Somewhere deeper in the underground complex, heavy machinery roared to life, crates of prototype weapons being unloaded and fixed.
— — — — —
In the VIP room, Lu Zi Zhen's fingers danced over the keyboard, his screen tablets lit up in rapid succession, satellite feeds, traffic drones, facial recognition overlays. He barely blinked, eyes cold and sharp.
Beside him, Lu Ting Cheng synced into the tactical comms network, his voice steady despite the tension. "All city highway checkpoints are green. No irregularities… wait..... Sector C-17 just picked up a vehicle ID match. Black SUV. Scrambled plates. No toll log, but the infrared shows two heat signatures in the back seat, one wounded."
"I will track the data down!"
"All right..."
— — — — — —
In another secluded research area, the secret government body had failed to kidnap Lu Wan Ruyi and Lu Zi Zhen.
"If you had been there a minute earlier, we could have managed to get hold of her!" A young professor seated in the conference room heavily punched on the table infuriated.
It was the simplest task to complete but they couldn't handle it!
"Master, it isn't as easy as you think! It wasn't just us who were after the two of them, more assassins showed up today from different sectors! " Agent 1 coldly responded sitting down roughly.
"That's true! We couldn't manage to get hold of them with all powerful cliques present!" Another Agent defended himself.
The atmosphere in the dimly lit conference room thickened with tension.
The young professor clenched his fists, jaw tightening. "Do you have any idea what will happen if she falls into their hands? The data she carries....."
"I don't think that could be the right way to go around this entire situation! How about we approach them calmly and invite them over to our laboratory?" Another Agent suggested. After all, it wouldn't be an easy task to get hold of them when they have been alerted. Their security measures would be heightened.
"If it was possible, why would you think everyone would result in kidnapping? We have to get hold of Lu Zi Zhen, I am certain that she would bring herself to the door; without anything as leverage, we won't be able to get any information from them. You should know Lu Zi Zhen has closed his laboratory, and the formula that's circulating around ain't complete; we need to be on the upper hand!" The professor responded as he got up from his chair.
Agent 3, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up. Her voice was low, almost mechanical. "The window is closing. If Lu Zi Zhen has shut down his lab, he's either preparing to vanish or retaliate. Either way, he's not going to play defense forever."
The professor paced in front of the holographic projection that flickered above the center of the table, an encrypted blueprint of Lu Zi Zhen's former lab. Several red markers indicated breached points, failed attempts, and zones of surveillance disruption.
"We underestimated Lu Wan Ruyi," the professor muttered, half to himself. "She's not just baggage, she's the key. Whoever controls her controls him."
Agent 1 exchanged a quick look with Agent 3. "There's a whisper on the darknet. A bounty has been placed on Lu Wan Ruyi's head. Not capture—elimination."
Silence followed.
The professor slammed his palm onto the controls, switching the hologram to another screen: a blurry satellite feed of a vehicle fleeing a tunnel, Lu Wan Ruyi and Lu Zi Zhen inside. "So now, it's not just about retrieving them. We'll have to protect the asset from other threats while still attempting recovery. We need to get hold of them as soon as possible!"
— — — — — —
Lu Ting Zhou stirred open, his eyes were red because of the drugs they used on him, and Song Yaya was heavily bruised after getting beaten by Lu Wan Ruyi.