The vehicle bay smelled like oil and cold metal.
A row of armored vans sat under white lights. The floor was so clean it looked wet, but it wasn't. It was just polished that way, like the base wanted everything to look new even when it wasn't.
Mu Chen followed the team to the nearest van.
Lin Lan handed him a spare helmet. "Wear it. Even if you're not on point."
Mu Chen took it. "Okay."
He put it on and adjusted the strap. His hands did not shake. Inside, his thoughts were quiet too. He had learned to do that in the orphanage. You survived by not showing what you felt.
Zhou Xiao climbed into the van first and sat near the door. He checked his weapon, then looked up at Mu Chen.
"You alright?" Zhou Xiao asked, low.
Mu Chen nodded. "Yes."
Zhou Xiao studied him for a second. Like he wanted to say more. Then he didn't.
Ye Fan stepped into the van last.
The space got tighter the moment he entered. Not because he was bigger, but because people made room without thinking. Like their bodies already knew he was the strongest thing in the box.
Ye Fan sat across from Mu Chen.
His gaze didn't settle on Mu Chen's face. It went to Mu Chen's hands again, to the way he held the helmet strap, to the calm in his posture.
Then Ye Fan looked away.
The door shut.
The van moved.
A screen on the wall lit up with route data. A small camera above it faced the team. The red dot blinked.
Mu Chen kept his face neutral.
If the base wanted to watch them ride, fine. Let them watch a normal guide with a normal rating and a normal life.
The van stopped three times before the mission even started.
Not traffic. Checkpoints.
Each time, a scanner beeped. A door unlocked. A gate slid open.
Mu Chen watched Ye Fan during the checks.
Ye Fan didn't relax even once.
Most people had two modes: safe and not safe.
Ye Fan only had one.
When the van finally reached the warehouse district, the city outside looked empty. Not abandoned, just cleared. The roadlights were on, but no cars moved. No pedestrians. Like the whole area had been told to hold its breath.
Lin Lan tapped the comm unit and spoke. "Signal is weak. There's interference."
Zhou Xiao shifted. "So it's real."
Ye Fan raised a hand, and the van went quiet at once.
The driver parked behind a wall of concrete barriers. The team stepped out.
Cold air hit Mu Chen's face.
The warehouse buildings stood in rows, tall and dark. Broken windows. Rusted doors. Old loading docks. It looked like a normal dead industrial block.
But Mu Chen felt the wrongness right away.
Not fear.
Pattern.
Like the air had a rhythm that didn't match the place.
Ye Fan lifted his hand again. The team spread out, clean and practiced.
Mu Chen stayed close to Lin Lan, just as ordered.
Lin Lan held a small tablet that showed the drone's last location. "The signal dropped inside Warehouse 3."
Ye Fan glanced at the building. "We go in. Quick."
Zhou Xiao looked toward Mu Chen. "Stay behind us."
Mu Chen nodded. "I will."
They moved toward the warehouse.
At the entrance, a metal door stood half open. The gap was dark, like the building was swallowing light.
Ye Fan pushed it wider with his boot.
The hinge screamed.
The sound echoed inside.
Nothing answered.
They stepped in.
Inside, the warehouse smelled like dust and old plastic. The ceiling was high. Rows of shelves stood like dead trees. Shadows filled the gaps.
Lin Lan's flashlight swept the floor. "No heat signs yet."
Zhou Xiao's breathing changed. Mu Chen heard it even through the helmet. Faster. Sharper.
A sentinel's senses were already reaching.
Mu Chen kept his own mind closed.
Ye Fan walked ahead like he owned the dark.
Mu Chen watched his back.
He noticed the small things. Ye Fan's shoulders were steady, but his fingers flexed once, like he was holding control with muscle.
A guide could help with that.
A guide could smooth the edges.
Mu Chen didn't.
Not yet.
They reached a second door inside, one that led to a back storage section. This one had a scanner pad on it.
Lin Lan frowned. "Why would a warehouse have a locked scanner door?"
Zhou Xiao muttered, "Someone used this place."
Ye Fan stepped closer. "Can you open it?"
Lin Lan knelt and connected a small device to the pad. "Give me ten seconds."
Mu Chen stood still, listening.
The air around the door felt wrong. Not like a trap you could see. Like the space behind it was not the same as the space in front of it.
Lin Lan's device beeped once.
The scanner pad flashed.
Then, very softly, the warehouse lights above them flickered.
Mu Chen's skin prickled.
Ye Fan's head snapped up.
"Stop," Ye Fan said.
Lin Lan froze. "What?"
Ye Fan's eyes narrowed. "The air changed."
Zhou Xiao swallowed. "I feel it too."
Mu Chen said nothing.
Because he felt it more than they did.
It wasn't just a change.
It was a pull.
A thin thread reaching out from behind the door, brushing their minds like a hand testing skin.
Lin Lan whispered, "It's trying to read us."
Ye Fan stepped back one pace. His voice was low. "It's bait."
The scanner pad lit green.
The door unlocked with a soft click.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then the door opened by itself.
Slow.
Like someone inside was inviting them in.
Mu Chen's heartbeat stayed even, but his stomach tightened.
Ye Fan lifted his weapon. "Nobody crosses that line."
Zhou Xiao nodded. Lin Lan stepped back, breathing shallow.
Mu Chen watched the gap widen.
Darkness behind it looked thick, like smoke.
A sound came from inside.
Not a voice.
A low, wet hum, like a thousand insects in one throat.
Zhou Xiao cursed under his breath.
Ye Fan's posture changed. His control tightened. Mu Chen could feel it, sharp as a wire.
Ye Fan spoke once, calm and cold. "Mu Chen. Stay with Lin Lan."
Mu Chen nodded. "Yes."
The hum grew louder.
And then Mu Chen saw it.
A shape moved inside the dark.
Too smooth.
Too wrong.
Like a body without bones, sliding through shadow.
Lin Lan's flashlight shook.
Zhou Xiao's breath hitched.
Ye Fan didn't move.
He only said, "Now we know."
The thing in the dark paused, as if listening.
As if it had heard Ye Fan's voice and liked it.
Mu Chen felt the pressure touch the edge of his mind again.
A test.
A taste.
He swallowed down the urge to push it away with power.
Not yet, he told himself.
Be small. Be normal. Be C.
But the hum kept rising, and the air kept thickening, and Ye Fan's control was starting to crack under the strain of holding his senses back.
Mu Chen's fingers curled once at his side.
If Ye Fan broke here, in front of the team, with cameras on their helmets and tracking in their vests, the institute would have a reason to tighten control again.
And if Mu Chen helped too much…
They would notice him.
The dark behind the door moved again.
Closer.
Mu Chen breathed in, slow and quiet.
And made a choice.