao could hear the taut string beneath it. Wolf crouched off to the side, clutching the portable radio as his eyes darted between them.

Lin Xiao's mind raced. He could not reveal that he had been reborn—it was too insane, no one would believe it, and once it leaked, he would become a target for every faction to covet or eliminate. But he had to earn Su Ying's initial trust. This woman, who would one day keep fighting beneath Thanos's snap and ultimately perish protecting him, was an indispensable part of his plan.

He lowered his voice and kept it steady as he replied, half-truthfully, "I know more than you think. For example, you were labeled a defector by certain people in S.H.I.E.L.D. because you refused to carry out an order to 'clean up' civilians."

Su Ying's breathing stopped for an instant.

Lin Xiao continued, "Berlin, two years ago, that 'counterterrorism operation' in the eastern district. Your orders were to eliminate every 'suspected terrorist' in the building, including three children. You refused, and your superior—I believe it was Agent Garrett—classified you as an 'uncontrollable factor.' Three days later, you 'disappeared.'"

These were all fragments of the past Su Ying had revealed one late night in his previous life, while curled up in his arms. By then, she had become the "manager" of the Continental Hotel, a shadow commander feared by Hydra remnants and villains of every kind. Yet whenever she spoke of this, there had still been a tremor in her voice that she could never fully conceal.

At this moment, the Su Ying standing before him was still young, and those wounds had not yet been fully covered by time.

Her fingers settled on the hilt of the knife at her waist. The motion was slow, but full of menace. "Who are you?"

"Someone who doesn't want to die here." Lin Xiao met her gaze. "We're not enemies. At least, not right now. If we want to survive, we have to work together."

The wind passed through the streambed, carrying the scorched stench of burning things from afar. Wolf swallowed, the sound unusually loud in the silence.

Su Ying stared at Lin Xiao for a long time. Her gaze was like a scalpel, trying to cut through every layer of his disguise. Lin Xiao did not look away. He knew that any evasiveness now would make her lose all trust in him.

At last, she removed her hand from the knife hilt.

"Lead the way," she said, her voice devoid of emotion. "I know a place."

The abandoned warehouse lay roughly three kilometers northeast of the base, hidden at the edge of a half-derelict industrial district. Su Ying was clearly familiar with the area. She led the other two around the main road, slipped through a gap in a rusted fence, crossed a yard piled with discarded machinery, and arrived before an old brick building.

The warehouse's main gate had already warped out of shape. Su Ying entered through a smaller side door, with Lin Xiao and Wolf following behind.

It was very dark inside, with only faint moonlight filtering through broken windows. The air was thick with dust, engine oil, and the rotten scent of old wood. Lin Xiao could feel that the floor beneath his feet was not concrete, but covered in a thick layer of sawdust and sand that rustled as they stepped on it.

Su Ying switched on a small flashlight—not military issue, more like civilian climbing gear. The beam swept through the warehouse, illuminating stacked crates, rusted metal racks, and several battered canvas cots in the corner.

"This used to be a temporary Hydra transit station. It was abandoned three years ago." Su Ying's voice produced a faint echo in the empty warehouse. "Not many people know about it."

She walked to one of the canvas cots and dragged out a metal box from underneath. Inside were several bottles of water, some compressed biscuits, and a basic medical kit.

"Eat." She tossed biscuits to Lin Xiao and Wolf, then unscrewed a bottle of water and took a small sip before checking the contents of the medical kit.

Lin Xiao accepted the biscuit and tore open the wrapper. It tasted awful, like chewing chalk, but he forced himself to swallow it. This body needed energy, and they had no idea what they would face next.

Wolf held his biscuit without eating it. He huddled in the corner, staring at the portable radio, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the scratches on its casing.

"Wolf." Lin Xiao called out to him.

The communications soldier jerked his head up, his eyes unfocused.

"Can your radio still work?" Lin Xiao asked.

Wolf lowered his head to look at the device in his arms. He nodded, then shook his head. "The antenna... the antenna got damaged while we were running. The reception range will be affected. But... but if I can connect to a wired network, or find a signal booster..."

"Are there any access points nearby?" Su Ying asked.

Wolf thought for a moment. "The industrial district... should still have old telephone lines. If we can find a junction box, maybe..."

"Find one," Lin Xiao said. "We need to know what's happening in the base."

Wolf hesitated and looked toward Su Ying. Su Ying nodded.

