Chapter Forty-Five: Infiltration
The information provided by Lian Yeyi regarding the "Kuy" family was like a poisoned key, inserted into the tense nerve center of the Xuyue organization.
That surname—"Kui"—was like a ghostly brand, eerily resonating with the forgotten frozen land deep within Xuyue's subconscious.
Although she remained outwardly calm and composed, overseeing the overall situation, reinforcing defenses, and allocating resources, both Gongyang and Mu could keenly sense that a storm of unprecedented intensity, a mixture of confusion, anger, and a barely perceptible fear, was brewing deep within her grey eyes.
She ordered a thorough investigation of all clues related to "Kuy," but BXX's defenses were impenetrable, and conventional intelligence channels made slow progress, like groping in a thick fog.
This stagnation is an unbearable torment for West Asia, which is in a state of "sober madness".
Zhong Si's death was like a red-hot iron, leaving an indelible scar on his soul.
Xu Yue's admonition in the solitary confinement room, which pierced his bones like an ice pick, forcibly twisted and compressed his self-blame and grief, forging them into a single will called "revenge," directed at BXX and the Dream Serpent.
He no longer broke down, no longer roared; instead, he was met with a suffocating silence and a near-self-destructive focus.
Like a ferocious beast bound by chains, he transformed all his anxiety and pain into the cruel exploitation of his own limits and a greedy thirst for external intelligence.
He needed a goal, action, and solid evidence to prove that Zhong Si's blood had not been shed in vain, and to cut through the fog ahead for Xu Yue—his only remaining faith that he absolutely could not afford to lose again.
When Mu Ye reported again that the investigation into "Kui" was obstructed, the dormant bloodlust in Xi Ya's eyes suddenly surged. He found Xu Yue, and without any unnecessary words, directly stated his plan, his voice hoarse but resolute:
"Let me go. I'll scout out the backup infiltration point that Lian Yeyi provided. BXX's archives must contain what we're looking for."
Xu Yue stared at him. She no longer saw the Xia who would tear up at her rebuke, as anxious as a large dog caught doing something wrong, but a warrior with cold eyes and an iron will, a "whale shark" reshaped by the fire of revenge. She knew the danger of this journey; it was tantamount to venturing alone into a dragon's den.
BXX's core archives were undoubtedly the most heavily guarded and riddled with traps. But she also knew that stopping him was futile, and might even detonate the unstable bomb within him again. The current stalemate certainly needed a sharp blade to forcefully break it.
Silence stretched between them, an invisible tension filling the air. Finally, Xu Yue slowly nodded, a complex glint flashing in her gray eyes—a glint of concern, decisiveness, and an undeniable command.
“Okay. But remember, Xiya, your mission is to gather intelligence, not to die. I want you to come back alive, with the answers.” She paused, her voice lowering, “The answers are important, but you are even more important.”
These words were like a gentle warmth, instantly piercing through Xiya's icy defenses, causing his tense jawline to relax slightly. He looked deeply at Xuyue, his gaze a mixture of unwavering loyalty and a near-martyrdom-like resolve.
"Wait for my message."
There were no grand pronouncements, only four simple words, yet they carried immense weight.
The operation unfolded as night fell. With the help of a map of a long-abandoned underground sewage network provided by Lian Yeyi, a route known even to few within BXX, Xi Ya, like a true shark, silently infiltrated the dark veins beneath the city of London.
The pipes reeked of decay, the ground was covered in sticky silt, and the sounds of scurrying rodents and dripping water filled the air. With an astonishing sense of direction and endurance, he traversed the absolute darkness and harsh conditions, each step akin to dancing on a knife's edge.
After several hours of intense trekking, he found a hidden access point leading to the underground infrastructure of the BXX headquarters building, based on the map markings.
The lock was specially made, but it was not an insurmountable obstacle for Mu Ye, who had been prepared, and for Xi Ya's skilled techniques. He slipped like a wisp of smoke into the most undefended "internal organs" area of the BXX fortress.
In stark contrast to the luxurious modernity of the above-ground portion, this area is filled with old boilers, roaring generators, and a crisscrossing network of thick pipes.
The air was thick with the smell of engine oil and dust. Using the shadows and noise as cover, Sia moved like a ghost up the stairs. His target was clear—the central archives, the highest-security location in the heart of the building.
Avoiding patrolling guards and dense surveillance cameras requires extreme patience and luck. Several times, he almost brushed past the enemy, only escaping danger thanks to his superhuman reaction speed and the fact that Mu had hacked the local surveillance circuits in advance.
He could feel his heart pounding heavily in his chest, not from fear, but from the excitement of approaching his prey and the immense pressure of having to complete the task.
Finally, he arrived at the heavy alloy door of the archives, which required double passwords and biometric authentication.
Conventional infiltration was virtually impossible. Without hesitation, Sia chose the riskiest, but also the most direct, method—utilizing the ventilation duct system.
The pipe was narrow and dusty, forcing him to hunch over and crawl like a snake, the sharp metal edges tearing at his clothes and skin, but he was oblivious.
After a near-suffocating climb, he successfully infiltrated the ventilation compartment above the archives.
Through the gaps in the blinds, he could see rows of filing shelves towering to the ceiling below, the air thick with the cold smell of old paper mixed with special disinfectant. Several staff members were busy at terminals in the distance.
Waiting for the right moment required immense patience. He lay dormant in the darkness like a stone statue, calculating the intervals between guard shifts and patrols. Finally, during a brief lull, he slipped to the ground as silently as a cat, quickly disappearing into the shadows of the filing cabinet.
