sneak into

Karim kept his word, and soon someone brought Steve food and water, and someone else helped him change his clothes and wiped his body with warm water.

Throughout the entire process of wiping him down, Steve was as obedient as a doll, letting himself be manipulated.

After Karim's servants helped him change his clothes, they asked him if he wanted to rest in bed, but he did not answer. So the servants did not tie him back to bed.

After the servant left, Steve huddled in a corner of the room, hugged his knees, buried his face in his arms, and didn't even glance at the water and food beside him.

Tears and sweat streamed down his face, and Steve felt his mind and senses becoming numb. An endless weariness overwhelmed him, rendering him unable to respond to any external stimuli.

He wasn't unprepared; he entered hell with Chen Jiu's advice at the ready. But when it all actually happened, he was still overwhelmed by pain. Killing his own dignity, killing his right to be human, and using all his energy to protect what he had to protect was just too painful, so painful that he almost wanted to give up.

He could feel his soul trembling and his mind wavering. Reason teetered on the brink of collapse, greedily gazing into the abyss of endless temptation.

He desperately wanted to jump down; if he jumped, he wouldn't have to struggle anymore, and he could find liberation.

In his struggle, he unconsciously pressed his left palm against his chest, muttering the name engraved there, as if trying to grasp the last rope.

He knew he couldn't actually jump; he couldn't break down, he absolutely couldn't!

He remained curled up in the corner of the room, hugging himself, unable to think of anything. After an unknown amount of time, the door opened again, and Karim walked in, stood in front of him, and looked down at him.

Karim glanced at the untouched food and water, and said without any pity, "The break is over. Let's continue the game."

Steve looked up at Karim blankly, and when he finally understood what Karim meant, his eyes widened in disbelief and terror. He had almost forgotten that this was a continuous game, played twice a day without interruption.

"The question won't change until you answer it; it's still about Tean's contact point and contact method in Migal. As for the instructions, this time just bark like a dog."

Steve felt his entire body stiffen, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. He was almost unable to think, let alone react.

Karim didn't give him much time, kicking him squarely in the chest. The excruciating pain returned, and he began to tremble uncontrollably.

"I'm reminding you that the game runs twice a day at fixed times. The sooner you give in, the more rest time you'll get. For your own sake, it's best not to make any more pointless struggles."

Steve gritted his teeth and cried again.

Despair suffocated him; he didn't know how far he had to go to kill himself.

For the first time, he began to doubt whether he could really hold on.

Boss, help me...

Chen Chao still has nightmares, stemming from his uncontrollable worry about Steve, but he has stopped forcing himself to have them.

He devoted more energy to his daily work, and no longer did everything himself regarding the "planning" part, but instead handed more responsibility to his father.

He knew he needed to stop before he reached his limit, and he couldn't break down even for Steve's sake.

He must wait for him, prepare the warmest embrace as his refuge, he cannot fall.

Chen Jiu has located the secret fortress of Karim and is discussing with Raman how to storm it. If all goes well, they can rescue Steve within a week.

Chen Chao lay on the bed in the bedroom, looking at the empty half of the bed, and unconsciously placed his hand on his heart. He pressed the name engraved there and silently recited:

Lin Yu, you must hold on no matter what, please come back to my side!

Karim's secret fortress is underground. Even with Steve as bait and a massive manhunt, Tean almost lost track of him at first.

Karim's secret fortress is completely invisible from the ground, and even satellite detection and scanning cannot penetrate it.

Chen Jiu observed the perimeter remotely for two days before finally finding a breakthrough with the logistics team that was replenishing supplies, and thus pinpointing the entrance location.

"How did Karim manage to build such a facility without making a sound?" Because of some previous entanglements with Sifes, Chen Jiu and Raman did not speak with the same respect as Chen Chao.

He found it utterly absurd that Karim could build such a secret fortress. A facility of this caliber couldn't have been built overnight; how could no one have noticed?

Raman looked at the rough blueprints Chen Jiu had given him and was in a very good mood. He didn't bother to dwell on Chen Jiu's attitude: "You don't understand West Africa. In the royal family's fiefdom, everyone can do whatever they want. Besides, we're not like you guys with satellites in the sky that we can scan for fun. Whatever he wants to build on his own fiefdom is no one else's business."

"Aren't you afraid that the mercenaries might rebel?" Chen Jiu asked in surprise.

"It's not that bad. The army is still in the king's hands. You've seen the level of our own private army; they can't rebel."

Chen Jiu fell silent. The operating logic of this modern feudal state was far too different from that of Nutag; he couldn't understand it.

"What are your thoughts on saving people?" Raman brought the topic back.

