The vehicle bay had that distinct smell of oil and cold metal.
A line of armored vans sat under bright white lights. The floor gleamed, looking wet, but it was just polished to make the whole place seem brand new, even if it wasn't.
Mu Chen tagged along as the team headed for the nearest van.
Lin Lan handed him a spare helmet. "Put it on. Even if you're not in the lead."
Mu Chen took it. "Got it."
He slipped it on and fiddled with the strap. His hands were steady. Inside his head, things were quiet too. He'd learned that trick back at the orphanage – surviving meant not showing what you were feeling.
Zhou Xiao hopped into the van first and took a seat by the door. He gave his weapon a quick check, then looked up at Mu Chen.
"You good?" Zhou Xiao asked, his voice low.
Mu Chen nodded. "Yeah."
Zhou Xiao gave him a thoughtful look for a second, like he wanted to say more, but then he let it go.
Ye Fan was the last one to climb in.
The van suddenly felt smaller the moment he entered. Not because he was bigger, but because everyone instinctively shifted, making room. It was like their bodies just knew he was the most imposing presence in the tight space.
Ye Fan sat down opposite Mu Chen.
His eyes didn't linger on Mu Chen's face. Instead, they drifted to Mu Chen's hands, noting how he held the helmet strap, and the calm stillness in his posture.
Then Ye Fan looked away.
The door slammed shut.
The van lurched forward.
A screen on the wall lit up with route information. A small camera above it faced the team, a red dot blinking.
Mu Chen kept his expression blank.
If the base wanted to monitor their ride, fine. Let them watch a regular guide with a normal rating and a normal life.
The van halted three times before they even reached their destination.
Not traffic jams. Checkpoints.
Each time, a scanner beeped, a door unlocked, a gate slid open.
Mu Chen watched Ye Fan closely during these stops.
Ye Fan didn't ease up for a single moment.
Most people switched between two states: safe and unsafe.
Ye Fan seemed to have only one mode.
When the van finally pulled into the warehouse district, the city outside looked deserted. Not abandoned, just cleared out. The streetlights were on, but there were no cars moving, no people walking. It was as if the entire area had been told to hold its breath.
Lin Lan tapped her comm unit and spoke. "Signal's weak. Getting some interference."
Zhou Xiao shifted. "So it's for real then."
Ye Fan raised a hand, and the van instantly fell silent.
The driver parked them behind a wall of concrete barriers, and the team stepped out.
The cold air hit Mu Chen's face.
Rows of tall, dark warehouses loomed, their windows broken, doors rusted, loading docks ancient. It looked like any other abandoned industrial block.
But Mu Chen felt something off immediately.
Not fear.
A mismatch.
Like the air itself had a rhythm that didn't belong there.
Ye Fan raised his hand again, and the team spread out, their movements smooth and practiced.
Mu Chen stuck close to Lin Lan, just as he'd been told.
Lin Lan consulted a small tablet showing the drone's last known location. "The signal died inside Warehouse 3."
Ye Fan glanced at the building. "We're going in. Fast."
Zhou Xiao looked over at Mu Chen. "Stay behind us."
Mu Chen nodded. "Will do."
They moved towards the warehouse.
At the entrance, a metal door hung half-open. The gap was a black void, as if the building was swallowing the light.
Ye Fan kicked it wider with his boot.
The hinge shrieked.
The sound echoed inside.
No one answered.
They stepped in.
Inside, the warehouse smelled of dust and old plastic. The ceiling was high, and rows of shelves stood like skeletal trees in the dimness. Shadows filled the spaces between them.
Lin Lan swept her flashlight across the floor. "No heat signatures yet."
Zhou Xiao's breathing changed. Mu Chen could hear it, even through the helmet – faster, sharper.
A sentinel's senses were already kicking in.
Mu Chen kept his own mind shielded.
Ye Fan walked ahead, navigating the darkness as if he owned it.
Mu Chen watched his back.
He noticed the subtle things. Ye Fan's shoulders were steady, but his fingers flexed once, a controlled tension in his muscles.
A guide could help with that.
A guide could smooth out those rough edges.
Mu Chen wasn't going to.
Not yet.
They reached a second door inside, leading to a back storage area. This one had a scanner pad on it.
Lin Lan frowned. "Why would a warehouse have a locked scanner door?"
Zhou Xiao muttered, "Someone was using this place."
Ye Fan moved closer. "Can you get it open?"
Lin Lan knelt and plugged a small device into the pad. "Give me ten seconds."
Mu Chen stood still, listening.
The air around the door felt strange. Not like a visible trap, but like the space on the other side wasn't quite the same as the space in front of it.
Lin Lan's device beeped once.
The scanner pad flashed.
Then, very faintly, the warehouse lights above them flickered.
Mu Chen's skin prickled.
Ye Fan's head snapped up.
"Hold," Ye Fan commanded.
Lin Lan froze. "What?"
Ye Fan's eyes narrowed. "The air just changed."
Zhou Xiao swallowed. "I feel it too."
Mu Chen said nothing.
Because he felt it more intensely than they did.
It wasn't just a change.
It was a pull.
A faint thread reaching out from behind the door, brushing their minds like a tentative touch.
Lin Lan whispered, "It's trying to read us."
Ye Fan took a step back. His voice was low. "It's bait."
The scanner pad glowed green.
The door unlocked with a soft click.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the door swung open by itself.
Slowly.
As if someone inside was beckoning them in.
Mu Chen's heart rate stayed even, but his stomach clenched.
Ye Fan raised his weapon. "Nobody goes past that line."
Zhou Xiao nodded. Lin Lan stepped back, her breathing shallow.
Mu Chen watched the gap widen.
The darkness beyond it looked thick, like smoke.
A sound emerged from within.
Not a voice.
A low, wet hum, like a thousand insects all buzzing in one throat.
Zhou Xiao cursed under his breath.
Ye Fan's stance shifted, his control tightening. Mu Chen could feel it, sharp as a wire.
Ye Fan spoke once, his voice calm and cold. "Mu Chen. Stay with Lin Lan."
Mu Chen nodded. "Understood."
The hum grew louder.
And then Mu Chen saw it.
A shape moved in the darkness.
Too fluid.
Too wrong.
Like a boneless body, slithering through the shadows.
Lin Lan's flashlight beam trembled.
Zhou Xiao's breath hitched.
Ye Fan remained still.
He simply said, "Now we know."
The thing in the dark paused, as if listening.
As if it had heard Ye Fan's voice and found it pleasing.
Mu Chen felt the pressure touch the edge of his mind again.
A test.
A sample.
He swallowed the urge to blast it away with his power.
Not yet, he told himself.
Be small. Be normal. Be C.
But the hum kept rising, the air kept thickening, and Ye Fan's control was starting to fray under the effort of suppressing his own senses.
Mu Chen's fingers curled at his sides.
If Ye Fan faltered here, in front of the team, with cameras on their helmets and trackers in their vests, the institute would have an excuse to ramp up security again.
And if Mu Chen helped too much…
They'd notice him.
The darkness behind the door moved again.
Closer.
Mu Chen breathed in, slow and silent.
And made his decision.