Mr. Si
The icebreaker Polaris's engines roared dully in the deep sea, like the wheezing of a wounded beast. Inside the captain's cabin, the atmosphere was even more frozen than the minus twenty degrees Celsius outside. Shao Qing's proposed "cooperation" was like a poisoned apple, emitting an alluring yet deadly aura.
"We can't trust him!" Gu Zhixing was the first to object. His face was still wet with ice water, and his eyes were excited. "This is definitely a trap! How could Shao Qing cooperate with us? He just wants to trick us and the data back!"
The technician nodded nervously. "The IGEC's tracking signal is still lingering nearby. We can't protect ourselves..."
Si Qi didn't look at them. His gaze fell on Shao Wei. Shao Wei leaned against the cold metal bulkhead, gazing out the porthole at the dark sea that had just swallowed up White Fox and her submersible. His profile looked incredibly thin in the dim light, as if it would break at the slightest touch. But deep in his icy blue eyes burned a nearly cold fire.
"IGEC's 'core database'..." Shao Wei began slowly, his voice hoarse but clear. "White Fox mentioned it. It's the ultimate basis for them to monitor and 'adjudicate' all genetic 'abnormal' incidents worldwide, and it's also the source of their power. If we can gain access to it, or... destroy it."
Gu Zhixing gasped, "Destroy IGEC's core database? Impossible! That would be like declaring war on the entire international order!"
"Do we have any other choice?" Shao Wei turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the crowd before finally settling on Si Qi's face. "Hunted like a rat by the IGEC and the Watchers until we're eliminated somewhere? Or take a gamble and use Shao Qing's intelligence to at least get a piece of our own pie?"
His logic was cold and cruel, carrying the resoluteness of someone driven to despair, abandoning all emotion. Si Qi felt a sharp twist in his heart as he watched Shao Wei like this. The man who had once been so quiet and patient, who could only express his love through silence, had been reshaped by reality.
"Shao Qing can't be trusted, but the information might be true." Si Qi finally spoke in a low voice. "He knows IGEC better than we do, and he's more afraid of it. If the data is released, the Shao family will be destroyed. If we and IGEC both suffer losses, this might be his only chance to preserve some of his strength. This is an open conspiracy."
He walked to the communication console, called up the encrypted number and dialed back.
The connection was almost instant.
"It seems you made a wise choice." Shao Qing's voice came, and no emotion could be heard.
"Conditions." Si Qi went straight to the point.
"First, give me a copy of the data backup. Second, I will command the operation. Third, after the mission is accomplished, you... disappear." Shao Qing's tone left no room for doubt.
Si Qi sneered: "I can't give you the data. The command is shared. We will have our own place to go afterward, so don't worry."
There was silence on the other end of the line for several seconds, as if they were weighing the pros and cons. Finally, Shao Qing's voice rang out again, "Okay. I'll monitor the data transmission process in real time. Now, listen carefully—IGEC's core database isn't at headquarters, but in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, in an underground facility codenamed 'Ice Coffin.' It's guarded by an AI automated defense system called 'Scavengers,' physically isolated and inaccessible by conventional means."
Antarctica! "Ice Coffin"!
"The only loophole," Shao Qing continued, "is the physical data synchronization that's performed weekly by a special courier via a suborbital spacecraft. The next synchronization will occur in 72 hours. I'll send you the courier's identification code and the spacecraft's route. You need to hijack that spacecraft and impersonate the courier to enter the 'Ice Coffin'."
Hijacking IGEC's suborbital spacecraft?! This plan is so crazy that it makes people's scalp tingle!
"How can we believe that the identification code and route you gave us are real?" Si Qi asked.
"You may not believe it." Shao Qing said calmly, "This is the only chance. Be prepared, I will contact you again. Remember, you only have one chance." The communication was cut off again.
A dead silence fell in the captain's cabin. Hijacking a suborbital spacecraft and infiltrating the most secret IGEC base in Antarctica...it sounded like a fantasy.
"We need help, reliable help, and they need to have some knowledge of Antarctica and high-end vehicles." Gu Zhixing rubbed his temples. "The White Fox people... I'm afraid..."
"There's a place," the silent technician suddenly spoke up. His name was Ahmet, and he was once the chief engineer of an illegal modification ring in Northern Europe. "'Skua Bazaar' is in the South Shetland Islands. It's the largest black market and outlaw gathering place in the Southern Hemisphere. If you can afford it, you can even get a retired military space shuttle. And there's a mixed bag of people there, so IGEC and Watcher can't extend their reach that far just yet."
The no-man's land at the edge of Antarctica seems to be the only viable springboard at the moment.
"Let's go there." Si Qi made the decision. He didn't look at Shao Wei, but he could feel Shao Wei's eyes on his back, with a kind of scrutiny and... indescribable complexity.
---
The Skua Bazaar is built on the foundations of an abandoned whaling station surrounded by glaciers. The rusted metal buildings stand like the skeleton of a giant beast on the permafrost-covered black sand beach. An icebreaker, disguised as a vessel conducting a marginal scientific expedition, struggles to dock at the simple dock.
The air is filled with the smell of fuel oil, rotting meat and a wild and unruly mixture of pheromones. Here gather fugitives, mercenaries, mad scientists and wealthy thrill-seekers, all armed, their eyes alert and greedy.
Siqi and his group wore thick winter clothes that covered their faces. Under the guidance of Ahmet, they walked through the noisy and chaotic market and headed deep into the market for a bar called "Broken-Winged Petrel" with a twisted metal bird skeleton sign.
According to Ahmet's intelligence, the best pilots and the most desperate desperadoes can be found here.