Time was of the essence. He began a rapid search based on the keywords mentioned in Lian Yeyi's intelligence—"Kui," "family records," "twenty years ago," and "special incident." His fingers traced the yellowed file labels, his gaze sweeping over each number and date like a hawk's. Sweat soaked his back, not from the heat, but from his intense concentration and a premonition that the truth was about to be revealed.
Suddenly, his finger stopped on a thick file labeled "Kui-Family Affairs-Confidential-File 7".
The file was locked with a special electronic lock. Xiya took out the hacking tool prepared by Mu Ye for the old BXX system, connected it, and the code on the screen scrolled rapidly. A few minutes later, with a soft "click," the lock opened.
He took a deep breath and opened the file.
Inside were not neatly arranged documents, but rather scattered records, clippings, copies of medical reports, and even a few blurry black-and-white photographs. They were old, and the paper was fragile. His gaze swept quickly over them:
— A yellowed internal memo mentions the Kui couple's concerns about "potential genetic neurodestabilization factors" and recommends "preventive isolation measures," dated more than twenty years ago.
A newspaper clipping reported a serious car accident that occurred in the suburbs. The vehicle caught fire and burned, and the scene was horrific. However, the report was vague and stated that the owner of the vehicle was unidentified.
A partially smeared fragment of a hospital emergency record, dated to the time of the car accident, records a girl, approximately four to six years old, being brought to the hospital with serious injuries (multiple fractures, concussion), but... "no family members claim her." The remarks section contains hastily written notes: "...high hush money...record destroyed..."
Several photos: one is a distant view of the burning vehicle at the scene of a car accident; another is extremely blurry, seemingly showing a thin, bandaged figure on a hospital bed, with wide, empty eyes. Even through the passage of time and the blurry image, it made Xiya's heart clench... those gray eyes...
The most crucial page is a fragment of what appears to be some kind of internal memo written in ancient cursive script. It clearly states: "...In view of the uncontrollable risks presented by Di'an Kui, by the highest resolution of the family, his inheritance rights and membership are hereby formally revoked. From this day forward, his existence is no longer related to the Kui family, and all related records are to be sealed or destroyed..."
Di'an Kui!
The name struck like lightning, cleaving through all the fog in Xiya's mind! Xuyue... Xuyue is Di'an Kui! She is the biological daughter of Kui and his wife, the leaders of BXX! But because of something they considered a "flaw" or a "risk"—perhaps the post-traumatic stress from the car accident? Or perhaps some kind of "unstable" tendency they couldn't accept?
When she was young, they cruelly staged an "accident" and then abandoned her like a piece of substandard trash! In order to maintain the family's so-called "purity" and "reputation," they even went so far as to cover everything up and make her "disappear" from the world!
Anger, disgust, and an immense grief for Xuyue engulfed West Asia like magma! These high and mighty executioners, these hypocritical vampires!
Not only are they now destroying everything that Xuyue has worked so hard to build, but they also personally killed her life as "Di'an Kui" twenty years ago!
He had to take the evidence! Suppressing his surging emotions, Xi Ya quickly photographed the crucial pages with his miniature camera. Just as he took the last picture, the alarm lights in the archives suddenly flashed without warning, and a piercing siren tore through the silence!
"Intruders! In the archives area!" came the urgent shouts and rapid footsteps over the loudspeaker.
They've been exposed! Xiya's heart skipped a beat. He instantly shoved the camera into his pocket and darted towards the nearest ventilation duct entrance like a cheetah. Just as he squeezed inside, the archive door was violently flung open, and several fully armed guards rushed in.
The chase unfolded within the narrow, dark pipes. Bullets grazed the pipe walls, sparks flying and whistling.
With his memory of the route and his extraordinary skills, Sia fled desperately through the labyrinthine tunnels. He could sense his pursuers closing in, and even more guards were closing in at the exits.
During a fierce firefight, his left arm was grazed by a bullet and bled profusely, but he did not stop and used a complicated pipe junction to temporarily shake off his pursuers.
He knew that returning the way he came was impossible. Lian Yeyi's intelligence mentioned a backup emergency evacuation point, but it was an even more dangerous, almost abandoned passage leading to an ancient spillway on the Thames.
There was no choice. Xiya gritted his teeth and charged in that direction. The pursuers behind him were like sharks that had smelled blood, relentlessly chasing him. When he finally broke through a rusty iron fence and fell into the icy river, a hail of bullets rained down on the water behind him.
The icy river water sent a chill down his spine, but it also temporarily kept him away from his pursuers. He struggled to swim to the other side, the camera in his arms pressed tightly against his chest, as if it weighed a ton.
He succeeded. He obtained irrefutable evidence that was enough to overturn Xu Yue's understanding and to nail BXX to the pillar of shame. But the price was that he completely exposed his whereabouts. BXX must now be like a hornet's nest that has been stirred up, and will do everything in his power to hunt him down and silence him.
He scrambled ashore, soaking wet, and hid in the shadows, panting heavily. The wound on his left arm stung from the river water, but he paid it no mind. He looked back at the BXX headquarters on the opposite bank, which lay dormant like a monstrous beast in the night, his eyes burning with a cold flame.
With the evidence in hand, the truth was revealed. But Xiya felt no joy, only a heavy unease, as if she were foreseeing an even greater storm to come.
He knew this was just the beginning. The real battle was about to begin, a bloody prelude set off by this roll of film. And he would spare no effort to protect this truth, bought with his life, and to protect the one he cared about most, the one cruelly struck down by the truth.
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