The underground chamber felt suffocatingly quiet.
No gunfire.
No footsteps.
No movement.
Only silence.
And the weight of the woman's words hanging in the air.
"You're dying."
Xiaoyu couldn't breathe.
The train tracks beneath her feet suddenly felt unsteady, as though the entire world had shifted beneath her without warning.
Dying.
The word echoed endlessly inside her mind.
She looked toward Lu Shen.
He hadn't lowered his weapon.
But he hadn't denied it either.
That terrified her more than anything.
"Lu Shen..."
Her voice barely existed.
His jaw tightened.
"Don't listen to her."
The woman sighed softly.
"You're still protecting her from reality."
"I said enough."
For the first time, anger cracked through Lu Shen's calmness completely.
The armed men surrounding the chamber exchanged uneasy glances.
Even they looked uncomfortable.
As if they had never seen him like this before.
The woman remained unmoved.
"You know the truth."
"No."
"Then tell her."
Silence.
Xiaoyu felt her heart sink.
Because once again—
he couldn't answer.
The realization hurt more than she expected.
Slowly, she stepped forward.
"Tell me."
Lu Shen looked at her.
Not the woman.
Not the armed men.
Only her.
The expression in his eyes made her chest ache.
Because it looked like someone standing on the edge of losing everything.
"Xiaoyu..."
"Tell me."
A long silence followed.
Then finally—
his shoulders lowered.
Not surrender.
Exhaustion.
"I knew."
The words shattered through the chamber.
Xiaoyu felt the blood drain from her face.
"What?"
"The experiments damaged your nervous system."
His voice sounded hollow.
Heavy.
"Your father removed you before the treatment process was finished."
Every sentence felt like another crack forming beneath her feet.
"How long have you known?"
Lu Shen closed his eyes briefly.
"Since the night of the fire."
The chamber became completely silent.
Twenty years.
Twenty years.
He had known for twenty years.
"And you never told me."
It wasn't a question.
The pain in her voice made him look away.
"I wanted you to live normally."
A bitter laugh escaped her lips.
"Normally?"
Her eyes filled instantly.
"You watched me search for answers for years."
"I was trying to protect you."
"There it is again."
Her voice cracked.
"Protect me."
The words sounded broken.
Exhausted.
"I never asked for that."
Lu Shen's expression tightened.
"No."
The answer came quietly.
"You never did."
Thunder rumbled somewhere above the city.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then the woman spoke again.
"Subject 7."
Xiaoyu immediately looked toward her.
The title felt wrong.
Cold.
Empty.
The woman continued calmly.
"The damage is accelerating."
Fear twisted sharply through Xiaoyu's stomach.
"What damage?"
The woman paused.
Then answered.
"Your memories returning."
Cold spread through the chamber.
"The more memories you recover, the faster your condition progresses."
Xiaoyu froze.
Every memory.
Every flash.
Every headache.
Every painful vision.
Suddenly they all made sense.
She remembered the migraines.
The dizziness.
The exhaustion.
The moments she thought were stress.
Her father hadn't erased her memories only to hide the truth.
He had done it to save her life.
"No..."
The realization hit like a physical blow.
The woman nodded.
"He knew."
Xiaoyu's knees weakened slightly.
"My father knew."
"Yes."
The woman's voice softened unexpectedly.
"He loved you enough to sacrifice everything."
Tears finally spilled down Xiaoyu's face.
Her father hadn't abandoned her.
He had been protecting her until the very end.
Just like Lu Shen.
The thought hurt.
Because now she understood him.
Understood why he lied.
Why he hid things.
Why he always looked at her like he was carrying a burden nobody else could see.
The woman extended her hand once more.
"Come with us."
Nobody moved.
"Return voluntarily and we can stabilize your condition."
Xiaoyu looked at the offered hand.
Then at Lu Shen.
Then back again.
A choice.
One decision.
And everything would change.
The woman waited patiently.
The armed men remained silent.
Even the storm above seemed distant now.
Then—
a weak electronic beep echoed through the chamber.
Everyone froze.
Lu Shen's eyes widened slightly.
The sound had come from the silver key.
The key her younger self had carried.
The key her father had left behind.
Another beep.
Then another.
A small hidden light suddenly activated along its surface.
The woman's expression changed immediately.
For the first time—
she looked alarmed.
"Where did you get that?"
Lu Shen stepped forward instantly.
His voice turned deadly cold.
"You thought my father only hid her."
The woman stared at the key.
Realization spreading across her face.
"No..."
Lu Shen smiled faintly.
The first genuine smile Xiaoyu had ever seen from him.
And it wasn't warm.
It was victorious.
"He took something else."
The key suddenly projected a faint blue light across the darkness.
A recording.
Old.
Damaged.
But still functioning.
A man's image flickered into existence.
Xiaoyu stopped breathing.
Her father.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
The entire chamber froze.
Even the armed men stared in shock.
The recording looked directly forward.
Then spoke.
"If you're seeing this..."
His voice crackled through the darkness.
"...then they finally found you."
Xiaoyu's eyes filled instantly.
"Dad..."
The recording continued.
"There isn't much time."
The woman stepped forward sharply.
"Destroy it."
Nobody moved.
Not even her own men.
Because everyone wanted to hear what came next.
The recording flickered.
Then her father's face hardened.
And he said six words that changed everything.
"They've been hiding the real subject."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The woman's expression went pale.
Lu Shen's smile disappeared.
And for the first time since entering the underground chamber—
everyone looked afraid.