Chapter 27: "This Time, Lu Zhanxing, No More Lies."

The shrill buzz of Lu Zhanxing’s pager cut through the tense silence.

Yu Mo’s voice cracked over the line: “Boss, there’s a convoy of rebel vehicles heading toward the East Coast.”

Shao Ye was quick to connect the dots. “East Coast? That’s White Boss’s turf—the abandoned nuclear fusion plant. Could be the hideout for his secret lab.”

Lu Zhanxing’s tone was clipped, no room for debate. “Tail them. Shao Ye and I will be there soon. Alert the others to rendezvous at the East Coast.”

In seconds, they were on their motorcycles, engines growling like beasts unleashed, tearing down the road at breakneck speed.

By the time they arrived, Yu Mo and Yu Han were already tucked into a shadowy corner, scanning the scene with hawk-like precision. Yas wasn’t far behind, arriving just moments later.

Yu Mo handed a pair of tactical binoculars to Shao Ye. Zhanxing didn’t bother—his eyes were sharper than any lens.

Down below, the scene unfolded like a silent thriller. A deal. Rebels unloading secured safes plastered with hazard symbols for dangerous chemicals.

Yu Han’s voice was grim. “Those cases probably contain the gas they deployed in the Eighth Galaxy. The Alliance Army hasn’t even secured a proper concentrated sample—just diluted traces sent to Imperial City labs. No cure yet. If we can snag the originals…”

Lu Zhanxing cut him off. “Rushing in is suicide. Look at their setup—armored convoy, mini-mechs. A frontal assault? We’d be toast.”

And then he saw him. Bai Boss, the phantom who’d been MIA. A masked figure in white pushed a wheelchair into view. Slumped in that chair was the man himself, looking like death warmed over—gaunt, hollowed, utterly drained. The once-dominant alpha who had ruled the Dust District like a storm was now a flickering candle.

Shao Ye’s disbelief was palpable. “Is that… really him? Ten days ago, he was fine. Now he’s… this?”

Lu Zhanxing’s brow twitched, his silence louder than words.

Yu Mo sneered. “Karma, plain and simple. You don’t gas millions in the Eighth Galaxy and walk away clean. Probably botched something in his lab and got himself wrecked.”

Their attention snapped back to the scene below. What happened next froze them.

A woman stepped out of the rebel convoy, shook hands with Bai Boss, and spoke briefly.

Shao Ye’s jaw tightened. “No way… Lin Ba?” His voice was a knife edge. The woman was supposed to be locked up. So how had she slipped out of Lu family custody and ended up here, mingling with the rebel elites?

Lu Zhanxing’s voice was cold enough to frost glass. “There’s a mole in the family.”

Bai Boss cracked open one of the safes for inspection, nodding in satisfaction. A woman in a lab coat emerged from his side, practically launching herself at Lin Na in an emotional embrace.

Shao Ye’s brain ticked over. “That’s her mother? The lunatic scientist who broke out of prison?”

The pieces fell into place. And yet, more questions remained. If they’d wrapped the deal, why weren’t they leaving?

And where the hell was Shao Ye’s sister?

The air was taut with Shao Ye’s impatience, but the moment shattered like glass as another figure stepped out of the rebel vehicle.

The man strolled up to Lin Na and her mother with the air of someone who owned the damn galaxy. The team’s collective intake of breath was audible.

It was him. Lu Zhanxing’s half-brother. Lu Xinglan.

No one said a word. The weight of the revelation hung in the air like smoke. All eyes darted to Lu Zhanxing, whose icy stare could have frozen fire. His fists clenched, knuckles whitening.

Then, chaos.

“Boss, down!” Yu Mo’s shout was barely out before he shoved Zhanxing aside.

CRACK!

The sniper’s bullet clipped Yu Mo’s shoulder, the impact softened by his ballistic vest. Without the shove, it would’ve carved through Lu Zhanxing’s skull.

Lu Zhanxing moved like lightning, shoving Shao Ye’s head down while spinning to fire. One shot. One kill. The sniper’s head snapped back, a neat hole drilled between the eyes.

Rising from cover, Lu Zhanxing unleashed a barrage of pistol fire into the distant deal site. Each shot was precise, lethal. A predator on the hunt.

No hesitation. No mercy.

If only the damn distance hadn’t been so far—or if the guy had been packing a sniper rifle instead of whatever garbage he was using—not a single one of those rebel leaders would’ve walked out alive. Not a chance in hell.

End result? Lin Na and her mom, died on the spot, no fanfare.

Lu Xinglan? Took a bullet but somehow still breathing, only to get dragged off by the rebels like some unlucky prize.

And Boss Bai?

The wheelchair-bound bastard?

Every bullet aimed his way got eaten up by his creepy robed, masked bodyguard. Guy pushed him straight into the lab like he owned the place, slammed the steel doors shut, and that was that. Game over for anyone chasing them.

The special ops squad? Damn near superhuman. Top-tier weapons, flawless moves, and somehow a handful of them gave the illusion of a full-blown army. Rebels? Scattered like roaches, tails between their legs.

“Stick close,” Lu Zhanxing barked, shielding Shao Ye as they reached the lab entrance.

