Chapter 75

Chapter 75 – Smoke and Shadows

Smoke curled from the damaged server racks as warning lights strobed red across Lab B-13. The sharp scent of ozone filled the air, mixing with the tension that still clung to the room like a second skin.

Bai Xueqing stood over the Gloved Man, his face twisted in disbelief as Oracle's core systems blinked out behind him. Mo Chen wiped a smudge of blood from his jaw, nodding to Yanshang.

"It's done," Yanshang said, his voice low but steady. "The firewall is down. Oracle's backup AI nodes have been isolated. They won't reboot without manual override."

"Then it's over," Xueqing said softly.

The Gloved Man chuckled, despite the pain lacing his voice. "Over? Oracle wasn't just code. It was a movement. An ideology. You may have shut down this hub, but others will rise."

"Let them," Mo Chen said coolly, pressing his boot against the man's shoulder to keep him down. "We'll be ready."

A crash outside the lab made everyone tense.

Yanshang's fingers darted to his tablet. "I've sealed the remaining exits. But we're not alone."

"Reinforcements?" Xueqing asked.

"No. Someone else is cutting through the secondary vent systems. Fast."

---

Meanwhile, in the shadows of the west corridor…

A slim figure darted past motionless bodies of Oracle's security—stunned, not killed. A glint of silver flashed at her waist as she rolled into the ventilation duct, bypassing the bio-sensors with swift precision.

Meng Zhihao's voice buzzed over the comms. "Uh… guys? There's someone else heading toward you."

"Who?" Mo Chen asked.

"She's not on any registry I can find. And… she's bypassing everything like it's child's play."

Before anyone could react, the vent grille in Lab B-13 crashed open, and a woman dropped to the floor, crouched like a panther.

Long dark hair. Masked face. Eyes burning with intelligence.

Yanshang tensed. "Is that—"

"She's with me," Lin Nuo's voice said hurriedly through the comms. "That's Mirage. Oracle's former ghost. She defected."

The woman straightened, peeled off her mask, and looked directly at Xueqing.

"I came to finish what I started," Mirage said. "And to warn you."

"Warn us?" Xueqing asked.

She nodded grimly. "Oracle's backup node isn't in City A. It's already migrating—somewhere offshore. Controlled by someone even higher than the Gloved Man."

Mo Chen exchanged a look with Xueqing. "Then the real war is just beginning."

-