Cold winds slithered through the abandoned district, carrying the scent of damp decay. Li Chuan and his team took a brief moment to regroup. In the corner, X-109 remained tightly restrained, the evidence of his modifications stark under the dim lighting.
Shen Qiu's screen continued flickering with streams of data. His fingers danced over the keyboard, relentlessly tracking the source of the remote transmission.
"Got it." He suddenly lifted his head, a grim look flashing across his face. "The signal traces back to a hidden node within the Black Domain Network, but…"
"But what?" Su Man asked.
Shen Qiu's expression turned complex. "It's inside our own 'Storm' organization's classified database."
The air froze.
Li Chuan's eyes narrowed, his voice dangerously low. "You sure?"
Shen Qiu nodded. "Our 'Storm' database operates under high-security protocols. External breaches are nearly impossible. Yet this transmission… originated from within. Meaning—either we've been hacked from the inside, or someone is feeding intel to the Taylor Foundation."
Cheng Mo let out a dry chuckle. "Sounds like we have a mole."
Li Chuan tapped his fingers against the table, his gaze sharp. "Shen Qiu, can you pull up a log of who accessed the database recently?"
Taking a deep breath, Shen Qiu continued working. Seconds later, a string of coded text appeared on his screen.
"ID: Eclipse-17." His voice was steady but laced with tension. "This belongs to one of Storm's senior intelligence operatives, but—there's no corresponding real identity in our system."
Su Man's brows knitted. "An intelligence officer without a registered identity? I thought Storm kept its internal records airtight."
Li Chuan's voice was even. "That leaves us with two possibilities. One—'Eclipse-17' is a deep-cover agent, only activated under special conditions. Two… the ID itself is fabricated."
Shen Qiu exhaled. "Whichever it is, we need to uncover their real identity—fast."
A low chuckle suddenly echoed from the corner.
Everyone turned sharply toward X-109. Though injured, he remained eerily composed, his lips curling into a cryptic smile.
"You're… too late," he rasped, his voice hoarse. "Eclipse-17 has already completed their task. Soon… you'll all be erased."
Su Man's eyes darkened. Grabbing his collar, she hissed, "What the hell are you talking about?"
X-109 tilted his head slightly, the glint in his eyes carrying a mocking edge. "You still think you're the hunters? No… you've long since become the prey."
A warning alert suddenly blared from Shen Qiu's screen.
"Shit!" His fingers flew across the keyboard, but within moments, the data on his display began disintegrating—characters collapsing into gibberish, entire sections vanishing. "We're under attack—Storm's core database is being hacked! Someone's stealing our classified intel!"
Cheng Mo let out a sharp breath. "Well… this just keeps getting more interesting."
But just as Shen Qiu prepared to initiate defensive protocols, an unexpected message popped onto his screen.
"Target locked. Countermeasures engaged. Countdown: 3 minutes."
Shen Qiu's fingers stilled. "Wait—someone's fighting back against the hack."
"What?" Su Man blinked.
Shen Qiu's expression was unreadable. "A hidden hacker inside the Black Domain Network just started patching vulnerabilities on our behalf. They're tracing the attack source for us."
Li Chuan paused. "Do we have an ID?"
Shen Qiu shook his head. "No traces left behind. But they did leave a single message in the comms log."
Everyone turned toward the screen. Against the dark background, a single line of white text pulsed:
"Trust data. Never trust people."
Li Chuan stared at the message, thoughtful.
Su Man frowned. "What does that mean?"
Cheng Mo leaned back, exhaling. "It means… 'Data doesn't lie. People do.'"
Shen Qiu nodded. "Whoever this is, they're warning us. They want us to rely on hard evidence, not words."
A slow smirk crept onto Li Chuan's lips. "Fascinating… But the real question is—is this hacker friend or foe?"
"For now?" Shen Qiu's voice was quiet. "They're on our side."
With the unknown hacker's assistance, Shen Qiu managed to stabilize Storm's database. The attack origin was traced back to an offshore server.
But the moment Shen Qiu tried to dig deeper, the breach signal self-destructed. Every trace of its existence vanished.
Shen Qiu exhaled sharply. "They're more cautious than we thought."
Li Chuan's gaze remained unreadable. "No. They weren't just cautious… They were testing us."
Su Man's expression shifted. "Testing us?"
A sharp glint flickered in Li Chuan's eyes. "If the Taylor Foundation genuinely wanted our intelligence, they wouldn't send a single mole. And they wouldn't rely on a basic cyberattack. The real purpose of this whole stunt… was to see how we'd react."
Cheng Mo let out a dry chuckle. "So they wanted us to notice Eclipse-17's ID? To gauge our response?"
Li Chuan gave a slow nod. "They're watching us."
Silence stretched between them.
Shen Qiu finally sighed. "Either way, we have no choice now—we must find Eclipse-17."
Su Man's eyes gleamed coldly. "There's no turning back."
Li Chuan rose to his feet, scanning the room, his voice steady.
"This time, we make the first move."
Across the city, in the depths of the skyline, a figure sat before a dimly lit monitor.
Through the surveillance feed, they had watched everything.
Fingers tapped lightly against a desk. A faint, amused smirk played at their lips as they murmured,
"Good… The game has finally begun."