CHAPTER 22
Underground Facility, Pacific Abyss – 03:14 AM
Miles beneath the churning Pacific surface, the world was silent.
Above, storm waves pounded the ocean like war drums—thunder swallowed by the endless blue.
But deep below, hidden inside the trench trenches, lay a fortress of shimmering steel, anchored into the seafloor like a sleeping leviathan.
Hydro-drones patrolled the perimeter, weaving invisible sonar grids through the currents. Pale blue security lasers shimmered faintly in the water—seen only when a shark swam too close.
Inside the transport submersible, the team prepared.
The interior lights flickered an eerie aquamarine, shadows swaying like ghosts as the craft drifted toward the docking ring of Facility 7H—the verified location of Silent Case 5-7H.
Xynra's voice pulsed through Li Xuefang's comm link.
Xynra: Docking in thirty seconds. Water pressure remains stable. No external threats detected.
Ryan adjusted his gear with a groan.
Ryan: Man… why this mission gotta be in the middle o' the damn ocean? Ain't nobody told me we signin' up to fight sea monsters.
Archive snorted.
Li Xuefang didn't react—her eyes fixed coldly on the glowing map projection.
Outside the small viewing glass, enormous manta rays drifted by, their silhouettes gliding like silent omens across the abyss.
Ryan: Man… this place look like Area 51's evil cousin.
Archive: Focus. Silent Case 5-7H is in Vault Sector D.
María: (Securing her facial mask) I'll handle the social engineering side.
General Li Xuefang sat in absolute silence, gloves tightened, face unreadable beneath the faint glow of Xynra's HUD.
Xynra: Sensors calibrated. Thirty-one hostiles detected.
General Li nodded once.
The submersible finally latched onto the facility's docking port with a dull metallic THRUM.
Hydraulic doors hissed open, unleashing a thin mist of chilled, filtered seawater vapor.
The team stepped out.
Ahead of them stretched a long, transparent corridor—an underwater hallway with the black void of the deep ocean pressing against the reinforced glass.
María walked through the front entrance confidently, disguised as a federal auditor. Her fake badge flickered with flawless holographic detail.
Guard: Authorization?
María: (Calm, professional) Level-Seven audit. Step aside.
Her voice manipulation tech sold the lie. The guard hesitated—then waved her through.
Meanwhile, Ryan and Archive breached the power grid tunnel.
Ryan: Yo, Archive, if a rat jump out at me, I swear—
Archive: Please don't step on any wires.
Ryan: I'm tryin', bruh!
General Li descended from the ventilation shaft, landing silently behind a patrolling guard. One strike—pressure point—he dropped without a sound.
Her reputation was not exaggerated.
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THE VAULT
Vault Sector D was protected by a rotating digital cipher—constantly changing, impossibly fast.
Archive: This is insane… I need thirty seconds.
Ryan: Thirty—boy, you better do it in ten! Li's gonna be swimmin' in bullets soon!
General Li took position at the corridor entrance.
The alarm tripped.
Enemies poured in.
And she went still—dangerously still.
Then moved, a blur of lethal precision.
Three down.
Five down.
Another tried to shoot her in the back—she redirected the barrel mid-air and dropped him.
Ryan: LAWD! That woman's a whole assassination orchestra!
Archive hacked through the final layer.
Archive: Got it! The vault's open!
Just as Ryan tried to snatch the case, the lights went red.
A distorted voice echoed through the facility:
SYSTEM: Silent Case 5-7H is rigged with a failsafe. Removal will trigger immediate lockdown."
Ryan: Man, WHY didn't nobody tell us that part?!
Archive: I can override it—if I access the central terminal.
General Li approached them without hesitation.
Archive's fingers danced across the hologram board. For the first time, Li noticed how fragile and timid he really was.
Archive: Almost… almost…
Xynra: Warning. Firewall spike.
Archive: NO—Not now!
Li placed her hand over Archive's, steadying him.
General Li: Focus.
Archive inhaled sharply—and completed the override.
SYSTEM: Failsafe disabled.
They escaped through the emergency shaft as explosions ripped through the lower floors.
Mission accomplished.
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BACK AT GCS HQ
The team entered the debriefing room, exhausted but victorious.
Ryan: Woo! Somebody get me a back massage and a praise report because—
He froze.
A blonde woman in a navy-blue coat turned, bright smile gleaming.
Evelyn: Ryan!
Ryan blinked, horrified and delighted at the same time.
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