"The situation inside is unclear, so it's too early to say anything. I'll sneak in and investigate tomorrow night, and then we'll talk about it once I've found out."

"You're all alone?" This time it was Raman's turn to be surprised.

"It's more convenient for me to be alone; having more people would just be a burden."

"What if you can't get out?"

“My father has received the coordinates. If I don’t get out, someone will throw a poison gas bomb into the ventilation shaft of this facility in two days. At the same time, we will guarantee that the investigation will find nothing and no one will be held responsible. This will become an unsolved case.”

Chen Jiu spoke calmly, as if he were simply discussing the weather two days from now.

Raman stared at Chen Jiu for two seconds in silence. After more than half a year, he once again personally experienced the Chen family's recklessness.

“From my perspective, I really hope you can come back safely. After all, my son is in there too.”

Chen Jiu smiled, unconvinced: "Don't forget, he doesn't acknowledge you."

“Whether he acknowledges it or not, he will always be my son.” Raman put down the blueprints in his hand and brought the topic back on track. “You know Windsor, she will assist you with all your needs. Good luck.”

"OK."

If Chen Jiu were to evaluate the security capabilities of the West African princes, he would only have four words: outwardly strong but inwardly weak.

The princes certainly have money. Take Raman, for example; his private soldiers are equipped with the most advanced weapons, armed from head to toe. But the corresponding training and maintenance are nonexistent. In Chen Jiu's eyes, the practical skills of Raman's private soldiers can only be described as appalling.

The same goes for Karim.

The secret fortress they painstakingly found was of top-notch construction, with an outer layer of concrete nearly ten meters thick, effectively preventing aerial scanning and defense against external attacks below the level of warfare.

Basically, unless it's bombarded directly with missiles, this fortress cannot be destroyed from the outside.

But the security system inside the fortress was riddled with holes.

When Chen Jiu infiltrated, he immediately recognized that Karim had installed the Migal Exit security system in the secret fortress—one of the most advanced security systems in the world. Normally, even the glaring motion detector at the entrance would be difficult to detect.

But right now, the motion detector is turned off.

At first, Chen Jiu thought he had misread it or that it was some kind of trap. After checking it several times, he finally broke through it with some doubt.

But this was just the beginning. The further Chen Jiu went, the more malfunctioning or shut-down security systems he found. Almost half of the security measures were turned off.

He made the most thorough preparations and expectations based on the worst-case scenario, but when he actually arrived, he found that the other party was just a makeshift team.

Chen Jiu was extremely relieved.

During missions, he never enjoys the thrill of evenly matched battles or the danger of life-threatening situations. He only hopes that the opponent is as incompetent as possible, and that all problems can be solved without shedding a single drop of blood.

He went to the control room to observe the shift change of the security personnel, only to find that the two on-duty personnel were playing games on their mobile phones.

He overheard their conversation and realized that one of the two staff members on duty seemed to be a newcomer.

"Brother, is this really okay?" The newcomer seemed a little uneasy about slacking off at work.

"Who else would come here besides the prince himself? Are we being so serious just to monitor the gerbils in the desert? Don't worry, everything will be fine."

Hearing this, Chen Jiu laughed.

Indeed, this fortress was so well hidden and secure that even a special agent had to sacrifice bait of Steve's caliber to find it. It was also difficult for any external threat to break in under normal circumstances. Over time, it's only natural that security would become lax.

After all, operating such a complex and massive security system requires not only extremely specialized knowledge but also a high degree of focused dedication. Chen Jiu didn't believe that any of the princes of Sifies was capable of training a team worthy of this security system.

It seems he was really lucky this time.

Chen Jiu noted down the shift schedule on the wall and quietly left the control room.

Chen Jiu's purpose in infiltrating this facility was to investigate the situation inside, draw a floor plan, and confirm the location of the target. Steve was not on his mission priority list.

So when he saw Steve kneeling on the floor in pain in that white cell during his investigation, he had no choice but to turn away.

He could tell that Steve was in pain but hadn't broken down, so he didn't need to clean him up, but he also couldn't save him.

With the mission as his priority, he couldn't let anyone notice his reconnaissance.

Therefore, he could neither take him out nor comfort him.

All he could do was memorize his location and then leave.

Chen Jiu knew what Steve was going through; he had also experienced that kind of hell. He felt the pain and compassion that Steve was going through.

But beyond all sympathy and suffering, they are Z-class agents, the guns of the nation, and their mission must come first.

Chen Jiu knew perfectly well that only by maintaining professionalism could he live up to Steve's sacrifice.

His priority is not Steve.

So he had no choice but to leave.