Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The underground chamber had become a graveyard of silence.
Rain echoed faintly through distant tunnels above while the blue recording flickered weakly in the darkness.
Xiaoyu stood frozen.
Her father's final words still echoed inside her head.
You were never the one who started the fire.
The woman in white did.
Twenty years.
Twenty years believing she carried guilt that never belonged to her.
Twenty years of nightmares.
Fear.
Questions.
Pain.
And now—
the truth stood directly in front of her.
The woman slowly lowered her eyes.
Not ashamed.
Not guilty.
Only tired.
"You don't understand what happened that night."
Xiaoyu laughed.
A broken laugh.
The kind that comes when something hurts too much.
"No?"
Tears slid down her face.
"My family died."
The woman's expression remained unchanged.
"The alternative was worse."
The words shattered whatever restraint Xiaoyu still had.
"Worse?"
Her voice cracked violently through the chamber.
"Worse than murdering children?"
The armed men shifted uncomfortably.
Nobody wanted to be standing here anymore.
Nobody wanted to hear this conversation.
But nobody could leave.
Because the truth was finally escaping.
And once truth escaped—
it could never be locked away again.
The woman inhaled slowly.
"The project was collapsing."
"No."
Lu Shen's voice cut through the darkness.
Cold.
Deadly.
"You were losing control."
The woman looked toward him.
For a second, something almost human appeared in her eyes.
Regret.
Then it vanished.
"You remember too much."
Lu Shen smiled faintly.
A terrifying smile.
"That's exactly why you're afraid."
Silence.
The chamber grew colder.
The woman finally looked at Xiaoyu again.
"Your father stole information that would've destroyed everything."
"He exposed monsters."
"He exposed hope."
Xiaoyu stared at her in disbelief.
Hope?
The word felt disgusting.
The woman took another step forward.
"The world outside doesn't know what is coming."
Thunder rumbled above.
"The experiments weren't created for power."
Nobody responded.
She continued.
"They were created because human memory is failing."
Confusion spread through the chamber.
Even some of the armed men looked surprised.
The woman pointed toward Lu Shen.
"Do you know how many diseases begin with memory loss?"
Nobody answered.
"How many minds disappear every year?"
Lu Shen's expression remained cold.
"That doesn't justify what you did."
"No."
The woman nodded.
"It doesn't."
For the first time—
she actually admitted it.
The chamber fell silent.
Then she looked directly at Xiaoyu.
"But your father discovered something else."
Xiaoyu's pulse quickened.
The woman smiled sadly.
"The treatment worked."
Everything stopped.
"What?"
"The experiments succeeded."
"No," Lu Shen said immediately.
But uncertainty had already entered the room.
The woman looked at him.
"Tell her."
Silence.
Again.
Always silence.
Xiaoyu slowly turned toward him.
And suddenly—
she knew.
Before he spoke.
Before he confirmed it.
She already knew.
"The headaches," she whispered.
Lu Shen lowered his eyes.
The answer.
"The memories."
His silence.
Another answer.
Her chest tightened.
"You're hiding something."
Lu Shen didn't respond.
The woman did.
"The damage isn't killing her."
The words crashed through the chamber.
Xiaoyu froze.
"What?"
The woman nodded slowly.
"The treatment is activating."
No.
That wasn't possible.
Everything she had believed moments ago suddenly shattered.
"You said I was dying."
"I lied."
The woman didn't even hesitate.
No apology.
No shame.
Nothing.
Pure manipulation.
Lu Shen's hand tightened around his weapon.
But Xiaoyu barely noticed.
Because her world had tilted again.
"The memories are returning because your mind is healing."
The woman looked directly into her eyes.
"You're becoming what you were always supposed to become."
Fear spread through Xiaoyu instantly.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Lu Shen finally spoke.
And his voice sounded more exhausted than she had ever heard.
"It means you're remembering everything."
The chamber fell silent.
Every experiment.
Every face.
Every lie.
Every truth.
Nothing would stay buried anymore.
The woman nodded.
"Exactly."
Then she smiled.
A smile that sent chills through everyone present.
"Which means she's about to remember where the files are."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Lu Shen's eyes widened.
For the first time in years—
he looked shocked.
The armed men suddenly straightened.
The woman laughed softly.
"There it is."
Xiaoyu's heartbeat accelerated.
"What files?"
Nobody answered.
Then—
another memory exploded inside her mind.
Stronger than all the others.
A hidden room.
Her father kneeling beside her.
A small metal box.
A key.
The same silver key.
His voice trembling.
"If anything happens to me..."
Another flash.
Coordinates.
Numbers.
A location.
Locked away.
Hidden.
Protected.
Xiaoyu gasped sharply.
The memory was crystal clear.
And judging by the expressions around her—
everyone knew it.
The woman smiled.
Lu Shen cursed under his breath.
And every armed man in the chamber suddenly looked at Xiaoyu differently.
Not as a target.
Not as a victim.
But as the person holding the one secret everyone had been killing for.
Then the lights went out.
Complete darkness swallowed the underground chamber.
A second later—
a gunshot echoed through the blackness.
Then another.
Someone screamed.
And chaos erupted.