Chapter 260: The Cold Barrel

The paneling of Tier Two’s inner ring was scorched with burns and pockmarked by kinetic impacts. Smoke from damaged cables drifted through the shattered glass partitions, carrying the smell of molten copper and ozone.

Han Zheng stepped over the fallen body of the last guard, his boots leaving faint, bloody prints on the tile floor. He lowered his rifle, its yellow capacitor humming softly as the weapon cooled.

"Sector corridor clear," Han Zheng said, scanning the intersection and the blind spots behind the structural pillars. "Lin Qing, status on automated defenses?"

Lin Qing pressed her back against a concrete pillar, her rifle resting across her chest. She raised her optical scope to check the upper corners of the hallway. "Overhead turret on the right junction is destroyed. Ah Hua took out its power line during the push. We’ve got a clear path to the vestibule."

"Good," Han Zheng said, gesturing forward. "Let’s close the distance before they restore the secondary grid."

Behind them, Ah Hua wiped soot from his mechanical arm and flexed his fingers, checking that the joints still responded properly. Satisfied, he pulled a fresh power cell from his vest and loaded it into his rifle with a sharp CLICK.

"That was probably their primary response team," Ah Hua grunted, looking down the smoke-filled hallway. "Commander Lu is running out of people to throw at us. He knows we’re getting close."

The three advanced in a tight formation, covering the final thirty meters of the command wing.

At the end of the corridor stood their objective: the doors of Commander Lu’s central command suite.

The six-inch-thick titanium doors were embedded into the base’s reinforced structure, surrounded by a glowing red security ring. Beside them was a biometric console equipped with a hand scanner, retinal sensor, and encrypted neural receiver.

The vibration they had felt earlier was stronger here. Every few seconds, a low pulse traveled through the floor, accompanied by a metallic whine from the transmitter array mounted above the doorway.

"The master transmitter is running hot inside that room," Lin Qing observed, studying the pulsing lights. "Lu is tuning the command frequency. If he reaches maximum amplitude, he could activate every neural collar within two miles."

"He won’t get the chance," Han Zheng replied, approaching the door. He turned to Ah Hua. "Set two breach charges on the primary lock hinges. We’ll blow the pins and force the frame."

Ah Hua lowered his pack and pulled out two rectangular charges lined with explosive gel.

"Give me thirty seconds to set the detonators—"

TAP. TAP. TAP.

The sound of approaching boots echoed from behind them.

All three turned at once.

Han Zheng raised his rifle toward the far corner. Ah Hua dropped the charges and brought his weapon up, while Lin Qing moved into a low firing stance, covering the opposite side of the corridor.

"Who’s there?!" Han Zheng demanded. "Identify yourself!"

A figure emerged from the drifting smoke.

It was Su Yun.

She walked slowly down the center of the corridor, her uniform marked with ash from the fighting below. Her power rifle hung loosely in her right hand, its barrel pointed toward the floor.

"Su Yun?" Lin Qing called, relief briefly crossing her face before confusion took its place. She lowered her rifle slightly. "What are you doing up here? Where’s Ye Lin? Did something happen to the defense line in Tier Three?"

Su Yun didn’t answer.

She continued walking, her boots striking the floor at perfectly even intervals. Her head remained straight, her gaze fixed somewhere between Han Zheng and Ah Hua.

As she stepped beneath the fluorescent lights, Lin Qing finally got a clear look at her face.

Something was terribly wrong.

Su Yun’s expression was completely blank. Her jaw was tight, her lips pressed together, and her usually alert eyes stared ahead without blinking. She didn’t acknowledge Lin Qing or react to the weapons pointed in her direction.

There was no recognition in her face.

Even her movements seemed wrong. Her shoulders barely shifted as she walked, and her arms remained stiff at her sides. It was nothing like the Su Yun who had fought beside them only minutes earlier.

"Su Yun, stop," Han Zheng ordered.

He kept his rifle raised, watching her approach.

"Answer me. Why did you leave your post with Commander Mark? What’s your status?"

Su Yun gave no response.

She continued forward, passing directly between them as though she hadn’t heard a word.

Lin Qing stepped closer. Whatever had happened, she couldn’t simply stand there and let Su Yun wander into the command suite alone.

"Su Yun, wait—"

She reached for her shoulder..The moment her fingers touched Su Yun’s vest, Su Yun reacted.

Her left elbow snapped backward, striking Lin Qing’s rifle barrel with a sharp CLANG and knocking it aside.

Lin Qing stumbled two steps, more startled than hurt.

"What the...?"

"Stand back, Lin Qing!" Han Zheng warned, kinetic energy beginning to gather around his left hand. "Something’s wrong with her!"

Ah Hua moved into Su Yun’s path, extending his mechanical arm to block the doorway.

"Kid, you better speak up right now, or I swear I’ll pin you to the floor!"

Su Yun didn’t even look at him.

She walked straight into his outstretched arm and kept pushing forward. Her boots scraped against the tiles, but she made no attempt to move around him or defend herself. She simply continued pressing against the obstruction, as though following an instruction she couldn’t disobey.

Ah Hua frowned.

"What the hell? She’s not even trying to fight me."

"She’s not in control," Lin Qing whispered.

Her eyes moved over Su Yun’s face, then toward the side of her neck.

"Han Zheng... look behind her left ear."

Han Zheng leaned closer, keeping his rifle lowered just enough to avoid pointing it directly at her head.

