K's Evacuation
Inside the finance office, the lights were still bright, but the power had been switched to the backup line, making the light dimmer and flickering with an unsettling, unstable quality.
The hum of the server fans and the whirring of the air conditioner continued in the air, but the distant chaos and noise, the sporadic muffled sounds, and the increasingly muffled running and shouting sounds that were blocked by the walls all surged in like waves, clearly reminding K that the outside world had been turned upside down.
K sat upright in front of his computer. The last data stream on the screen was being automatically archived, encrypted, and transmitted to several pre-set encrypted storage spaces located at data exchange nodes on the high seas, following a preset program. This was the final backup and the final cleanup. When the progress bar reached 100%, he calmly moved the mouse and clicked an inconspicuous icon on the screen.
"Drop."
A very faint notification sound. On the screen, all databases related to the park's core funds, accounts, and money laundering channels began a physical overwrite and deletion process.
Complex 0s and 1s are erased as if by an eraser, leaving behind unrecoverable, meaningless gibberish on the hard drive.
At the same time, the "system chaos" seed implanted at the server's core was also triggered, resonating with the external power outage and communication interference, causing the internal network response speed of the entire park to plummet to its lowest level and the log recording function to completely malfunction.
He did it naturally, as if he were dealing with a routine technical malfunction.
A Long and A Hu, who were standing not far behind him, were tense during the initial explosion and power outage, but after K calmly explained that it was a "line fault switching to backup power" and saw that K was still focused on the screen, their vigilance relaxed slightly. They just looked at the door and the walkie-talkie more frequently, trying to contact the outside, but there was only a buzzing electrical noise inside.
until--
Bang bang bang!
The heavy wooden door of the finance office was pounded on forcefully, with a rapid rhythm and an undeniable force.
A Long and A Hu raised their guns almost simultaneously, pointed them at the door, and shouted sharply, "Who's there?!"
"Brother Bo sent us! Something happened downstairs, and we need to take Mr. K to safety! Open the door quickly!" A voice came from outside the door, somewhat hoarse, with a local accent, and sounding extremely anxious.
A Long and A Hu exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise and doubt in each other's eyes. Brother Bo? Relocate? Just how chaotic is it outside? But they dared not disobey "Brother Bo's" orders.
A Long hesitated for a moment, then shouted towards the door, "Where's Brother Bo? Let him come and tell us himself!"
"Brother Bo is holding the line down there! He's busy! Open the door now! Don't dawdle! The general is waiting too!" The voice outside the door grew more urgent, and the door was pounded on forcefully.
A Hu glanced at K, who still had his back to them, seemingly uninterested in the commotion at the door, only staring at the progress bar on the screen that indicated data clearing. A Hu gritted his teeth, nodded to A Long, and gestured for him to open the door and take a look.
A Long held a gun in one hand, pointed it at the door, and carefully turned the lock with the other, opening the door a crack.
Just as the door opened a crack—
"Pfft! Pfft!"
Two extremely faint, muffled sounds, like balloons bursting.
In the darkness outside the door, a faint light seemed to flash. A Long's body stiffened abruptly, a small, charred hole appeared between his eyebrows, his expression froze in surprise and doubt, his eyes instantly lost their luster, and his body leaned against the door frame, slowly slumping down.
A Hu didn't even see how his companion fell. He only saw a figure flash by the door, and a man in dark overalls with icy eyes squeezed in like a ghost, holding a silenced pistol pointed directly at him.
A Hu's pupils suddenly contracted, his adrenaline surged, and he almost instinctively pulled the trigger!
But before he could exert any force with his fingers—
"Puff!"
The third muffled thud. A Hu felt a chill on his forehead, as if he had been pierced by an ice pick. Instantly, boundless darkness and cold swallowed all his consciousness and strength. The gun in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter, and his body fell backward, knocking over the chair next to him with a piercing noise.
The one who fired the shot was the first man to enter. He didn't even glance at the two fallen bodies; his sharp gaze had already crossed the room and landed on K, who was slowly rising from his swivel chair.
