"The hidden past… is the key to the true future."
06:45 AM – Roadside on the Laotian Mountainside
Alice and Death cautiously approached the secret main base. Thick fog blanketed the area. The profound silence was broken only by the calls of birds and their own heavy breathing.
Alice took out her binoculars, capturing images of old buildings hidden in the valley. "This is our destination… the main control station."
Death nodded. "We need to get in as quickly as possible, before BLOOD LOTUS knows we're here."
08:30 AM – Inside the Main Control Station
The dilapidated old control room was filled with dust and dangling wires. Old equipment, seemingly unused for years, littered the space.
Alice walked to a corner of the room and found a large, antiquated data storage device. She struggled to power up an old computer until an old video file opened on the screen.
09:02 AM – Old Video
The image of a man appeared. He had a familiar face… Alice's father, "Tharin," in his younger years.
A voice in the video recording said:
"If anyone finds this video, it means I may have been captured, or even killed. But the truth must not be silenced. I tried to stop BLOOD LOTUS while I still had the strength, and I hope that Alice, my daughter, will learn this truth… and choose her own path."
Tears welled in Alice's eyes. "Father… are you still alive…?"
(Then who was that in the news and at the airport back then?) Death thought, but didn't voice it.
09:15 AM – Secret Main Control Room
Death attempted to connect to the data through the old system and discovered a folder locked with a special passcode.
"This is the secret information your father left behind," Death said, decrypting the password Alice had provided.
Suddenly, the screen lit up, displaying a secret message:
"Status: Controlled subject not yet released."
And a map coordinate to a hiding place in the mountains not far away.
10:00 AM – Deep Mountains
Alice and Death followed the map to a secret cave concealing a thick steel door. They found scanning devices and security cameras.
Alice whispered, "This could be where Father is hiding… or where BLOOD LOTUS hides its secrets."
Death grasped the jet-black katana he kept sheathed, speaking seriously, "If we encounter enemies, we have no other choice."
"When hope is created only to be destroyed… truth becomes a painful weapon."
10:45 AM – Inside the Secret Mountain Cave
The heavy steel door groaned before slowly creaking open. The pale white light of old fluorescent bulbs flickered on one by one, revealing a vast underground prison, like an abandoned old laboratory.
The air was thick with a musty smell and so much dust that Alice had to cover her nose. The figure of a man lay leaning against the wall in a dark corner of the room. His hair was long and matted, his beard thick. He wore a tattered old t-shirt. His face was gaunt, yet his eyes held a familiar gentleness.
Alice's eyes widened, her body frozen for a moment.
"...Father?"
Her voice trembled, filled with a mixture of disbelief and hope. She rushed over and sank down beside him, her hands shaking as she touched the face of the man before her.
He slowly opened his eyes, meeting hers with the gentle smile she remembered so vividly.
"Alice... you've grown so much..."
Tears streamed down her face instantly, like a child separated from her father for ten years. She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
Death stood further back, his expression tense. He observed the situation keenly. Though the scene before him seemed like a dream come true, his killer instinct told him something was wrong.
11:00 AM – Underground Laboratory
The man recounted how he had been captured by BLOOD LOTUS for many years, used as a subject for psychological and genetic experiments. But he had survived, driven by the hope of seeing his daughter again.
Alice listened, deeply moved, her hand clutching his tightly. But suddenly, Death stepped forward, his brow furrowed, his gaze piercing into the man's eyes.
"If you're really Alice's father... tell me the name of the kindergarten Alice cried and refused to go to."
The man paused for a moment before answering slowly.
"...Brave Thinkers, Brave Dreamers Kindergarten... right?"
Alice looked at Death, bewildered. "That's right... Death, why would you ask that?"
But Death remained suspicious. "No, that school's name was changed three years after you disappeared... Your answer should have been the original name before that."
11:10 AM – True Identity Revealed
The man before them twitched slightly. His eyes changed color faintly, as if some mechanism were working beneath his skin. He rose slowly, his expression chillingly cold.
"It wouldn't be easy to fool the number one assassin of the LEO PROJECT..."
The voice that spoke was no longer the voice of the father Alice remembered. It was raspy and filled with mockery.
Alice knew instantly. Her body trembled. "This... isn't really my father?"
Death drew his pure black katana from its sheath, his eyes sharp, fierce, and ice-cold.
"BLOOD LOTUS created a clone to deceive you... to break your spirit."
11:20 AM – Fight in the Laboratory
The man transformed before their eyes. His skin began to crack, revealing synthetic tissue underneath, and his eyes turned blood-red.
Death confronted him. In an instant, the two clashed with the resounding clang of swords. The black blade reflected the bright lights of the room, clashing against the metallic claws of the unfeeling enemy.
Alice watched, tears streaming endlessly, her heart shattered. But her gaze began to harden. She stood up, grabbing a pistol from her waist.