The three began searching the warehouse. The flashlight beam cut narrow strips of visibility through the darkness. Lin Xiao could smell stronger mildew, along with the sour stench of rat droppings. When his fingers brushed the walls, he could feel the thick dust and peeling paint.

Twenty minutes later, Wolf found what they needed in a small partitioned room at the back of the warehouse—an old telephone junction box, covered in rust but seemingly still intact.

"Need tools..." Wolf muttered.

Su Ying took a pair of multipurpose pliers from her waist pouch and handed them to him. Wolf accepted the tool, his hands trembling, but he took several deep breaths and began working. The sound of the pliers turning screws was especially clear in the silence.

Lin Xiao and Su Ying stood nearby. The flashlight shone on Wolf's hands, revealing the grime and tiny wounds on his fingers. This young communications soldier had likely never imagined that, on a night like this, in an abandoned warehouse, he would be eavesdropping on his own organization's internal communications for two people of unknown identity.

"What you said earlier," Su Ying suddenly said in a low voice, audible only to Lin Xiao, "where did you learn it?"

Lin Xiao did not answer immediately. He listened to the clicking of Wolf's screws and the faint sounds drifting from afar, whether wind or something else.

"Intelligence has its channels," he finally said. "Hydra isn't a single solid block either. Some people are interested in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s 'defectors,' especially... defectors with principles."

That was the truth. In his previous life, he had indeed learned about Su Ying's early experiences through certain channels, though the information had been fragmented.

"So you approached me with an agenda," Su Ying said.

"I saved you because you needed saving, and because I need to stay alive." Lin Xiao turned toward her. "As for an agenda... we're all on the same boat now. The boat is sinking, so there's no point discussing who boarded first."

Su Ying fell silent for a moment. The flashlight cast alternating shadows across her face, making her expression hard to read.

"Connected!" Wolf suddenly cried in a low voice.

He hurriedly hooked up the radio interface and put on the headphones. A faint green glow lit up on the device's screen, illuminating his tense face.

Static.

First came the hiss of electric current, followed by intermittent voices speaking rapid, agitated German.

"Repeat... B3 sector cleared... nothing found..."

"The commander demands... all squads report their positions..."

"The medical station is overloaded... more plasma is needed..."

Wolf slowly turned the frequency dial, searching for a more valuable channel. Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, glimmering in the screen's green light.

Suddenly, his movements stopped.

A voice came through the headphones, clearer than the others, carrying suppressed anger.

"...The supply list doesn't match. Three entire crates of Vibranium Alloy are missing, along with five crates of high-energy batteries. Fletcher's people insist they were destroyed in the attack, but our men inspected the site. The blast point wasn't even near that warehouse..."

Another voice, calmer than the first, replied, "The Radical Faction wants to use this attack to reshuffle things. They've been dissatisfied with the distribution plan for a long time."

"Does the commander know?"

"He knows. But he's more concerned about the mole right now. The losses were lower than expected. He suspects someone leaked the defense arrangements in advance, maybe even... helped the attackers."

"Then our plan..."

"Delayed. We'll talk after the purge is over. Whoever sticks their head out now becomes a target."

The conversation cut off, replaced by static from an encrypted channel.

Wolf removed the headphones, his face pale. He looked at Lin Xiao and Su Ying. His lips moved, but he could not speak immediately.

"Talk," Lin Xiao said.

"It's... it's internal communications." Wolf's voice trembled. "The Radical Faction and the Conservative Faction... they're fighting over supply distribution. This attack... may not have been just outside resistance forces. Maybe... maybe someone wanted to use it to purge their opponents..."

Lin Xiao took the headphones and listened for several seconds himself. The static was heavy, but he could catch a few keywords: "purge," "choose sides," "Fletcher," "the commander's suspicions"...

He removed the headphones and looked at Su Ying.

Su Ying's expression was cold. "Hydra's traditional specialty. The moment external pressure rises, they start tearing at each other from within."

"What does that mean?" Wolf asked in a trembling voice.

"It means," Lin Xiao said, "the base is about to undergo an internal purge. The commander wants to catch the mole, and the Radical Faction and Conservative Faction want to use the chance to eliminate dissidents. And people like us—an outer perimeter soldier who should be in the barracks, a communications soldier, and a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent—will make perfect scapegoats."

The air in the warehouse seemed to freeze. Wolf's breathing quickened, while Su Ying's fingers returned to the hilt of her knife.

"We need an identity," Lin Xiao continued, his voice especially clear in the empty warehouse. "An identity that will let us survive the purge. Not deserters, not traitors, but... loyal members of some faction who were separated during the attack and are now returning to their unit."

