A glacial silence swallowed the laboratory.
It happened the instant those blood-red characters—[F.LK WELCOME BACK TO THE DEEP]—blazed across the main viewing panel. Every sound died, every movement ceased, as if time itself had been severed.
The sterile screen glow cast harsh light on a gallery of frozen faces, a still life of pure shock. Engineers stood rigid, eyes wide, mouths agape. Some took an involuntary step back, recoiling as if she emitted a virulent, digital plague. Astonishment, awe, suspicion, raw fear—these emotions detonated like depth charges, their silent, chaotic aftershocks rippling through the paralyzed room.
Su Xiaolan remained motionless, her fingers clenched white-knuckled around the cleaned, flattened chip bag. The rough foil edges bit deep into her palm, a sharp, burning pain that was nothing compared to the sting of their collective gaze.
"Is she… that F.LK?" a whisper, hushed yet piercing in the quiet, escaped from a corner.
"The legend from seven years ago? The one who nearly sank the Deep Water forum? I thought she was…" The sentence ended abruptly with a sharp nudge from a colleague.
A sharp crack echoed. Wang Jing's expensive stylus had snapped in two, the pieces skittering across the polished floor.
As the hushed tension threatened to boil over, Li Chenyuan moved.
He turned slowly, a deep-sea leviathan stirring to life. His mere presence quelled the rising panic. His gaze, cold as polar ice, swept the room, a tangible force demanding submission. Where it landed, silence deepened.
"From this moment," his voice was low, a resonant bass that vibrated through the stillness, each word forged from steel, "all baseless speculation regarding F.LK ceases."
He let the command hang, allowing its absolute weight to crush all dissent.
"She is Su Xiaolan. A core technical member of the Li Corporation's Hoffman Project. My personal selection." His eyes finally found hers, pale and defiant. His stare was an abyss, holding unquestionable authority. "Anyone who questions her based on her past questions my judgment. Anyone who challenges her, challenges my rules."
The finality of his words left the room in a vacuum. The complex stares faltered, replaced by deference and fear. This was more than protection; it was a sovereign claim. In his domain, she was under his protection.
Su Xiaolan's throat tightened. Her heart was an anchor of ice warmed by a sudden, conflicting current. He was her shield, yet the sheer force of his control sent a faint, painful tremor through her—a reminder of secrets still held.
As the room emptied, the oppressive silence was broken only by the low, constant hum of servers, the relentless breath of a machine.
"You…" The word scraped out, dry and raw. "Aren't you going to ask?" Ask why I lied. Ask who I really am.
Li Chenyuan's eyes met hers, dark currents swirling in their depths. The silence stretched, a weight threatening to crush her. "Yes," he said finally.
The single word held the density of a dying star.
She bit her lip, a volatile mix of shame and defiance surging up, only to be forced down into bitter irony. "Because I was naive enough to believe… if I ran far enough, hid well enough, I could bury F.LK. I could just be… a salted fish. Those codenames, the forum, the… the treaties in the shadows… I swore I'd seal it all in a deep-sea tomb." Her voice began to fracture. She gestured weakly at the burning screen. "But they won't let me go. The Deep… it has a memory. It always vomits its wrecks back to the surface."
A fractured memory surfaced—a black screen screaming with crimson alerts; a sterile room and a voice, cold and final: "Sign it. It's the only way out." The ghost of a whale's tail insignia, twisting in fire and smoke…
She shook her head violently, trying to dislodge the vision.
He stepped closer. He asked no other question. Instead, his hand closed over hers, his grip firm yet not ungentle, prying her clenched fingers apart. He took the crumpled foil packet from her. His thumb brushed accidentally over the deep red welts on her palm. A barely perceptible shiver passed through them both. He placed the bag carefully on the console, a strangely deliberate act.
"Whoever they are," his voice was a low, steady rumble, a force to calm treacherous seas, "from the moment you entered my waters, you ceased to face them alone."
The dam broke. A hot tear escaped, tracing a path down her cheek before she could stop it.
Later, the PR report landed like a bomb. The social media feeds on the main display were a riot of carnage.
[BREAKING: CEO Li' Mystery Assistant Exposed as Int'l Hacker F.LK!]
[DEPTH CHARGE: Undercurrent Protocol Sabotage an Inside Job?]
[Li's Folly? Hundred-Billion Euro Project in Hands of Rogue Hacker!]
The comments were a torrent of venom:
"F.LK is on international watchlists! Li Corp is doomed!"
"Everyone from Deep Water is a criminal! She's a corporate spy!"
"Is he blind? Hand her over now to save face!"
Rational voices attempting to analyze F.LK's complex legacy were drowned in the hateful flood.
Wang Jing's face was grim. "Sir, the narrative is uncontrollable. The board… three major shareholders have jointly demanded Miss Su's immediate suspension and a full forensic audit to 'mitigate existential risk.'"
Li Chenyuan's expression was carved from stone. "Convene the board."
The conference room air was thick enough to choke on. Around the table, the executives wore masks of concern, their verdict already clear.
"The F.LK identity is a liability. A ticking bomb."
"She must be isolated. All access revoked. A full audit is mandatory procedure!"
Their stares were branding irons. Su Xiaolan sat straight, her blood running cold.
As the verdict seemed inevitable, Li Chenyuan's voice cut through, sharp and absolute. "I refuse."
The word hung in the air, hard and final. His glacial gaze swept the room. "Her competence is our only key. Her loyalty is my guarantee. This discussion is over."
A murmur ran through the room. Wang Jing approached swiftly, his voice a hushed urgency meant only for Li Chenyuan. "Sir, an intercept. Zhang Jingxian… twenty years ago, she was deep in a classified project: 'Encrypted Wave Monitoring & Decryption.' Its designation… it overlaps significantly with an attachment linked to the Deep Water forum's 'Silent Treaty.' Seven years ago."
Su Xiaolan's heart seized. Granny Zhang's gentle smile, the warm yellow light of her home… was it kindness, or a lie? A keeper of secrets, or a silent warden?
Before anyone could speak, the main screen dissolved into static. Garbled code cascaded like a waterfall, resolving into a single, pulsating line of eerie cyan text:
[F.LK, DO NOT FORGET THE 'SILENT TREATY'. SILENCE, OR DESTRUCTION.]
The air crystallized. Someone gasped. "The… the Silent Treaty? It's real?"
Su Xiaolan felt the world drop away. The memories crashed over her—the cold countdown, the stench of melting servers, the whisper that had haunted seven years of silence: "Sign. Or be erased."
Li Chenyuan's hand locked onto her arm, his grip iron. "Xiaolan!" he demanded, his voice a low, urgent storm. "Look at me. What is the Silent Treaty?!"
She squeezed her eyes shut, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. The floodgates burst. The darkness she had dammed for seven years roared back, consuming her.
The running was over.
From the abyssal depths, the true leviathan had awakened.
And the price for its long silence was finally due.