"If they're going to play with our minds like this... I won't be weak anymore."
11:30 AM – Wreckage of a False Truth
When the battle ended, the clone of Alice's father fell to the floor, a pile of artificial scraps. The acrid smell of burnt synthetic flesh and wires filled the room.
Death sheathed his sword, looking at Alice, who stood still amidst the flickering lights. He walked over to her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
Alice wiped her tears, took a deep breath, and replied.
"No... But I won't fall again."
She turned to a screen on the wall. Above it, a message was inscribed in blood-red letters:
"Next Code: Black Lotus Garden - The Beginning of Everything."
Death nodded. "We're getting closer to the heart of BLOOD LOTUS... Brace yourself."
Alice gripped her pistol tightly, her expression transforming from a desperate young girl... into a warrior ready to fight for the truth.
"Black Lotus Garden - The Beginning of Everything."
11:50 AM - Exit of the Secret Cave
Alice's breath had yet to calm from the harrowing events. Her footsteps crunched on the cool, damp stone floor as she exited the cave. Her eyes were still red-rimmed, unshed tears blown away by the wind, along with the freshly inflicted pain in her heart.
Death walked a few paces ahead of her, amidst a silence as heavy as smoke. The mountain air was bitingly cold but offered no refreshment. The weak late-morning sun filtered through the treetops, casting its light on his shoulders. The black silhouette of the assassin and the bereaved girl stretched long along the gravel path leading down the mountain.
"Next code… Black Lotus Garden," Death said flatly, but his eyes were fixed, as if he had calculated every detail in his mind.
Alice nodded slowly. She said nothing more, as if her silence was an oath never to let what happened repeat itself.
12:30 PM – Secret Peak Behind the Winter Valley
The location indicated by the code was not a "garden" in the usual sense. It was a colossal, old underground experimental base, overgrown with a mutated species of black lotus, cultivated with specialized biotechnology. These lotuses were not only jet black but also emitted a chilling aura and a faint, sickeningly sweet scent.
Alice looked around warily. "This smell… it's like in my nightmares."
Death replied without turning. "It's not natural. It's an experiment in brainwave control, mixed with advanced hallucinogens… BLOOD LOTUS uses this place to turn 'fear' into a weapon."
The two passed through a ruined, rusted iron fence and into a subterranean descent. A heavy, reinforced steel door opened on its own, as if recognizing its visitors. The rumbling sound of internal mechanisms echoed down the corridor.
12:45 PM – Main Hall of the Lotus Garden
Red light bathed a grand hall, even larger than the previous laboratory. In the center stood several giant transparent tanks. Inside, human figures floated in a dark, murky liquid. Their faces were disturbingly similar. Some faces were… Death's. Some faces were Alice's.
Alice took a step back. "That's… me?"
Death narrowed his eyes, showing no surprise. "This is a project for simulating emotions and pain… BLOOD LOTUS is trying to create artificial humans, not just bodies, but souls… through suffering."
Suddenly, a woman's voice echoed from speakers throughout the room – raspy, yet seductive and mocking. "Welcome… top assassin and child of the LEO PROJECT, victim number 042-ALICE."
Alice gritted her teeth, her gaze wavering. "Who are you!?"
On the monitor above the tanks, an image appeared of a woman with long white hair, sharp features, and blood-red eyes. She wore a lab coat but exuded an aura of madness. "I am Dr. Lilia, one of the creators of the BLOOD LOTUS project… and the mother of all Alice projects."
01:00 PM – The Truth Behind
Dr. Lilia revealed that the Alice who had survived was "one of twelve models" created from the cells of the real child who had died during the raid on her parents ten years ago. Alice herself never knew she was a model with meticulously crafted artificial memories.
Alice's world shattered. She crumpled to the floor, gasping for breath, as if the entire space was spinning.
Death knelt beside her. "What you are is not defined by anyone else, but by who you choose to be… You have a heart, feelings, tears. That is the truth."
Alice looked up, her eyes filled with tears and the light of realization. "And you… Death, were you a model too?"
Death closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, calmly. "I don't know… But I choose to use this life to protect those who are precious to me."
A soft explosion sounded from behind. The experimental tanks began to shake. Some cracked, dark liquid gushing out.
01:15 PM – Facing a New Enemy
From the deepest part of the room, a figure in a black leather cloak emerged, his footsteps heavy and deliberate. Half of his face was human, the other half, steel mechanisms and a round lens.
"Welcome… Death, and test subject number 042… It's time to test whether the 'real thing' is superior to what we 'created'."
Death stood up, drawing his black katana from its sheath again. The sound of metal scraping against scabbard echoed through the room.
Alice rose to stand beside him, her pistol raised, her expression equally resolute.
"Then let BLOOD LOTUS see… what true humanity… really is."
TO BE CONTINUED…