Suddenly, the phone in Luu Thanh's pocket vibrated. The screen lit up with a notification:
[DECRYPTION SUCCESSFUL] - GPS encryption identifies the license plate of the vehicle that caused the accident: 43D-907.66
"Bingo!" Luu Thanh yelled, excited. "I decrypted it! Here—the license plate of the car that caused your sister's accident, Nam!"
Nhat Nam almost jumped: "Where? Let me see! So there's… still a clue!"
Hai Yen's eyes widened: "If we know the license plate, where do we find the car? Do we have to re-check the city cameras?"
"No need to go far." Cao Hai interjected. "The car that caused the accident was certainly impounded and taken to the town's scrapyard. I've been there—it's full of wrecked cars. If we're lucky, it's still there."
Without hesitation, the group jumped into the car. The convoy once again sped toward the town like a dark whirlwind.
* * *
At the scrapyard, the smell of oil and rust was strong. Hundreds of crumpled cars lay piled up, like battlefield corpses in a metal graveyard.
Anh Thu rushed to ask a worker who was operating a forklift:
"Excuse me! Have you seen a car with license plate 43D-907.66?"
He scratched his head, grimacing: "For those numbers, you have to ask the intake guy—he manages the logs. He's in the operations room, over in that corner."
Following his direction, the group hurried over. A young man wearing dark glasses, sipping a soft drink, raised an eyebrow at them.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice sluggish.
Cao Hai stepped forward without a word, pulled a five hundred thousand dong note from his wallet, held it between two fingers, and gently pushed it forward.
The young man smirked, his fingers nimbly typing on an old computer keyboard.
"Here it is. Plate 43D-907.66. The car was brought in two years ago. It's in section B, row 3, right at the front, so you don't have to look long."
"Thanks, friend." Hai nodded, and the group immediately ran off.
* * *
In section B, row 3, the car appeared like a downed beast. The front was heavily dented, and the windshield was cracked. The car brand emblem was peeling off, but the license plate was still there—43D-907.66—a perfect match.
Nhat Nam almost rushed into the car like a person who had lost control. He opened the glove compartment, looking for the black box—the accident data recorder, which might contain the last footage before Thanh Truc was shot.
But…
"Damn it!" Nhat Nam punched the rusty steering wheel. "The black box is gone! They… took it out! It was the same with my sister's car—the car burned and the black box was also missing!"
The air went silent as if choked. The wind blowing through the pile of old cars created a whistling sound, like silent souls weeping in cold steel.
"We were led on," Anh Thu whispered. "They left nothing behind!"
A black crow suddenly flew down, landing on the car's roof. Its eyes gleamed—a purple light reflecting streaks of data swirling like a tornado. A hoarse voice echoed in the group's minds, not through speakers, but a muffled sound like a radio with a bad signal:
"The deletion was too clean!"
Cao Hai raised an eyebrow, a half-smile on his face: "We just need to… check the scrapyard's camera footage."
"Exactly!" Hai Yen slapped her hand, nodding. "We just need to find out who touched the car, right?!"
The group returned to the young man with dark glasses. Without much talk, Nhat Nam lunged forward and grabbed his shirt: "Cameras in section B. Let us see all the cameras in section B—especially around this license-plated car!"
The man with the dark glasses trembled but tried to keep his voice calm: "Wait… there's a lot of data… how can you watch it all?"
"Just watch it all!" Nhat Nam growled.
"No need to watch it with your eyes," Luu Thanh interjected, smiling lightly. "I have AI software that filters for unusual behavior. Just feed the data in, and it will automatically flag suspicious segments."
He pulled out a computer cable, entered an IP address, and started typing. His fingers moved as if playing the high-speed "1505" song, his eyes never leaving the screen as it loaded image data frame by frame.
30 seconds later, a video appeared.
In it, two men in protective gear walked up to the car. One opened the trunk, the other plugged a strange USB into the diagnostic port. Just a few minutes later, they took the black box, along with a silver laptop with a red triangle sticker, and quietly left.
"It's them…" Hai Yen whispered, her eyes fixed on the screen.
"I'll handle this," Cao Hai said. His voice was deep and calm, but something about it was as sharp as a cold blade.
In Thanh Sa City, Cao Hai wasn't just a young master. He was the unofficial heir of the Cao family—one of the Four Great Powers, owning both a data bank and a private security firm. He was widely educated, well-traveled, and had dealt with all sorts of organizations: from underground hackers and mercenaries to politicians. The only thing he lacked was a reason to act.
And now, that reason—was Thanh Truc.
