After passing through the long maintenance tunnel, Li Chuan and Shen Qiu stepped into an abandoned factory. Inside, everything was broken. The metal frames, all rusty, fell everywhere like skeletons. The air smelled old, like iron soaked in water for too long.
Li Chuan kept his eyes sharp, voice low. "Careful. They might already guess we will come this way."
Shen Qiu quickly pulled out his tablet, tried to connect outside network. But the signal was so weak, almost zero. His eyebrows pressed down. "The jamming here stronger than I expected. Not just normal signal block."
"Someone doing this?" Li Chuan's eyes slightly narrowed.
"Very possible." Shen Qiu nodded. "And the range is very precise, covering exactly this factory. That means… they already predict we will come here."
Li Chuan's face turned colder.
"In other words, we already step into their plan."
Shen Qiu's expression didn't look good. "Li Feng's setup more detailed than we thought."
Li Chuan took a deep breath, his sharp gaze scanning the surroundings, then he whispered, "We cannot fight head-on. Now the most important thing is to find a way out."
Suddenly, a mechanical voice echoed inside the empty factory.
"Li Chuan, you always so alert."
Shen Qiu's heart jumped. He quickly looked around, searching for the source of the voice. Finally, he saw it—one old security camera was slowly turning, its lens directly locking onto them.
The screen flickered for a moment. Then, a familiar figure appeared.
Li Feng.
He sat inside a large office, looking relaxed. Even his lips carried a faint smile, like he had been waiting for this moment.
"Welcome to my chess game," Li Feng's voice came through the old speakers, slightly distorted but still carrying a heavy pressure.
Shen Qiu gritted his teeth. "He's watching us!"
Li Chuan's expression didn't change. He stared at the screen, tone calm. "You planned all this ahead?"
Li Feng gave a small laugh. "You should know, I never fight a battle without preparing."
His gaze slowly swept over Li Chuan and Shen Qiu, then he spoke again, his voice steady. "I think you both already know your current situation. No communication, controlled routes, and the exits… all sealed."
Shen Qiu's face instantly darkened. He strode toward a side door of the factory, reached out to push it—
The door didn't move.
Shen Qiu tried harder, but no use. The back was welded shut.
"Shit!" Shen Qiu cursed under his breath.
"Looks like he's not lying." Li Chuan narrowed his eyes, his mind rapidly calculating an escape.
As if sensing his thoughts, Li Feng spoke again, voice slow and deep.
"Li Chuan, just admit it. This time, you can't escape."
Li Chuan didn't answer. Instead, his eyes scanned the entire factory structure.
This was a typical heavy industrial plant—huge open space, high ceilings, ventilation pipes running across the top. In the corners, old equipment piled up. Some were still connected to the factory's dismantled conveyor system.
"The exits are blocked, but maybe the top isn't," Li Chuan whispered.
Shen Qiu immediately looked up, staring at the narrow ventilation shaft near the ceiling. "You mean…?"
"Climb up." Li Chuan's voice was decisive. "That's our only way out."
Shen Qiu took a deep breath. "But if they know we're here, won't they also guess this exit?"
Li Chuan's gaze turned sharp.
"That's why we make a fake target."
Li Chuan quickly walked to an old electrical control unit. He ran his hand over it, then turned to Shen Qiu. "This thing still connected to power. Can you hack it?"
Shen Qiu checked it, fingers moving fast. "I can try."
"Overload it. Make it explode." Li Chuan's voice was steady. "If there's an accident inside the factory, they'll assume we're trapped. That'll buy us time."
Shen Qiu's fingers flew across the keyboard. Within seconds, the factory lights flickered. The power system began to destabilize.
"Ten seconds to overload," Shen Qiu warned.
Li Chuan nodded, grabbing a nearby steel beam. "Move!"
Both of them rushed toward the metal structures, climbing up fast.
The moment they squeezed into the ventilation shaft—
A sudden explosion ripped through the factory.
BOOM!
The entire building shook. Flames burst out, swallowing the exact spot they had stood before.
The surveillance feed turned to static for a moment.
In Li Feng's office, the screen flickered. His face remained calm, but his fingers tapped slightly on the desk.
A black-clad subordinate hesitated, then asked in a low voice, "They… really died?"
Li Feng's gaze stayed locked on the flickering screen.
"No," he finally said, voice unreadable. "It's not that simple."
"Keep searching."
But at that moment—
Li Chuan and Shen Qiu had already vanished into the darkness of the ventilation shafts.