Mu Chen learned the base had another rule.
After training, you did not rest.
You reported.
Lin Lan led him to a small office room with a desk and two chairs. The door shut with a soft click. A camera sat in the top corner, red light steady.
Lin Lan didn't sit right away. She connected her tablet to a wall port and pulled up a form.
"Post-training record," Lin Lan said. "It's routine."
Mu Chen sat down. "Okay."
Lin Lan's eyes stayed on the screen. "They log everything. Body condition, mental condition, reactions. Especially for guides."
Mu Chen nodded. He already knew. The orphanage had logs too. Different kind. Same purpose.
Lin Lan slid the tablet toward him. "Answer simple. Don't add extra."
Mu Chen looked at the questions.
Did you experience nausea?
Did you experience dizziness?
Did you experience mental pressure?
Did you link with any sentinel?
Did any sentinel attempt to link with you?
Mu Chen read them once, then started tapping answers.
No.
No.
Mild.
No.
No.
Lin Lan watched his hands. "Mild mental pressure?"
Mu Chen looked up. "The training hall has a lot of sentinels. It's normal."
Lin Lan's eyes didn't change. "You were calm."
Mu Chen kept his voice even. "I'm trained."
Lin Lan leaned back slightly. "Your file says late awakening. Late awakening guides usually panic. Or they cling. Or they try to prove themselves."
Mu Chen smiled politely. "Maybe I'm different."
Lin Lan stared at him for a second too long. Then she turned the tablet back toward herself.
"I'm going to ask you one thing," Lin Lan said.
Mu Chen waited.
Lin Lan spoke quietly. "Do you want to stay alive here?"
Mu Chen's smile faded a little. He answered honestly. "Yes."
"Then don't stand out," Lin Lan said. "Major Ye Fan doesn't like unknown things. The institute likes unknown things too much."
Mu Chen's fingers tightened once on his knee. "I'm not trying to stand out."
Lin Lan nodded, like she accepted that, and like she didn't believe it at the same time.
The door opened without a knock.
Ye Fan walked in.
Lin Lan's posture shifted at once. Not fear. More like respect forced by habit.
"Major," Lin Lan said.
Ye Fan didn't look at her. His eyes went straight to Mu Chen.
Mu Chen stood. "Major."
Ye Fan's gaze went to the tablet. "What's this?"
Lin Lan answered. "Routine record."
Ye Fan stepped closer. "Show me."
Lin Lan hesitated for half a second, then turned the screen so Ye Fan could see.
Mu Chen kept his face blank.
Ye Fan read the answers fast. Too fast. Like he didn't need to read words, only patterns.
"No nausea," Ye Fan said.
Mu Chen didn't speak.
"No dizziness," Ye Fan continued.
Mu Chen stayed still.
"Mild mental pressure," Ye Fan said, and his eyes lifted. "That's your quiet lie."
Lin Lan's eyes widened a fraction. "Major—"
Ye Fan lifted a hand. Lin Lan stopped.
Mu Chen met Ye Fan's gaze. "It's not a lie."
Ye Fan's voice was low. "A C guide would feel more than mild in a room full of sentinels."
Mu Chen answered with simple truth again. "Then maybe the rating is wrong."
Ye Fan's expression didn't change, but something in his eyes sharpened.
Lin Lan looked between them like she was watching a wire stretch.
Ye Fan leaned slightly toward Mu Chen. "If the rating is wrong, you're in danger."
Mu Chen's voice stayed calm. "I know."
Ye Fan's jaw flexed. "And you still came here."
Mu Chen didn't answer. He could not answer that without giving something away.
Ye Fan stared at him.
Then Ye Fan turned to Lin Lan. "Send the record."
Lin Lan blinked. "Yes, Major."
Ye Fan looked back at Mu Chen. "You train again tomorrow. With me."
Mu Chen's chest tightened. "Major, I—"
Ye Fan cut him off. "That's an order."
Mu Chen nodded. "Yes, Major."
Ye Fan left as fast as he came.
The door shut.
Lin Lan released a breath she had been holding. "He's digging."
Mu Chen sat back down slowly. "I noticed."
Lin Lan lowered her voice. "If he reports suspicion, the institute will pull your file. They'll run deeper tests. They'll tag you. Maybe separate you."
Mu Chen's fingers went cold.
He thought of the scanner door in the warehouse. The bait. The test.
He thought of Ye Fan's harsh words in the elevator.
Orphans love to use that look.
Mu Chen didn't like Ye Fan.
But Ye Fan might be the only one strong enough to stop the institute from touching Mu Chen directly.
That was the cruel joke.
Lin Lan stood and unplugged the tablet. "Go eat. Rest if you can."
Mu Chen nodded.
He walked out into the hallway. Cold lights. Clean floors.
A pair of guards passed by. Their eyes glanced at his badge, then away.
Mu Chen kept walking.
He reached the meal area and picked bland food again. His stomach felt tight. He forced himself to eat anyway.
Across the room, Ye Fan sat alone again.
Mu Chen did not look at him.
He felt Ye Fan's gaze anyway.
Like a shadow you could sense even with your eyes closed.
After the meal, Mu Chen returned to his divider space.
He opened his notebook.
He wrote one line.
Ye Fan is digging.
Then he paused and added another line under it.
I can't let him find the wrong thing.
He closed the notebook.
He lay down and stared at the cold light.
In the orphanage, he had learned to lie to survive.
Here, he had to lie to stay free.
And now, a sentinel with eyes like a knife was standing too close to the edge of that lie.