Luu Thanh quickly sent the video and extracted images to Ghost Talk—the group's internal application.
Although it looked like only Anh Thu's group used it, Ghost Talk was actually open source on GitHub.
Rumor had it that Ghost Talk was being used by politicians, underground military, and high-tech criminals for its untraceable, decentralized security.
Less than five minutes later, Cao Hai's father replied:
"Luu Dung—a former senior technical worker. Nguyen Huu Phat—once a black box protocol programming engineer. They both just bought two apartments in Su Thanh Mai, a few miles from Thanh Sa."
"Get in the car!" Anh Thu quietly ordered.
Three cars immediately started, tires screeching on the ground. The wind howled fiercely, the night torn apart like a thin curtain. Ahead was an apartment hiding a secret larger than the stolen black box.
And behind, the black crow still soared, silently watching, like a sentient shadow…
* * *
"Well… this apartment has an view of the East Sea. A real triumph." Cao Hai smiled slightly, his eyes as cold as the distant seawater.
He stepped through the main gate, the moonlight shining on the brilliant green "Emperor Jade" ring on his hand—a gem passed down only to the sole heir of the Cao family.
The old security guard saw him and immediately bowed respectfully. Beside him, a little girl's eyes widened: "Hey… why is the security guard bowing to someone younger than him?"
The guard smiled, his voice soft: "Do you see that emerald ring? That's the Emperor Jade. Only the heir of the Cao family can wear it. He… is the future owner of an empire."
"So… if I give you five thousand dong, can I buy one like that?"
The guard laughed kindly: "With that money… you can buy a dream to reach it."
The main lobby was luxurious with a long red carpet like a ceremonial platform. The female receptionist saw the gleam of the jade ring and immediately bowed:
"Hello, sir. What do you need, we will prepare it immediately."
Cao Hai didn't beat around the bush: "I need to locate these two people." He showed her two photos of Phat and Dung, a cold glint in his eyes.
* * *
BANG!
Nhat Nam couldn't hold back. He kicked the door of the 17th-floor apartment open, rushing in like a hungry tiger: "Damn it! It's empty! Where are they?!"
Hai Yen followed, her voice frantic: "Split up and search! Maybe they're in the other apartment!"
BANG! Another door was kicked down.
Empty.
Anh Thu looked at the elevator's flashing light heading up to the 63rd floor, and said softly: "The rooftop. If it's them, they're definitely in the most debauched and inaccessible place… From a distance, I saw brilliant laser beams shooting into the sky!"
The group nodded. Without another word, they took the express elevator to the 63rd floor—the infinity pool party lounge with a straight view of the East Sea.
* * *
The sea wind whistled through the towering glass panels. Electronic music exploded like cannon fire from the DJ's station. Naked bodies lay sprawled around the pool, high on drugs and alcohol, their eyes blurry in the laser lights.
On a long chair by the pool, Luu Dung was splayed out with two girls, a cigar in his mouth, holding a wine glass as red as blood.
"Haha! I'm the king here!" He laughed like a victor.
BANG!
Nhat Nam struck like lightning. Without a word, he grabbed Luu Dung by the collar and slammed him onto the wet tiled floor.
BAM! BAM! BAM! Fists pounded down like a war drum.
"You! You dared… to touch my sister…?!"
Blood gushed from Dung's mouth. The two girls screamed in panic, jumping out of the pool like fish thrown out of water.
On the other side of the lounge, flashes of light passed over Nguyen Huu Phat—the man wearing a Versace silk shirt, hugging a hot female DJ and drinking with fake "businessmen."
Cao Hai approached like a whirlwind. Without warning, he jumped and threw a spinning kick.
WHACK!
Huu Phat fell, the glass in his hand shattering, shards digging deep into his palm, blood splattering onto his shirt.
The crowd roared, cheering.
But it wasn't a cheer for justice.
They were high, out of control—thinking this was a street performance.
Huu Phat shrieked like a wild animal, his eyes bloodshot. He grabbed a bottle, smashed it, and pulled out a sharp shard.
"You guys will die!!"
He lunged at Cao Hai, hand raised high, as if to stab him directly in the neck!
Anh Thu quickly grabbed a broom handle!
SWOOSH!
A broom handle flew like a dart.
THUD!
It hit Phat's left knee joint squarely.
Nhat Nam had made his move.
"Get down, you bastard!"
Huu Phat collapsed, screaming in agony, blood flowing from both his hand and leg. Vicious, but not dead.
