Back on the unit floor, the air felt heavier.
Not because the institute was nearby.
Because everyone knew Ye Fan had been called in.
And everyone knew what that meant.
Zhou Xiao was waiting near the lockers. He looked at Ye Fan first, then at Mu Chen.
"What happened?" Zhou Xiao asked.
Ye Fan walked past him without answering.
Zhou Xiao flinched like he had been slapped, then looked at Mu Chen. "Lieutenant?"
Mu Chen kept it simple. "Questions."
Lin Lan stood by the tactical table, tablet in hand, face calm. But her eyes were sharp.
"They flagged the mission," Lin Lan said. It wasn't a question.
Mu Chen nodded once. "Yes."
Lin Lan's mouth tightened. "Of course."
Ye Fan stopped at his locker and began taking off gear, movements hard and fast. Like he could rip the institute out of his skin if he pulled hard enough.
Luo Wei entered a minute later.
She didn't look angry.
She looked tired.
"Unit debrief," Luo Wei said.
Everyone gathered at the table. Mu Chen took the edge again.
Luo Wei spoke in a low, controlled voice. "The institute is requesting follow-up tests. We will delay as long as we can. Until then, you do nothing stupid."
Her gaze landed on Ye Fan when she said it.
Ye Fan's face stayed blank. "Yes, ma'am."
Luo Wei tapped the screen. "We cleared the gate. That's the only good news. The bad news is the gate copied a structure from our last operation."
Zhou Xiao frowned. "It knows us."
Luo Wei nodded. "Or someone is feeding it data. Or both."
Lin Lan lifted her tablet. "The scanner door inside the gate matched the warehouse anomaly model. Same pattern."
Mu Chen listened.
He understood the shape of the problem now.
This wasn't random gate behavior.
This was design.
Testing. Measuring. Building a profile.
Luo Wei's voice stayed calm. "We are being studied."
No one spoke.
Even Zhou Xiao stayed quiet.
Luo Wei continued. "We keep our mouths shut. We keep our reports clean. We watch each other."
Her gaze moved to Mu Chen. "Lieutenant Mu. You don't go anywhere alone."
Mu Chen blinked. "Ma'am?"
Luo Wei didn't soften. "That's an order."
Mu Chen nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Ye Fan's head turned slightly, like he approved.
That approval didn't feel good.
It felt like a cage with a stronger lock.
The debrief ended.
People dispersed.
Zhou Xiao went to check weapons. Lin Lan went to file another report. Two others left to rest.
Mu Chen returned to his divider space.
He sat on the bed and stared at the desk lamp again.
Cold light.
He wondered if it was always this cold here, or if he was only noticing it now because he understood what it meant.
He opened his notebook and wrote two lines.
The institute noticed.
No one is safe.
He closed it.
A soft beep sounded overhead.
Mu Chen looked up.
A small camera above the divider shifted slightly, adjusting its angle.
Mu Chen's skin went cold.
It had always been there.
He had seen it on the first day.
But now he felt it watching him in a different way.
Not a general watch.
A focused watch.
Like eyes had picked him out.
Mu Chen stood up and moved to the edge of his divider, pretending to adjust his bag. He glanced up again.
The camera remained pointed at him.
He forced his face to stay calm.
He couldn't break it. That would trigger alarms.
He couldn't cover it. That would trigger alarms.
He couldn't look angry. That would trigger interest.
So he did what he had done as a child when adults watched him too closely.
He made himself small.
He sat back down and folded his hands like a good soldier.
A knock hit the divider.
Mu Chen's body tensed, then he relaxed it. "Yes?"
Zhou Xiao stepped in. He looked uncomfortable. "You got a minute?"
Mu Chen nodded. "Sure."
Zhou Xiao lowered his voice. "The camera… did it move?"
Mu Chen held still. "I don't know."
Zhou Xiao's mouth tightened. "It did. I saw it from the hall."
Mu Chen didn't answer.
Zhou Xiao exhaled. "They're watching you."
Mu Chen met his eyes. "They watch everyone."
Zhou Xiao shook his head, frustrated. "Not like this."
Mu Chen kept his voice soft. "What do you want me to do?"
Zhou Xiao's face pulled tight like he didn't know. "Nothing. That's the problem. We can't do anything."
He hesitated, then added, "Ye Fan is angry."
Mu Chen didn't react. "I noticed."
Zhou Xiao stepped closer, voice lower. "He's angry because he thinks they'll take you."
Mu Chen's throat tightened for half a second. He pushed it down.
"That's not his job," Mu Chen said.
Zhou Xiao gave a bitter laugh. "That's Ye Fan. He makes things his job."
Mu Chen stared at the cold lamp light on the desk. "Why?"
Zhou Xiao looked away. "Maybe because he knows what it feels like."
Mu Chen understood.
Ye Fan had called him an orphan like it was an insult.
But it was also a confession.
Zhou Xiao left.
Mu Chen lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
The camera above his divider blinked.
The base breathed.
And Mu Chen felt, clearly now, that he wasn't only living inside a unit.
He was living inside a box.
A clean box.
A cold box.
A box with eyes above.