Inside the geothermal central station, the rekindled furnace fire painted everyone's cheeks red, warmth chasing away the despair and coldness from before. But Jin Wanchao had no time to savor this hard-won peace. Holding the gear named Whispering Fang, he sensed the ancient wisdom dwelling within it, along with the blueprint for the Resonance Framework—something that had carved an entirely new world directly into his mind.
"Lao Zhong, A Huo." Jin Wanchao's voice was steady and powerful as he transmitted the two blueprints straight into their minds. "The construction of the Resonance Framework falls to you. This is the key to linking our flames together, turning them into a real blaze that can set the whole land alight!"
Lao Zhong held the blueprint, his beard trembling with excitement, his cloudy eyes shining with a light they had never held before. "A gift from the gods! A divine gift! With this, we can make more people hear the whispers of the machines!"
A Huo's eyes burned with fervor too, but his brows quickly knitted into a frown as he pointed to a complex node on the blueprint. "Brother Wanchao, it says here the core activation requires a Resonance Crystal. What the hell is that?"
Jin Wanchao nodded, his expression grave. That was exactly the question forcing his next move.
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from the boiler room entrance. It was Wrench.
She burst in, full of energy, her leather-clad frame radiating sharp competence. One glance at the Whispering Fang in Jin Wanchao's hand made her eyes flicker slightly, but the look was quickly replaced by excitement.
"Jin Wanchao! I just got solid intel!" Wrench's voice was urgent. "The Blacksteel Council is secretly shipping a batch of special minerals through the lower district's orbital trains soon. Among them… there's a good chance it contains the Resonance Crystal you need!"
Jin Wanchao's flame jolted violently. This was no coincidence. The Whispering Fang had just given him a sign, and now Wrench's intel arrived—like an invisible force was guiding everything behind the scenes.
"Orbital train? When? Where?" Jin Wanchao cut straight to the point.
Wrench crossed her arms, grinning like a cunning fox. "Easy now. Intel like this doesn't come free. But since you just took out Valerius for my people, I'll give you something better first."
She paused, her gaze drifting back to the ancient gear, deep and thoughtful. "My network found a secret data storage center the Blacksteel Council runs in the lower district. It holds all their core data—population registries, resource allocations, and… the records of every child sent to the Nursery Factory."
"If you can get the data from there, you might find your sister. Even… the exact location of the Nursery Factory."
Jin Wanchao's heart clenched. Sister. The word struck him like lightning, hitting his softest spot. The flame inside him roared to life, an urge unlike anything he had ever felt exploding in his chest.
"But that place is far more dangerous than you think." Wrench's tone turned solemn. "It's guarded by the Council's elite guard, lined with automated defense systems. Anyone going in has to move silently, leaving no trace."
Jin Wanchao closed his eyes. Unconsciously, his mind flashed to the ancient blueprint for a Sonic Suppression Field hidden behind the murals in the geothermal station. He had once thought it nothing more than a technical relic. Now, it would be the perfect key.
"Alright. Tell me where it is." Jin Wanchao opened his eyes, his gaze as firm as forged steel.
A satisfied smile spread across Wrench's face. She had known he would not refuse.
She pulled a folded, tattered map from her coat, her finger tracing a red-circled area. "Here. Deep inside the abandoned municipal water station. The Blacksteel Council never used this line for sensitive data—it's well hidden. But once you're in, you're on your own."
Jin Wanchao took the map. He knew that from this moment on, they were no longer the Fire Cultists just scraping by in the underground. They would officially step into the chaotic lower district, becoming a new force against the Blacksteel Council. And it all began with this deal with Wrench.
---
Three days later.
Night hung heavy. The Blacksteel Council's data center lay like a slumbering steel beast deep within the abandoned municipal water station. Cold blue light strips flowed across the floors and ceilings, and the low hum of servers echoed like a monster's breath, heavy and oppressive.
Jin Wanchao led a ten-man team, moving through the fortress like ghosts.
He held the ancient Sonic Suppression Field blueprint, the flame at his fingertips flickering in resonance with the energy patterns on the plans. Under his direction, Lao Zhong and A Huo had used scrap from the station over the past few days to build a portable Sonic Suppression Field unit.
Right now, little A Xing was carefully pushing it forward, letting out a faint hum. It released an invisible wave that absorbed and distorted surrounding sound energy, swallowing every footstep, breath, and tiny metallic scrape from the team entirely.
Inside the data center, the cold metal corridors twisted like a maze. Infrared rays wove into nets, and automated turret sensors swept silently. But through Jin Wanchao's vision, all these defenses turned into transparent energy diagrams—their pathways, blind spots, and alert thresholds laid bare before him.
"Hold." Jin Wanchao signaled, and the team froze at once.
He pointed to an unremarkable vent at the end of the corridor ahead.
One of Wrench's top thieves, nicknamed Slim Monkey, was small but incredibly agile. He nodded, pulling a few delicate tools from his pack. Climbing like a real monkey, he slipped silently into the duct as if he were liquid.
Less than half a minute later, a soft click came from the vent, and the sealed alloy door unlocked from the inside.
Slim Monkey reappeared, gesturing to Jin Wanchao that the coast was clear.
Jin Wanchao nodded, leading the team inside one by one.
The core of the data center loomed ahead, server matrices towering like giant trees, casting cold blue light. Countless data streams surged within them like a galaxy.
"This is it!" Jin Wanchao pointed at the massive central server.
Lao Zhong quickly pulled a custom interface from his bag and plugged it into the server port. A Huo watched the surroundings warily, his steam gauntlet ready to erupt at any moment.
Jin Wanchao pressed his hand against the server's cold chassis, and a surging flame flooded inside. He could see the flood of data within the machine—encoded veins flowing with the Blacksteel Council's deepest secrets.
He found it.
The data archives for the Nursery Factory.
Jin Wanchao's fingers danced across the server's holographic screen like an ancient mechanical dancer. Masses of data, too fast for the naked eye to catch, were extracted, filtered, and poured into the encrypted data core in his hand.
But just as the data transfer neared completion—
Buzz.
A faint alert, audible only to Jin Wanchao, blared deep within the data center. It made no sound, yet struck his mind like lightning.
"Silent alarm!" Jin Wanchao's head shot up, a sharp glint in his eyes. "We've been made! Three minutes! The elite guard will be here in three minutes!"
Lao Zhong's face paled instantly. A Huo snapped his steam gauntlet into attack mode, roaring, "Shit! I knew it wouldn't be that easy!"
"Move! Retreat now!" Without waiting to finish the copy, Jin Wanchao ripped out the data core and led the team fleeing like startled hares along their original path.
They had slipped in like ghosts. Now they ran like hunted prey through the cold steel corridors.
Heavy, rapid footsteps thundered down the passage behind them.
"Everyone, split up! Rally at the abandoned pipeline section of the water station!" Jin Wanchao barked. His flame flickered like a candle in the wind, yet he still pointed firmly toward the nearest exit.
Slim Monkey ducked into a narrow vent first, with Lao Zhong and A Huo close behind. Jin Wanchao stayed to cover their retreat using the remaining energy of the Sonic Suppression Field.
He knew the data was not fully decrypted, but they had already secured the most critical part.
Yet when he escaped the data center and reached the abandoned pipelines to regroup, he received news that made his heart stop.
Though the data core was not fully unlocked, one unencrypted transport manifest stood out: cargo codenamed Nightingale's Cry was none other than the Resonance Crystal. The armored train carrying it would pass the Seventh Viaduct in two days.