Night fell over the mountains like a slow curtain.The facility—half-destroyed, half-suspended by Lin Wei's intervention—sat eerily quiet under the moonlight.
But inside Lin Wei's mind, the Core hummed.
Alive.Alert.Whispering in a language only he now understood.
He stood near the cliff edge overlooking the valley, Liu Fang seated beside him, wrapped in a thermal jacket. Zhao lingered a few meters behind, pretending not to watch them—while absolutely watching them.
Liu Fang broke the silence first.
"What did you see in the Core?"
Lin Wei closed his eyes.
There had been many memories.Many secrets.Many scars.
But one thing burned above all:
A signature—a digital fingerprint hidden deep inside the algorithm that triggered the purge.
A mark no one should have been able to leave.
"It wasn't just sabotage," Lin Wei said quietly."It was a command. Inserted by someone with highest clearance."
Zhao stepped forward.
"Highest clearance? You mean—"
"Yes," Lin Wei replied."Someone above you.Above the scientists.Above the Board."
Liu Fang tensed.
"Then who—?"
Lin Wei opened his eyes.
The Core projected a faint hologram beside him—a shimmering sequence of coordinates and symbols.
Zhao walked closer, squinting.
"What is this?"
Lin Wei's voice lowered.
"A location. Hidden in the Core's deepest layer."
Liu Fang leaned forward.
"Where is it?"
Lin Wei hesitated.
Because the truth was absurd.Impossible.And yet—undeniable.
"It's not a facility," he said slowly.
Zhao frowned."Then what?"
Lin Wei touched the hologram.
The symbols rearranged.
Lines curved.
Coordinates rotated.
And the image became unmistakable:
A face.
A woman's face.
Young. Focused. Familiar.
Too familiar.
Liu Fang gasped.
Zhao froze.
Lin Wei whispered:
"…My mother."
The Ghost in the Machine
Zhao stumbled back, voice cracking.
"Lin Wei—your mother died seventeen years ago. I saw the report. We all saw—"
"That report was falsified," Lin Wei said calmly.
The hologram shifted again—showing encrypted logs, hidden entries, sealed transmissions.
Liu Fang's heart pounded.
"But… why hide her? Why fake her death?"
Lin Wei's jaw tightened.
"Because she wasn't just a lead researcher.She was the Nexus architect.The original Core Mind designer."
Zhao muttered a curse.
"That means she had override access to—"
"Everything," Lin Wei finished.
A sharp wind whipped across the cliff, sending chills through all three of them.
Liu Fang swallowed hard.
"So your mother triggered the purge? Why? To destroy her own creation?"
Lin Wei shook his head.
"No. She didn't cause the purge. She tried to stop it."
Liu Fang stared.
"Then who caused it?"
Lin Wei clenched his fists.
"Someone who hijacked her access signature long after she vanished."
Zhao's voice darkened.
"Which means—"
"—she's still alive," Liu Fang finished.
Lin Wei didn't speak.
But he didn't deny it.
The Core hummed louder inside him, as though reacting to his thoughts.
The Forbidden Log
The hologram changed again, revealing an audio waveform—distorted, damaged, but intact.
Lin Wei hesitated.
Liu Fang placed a gentle hand on his.
"Play it."
He nodded.
The voice that emerged was fragile—like a ghost speaking through static.
"—Lin Wei… if you ever hear this…I'm sorry.They're coming for the Core… I had no choice—The Chairman—he isn't—he's not who he seems—You must never trust—"
The recording cut abruptly, replaced by a violent hiss.
Liu Fang clapped a hand over her mouth.
Zhao stared, pale.
"The Chairman? As in—"
Lin Wei nodded slowly.
"The head of the national program.The most powerful man in the project."
Zhao swore again—louder this time.
Liu Fang looked at Lin Wei, eyes trembling.
"What does this mean?"
Lin Wei turned his head toward the horizon—toward the distant lights of the capital.
"It means the Core wasn't sabotaged by an outsider."
His eyes glowed faintly.
"It was sabotaged by someone at the very top."
Liu Fang whispered:
"Someone who didn't want you alive."
Lin Wei's expression hardened.
"I saved the facility today."
He looked toward the mountains—toward danger, toward answers.
"But someone wanted it destroyed.To cover their tracks.To erase the Core.To erase… me."
Zhao inhaled sharply.
"What are you planning?"
Lin Wei rose to his feet.
"The only thing I can."
The Core pulsed within him like a quiet heartbeat.
He had power now.Knowledge.Connection.
But he also had an enemy.
A powerful one.
"I'm going to find my mother," Lin Wei said.
"And I'm going to expose whoever tried to kill us."
Liu Fang stood too, eyes fierce.
"Then I'm coming with you."
Zhao sighed.
"Me too. Someone has to keep you two from dying."
Lin Wei smiled faintly.
"Then we move at dawn."
The Core brightened around him—
And the hunt began.