The bar was even smokier than the outside. Si Qi walked directly to the bar and pushed an uncut natural sapphire the size of a thumbnail in front of the bartender. This was hard currency taken from the Polaris' emergency fund.
"Find someone who can drive the 'Albatross' level and is not afraid of taking a walk in the 'Ice Coffin'." Si Qi lowered his voice.
The bartender, a burly man with frostbite scars on his face, glanced at the gem, his eyes flickered, and he nodded towards the darkest corner of the bar.
A woman sat alone in a corner. She wore a greasy flight jacket, her short, tangled red hair flaring like flames. She was intently repairing a complex mechanical part with a hunting knife. She looked to be in her thirties, her face scarred by the frost of the polar weather, but her green eyes shone with a startling brilliance, like a feline in the dark night.
Si Qi walked over and sat down opposite her. The woman didn't even look up and continued with her work.
"There's a job," Si Qi said, "You decide the pay."
The woman finally stopped and raised her eyelids. Her green pupils swept over Si Qi like a searchlight, and then passed over Shao Wei, Gu Zhixing and Ahmet behind him.
"Where are you going?" Her voice was hoarse, with the texture of long-term smoking.
"'Ice Coffin'."
The woman paused. She set down the hunting knife and the parts, leaning forward slightly. A whiff of motor oil, tobacco, and a sharp, bird-of-prey pheromone washed over her. "That 'Ice Coffin' from IGEC?" she confirmed, her green eyes ignited with intense interest, not fear.
"yes."
"If you're going to die, the reward will be doubled." The woman twitched her lips. "My name is Red Falcon. I used to be a pilot for the IGEC's outer transport fleet, until they thought I knew too much and tried to 'purify' me." She pointed to a hideous scar on her left brow. "This is your farewell gift."
Someone who has been hunted by IGEC? This might be good news.
"We need to hijack the next suborbital synchronous spacecraft heading to the 'Ice Coffin'." Si Qi stated the core of the plan.
Kestrel whistled approvingly. "That's crazy, I like it. Got the courier's identification code and route?"
Si Qi showed her the information provided by Shao Qing (which had been initially verified to be partially true).
Hong Shun examined it carefully, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. "The identification code is fine; it's the highest-level, whitelisted 'Scavenger' code. The route... is a bit circuitous, avoiding the regular monitoring area. It seems IGEC is also very cautious. The aircraft is a 'Swift-III', single-piloted, with a cramped cargo hold. At most, two skinny people can fit in it."
She raised her head, her eyes flickering between Si Qi and Shao Wei. "That means at most three people can go. One pilot and two infiltrators."
You can only go to three! This means great risk, but also means... choice.
Si Qi said without hesitation: "Shao Wei and I will go." He had to make sure Shao Wei was within his sight, whether for protection or for... other reasons that he himself had not yet fully figured out.
Shao Wei glanced at Si Qi and didn't object. He simply said to Hong Shun, "We need a diagram of the aircraft's internal structure, especially the connection between the cargo hold and the cockpit, as well as the defensive layout of the entrance to the 'Ice Coffin'."
Hong Jian grinned, revealing his white teeth. "I have the schematics. As for the defense of the 'Ice Coffin'... I know a guy who once participated in the early testing of the 'Scavenger' system. Later, he was hunted by IGEC for secretly backing up data. He is now hiding in the garbage disposal station behind the market. We can 'ask' him for a favor."
The plan quickly took shape in the corner of a seedy bar: hijack a plane, impersonate a courier, sneak into the "Ice Coffin," and their goal: to contact or destroy the core database.
As they left the Broken Winged Petrel, hail began to fall outside, crackling against the metal roof. Shao Wei, walking beside Si Qi, suddenly spoke in a low voice, his voice almost drowned out by the hail:
"If... this is a trap set by Shao Qing and IGEC, we'd be walking into it if we went in."
Si Qi didn't stop, his eyes fixed on the snow-covered market ahead, which looked like an alien landscape. "I know."
"Then why are you..."
"Because this is the only chess piece that can be moved right now." Si Qi interrupted him, his voice cold and hard, "Standing still means waiting for death. Moving forward, at least there's a chance to fight. And..." He paused, then glanced sideways at Shao Wei with a deep gaze, "I believe you."
Shao Wei stopped abruptly, a hint of surprise flashing in his ice-blue eyes.
Siqi also stopped and turned to face him. Hailstones thudded against their heavy winter clothing. The dim light of the market cast bright and dark shadows on Siqi's face.
"I believe in your recovered memories, in your ability to judge the situation, and I believe you... won't be easily deceived by Shao Qing a second time." Si Qi spoke word by word, as if stating a fact, but also as if trying to convince himself, "We are allies now, aren't we?"
Shao Wei stared at him, stunned, as if truly getting to know this man for the first time. After several seconds, he uttered a very soft, almost inaudible "hmm," and resumed his steps, heading towards the dim dock where the Polaris was moored.
Si Qi watched his back and slowly exhaled a breath of white air. Trust? After so much deception and betrayal, the word seemed so pale and ridiculous. But he could feel that the invisible thread between him and Shao Wei, after being torn and twisted, seemed to be reconnecting in a new and more complex way.
It's not love, and perhaps not just an alliance.
Rather, they are two souls bound together by fate. On the endless dark ice field, the only thing that can confirm their existence is each other...they are of the same kind.
The 72-hour countdown has begun. Deep in the Antarctic polar night, an "ice coffin" quietly awaits its unexpected visitor. And at the edge of the world, a gamble of life and death, far beyond personal grudges, is about to begin.
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