In movies and spy novels, the most thrilling moments always happened at night.
Under cover of darkness, the hero slipped through shadows, cloaked in secrecy, accomplishing impossible missions while the world slept.
Lu Mian smirked.
That was all drama.
The best spies work during the day.
That had been Aegis' core teaching, drilled into her long before tactics or weapons. Darkness invited vigilance and attention.Daylight, however, numbed people into carelessness. It disguised danger as normalcy.
And today, that was true. The sun shone brilliantly.
Outside the Qinghe Research Institute, parents gathered in loose clusters, eyes fixed on the gates. Reporters lingered nearby, cameras ready, voices low with anticipation.
Right in front of their eyes, completely oblivious to them all, Qinghe Research Institute had already become a "war" zone.
At any moment now, the students writing the exam inside could be held hostage - in exchange for Researcher Mo. Or worse, they could quietly accomplish their mission and no one would be the wiser.
Lu Mian didn't have much confidence in this amateur Major. He seemed too wet behind the ears, almost battle untested. She wasn't ready to leave their survival in his hands.
She guessed that the reason there are no signs of re-inforcement yet is because of communication cut off. Re-establish comms, send an SOS for help. That was her plan.
They were almost there.
The control room was down the hall, the last door at the end. It was strategically designed to be in full view of multiple cameras. While that made it an impenetrable fortress, today, it meant Lu Mian didn't have a cover to hide behind.
To make it to the room, they would have to run a full sprint - exposing their positions.
But wait! A curtain moved gently in the morning breeze. Lu Mian froze.
It would've been a peaceful scene, except, ALL the windows in the halls of the Qinghe Research Institute, were always tightly closed. There was usually no chance of an outside breeze.
Someone has climbed up from below. Was it an ambush?! Lu Mian was almost certain of it. Han Zeyu was no softie. He would've predicted them coming here and tried to cut them off.
She quietly reached back and held the teacher's hand to signal for attention. Ambush she mouthed, tilting her chin to the curtain.
The teacher seemed to instantly get it. Her eyes sharpened and she peered in the direction. She turned and gave Lu Mian a questioning look. So, what now? Her eyes seemed to say.
Lu Mian didn't respond. Her mind was racing contemplating options. Based on the movement, possibly 2 people. With her skills, as long as it wasn't a top operative like Han Zeyu, she could maybe handle them.
No matter how idiotic the Major was, if his combat skills were decent, Han Zeyu would take atleast 15 more mins to reach. He probably told his friends.
She returned a wicked smile to the teacher and casually picked up a photo frame off the wall and took aim.
Thud! It accurately hit the person behind the curtain and they seemed to have fallen down.
Enraged, the partner rushed out. Seeing Lu Mian and the teacher hiding, he moved to attack.
But Lu Mian was faster. She threw the pen in her hand with ruthless precision. It hit him square in one eye. Useless! Lu Mian you need to work on your strength, she berated herself internally when the pen didn't pierce his eye. Regardless, it was a good distraction.
She closed the distance before he could recover, pivoted under his arm, and drove her elbow into his ribs. Something cracked. He folded with a choked gasp.
But Lu Mian didn't stop there. She twisted his arm behind his back, forcing him down with controlled, practiced strength. And with a practiced strike, knocked him out cold.
She immediately stripped him of his jacket and clothes. Once the teacher realized what she was doing, she sprang to help.
In a few short minutes, an operative from the Black Lotus marched the teacher who was alerted as "Danger" by Han Zeyu.
Lu Mian played her part flawlessly, walking across the corridor, in full view of all the cameras in the ceiling. She kept her eyes carefully angled away from the lenses, her cap pulled low. Her presence was minimized, so all the attention was on the 'hostage'. She walked with confident, measured steps, to avoid suspicion.
Nothing betrayed their internal tension as the control tower slowly came into view.
Unbidden, the question the teacher asked floated to her mind:
"What do we do if the control room is already taken?" she'd asked quietly when Lu Mian was hurriedly changing into the uniform.
"We do what we have done so far" Lu Mian had responded calmly. "We do our best to thrwat them. I can hold them back. Would you be able to re-engineer the systems back up?"
The teacher looked at her steadily for a few minutes and then shifted her gaze away "I can try" she had murmured.
And that's what they could do, really Lu Mian thought as she "forecebly" used the teacher's fingerprint to unlock the door. All she could do was try,
"And maybe pray" she murmured to herself quietly as the door opened.