1:00 AM. The city had long fallen silent, but near an abandoned railway warehouse in the southern suburbs, several unlicensed black cars quietly gathered.
Satellite positioning indicated that a key member of the "Abyss" organization—code-named Raven—was meeting an unknown buyer at this location for a high-risk arms deal.
Upon receiving the intel, Lu Chenzhou and Su Wanqing rushed to the scene overnight. The mission required covert infiltration, full surveillance, and the capture of Raven if the opportunity arose. A support team was on standby 500 meters out, prepared for any escalation.
The night wind howled through the rusted tracks. The abandoned factory stood weathered and broken, like a ghost town.
Dressed in tactical gear, Su Wanqing whispered to Lu Chenzhou, "Raven is high up in Abyss. If he's here in person, this deal must be critical."
Lu Chenzhou nodded. "This time, we can't let him escape."
They split up to infiltrate the factory perimeter. Through her night-vision goggles, Su Wanqing saw dim lights inside the warehouse and over a dozen armed men unloading crates from trucks—metal containers glinting coldly in the darkness.
Lu Chenzhou's voice came softly through the comms, "Target confirmed: rifles, explosives, gas grenades... Abyss is preparing chaos."
Su Wanqing replied, "I'll approach the main warehouse from the side door. Keep eyes on Raven."
Just as they closed in, a section of the ceiling suddenly collapsed with a loud crash.
"Someone's here!" A shout shattered the silence.
Gunfire erupted.
The fight broke out instantly. In the dim factory, bullets whizzed through the air. Lu Chenzhou rolled into cover and returned fire, dropping two Abyss gunmen.
Su Wanqing was forced to reroute, retreating to another wing of the building. Amid thick smoke, she lost wireless contact with Lu Chenzhou.
"Lu Chenzhou? Can you hear me?" she whispered into her earpiece, but only static answered.
Footsteps approached fast.
Calmly analyzing the terrain, Su Wanqing ducked into a storage room and primed a flashbang. As the door creaked open, blinding light exploded. A scream followed.
She lunged forward, subduing the intruder and pulling his communicator, attempting to intercept the internal frequency.
—"Target spotted. Team One intercept, Team Two flank. Keep her alive."
Her heart skipped a beat.
They don't want to kill me. They want to capture me?
Why?
She recalled Abyss's prior attempt to kidnap her—perhaps they needed her for something in the "Memory Puzzle," or maybe it was linked to her parents' sealed files.
But there was no time to dwell. She had to get out and deliver this intel to Lu Chenzhou.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the warehouse, Lu Chenzhou was engaged in a fierce firefight with two more Abyss operatives. Blood ran down his wounded left arm, but his gaze was steel, movements swift and precise.
He never stopped searching for Su Wanqing. "Please be okay, Wanqing."
Just as he was about to charge the western staircase, a flurry of footsteps approached. He raised his gun—only to see a familiar silhouette through the dust and haze.
"Lu Chenzhou!" Su Wanqing rushed to him, breathless but resolute. "I know their plan."
She quickly relayed the intercepted message.
"They don't want me dead—they want me alive. And Raven's next target is the docks."
Lu Chenzhou responded with a low voice, "Then we do two things—first, destroy their weapons. Second, take Raven alive."
Su Wanqing nodded. "I'll stay and set incendiary charges. You go after Raven."
Every second counted.
Su Wanqing circled to the explosives crates and planted mini-incendiary devices with delayed detonation. Lu Chenzhou, meanwhile, led a strike team to the back of the warehouse, intercepting Raven just as he tried to flee.
After a brutal hand-to-hand fight, Lu Chenzhou finally brought him down and snapped the cuffs onto his wrists.
"You think you've won?" Raven sneered. "You've only solved the easiest riddle."
Lu Chenzhou replied coldly, "But that one cost you half a year of planning."
Minutes later—BOOM!
A massive explosion lit up the sky. The warehouse erupted in flames as the support team arrived, swiftly containing the fire and detaining the remaining Abyss members.
Su Wanqing stared at the wreckage, her voice heavy. "They're buried too deep. We broke a link—but there's still a whole web behind it."
Lu Chenzhou placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll cut every thread—until it all collapses."
They stood together, silhouettes outlined by the blaze.
The night was far from over.But they had taken the next step forward.