Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The underground chamber had become a frozen world beneath the city.
Only the flickering blue projection remained alive in the darkness.
Xiaoyu stared at her father's image, tears burning in her eyes.
He looked older than she remembered.
More tired.
As if carrying a burden too heavy for one person.
The recording crackled again.
"If you're seeing this... then my worst fear came true."
The woman in white took a step forward.
"Turn it off."
Her calmness was gone now.
For the first time—
she sounded worried.
Lu Shen immediately raised his weapon.
"Stay where you are."
The armed men exchanged uncertain glances.
Their orders were clear.
But so was the fear spreading across their leader's face.
The recording continued.
"For years, they chased Xiaoyu believing she was the key."
Xiaoyu's heartbeat quickened.
The woman closed her eyes briefly.
Almost like someone preparing for disaster.
"But they were looking at the wrong child."
Silence.
A terrible silence.
The words seemed to echo endlessly through the chamber.
Wrong child.
Xiaoyu looked toward Lu Shen.
His expression had become unreadable.
As if he already knew what was coming.
Her stomach tightened.
No.
No, he couldn't.
Could he?
The recording flickered.
Then her father spoke again.
"The experiments were divided into two groups."
The chamber remained perfectly still.
"Group A was designed to create obedience."
The woman looked away.
"Group B was designed to create memory retention."
Xiaoyu frowned.
She didn't understand.
Not yet.
Then her father continued.
"Only one subject survived both procedures."
The woman's face went pale.
Completely pale.
And suddenly—
Xiaoyu understood.
The recording wasn't talking about her anymore.
It was talking about someone else.
Someone standing beside her.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
Her eyes turned toward Lu Shen.
The moment she did—
his silence told her everything.
"No..."
The word escaped her lips before she could stop it.
The recording continued.
"Subject 7 was never the final objective."
The entire chamber felt colder.
"The final subject was Subject 0."
Nobody breathed.
Nobody moved.
Then her father's recorded image looked directly into the camera.
And spoke a name.
"Lu Shen."
The world stopped.
Xiaoyu stared at him.
The armed men stared at him.
Even the woman looked away.
As if hearing the truth spoken aloud was worse than hiding it.
"No," Xiaoyu whispered.
But Lu Shen didn't deny it.
He couldn't.
The recording crackled softly.
"They spent years trying to create someone capable of remembering everything."
Xiaoyu's pulse hammered violently.
Every memory.
Every detail.
Every face.
Everything.
The recording continued.
"They succeeded."
The chamber fell silent again.
Then her father spoke words that changed everything.
"Lu Shen remembers every experiment."
A chill ran through Xiaoyu's entire body.
Every experiment.
Not some.
Not most.
Every single one.
The screams.
The children.
The laboratories.
The violence.
Everything.
She suddenly understood the sadness she had always seen in his eyes.
The guilt.
The exhaustion.
The pain.
He wasn't haunted by memories.
He was imprisoned by them.
The woman finally spoke.
Quietly.
"He wasn't supposed to survive."
Nobody looked at her.
The recording continued.
"When I discovered what they had done to him, I knew he could never stay there."
Lu Shen lowered his head slightly.
For the first time—
he looked tired.
Not physically.
Broken.
The kind of tiredness that comes from carrying nightmares for years.
Her father's image flickered again.
"They wanted to use him."
The woman laughed bitterly.
A humorless sound.
"We wanted to save humanity."
"No," Lu Shen said quietly.
The entire chamber turned toward him.
His voice was calm.
But cold.
"You wanted control."
Silence followed.
Then Xiaoyu noticed something strange.
The armed men weren't looking at her anymore.
They were looking at Lu Shen.
With fear.
Real fear.
Not respect.
Not loyalty.
Fear.
The recording reached its final section.
"If you're watching this, then the organization is already desperate."
Her father's image looked directly forward.
As if speaking across time.
As if speaking directly to Xiaoyu.
"Listen carefully."
Xiaoyu wiped tears from her face.
The chamber remained completely silent.
Then her father delivered the final truth.
"The reason they're hunting you isn't because of what you are."
The woman shut her eyes.
Knowing exactly what was coming.
"It's because of what you know."
Xiaoyu froze.
"What I know?"
The recording nodded slightly.
"The fire."
Another memory exploded inside her head.
Violent.
Clear.
Stronger than ever before.
Not smoke.
Not confusion.
The actual truth.
A laboratory.
Children running.
Alarms screaming.
Her father carrying files.
Then—
someone opening the doors.
Not Xiaoyu.
Not by accident.
Someone else.
Someone who started everything.
Someone who wanted the children to escape.
Someone standing in front of the control panel.
Xiaoyu gasped.
Her eyes widened.
Because she finally saw the face clearly.
The person who triggered the lockdown.
The person who caused the fire.
The person responsible for everything.
It wasn't her.
It was the woman in white.
The woman took a sharp step backward.
She saw the recognition instantly.
And for the first time—
she looked afraid.
Genuinely afraid.
Xiaoyu's voice trembled.
"You did it."
The chamber fell silent.
The woman didn't answer.
Didn't deny it.
Didn't defend herself.
And that was answer enough.
"You killed them."
A tear rolled down Xiaoyu's cheek.
"You killed everyone."
The woman's expression hardened.
Years of secrets collapsing in seconds.
Then finally—
she whispered the words nobody expected.
"It was necessary."
The chamber erupted.
Not with gunfire.
Not with shouting.
But with something far more dangerous.
Lu Shen smiled.
A small smile.
Cold.
Terrifying.
The smile of someone who had just spent twenty years waiting for the truth to come out.
And everyone in the room suddenly realized the same thing.
The organization had never been hunting Xiaoyu because she was dangerous.
They had been hunting her because she was the only witness left alive.
And now—
she remembered.