Beneath the collar of Su Yun’s tactical suit, a tiny crimson light pulsed under her skin.

He recognized the location immediately.

It was the same area where Han Ye had said the chip was located. But this signal was different from the painful command pulse Ye Lin had disabled in Tier Three.

There was no audible whine, no visible sign of pain.

Only the faint red glow beneath her jaw.

"A deep-level override perhaps," Han Zheng said, his expression darkening. "That chip wasn’t just a locator or a pain transmitter. Sterling installed a secondary control protocol."

Lin Qing felt her stomach tighten.

They had believed Ye Lin’s intervention and Han Ye’s attempt had freed Su Yun from Commander Lu’s influence, at least temporarily. She had fought normally afterward, spoken to them, and even helped organize the prisoners’ defenses.

Now it was clear that the earlier signal had only been part of the system.

"Can we disable it?" Lin Qing asked.

"Not without knowing what Sterling put inside her," Han Zheng replied. "And we don’t know what happens if we damage it."

Ah Hua tightened his grip on Su Yun’s arm, careful not to hurt her.

"Then we drag her away from that door and figure it out later."

Before he could pull her back, Su Yun suddenly extended her right hand. Her palm moved toward the biometric console beside the titanium doors.

"Su Yun, don’t touch that!" Ah Hua shouted, reaching for her wrist.

He was too late. Her hand pressed flat against the glass scanner.

For the past several minutes, Han Zheng’s team had been preparing to force their way into Commander Lu’s command suite. They had expected locks, armed resistance, and perhaps another security system waiting behind the doors.

None of them had imagined Su Yun would be the one to open them. The red security ring went dark.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.

A pleasant electronic chime sounded through the vestibule. The biometric screen flashed green.

IDENTITY CONFIRMED.

MASTER OVERRIDE AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then the doors released a deep hiss as their pressure seals disengaged.

Three mechanical thuds followed, the locking bolts retracting into the surrounding frame. The doors slowly separated, sliding into the walls and revealing Commander Lu’s central command suite.

"The door..." Ah Hua muttered, staring at the green display. "She had master clearance the whole time?"

Lin Qing looked from the console to Su Yun.

Why would Commander Lu give someone trivial that level of authorization?

Unless he had never intended for her to use it willingly.

"Han Zheng," Lin Qing said quietly. "This was planned."

"I know."

Han Zheng’s gaze remained fixed on the open doorway.

The command suite beyond was spacious, with polished black marble floors and walls lined with tactical displays. Holographic maps hovered above several workstations, showing security positions, troop movements, and live telemetry from across the facility.

A wide observation window overlooked the lower sections of the base. Along one wall stood private server racks, while leather chairs and a cabinet stocked with expensive liquor occupied the far side of the room.

It was a strange contrast to the containment hall below, where twenty-four prisoners had spent months being drained of their core energy.

Su Yun stepped across the threshold.

"Su Yun!" Lin Qing called again.

She didn’t turn. Her boots clicked against the marble as she walked several paces into the room.

Then she stopped.

Han Zheng noticed the change immediately. Her shoulders straightened, and her right hand tightened around the rifle she had carried loosely at her side.

"Everyone, stay back," he warned.

Su Yun turned.

The movement was so sudden that Lin Qing barely had time to react.

CLICK.

Su Yun raised her power rifle to her shoulder, leveling the barrel directly at Han Zheng’s chest.

Her finger settled against the trigger.

"Su Yun..." Lin Qing breathed.

There was still no recognition in her eyes.

She stood perfectly still, holding her aim on the man who had led their team through the facility. The same woman who had risked her life fighting beside them was now prepared to shoot him without hesitation.

Ah Hua started to raise his weapon, but Han Zheng lifted his left hand slightly, signaling him to stop.

"Don’t," Han Zheng said.

"Commander, she’s pointing a loaded rifle at you!"

"I can see that."

Han Zheng didn’t move.

He could have raised his kinetic shield. He could have knocked the rifle aside before she fired. But any sudden movement might trigger whatever command had been implanted in her mind.

And he refused to treat Su Yun like an enemy.

"Su Yun," he said, keeping his voice steady. "If you can hear me, don’t pull that trigger."

Her expression didn’t change. A faint red light continued pulsing beneath her left ear. Then, from deeper inside the command suite, came the quiet clink of ice against glass.

Someone was watching them.

Fifteen feet behind Su Yun, on an elevated platform overlooking the room, stood Commander Lu.

He wore a spotless dark-grey officer’s uniform with golden shoulder insignia. Unlike the guards who had fought and died throughout the facility, he appeared completely relaxed..He stood behind a wide obsidian desk, holding a glass of amber liquor in his left hand.

In his right was a small matte-black remote with a single pulsing red light.

Han Zheng’s eyes narrowed. The remote was unmistakably connected to Su Yun’s secondary transponder.

Commander Lu noticed his gaze and smiled. He casually turned the device between his fingers, making no effort to conceal it.

Lin Qing felt a surge of anger as she understood what he had done. Su Yun hadn’t escaped his control at all. He had waited until they reached his command suite, and then used her to open the door.

Now she stood between them and their target, with a rifle aimed at Han Zheng’s heart.

Commander Lu raised his glass and took a slow sip.

"Welcome to my office, gentlemen," he said, his voice carrying easily across the marble room. "I must admit... you arrived slightly faster than Dr. Sterling predicted."

His smile widened as he glanced toward Su Yun.

"But as you can see, we’ve been expecting you."