Su Ying stared at him. "Forging identities requires clearance, records, and someone to vouch for us."

"We have Wolf." Lin Xiao looked at the communications soldier. "He can access the internal network, or at least the outer database. We can forge temporary access permissions, alter the records, and place ourselves under some... minor leader from a neutral faction. Someone inconspicuous, but with enough authority to gather scattered soldiers in the chaos."

Wolf's eyes widened. "I... I can't... that requires high-level clearance. I only have Level Three access..."

"Level Three is enough," Lin Xiao said. "We don't need to alter the core files. We only need to add a few entries to the temporary dispatch records. The attack threw the system into chaos, and many records will temporarily have supplemental entry windows. This is our chance."

He walked up to Wolf, crouched down, and met the communications soldier's eyes. "Listen, Wolf. You have two choices now. One, keep trembling and wait for the Purge Squad to find us, then execute all three of us as moles. Two, help me do this, and we might at least survive the night."

Wolf's Adam's apple bobbed. His gaze lingered on Lin Xiao's face, shifted to Su Ying, then finally returned to the radio in his arms. The green light of the screen reflected in his pupils, flickering unsteadily.

"I..." His voice was hoarse. "I need specific names, ID numbers, unit assignments..."

"Under Captain Fletcher, Seventh Action Squad." Lin Xiao gave the name almost without thinking—it was a mid-level officer he had vaguely heard of in his previous life, someone from a relatively conservative but not extreme faction who generally remained neutral during the base's internal struggles. "The squad took severe losses in the attack and is gathering survivors to reorganize. We're three of its members. We were separated from the main force while covering our teammates' retreat, and we're now returning to the unit."

Su Ying's eyebrows rose slightly. She had clearly recognized the risk in this plan—if Fletcher himself denied it, or genuine survivors from the Seventh Action Squad appeared, the lie would immediately collapse.

But she also knew that this was their only viable path.

"How long?" she asked Wolf.

Wolf took a deep breath and began typing on the radio's keyboard. His movements were slow and shaky at first, but as lines of code were entered, his breathing gradually steadied and his gaze grew focused.

"The database's supplemental entry window... really is open," he muttered, his fingers moving rapidly. "Seventh Action Squad... found it. Casualty list... twelve dead, four missing. I can add us to the missing list, then mark us as 'contact established, returning to unit'..."

The sound of typing echoed through the warehouse. Lin Xiao could smell the faint scorched odor of heated radio components, mixed with Wolf's sweat. Su Ying stood by the door, listening for movement outside, her hand never leaving the knife hilt.

Time passed second by second.

Wolf's forehead was covered in sweat, but he did not stop. Code scrolled across the screen. A window appeared, and he entered forged names, ID numbers, and unit assignments...

"Lin... what's your ID number?" he asked.

"Make one up," Lin Xiao said. "Follow the numbering rules for outer perimeter soldiers."

Wolf nodded, his fingers continuing to type. Several minutes later, he looked up, his eyes carrying a strange light that mixed fear and excitement.

"It's done. Temporary access permission has been generated. It's valid for seventy-two hours. The records show... we're survivors from the Seventh Action Squad, separated from the main force during the attack. Contact has now been established, and we're heading to the C Sector assembly point to rejoin the unit."

He pulled out the radio interface. A thin plastic card slid from the side of the device—a temporary access pass printed with a crude barcode and identification number.

"Only one?" Su Ying asked.

"The system only allows one primary access card to be generated," Wolf said. "But accompanying personnel can be registered under it, guaranteed by the cardholder."

Lin Xiao took the card. It was plastic, with slightly rough edges, and felt light in his hand. But under the current circumstances, it was more important than any weapon.

"Enough," he said. "We'll go to the C Sector assembly point now. Show our faces before Captain Fletcher, confirm our identities, and then..."

He did not finish.

Because heavy footsteps sounded outside the warehouse door.

More than one person. Boots crushing gravel, the faint clink of metal, and... the click of a bolt being pulled.

All three of them tensed at once.

Su Ying instantly switched off the flashlight, plunging the warehouse into complete darkness. Lin Xiao gripped the MP5 tightly, aiming it toward the door. Wolf clamped a hand over his mouth, refusing to make a sound.

The footsteps stopped outside.

A rough voice rang out, carrying undisguised arrogance and threat.

"Rats inside, crawl out on your own!"

The voice echoed through the warehouse.

"Captain Fletcher wants to see you."