The hidden door groaned open.

  Behind it stretched a wide underground workshop—

  long abandoned, dust thick on every surface.

  Mechanical parts and rusted tools lay scattered across the floor.

  Yellowed blueprints curled at the edges.

  Several worktables were buried under half?finished devices.

  And in the far corner, on a simple medical cot—

  lay Kyle Roan.

  His armor had been stripped away,

  leaving only a grimy work vest clinging to his sweat?soaked skin.

  Blood?soaked bandages wrapped his torso.

  His face was ashen, lips tinged blue,

  breath shallow and uneven.

  A girl of thirteen or fourteen knelt beside him,

  coal dust smudged across her cheeks.

  Her bright eyes were wide with fear

  as she dabbed his forehead with a damp cloth.

  The moment the door opened, she jerked upright,

  snatching a wrench from the table.

  “Who are you?!”

  Sunri immediately raised both hands.

  “We’re not guards. We’re here to help.”

  Roan tried to push himself up—

  but his body failed him.

  He managed only a slight lift

  before collapsing back with a strangled groan.

  His gaze drifted to the necklace in Sunri’s hand.

  His pupils tightened.

  “That necklace…

  Where did you… get it?”

  “The cat brought us here,” Sunri said,

  gesturing toward Mo?Dou—

  who was perched on a worktable,

  calmly licking its paw as if nothing in the world concerned it.

  “Coalball?” Roan rasped, startled.

  “You… know them?”

  Clearly, he thought Mo?Dou was a local stray

  and had even given it a name.

  Mo?Dou meowed once,

  unbothered.

  Some of the tension drained from Roan’s shoulders,

  though suspicion still lingered in his eyes.

  “Who are you?

  Why help me?”

  “We’re travelers,” Sunri replied.

  “We’re looking for someone.

  And your necklace…

  felt similar to something we’ve encountered.”

  He stepped closer and offered the pendant.

  Roan tried to lift his hand—

  but his strength failed.

  The girl—Amy—took it gently

  and placed it in his palm.

  Roan closed his eyes,

  as if sensing something through the gem.

  After a long, trembling breath,

  he opened them again—

  bitterness clouding his gaze.

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  “I dropped this during the fight…

  My wife, Maya…

  she has the identical one.”

  “You said your wife and daughter disappeared,” Sunri said softly.

  “Tell us everything.

  We might be able to help.”

  Roan studied the four strangers—

  Sunri’s steady sincerity,

  Ye Lingyun’s sword at his hip,

  Lin Che’s medical kit and calm professionalism,

  and the quiet child in Sunri’s arms.

  He looked at Amy.

  She nodded.

  “Help me sit up,” Roan murmured.

  Amy adjusted the pillows with practiced care.

  Roan drew a shaky breath.

  “My name is Kyle Roan.

  I was the technical chief of the Steel Vein Brotherhood.”

  “Steel Vein isn’t a terrorist group.

  It’s a guild—

  pipe workers, mechanics, engineers.

  We maintain the city’s steam pipeline system,

  from the Upper District’s luxury towers

  to the slums below.”

  “A month ago, we detected abnormal fluctuations

  in the central power core’s energy output.

  Not a malfunction—

  a rhythmic pulse.

  Like… a signal.”

  “I reported it.

  They told me it was routine adjustment.”

  His fingers tightened around the necklace,

  knuckles white.

  “But I checked the historical logs myself.

  This pattern appeared three times in the last five years.

  Each time, it matched a ‘random accident’

  in the Lower District—

  pipe explosions, steam leaks,

  people dying.”

  “And every time, the guards sealed the site

  and blocked all investigation.”

  “So you went in yourself?” Sunri asked.

  Roan nodded, coughing—

  blood staining his lips.

  “I snuck into the core’s control center

  to retrieve deeper data.

  But before I even touched the console,

  alarms blared.

  Guards stormed in,

  accusing me of sabotage.”

  “I barely escaped.”

  His voice cracked.

  “When I returned home…

  Maya and Lily were gone.

  Signs of struggle everywhere.

  But no one saw anything.”

  He looked at Amy, grief hollowing his eyes.

  “This is Amy—my apprentice’s sister.

  Her brother vanished the same day.”

  “We’ve been hiding,

  trying to uncover the truth…

  but my injuries…”

  Lin Che had already slipped on gloves,

  expression sharpening.

  “Mr. Roan, I’m a doctor.

  Your breathing pattern, complexion, and lip color

  suggest internal bleeding and hemothorax.

  I need to examine you now.”

  Roan hesitated—

  then nodded.

  Lin Che pressed a stethoscope to his chest,

  brows knitting.

  “Left lung sounds severely diminished.”

  He turned to Amy.

  “Clean water and cloth.

  Hurry.”

  Amy scrambled to fetch them.

  Lin Che disinfected his hands and tools,

  speaking calmly as he worked:

  “Hemothorax—blood in the chest cavity

  compressing the lung.

  He won’t last without drainage.”

  Ye Lingyun watched silently,

  for once without a joke.

  Sunri asked quietly,

  “Is it dangerous?”

  “All invasive procedures carry risk,” Lin Che said.

  “Not doing it is worse.”

  He positioned the needle.

  “Mr. Roan, this will hurt.”

  The needle pierced flesh.

  Roan’s body tensed.

  Dark blood flowed through the tube.

  Lin Che adjusted the angle,

  voice steady.

  “So you believe someone impersonated you

  and altered the surveillance logs?”

  Roan gritted his teeth.

  “It had to be an insider.

  Only high?level clearance can access those logs.

  Jackson… my closest friend…

  now a Guardian commander.”

  “He must be involved…

  or at least aware.”

  Lin Che’s tone remained clinical.

  “Create a motive,

  forge evidence,

  control key witnesses by abducting family,

  then publicly condemn the target.

  Classic political framing—

  just with better tools.”

  Ye Lingyun nodded slowly.

  “A scheme of entrapment.”

  “Essentially,” Lin Che replied,

  finishing the drainage.

  Sunri lifted the necklace again.

  “Mr. Roan…

  besides sentimental value,

  does this pendant have any special property?

  You said it guides toward the truth.”

  Roan’s gaze softened with memory.

  “Maya said it’s a family heirloom—

  over a century old.

  She always claimed the gem was ‘alive,’

  glowing at certain times.”

  “I thought it was just refraction.”

  “But the night before she vanished,

  she told me:

  ‘Kyle, if anything happens to me,

  the necklace will guide you to the truth.’”

  “I thought she was just anxious…”

  Sunri and Ye Lingyun exchanged a look.

  Too similar to Lunelle’s clues.

  Lin Che examined the gem.

  “The internal patterns are fluid—

  microscopic crystalline structures

  arranged deliberately.

  Under light, they project images.”

  He held it near the gas lamp.

  A faint projection shimmered on the wall—

  part of a map,

  or a mechanical diagram.

  “We need a stronger, focused light source.”

  At that moment—

  BANG! BANG!