Cao Hai stepped over, pulled out his phone. The Ghost Talk interface lit up—the video from the scrapyard was replaying the scene of them stealing the black box.
"All the evidence is here. You two—are connected to the A-Ring 7 organization."
He turned to the security staff running up the stairs: "Lock this floor. No one is allowed to leave. All camera data from the past 12 hours—send it directly to my device."
The receptionist trembled: "Yes… Mr. Cao…"
The wind whipped at their faces. The moon cast a deep red shadow toward the horizon.
On the highest floor of the city, where the depraved thought they stood on top of the world.
Cao Hai clenched his finger wearing the jade ring, his eyes thoughtful.
"You are just pawns. The one behind this is still out there… and I will dig him up, even if I have to burrow to the very end of darkness."
CRACK!
A strange sound echoed behind them. They spun around—Luu Dung had bitten his tongue!
Blood spurted from the corner of his mouth, and he convulsed, his eyes wide open as if he still couldn't believe he was dying.
"Damn it!" Anh Thu yelled. "He wants to silence the lead!"
Without wasting any more time, Luu Thanh quickly held down Nguyen Huu Phat as the man was secretly pulling out his phone to make a call. Luu Thanh twisted his arm behind his back, pushed him into a rest room near the pool, and locked the door.
In the dim light, an interrogation began.
Phat was forced into a chair. Nhat Nam, still fuming with anger, stepped forward and slapped the man across the face.
BAM!
"Now talk—what's your connection to my sister's accident?! Who hired you to destroy the black box?"
He gave a dry laugh, blood seeping from his lips: "I was just following… orders. Destroying the black box was the command. Who had an accident, who died—that's not my part of the job."
"Part of the job?" Cao Hai said coldly. "You talk like a machine."
Cao Hai stepped forward. No blows, no threats. He just placed his hand on the man's shoulder, gently—but his eyes were frozen.
"You think we need you alive? On this 63rd floor, no cameras are working. You can disappear… just like you made others disappear."
Phat began to tremble. He looked around nervously, sweat pouring down his face.
"I… I only took orders from Boss Phu. I don't know the whole plan, I was just the engineer who installed the malware so the black box would self-destruct if it was decrypted. But I swear—I had nothing to do with the accident!"
Nhat Nam's voice was low: "Where is that guy?"
Phat hesitated. One second. Two seconds.
"U Minh Forest." He whispered. "There's an abandoned research station near the center, that's the temporary base. My boss is there."
The air grew thick. Cao Hai turned away. The wind on the balcony still howled in gusts, like torn souls.
"U Minh… a place of mist and no signal."
Luu Thanh nodded, his eyes showing tension:
"If it's really U Minh Forest—we have to be extremely careful." Luu Thanh spoke up.
"Ghost Talk will still work… but only if all our devices keep a continuous Bluetooth connection. If one person is separated, or a node is interrupted, the system will enter 'automatic standby'—unable to send or receive anything."
* * *
U Minh Forest—has long been labeled a "gray zone" on satellite maps. No one knows exactly what's inside, only that anyone who has ever entered… hasn't come back. The locals whisper to each other: that place has nameless creatures, things that should not exist.
The convoy of cars stopped about three hundred meters from the edge of the forest.
Luu Thanh looked down at his phone. The dark interface glowed faintly, each signal wave flickering like a dying heartbeat. He frowned:
"Still connected… but weak. There are no other devices around here to support it. We've gone too far out of range."
Cao Hai nodded. He silently pulled the curved dagger hidden under his jacket, lightly running his hand over the cold silver blade.
"Everyone, keep a distance of less than twenty meters," he said, his eyes scanning the dense canopy. "Separating means being silenced."
Nhat Nam tightened his backpack straps—it was filled with homemade weapons: grenades, smoke bombs, serrated knives, and even syringes containing a neuro-inhibitor concocted by Hai Yen.
"Let's go," Anh Thu signaled.
As soon as they entered the forest, the atmosphere immediately changed. No more wind. No more birdsong. Only a deathly silence—as if the entire forest was holding its breath, watching them.
Under their feet, the moss was thick like living flesh. Above, an energy dome hummed with a low, deep sound—layers of purple waves rippled like a lake. The dome was towering, a faint purple light flickering like a biological power grid covering the entire space.
"Wow… this dome… isn't to avoid radiation," Anh Thu whispered, looking around. "It… looks more like a trap. You can get in from the outside. But… you can't get out from the inside."
A rustling sound came from the bushes.
The group froze.
A four-legged creature, its body sleek as if skinned, slowly crawled out. Its eyes were not pupils—just two bottomless black sockets. A strong stench filled the air.