No time for hesitation. He tossed an electromagnetic jammer to fry the lab’s defenses—cameras, weapons, everything went dark.

At the massive iron doors, chaos reigned. The floor was littered with debris and busted crates.

Yu Han ripped open the panel of the security ID system by the door like it owed him money, no hesitation, no finesse—just raw efficiency. He jammed a sleek, high-tech black box into the exposed wires, its polished edges glinting in the dim light.

Before you could even blink, Ye Li had taken over. The surveillance and weapon controls didn’t stand a chance—they shut down faster than a cheap toy running out of batteries, leaving the door wide open for whatever mayhem came next.

The doorway was a mess, littered with boxes from their shady dealings. And guess what? Cracking them open didn’t reveal anything harmless—no, these bastards had packed them full of liquefied poison gas bombs.

Lovely.

“Pack this up and send it straight to Imperial Star Medical Lab,” he ordered.

“On it.” Yas carefully sealed the toxic loot in radiation-proof bags, loading it onto his bike like it was a goddamn cursed treasure.

“Ye Li, status on the lab,” Zhanxing demanded. Within seconds, tactical overlays lit up their HUDs—maps, surveillance feeds, the works.

The lab wasn’t just a lab; it was an underwater fortress, with its lower levels merging into the East Sea. Hidden, sure. Safe? Hell no. Most of the bodies inside—guards, scientists, you name it—were sprawled out like grotesque art installations in pools of their own blood.

The team froze, disbelief hanging thick in the air. The pristine, secretive haven of Boss Bai? Now a slaughterhouse. The contrast was jarring.

“Ye Li, where’s Boss Bai?” “Commander, most of the lab’s systems were physically wrecked after I hacked in. Can’t pinpoint him,” Ye Li replied coolly.

“Physically wrecked?” Shao Ye frowned.

Ye Li played back the footage: the masked bodyguard knew they’d been breached and, without hesitation, systematically obliterated the cameras and sensors.

Efficient. Ruthless.

“He’s good,” Lu Zhanxing muttered. “That lab’s just Boss Bai and his pet psychopath now. Stay sharp—this guy’s no pushover.”

No kidding. The bastard had evaded sniper fire and managed to haul his crippled boss back to the lab without breaking a sweat. That kind of precision? Not even most Alphas could pull it off.

Unease gnawed at LumZhanxing.

What the hell was Bai cooking up down there?

Human experiments?

That poor girl locked in the stasis pod?

The whole thing stank of nightmares waiting to happen.

“Stay here,” he ordered Shao Ye, signaling to the rest. “Yu Mo, Yu Han, guard him. Yas, with me.”

Shao Ye’s gut churned. Something was off.

“Why are you leaving me behind?” he pressed.

“The place is a bloodbath. You’ll just slow us down,” Zhanxing shot back, not even trying to sugarcoat it.

“Don’t lie to me,” Shao Ye said, sharp but resigned. He knew he wasn’t combat material, but still—it didn’t sit right.

"Alright, I'll hear you out, but don't you dare feed me another lie—'cause if you do, we're done. No excuses, no second chances."

Lu Zhanxing didn’t answer, just disappeared into the shadows with Yas.

Alone, Shao Ye’s anxiety spiked. His gaze snagged on a busted ceiling camera, and an idea clicked. “Ye Li, pull surveillance from the day Boss Bai left the mech factory,” he demanded.

The playback unraveled a different nightmare: Bai storming into the lab, smashing everything in sight. The staff stood silent, too scared to intervene. Then came the stasis pod, wheeled in like a centerpiece.

“Stop. Zoom in,” Shao Ye ordered. The image sharpened, and there it was. A face he hadn’t seen in forever yet knew instantly.

“...Ah Lan,” he rasped, voice breaking. His chest clenched, breath hitching as the realization hit.

A sharp burst of gunfire shattered his thoughts. Yu Mo yanked him into cover as Yu Han scanned the area, on high alert.

“What’s happening?” Shao Ye started, only to double over with a sudden, searing pain in his chest. It was agony—raw, consuming. He bit his lip to keep from screaming, clutching himself as his body quaked.

Yu Mo and Yu Han panicked, searching for an injury but found nothing. His skin was flawless, untouched. Whatever was happening to him, it wasn’t physical—it was deeper, scarier, and far beyond their understanding.

He had no idea what had gotten into Shao Ye to make him suddenly writhe in such agony. He shot out a quick, sharp question: "Shao Ye, there’s no wound on you. What the hell is going on? Are you having a heart attack or something?"

In the blink of an eye, sweat was dripping off Shao Ye's forehead, cold and relentless.

He gritted his teeth, his voice strained. "I’m not sick… I don’t know what’s happening, but damn, it hurts like hell…"

As the pain twisted through him, something else surged in his mind—an emotion he couldn’t quite pin down, sharp and raw, like longing. No, not longing. Craving.

"Lu Ge..." His voice barely dragged itself out, the name scraping against his throat. Lu Zhanxing.

Right then and there, it felt like someone had ripped his heart out with their bare hands, leaving nothing but a void filled with unbearable pain and one blinding thought:

He had to see Lu Zhanxing.

Even if it meant burning himself out completely, he would crawl, fight, claw his way back to him.