Night hung heavy over the derelict industrial zone on the city's edge, submerged in thick fog and an absolute silence, as if forgotten by time. The stench of rust and corrosive chemicals filled the air. Distant, broken pipes moaned hollowly in the wind, like the lament of a sunken leviathan. The Li convoy glided into the area like ghosts, lights extinguished.
The detector in Wang Jing's hand emitted a rapid, deliberately muted beeping.
"Mr. Li, EM background noise is off the charts. Strong residual pulses, frequency-locked with Psi. And also... multiple unidentified passive infrared sources on the surrounding high ground. It's like... they were lying in wait before we arrived."
Su Xiaolan stepped out of the vehicle. The cold was biting, but she felt something else more clearly: a faint, yet rhythmic vibration beneath her feet, as if some colossal entity was... breathing deep underground.
"Dr. Leng... is beneath this ruin?" Her voice was tight, fingers unconsciously clenching the misshapen chip bag.
"Psi's guidance leads here. Whether the answers or a trap lie below, this is our course." Li Chenyuan's voice was low and steady, like a submarine's keel resisting the immense, invisible pressure. His gaze swept over the abandoned factory buildings, assessing every potential threat like a precision sensor.
Descent into the Relic
The central iron door of the main building was encased in thick rust, yet the access system betrayed an anomalous technological edge—a hybrid device: an old but well-maintained biometric scanner combined with a physical cipher lock.
"Hard to say what a forced breach would trigger," Wang Jing whispered.
"Let me try." Su Xiaolan stepped forward, connecting her temporary terminal to an exposed data port. Her fingers danced in the faint light, bypassing layer upon layer of firewalls, like unwrapping an ancient cocoon.
"...This isn't standard military-grade. It's hooked into an independent network inside the relic... using early Deep Water authentication protocols. Found the backdoor. It's using... Dr. Leng's signature algorithmic logic."
Click. The lock disengaged, and the heavy door slid open. A wave of icy air, thick with age, washed over them from the darkness within.
"Twenty-five minutes," Li Chenyuan's tone was icy. "Whatever we find, we evacuate on the mark."
The passage led downward. Faded graffiti on the walls hinted at whale tail motifs. The smell of ozone grew stronger, oppressive as deep-sea pressure. Finally, they reached a massive underground chamber.
It looked like the scene of a catastrophic disaster: server arrays were mostly burnt-out or smashed, charred marks mingling with debris. Yet at the center, one remarkably intact mainframe was still operational, its casing pulsing with a faint green light, synchronized with Psi's rhythm.
Su Xiaolan reached out and touched the cold casing. Instantly, a torrent of fragmented data flooded her mind—
—A young, intensely focused Dr. Leng, calculating furiously at a terminal;
—The "Deep Water Thirteen" signing the treaty stamped with the whale tail watermark;
—A line of text, repeatedly erased: [Should the Anchors falter, the Protocol destabilizes, seek the Fifth Witness — P.D.]
The visions ceased abruptly. She staggered, steadied by Li Chenyuan's firm grip.
"He left more than data... a warning, and a plea for help..."
External Incursion
BOOM—
The chamber lights flickered madly! A shrill alarm erupted from Wang Jing's detector.
"Mr. Li! High-intensity jamming! Someone's forcibly taking over the relic's backup power!"
A projection screen flickered to life overhead. Gu Yu's figure materialized, his backdrop a flowing sea of data light.
"Mr. Li, Xiaolan. What lies here is too dangerous for private hands. Hand it over. I will ensure its... 'proper' utilization," he smiled, his tone laced with fervor. "Xiaolan, you know this. Deep Water needs guides who understand it, not cages that suppress it. We are the ones meant to navigate these depths. We are the same kind."
"'Proper utilization'? Like seven years ago?" Su Xiaolan retorted coldly.
Before anyone could respond, another cold voice rang out from the passage entrance—
"She's not going anywhere with you."
Lu Xingze appeared with his StarShield team, weapons lowered but ready. His gaze fixed directly on Su Xiaolan, his voice a mix of concern and grim resolve:
"Xiaolan, don't be used by anyone anymore. The waters here are deeper than you know. Come with me. It's the only way to keep you safe."
Tension spiked instantly in the chamber. Li Chenyuan instinctively moved to shield Su Xiaolan, his cold gaze sweeping over both men. "This is Li territory. She is under my protection."
Revelation
In the tense standoff, the central mainframe suddenly blazed with intense light! Wall screens lit up one by one, the projection of the Psi neural network spreading across the entire chamber.
A translation scrolled into view:
[ANCHOR QUALIFICATIONS CONFIRMED: F.LK.]
[GUIDANCE PROTOCOL INITIATED.]
[PARTIAL ACCESS PERMISSIONS GRANTED.]
[OBJECTIVE: LOCATE AND SECURE THE 'FIRST ANCHOR' — DR. LENG QINGHUI.]
[WARNING: OPPOSITIONAL RESPONSE DETECTED. SOURCE: P.D.]
"Dr. Leng?! He's alive?!" Su Xiaolan gasped.
Then, another line of smaller text flickered into existence:
[P.D. = Protocol Designer // NOTE: Non-Human Witness]
The air solidified.
"The Fifth Witness... isn't human?" Her pupils contracted sharply.
Wang Jing sucked in a breath. "This means the Pact's highest witness... was never human from the start?!"
Countdown Resumes
Beep—
The blood-red countdown suddenly sprang back to life!
[04:59:59]
[04:59:58]
"The countdown's reset!" a technician cried out. "The source logic... it's from P.D.!"
Gu Yu's projection let out a light laugh. "The Arbiter awakens. The game is just beginning."
Lu Xingze's face grew grimmer. "Xiaolan, there's no time left! Its target is you!"
The phantom of the abyssal blue eye coalesced on the wall, its pupil gazing down icily.
Words appeared as if carved into the air:
[CHOOSE.]
[WHO, IS WORTHY OF ENTRUSTMENT? WHO, WILL BECOME THE NEXT ANCHOR?]
The low-frequency whale song transformed into a war drum, vibrating in every chest.
Su Xiaolan's palm was damp and cold, but she clutched the chip bag fiercely. The faint crinkle was her only anchor.
She raised her head, breaking free from all the watching eyes, meeting the gaze of the abyssal blue eye directly.
"I will choose."
The countdown flashed frantically. The chamber's hum intensified, as if the entire relic were awakening.
The twenty-five-minute deadline was only half over.
The true deep-sea leviathan had already opened its maw.