The room lights seemed to grow even paler at that moment, reflecting the lingering faint smell of gunpowder in the air and the dark red bloodstains that were spreading rapidly on the floor.
K's face was expressionless, showing neither fear nor relaxation, only absolute calm. He looked at the man in the doorway, and then at another man who flashed in behind him, dressed plainly but with sharp eyes.
"A storm is coming," K said, his voice steady, using the first half of the pre-arranged confirmation phrase.
The man with the gun at the door (Bai Shan) lingered on K's face for half a second, seemingly quickly confirming his identity, before replying in a similarly calm voice, "Straw raincoats are prepared."
The code word matches.
Bai Shan lowered his gun and quickly made a hand gesture. The agent behind him immediately stepped forward, took out a slightly crumpled dark blue security uniform, the kind that security guards in the park usually wore, and a hat of the same color from an inconspicuous canvas bag, and handed them to K.
"Change into this. Be quick." Bai Shan said succinctly, his eyes scanning the corridor outside the door warily.
Without saying a word, K took the clothes and, in front of the two of them, quickly took off his polo shirt and changed into his protective suit.
The clothes didn't fit quite right, they were a bit too big, but with the coat on, hat on, and brim pulled low, they were enough to confuse the eyes in the dim light. While changing, with an extremely natural movement, as if adjusting his collar, he took out a tiny chip, no bigger than a grain of rice and encased in a special waterproof capsule, from the inside of his original belt. Without the slightest hesitation, he put it directly into his mouth and swallowed it with his saliva.
The chip stores all the keys and transfer paths for the last and most crucial batch of encrypted funds. The specially designed capsule shell is resistant to stomach acid and is retrieved by a special method once it reaches a safe location.
The whole process took less than thirty seconds.
While he was changing clothes, Bai Shan had already quickly examined the bodies of A Long A Hu, confirmed their deaths, and searched them for walkie-talkies, Key, and remaining ammunition. Another agent stood guard at the door.
"Let's go." Seeing K had changed his clothes, Bai Shan gave a low shout and darted out of the finance office first. K followed behind him, with another agent bringing up the rear.
The corridor was deserted, save for the faint sounds of distant noise. The light from the backup power supply made the corridor seem even more eerie. Bai Shan seemed to know the layout of the place like the back of his hand; instead of heading towards the stairs, he went straight to the restroom at the end of the corridor.
K didn't ask any questions and followed him in. The bathroom was filled with a strange smell. Bai Shan walked quickly to the innermost stall and looked up at the ceiling. K noticed that the louvered grille of a ventilation duct there seemed to be loose, and the dust on the edges showed signs of having been touched recently.
Bai Shan nodded to the rear guard agent. The agent immediately stepped forward, took out a small screwdriver from his tool bag, and quickly removed the four corner screws securing the fence (the screws had long been tampered with and were very loose). He removed the fence, revealing a dark ventilation duct behind it, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through, covered in a thick layer of dust.
"Go in." Bai Shan gestured to K.
Without hesitation, K braced himself against the wall of the cubicle and, with Bai Shan's support, nimbly crawled into the ventilation duct. It was narrow, dark, and filled with dust and the smell of rust. Following the route he had memorized, he crawled forward for about four or five meters until he saw a fork in the road to the right and a downward shaft.
He remembered that turning right was a dead end, and going down led to the pipe room on the first floor. He didn't go down, but continued forward, climbing another two or three meters, until his palm touched a cold, rough-edged iron plate—this was a pipe inspection port leading to the adjacent storage room.
A slight noise came from behind, and Bai Shan and another agent slipped in one after the other, their movements light and swift.
Bai Shan crossed K, groped his way to the edge of the access panel, and pushed upwards with force. With a soft "click," the rusty pin was pried open, the iron plate was lifted, and more dust fell down. Below was a storage room piled with brooms, buckets, and old tables and chairs, the light even dimmer, with only a small window letting in a sliver of hazy daylight from outside.
