The air in the monitoring room was thick and heavy. Neither of them spoke. Lin Mo, reading the atmosphere, finally let go of his usual teasing grin and wore a rare look of calm focus.
It was Lucy who broke the silence first. Her expression remained cold; her brows drew together for a moment, then loosened as if she'd just talked herself down. When she spoke again, her voice had returned to its usual detached steadiness.
"So what now? We just pick one of them to take back?"
She turned to look at the boy.
If it were up to her, she'd save them all. These people—so much like her once—should never have been stripped of choice and turned into disposable tools for corporate gain.
She had fought back once, and that was the only reason she was alive now. The others who had shared her path had died along the way, one by one.
The memories flickered before her eyes like a worn-out film reel—grainy and sharp, refusing to fade. Every idle hour she'd spent stealing Arasaka employee shards, telling herself it was revenge… but she knew the truth. Deep down, she was still afraid of Arasaka.
A shadow of the past that clung too tight.
Reality never bends to human will. Lucy knew it all too well—at best, they could save one of these six. The rest would be left behind, the same way the "lab rats" of her past had been punished for daring to escape, until only one was left alive.
At least she didn't have to make that choice this time. That burden fell on Lin Mo.
The boy's face was unreadable. Calm, almost indifferent. When he finally spoke, it was with an easy certainty:
"Do we even have to ask? Of course we save all of them."
Lucy blinked.
A few seconds later, she gave a faint, incredulous laugh.
"You're joking, right? Six people, four hands between us. What, you want me to carry three of them on my back while you play hero?"
"Relax," Lin Mo said lightly. "If I said it, I've got a way to do it."
He turned to the glowing monitors with a mysterious smile.
"Now it's your turn. Get those six out of their cells and move them to the first floor near the exit. Just in case, there are some tranquilizers in your bag—give them a shot each so they don't wake up midway."
Lucy's expression twisted with disbelief. "You're not seriously—?"
He'd made stupid jokes before, sure, but this was different. This was insane.
"Just do it. Leave the rest to me."
"And how exactly are you going to pull that off?" she shot back with a sharp laugh. "I drag these bodies upstairs, and then what? You're gonna summon a fleet of AVs with your money powers? If you can actually do that, I'll shut up forever."
Lin Mo didn't answer. The same small, unfathomable smile tugged at his lips.
"Lucy," he asked softly, "do you believe in miracles and magic?"
Lucy twitched at the corner of her mouth. Is he seriously losing it right now?
She didn't know what he meant, but she could read enough from his tone.
"Oh, sure, I believe," she said dryly. "I believe people on the Moon live happy lives free from hunger or work. But reality? Reality's full of corpses who died at their desks. I've seen what the world really looks like. You think you can just save everyone?"
Lin Mo only spread his hands with a helpless shrug.
"So you don't believe me. Fine. Then I'll put it as an order—from your squad leader. Follow instructions, no questions."
Lucy frowned deeply, searching his face for a hint of what he was planning.
Eventually, she exhaled and muttered, "Fine. Let's see what kind of mess you make."
Some things you just have to try. Like she once did—fighting back even when there was only one survivor in the end.
Lin Mo left the basement, taking the satchel with him. Lucy stayed behind.
With her experience breaking through Arasaka ICE, unlocking the holding cells was almost trivial. She injected each of the cyberpsycho captives with tranquilizers to keep them from waking too soon.
As for getting them out? There was no way she was hauling six limp bodies up by hand. She wasn't that stupid.
Instead, she found a transport cart—probably meant for hauling cryo canisters. Big enough for all six. She stacked them carefully and, drawing on muscles hardened by months in the scrapyard, pushed the cart toward the first floor.
During all this, Sasha had been watching through the security feed. Confused by their behavior, she'd asked Lin Mo what he was doing—especially when he reached the first floor and started shooting out every camera in sight.
"What are you up to?" she'd asked.
"You'll see," Lin Mo had said. "Don't ask for now."
And so Sasha, wisely, hadn't.
When Lucy finally wheeled the cart to the first floor, to the place Lin Mo had told her to stop, she froze where she stood.
Her hands slipped from the cart handles; they hung limply at her sides as she stared ahead, eyes wide and unfocused, like a little girl staring into a shop window full of impossible toys.
At the main entrance of the research facility—where vehicles once came and went—sat a heavy transport truck.
Not just any truck: a hulking, military-grade beast. Its dark yellow chassis gleamed beneath layers of visible armor plating, the cab reinforced like a tank, its sides emblazoned with corporate military insignia.
Even an Emperor 720 looked like a toy next to this monster.
No way this thing had just been sitting here. The researchers would've had to be brain-dead to leave a military hauler parked out front.
There was only one explanation: the boy had somehow made it appear.
How?
Lin Mo leaned casually against the armored hull, one hand resting on the cool metal, a faint smile curling at his lips.
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