Then it roared—not a beast's cry, but a mixture of static and machinery sounds, like a radio with a bad signal.
"Human… alive… Alien… intruder…"
"Damn it… this isn't a natural creature." Nhat Nam growled. He raised an electromagnetic gun and pulled the trigger.
ZAP!
The creature jolted, hissed hoarsely, then collapsed. But it didn't die—its body began to convulse… and then cracked open. A layer of biological shell fell off, revealing a metallic structure and artificial muscle tissue inside.
"What did they create these for…?" Hai Yen backed away, pulling out a knife.
Luu Thanh quickly scanned his device, his face pale: "There's a strong electromagnetic signal under the ground… very strong… as if the entire forest is a connected biological network…"
"There's no turning back," Cao Hai said gravely. "Keep going. The sooner we get to the center, the better."
The group tightened their formation, silently continuing to walk—under the ghostly purple light, in a world where nature was torn apart and reassembled by a sinister hand.
* * *
The roar of mechanical engines echoed in the night forest.
From the dense forest, a patrol team in black-and-silver armor rushed to where the creature had been taken down by Nhat Nam. Their goggles glowed a fierce red, like monsters' eyes.
"One of them was just here." The lead soldier bent down, placing his hand on the creature's cracked body. Data appeared on his palm—body temperature, impact force, and a blurry image of Anh Thu's group.
"Open the pursuit. Split up. Capture them alive." He hissed coldly.
The soldiers immediately split their team, following the paths Anh Thu's group might have taken. The tension was palpable. Then…
FLAP!
A fierce flapping of wings echoed among the trees.
The black crow—still silently following them from the scrapyard—shot up into the sky, deliberately creating a loud noise to distract them.
ZAP!
A green laser beam shot up. The crow was gunned down in mid-air, its feathers scattering like ash.
For a moment, there was dead silence.
Then Anh Thu's group all ran in different directions, splitting into three as planned: Cao Hai & Anh Thu, Luu Thanh, and Nhat Nam & Hai Yen.
"Run! We'll reconnect via Ghost Talk when we get closer to the base!" Anh Thu shouted.
The signal slowly broke off, the sound of pursuing gunshots echoing behind them like thunder rumbling in the ground.
* * *
[Route: Cao Hai & Anh Thu]
Crossing a small path covered with root systems like tentacles, Cao Hai and Anh Thu stopped in front of a cracked concrete tunnel door, half-covered by vines.
Cao Hai pulled out his knife to cut the vines, and a cold blast of air came out. They crawled in.
Inside was an abandoned research facility.
Electrical wires were tangled like the guts of a demon, and lights flickered from the remnants of a secondary power system. On the walls, the A-Ring 7 symbol was drawn—exactly like the one on the laptop at the scrapyard.
"This is a gene research lab… something was abandoned here," Anh Thu whispered, looking at test tubes containing the corpses of grotesque fetuses.
In the corner, an electronic board was still faintly lit. It displayed:
Project: Conscious Shaping in Cells
Status: Canceled - due to "samples" spontaneously developing resistance.
"Could it be… the creatures we saw outside were the result of this?" Anh Thu shuddered.
Cao Hai saw a map of the underground base, marking the paths, weapon stations, command rooms—and a place highlighted in red:
"PROJECT BLUE BEAM - TOP SECRET"
* * *
[Route: Nhat Nam & Hai Yen]
Three mercenary soldiers were closing in, red lasers from their sights now on Nhat Nam's shoulder.
He was carrying Hai Yen and ran to the base of a vertical cliff, below which was a black abyss. There was no way out.
"We're stuck…" Hai Yen whispered, cold sweat on her forehead.
Nhat Nam gritted his teeth. Then he noticed something: between the layers of moss on the cliff face, something… was glowing faintly.
"A-Ring 7… I've seen this logo somewhere before!"
He quickly pushed the stone with the symbol on it, and it unexpectedly turned slightly—making a "click!" sound.
BANG!
A large section of rock next to it slid away, revealing a narrow door leading underground—with no scanners, no biometrics.
Just an old-fashioned, manually operated mechanism.
The door opened—a spiral staircase leading down into the earth.
"They're in here!" The soldiers' shouts echoed from behind.
"Get in fast!" Nhat Nam rushed in, pulling Hai Yen with him. The door slammed shut behind them, automatically locking with an iron bolt.
Outside, the soldiers were banging on the rock—unaware of the hidden door mechanism.
Ahead was a long, dark corridor… and the smell of rust mixed with disinfectant.