The three jumped down one after another. The musty smell in the storage room was even stronger. Bai Shan went straight to the old-fashioned iron window facing north, which was covered in rust. The window was bolted from the outside by a thick iron bar, but the latch was rusted beyond recognition. Bai Shan took out a small hydraulic shears from his tool bag, aimed at the most rusted part, and with a "snap," the iron bar broke off.
He gently pushed open the window. Outside was a narrow alley filled with construction debris, a gap between the main building and the surrounding wall, rarely frequented by anyone. At this moment, the sky was just before dawn, and the alley was dimly lit and deathly silent.
Bai Shan poked his head out, quickly surveyed both ends of the alley, and then made a hand gesture. The three of them climbed out of the window one by one, landing on the soft garbage and dust.
Almost as soon as they landed, footsteps and suppressed shouts came from the other end of the alley. Two agents were leading five or six security guards, their hands tied behind their backs, their mouths stuffed with cloth, their faces filled with terror and despair, towards the side of the main building. These prisoners were all wounded and looked dejected; they were Brother Bo and several of his trusted men.
Bai Shan nodded to the escorting agents, then shoved K into the middle of the prisoners and quickly barked at them in the local dialect, "Behave yourselves! Let's go!"
K immediately lowered his head, mimicking the other prisoners, slightly shrinking his body, his face showing a fearful and numb expression, blending into the crowd. His hat brim was pulled low, and his dusty security uniform was indistinguishable from those around him.
The escorting agents agreed and continued to drive the group of "prisoners" toward the side gate of the park. Bai Shan and another agent followed at a distance, keeping watch, making it look like they were escorting an important group of prisoners.
Along the way, they encountered several other teams of "coolies" being gathered and guarded, as well as other agents who were hurriedly moving things or on guard duty.
But no one gave this seemingly insignificant group of "internal security prisoners" a second glance. Everyone's attention was either focused on the large number of "piglets" or on the final cleanup and evacuation preparations.
The side gate was open. A dilapidated, peeling dark green pickup truck, the kind commonly seen in Myanmar for hauling goods, was parked in front. A man in an ordinary jacket and a baseball cap sat in the driver's seat, smoking a cigarette, the embers flickering in the pre-dawn darkness.
The escorting agents herded the "prisoners" to the pickup truck. "Get in! Hurry up!"
Brother Bo and the others were roughly shoved into the open back of the pickup truck. K was also pushed and shoved, and was the last to climb in. The back was filthy, with a strong smell of fish and engine oil. He huddled in a corner, squeezed together with the other prisoners.
Bai Shan walked to the driver's seat and whispered something to the driver inside. The driver nodded and stubbed out his cigarette.
"Let's go." Bai Shan said to K in the carriage in an almost inaudible voice, and then closed the rear panel of the carriage.
The pickup truck emitted a muffled, cough-like engine sound, the body shook a few times, and slowly started moving, pulling out of the side door and turning onto the rugged dirt road leading deep into the mountains.
K huddled in the cold, bumpy carriage, peering behind him through the narrow gaps between the carriage panels. The park's high walls and barbed wire gradually receded into the increasingly bright morning light, their outlines becoming increasingly blurred. Thick smoke seemed to be rising from the top of the main building. In the open space, a dark mass of people was still moving slowly, like a swarm of ants that had finally found a way out.
The pickup truck accelerated and drove into a misty mountain forest. The damp, cold fog instantly enveloped the vehicle and completely swallowed up the scenery behind it.
Inside the carriage, Brother Bo and several other prisoners seemed to realize something, letting out terrified whimpers and struggling in vain.
K closed his eyes, shutting out the sights and sounds of the outside world. His body swayed with the bumps of the vehicle, but his heart was filled with a cold, calm.
The mission is complete.
He is safe.
What remains is a long and arduous journey, one that requires vigilance, until we reach that absolutely safe new starting point.
The roar of the pickup truck engine echoed lonely through the valley, gradually disappearing into the thick, impenetrable fog of Northern Myanmar in the early morning.