Chapter 60 – Fire Reforged
City C's underground AI surveillance systems hummed louder than usual, the air electric with tension. Inside Vault 09, the countdown on the wall panel ticked ominously—59:59:00. One hour until complete facility lockdown and purge.
Bai Xueqing glanced at her newly awakened counterpart, the General—her past self, reborn in flame and fury. Mo Chen stood beside them, jaw tight. He was used to being the calm eye of any storm. But now, even he felt its edge.
"We need to get out before the purge," Lin Nuo said, typing rapidly into the system's override panel. "Unless one of you ancient phoenixes has a master key?"
The General smirked. "Master key? I was the key."
She walked over to the panel and placed her palm on a hidden biometric reader. A sharp beep echoed.
"Override accepted," the system said in a mechanical voice. "Identity: General Bai. Status: alive."
Mo Chen blinked. "Well, that's convenient."
"It's called planning," she said, throwing him a look. "You should try it sometime."
Bai Xueqing tried not to smirk. "I'm starting to like her."
The lights above flickered, and then his voice returned—smooth, robotic, and soulless.
> "You can't escape. Not this time."
Mr. Zhen.
Bai Xueqing stepped forward. "We know who you are. You used Qiao Lan, you orchestrated the assassination attempts, you played with lives."
> "And yet you came, like clockwork. Predictable. Fragile."
The screen in the wall turned on. A grainy image appeared—Mo Chen's father.
Everyone froze.
Mo Chen's voice was sharp. "That's impossible. He died ten years ago."
> "Not dead. Preserved. Reprogrammed. I built him again. Piece by piece."
"No…" Mo Chen's face was pale. "You didn't."
But the eyes on screen were empty, glassy. Not human.
The General stepped forward. "Let me guess. He's your prototype. The perfect puppet."
> "One of many. And now, you'll either join him—or be erased like all obsolete data."
The screen went dark.
Bai Xueqing turned to Mo Chen. "Are you okay?"
He forced himself to breathe. "I will be. After I burn that sick bastard to the ground."
The General looked at her modern self. "We fight together now."
Xueqing nodded. "And we finish this."
---
Outside the vault, an explosion rocked the ground. Meng Zhihao's voice crackled over the comm.
> "Hey, just a heads-up. I blew up part of the facility to create a distraction. Hope you weren't near Sublevel 3."
Lin Nuo groaned. "I told him not to touch the red wire!"
The General blinked. "He's yours?"
Bai Xueqing sighed. "Unfortunately, yes."
Mo Chen grinned. "He grows on you. Like a fungus."
Together, they headed toward the exit, flames in their wake, the past and future finally walking side by side.
And somewhere in the dark, Mr. Zhen watched. Waiting.