Light Fortress

"The gates have shattered, A-009 has escaped."

"Repeat, the gates have shattered, A-009 has escaped."

This night, with the alarms blaring, some people in Da Teng City were destined to have a sleepless night.

Wei Shu stared at the dozens of flickering screens in the emergency meeting room, his expression taut, the emergency report in his hand creased with layer upon layer of wrinkles.

Veins throbbed on his forehead as he slammed his fists down onto the console in front of him, unable to comprehend, "How could the gates have been breached? With so many guards in the prison, how did A-009 escape?"

"Da Teng City took over A-009 just three days ago, and now there's been an escape. The emergency report states the gates shattered due to a network problem with 'Deep Sea'... but how could there be an issue with 'Deep Sea'?"

Wei Shu turned and looked behind him, "Regardless, it has already escaped. Miss Nan Jin, as the officer in charge of escorting A-009, you should be very clear about the danger after its escape... We need to recapture and contain it as soon as possible!"

At the entrance to the meeting room, a woman with red hair, wearing a black, oversized trench coat, had her hands behind her head, winding up her long hair.

She did not respond to Wei Shu, but instead gazed calmly at the flickering screens.

Dozens of staff members each manned a screen, and every screen was split into tens of partitions, all surveillance from the gates to the containment city had been called up, yet no one spotted anything amiss... After the alarm for the shattered gates went off, A-009 seemed to have vanished into thin air. The surveillance network could capture the trail of a mosquito flying by, but it couldn't capture a single hair from A-009.

Nan Jin slowly wound her hair.

Her gaze turned pitch-black, lifeless, and at the same time, the light from the dozens of screens, hundreds of surveillance feeds, in her eyes, suddenly slowed down.

A-009 hadn't truly disappeared.

It didn't have the ability to teleport. It was just too fast, so fast that... the ordinary staff members, unless they slowed down the playback speed, simply couldn't capture its movement.

Noticing the change in the light in Nan Jin's eyes, Wei Shu's expression became serious. He raised his hand and made a gesture, signaling his subordinates to be quiet and not to disturb Nan Jin's observation.

The entire meeting room fell silent.

Eventually, Nan Jin locked onto a screen and, in a view slowed down by nearly twenty times, the shadow of A-009 appeared, like a shroud of crows casting a gloom that could oppress the heart with just a glance.

The woman's gaze slowly moved from one screen to another, all the while sketching out a winding escape route on the mental map in her mind.

As she gazed, a pair of lifeless pupils slowly leaked two streams of tears.

"It was last seen on... Light Rail 13. The last stretch of the train's journey is long; it can't get off." The trench-coated woman glanced at the time and said softly, "If we take a shortcut, we could catch it at the tunnel exit."

Wei Shu was already poised in front of the console. At the mention of Line 13, he immediately pulled up the surveillance of several main roads along the route and slowed down the playback speed. Sure enough, he saw that ghostly, specter-like shadow... After breaking through the gates and escaping, the shadow fled towards the outskirts of Da Teng City.

"You want to intercept it alone?" Wei Shu frowned. "Capturing a Class A fugitive is not a trivial matter. I suggest you seek help from Mr. Shu directly."

"There's no time. The teacher is busy... If you can guarantee backup, then I can handle this." Nan Jin turned to Wei Shu and coldly asked, "Besides, can you afford to wait? If we miss this chance, the next opportunity to pin it down... might be who knows when."

This woman was very sharp.

Wei Shu's expression darkened. She was right... This was a rare opportunity that shouldn't be missed.

And it seemed A-009 was determined to flee Da Teng. After tonight, trying to track it down would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Then... action! As long as you can hold A-009 back, I will guarantee enough backup!"

Wei Shu made up his mind and felt a sense of relief deep inside. Fortunately, it was Line 13... At this time of night, this type of light rail heading to a remote suburb wouldn't have passengers.

"Wait... what is that?"

"Zoom in."

"Zoom in more."

All of a sudden, Wei Shu saw a darting black dot in the final frame of surveillance.

At the same time, a series of black lines also appeared above his head... After the surveillance image was enlarged, one could vaguely see a boy around seventeen or eighteen years old, sprinting to catch the last train that was about to depart.

Who was this unfortunate soul?

"...Can you save him?" Wei Shu looked at Nan Jin.

The trench-coated woman was silent.

"Line 13 will pass through a long tunnel. He will be with A-009 for at least... 20 minutes." Nan Jin looked down at her watch and emotionlessly made a dark joke, "By the time I get there, it should still be warm."

Wei Shu's expression was complicated. He had read the file and knew all too well what it meant to spend 20 minutes with A-009.

If it could still be warm, that was already not bad.

A silent prayer for the boy.

Then, he composed himself, inhaling deeply, casting aside these stray thoughts. The most important thing now was to direct the upcoming containment operation. He had committed himself to this course of action; there was no turning back. Tonight, they had to successfully recapture A-009 to keep the losses to a minimum...

"Link to 'Deep Sea,' authorize access, I need assistance."