The dim basement smelled of rust and cold iron. A single string of cheap LED bulbs hung from the ceiling, throwing harsh white light onto the naked woman chained in the center.

Her arms were pulled high above her head, wrists raw and bleeding where the metal bit in. Thick chains wrapped her torso, thighs, ankles, no part of her could move more than a finger. Ten armed guards in black uniforms with red dragon on their backs stood in a loose circle, semi-auto rifle barrels never leaving her body.

At the front stood two women who looked almost looked identical, except one carried the weight of more years.

Lan Ying, the second mother of the Lan family and the older one, folded her arms and stared.

Lan Hua, the third mother, stood half a step behind, eyes narrowed.

The chained woman's face was an exactly simillar to these two, but there was something different about their aura.

Ying broke the silence first, voice low. "I still can't believe it. A dead woman, hanging right in front of us like this."

Hua didn't answer at once. She tilted her head, studying the bruised cheekbones, the familiar curve of the jaw. "Do you think it's really her?" Ying asked again, softer.

Hua's lips barely moved. "There's no way. I could pick my sister out of a thousand faces. This… this looks like her, talks like her, bleeds like her. But it's not Jia."

Ying gave a short, humorless laugh. "Remember the trap in that room? Anyone who stepped inside would get hit with enough voltage to stop a heart ten times over. Deadly amount of watts, it was designed to kill."

"I know, I designed it." Hua muttered. "That's exactly why she's wrapped in chains like a monster. This thing might be the most dangerous creature we've ever caught." She paused, then added under her breath, "I'm not even sure it's human."

They both fell quiet.

The woman in chains coughed once, wet and painful. Her head lifted slowly. Eyes the color of golden brown opened and fixed on them.

The moment she realized where she was, panic exploded. She thrashed wildly, chains clanking, trying to twist away from the guns.

"Hold her!" Ying snapped.

Four female guards moved at once. Rough hands seized her hair, yanked her head back, pinned her thighs and arms until she was stretched like a bowstring again. She couldn't move an inch.

Ying stepped close enough that her shadow fell across the prisoner's face. "You have a lot to confess, big sister," she said coldly. "Or should I say—the ghost of my sister?"

The word sister made something shift behind those blank eyes. The struggling stopped as suddenly as it had started. The woman went perfectly still, breathing hard through her nose.

There was a dirty cloth gag jammed in her mouth. Whatever she tried to say came out as a muffled noise.

Hua lifted one finger. A guard pulled the rag free.

The prisoner worked her jaw, spat blood onto the floor, then spoke in a voice exactly like Lan Jia's, calm, almost bored.

"I have no interest in weaklings," she said, looking straight at Hua. "I will never harm any of you. Let me go. I only want Xinyue."

Ying smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "You have a big mouth for someone who can die any second."

The woman turned those strange, empty eyes to Ying. "I won't die. Not until I prove to that goddess she was wrong." A thin smile touched her bloodied lips. "Kill me if you want. The entire Lan bloodline will vanish from the world the moment my heart stops. Every last one of you."

Ying's hand twitched toward the pistol on her hip from anger. "You're lying. Bluffing to save your skin."

The prisoner shrugged as much as the chains allowed. "Try me."

Silence stretched, thick and dangerous.

Then the metal door behind them slammed open.

Meiling stood in the doorway, face pale as paper, eyes wide with terror.

Ying and Hua spun toward her.

"What's wrong, Meiling?" Hua demanded.

Meiling's voice cracked. "The district… the whole district is burning. Fire everywhere. They're saying it started ten minutes ago. It's spreading too fast to be natural."

Ying's eyes flicked back to the chained woman.

The prisoner's smile grew wider, almost gentle.

"We might witness the biggest firework festival of the year," she whispered.

Hua took one step forward, voice like ice. "What did you do?"

"I?" The woman laughed softly. "I've been hanging here, sister. How could I do anything?" She tilted her head. "But someone out there really wants me free, it seems."

***

Amanda stood in front of the low table, her boots planted firmly on the polished wooden floor. The small traditional room was filled with the soft smell of herbal tea.

Chiyo Asashi sat on a cushion with her legs neatly folded, holding a porcelain cup with both hands. She sipped slowly, relaxed, calm, as if the person standing before her was no more threatening than a passing breeze.

When she finally lifted her gaze toward Amanda, she made a small gesture with her hand.

"Sit," Chiyo said in her usual smooth tone.

Amanda didn't move.

"I'm not here to catch up about dungeons," she said. "I'm not here to talk about your betrayal to the motherland either."

Chiyo's fingers paused. The cup remained an inch from her lips. A faint twitch appeared at the corner of her eye.

"This is not my motherland," she murmured. Her voice carried a tone of annoyance, as if the word itself tasted sour in her mouth.

"I don't care what it is to you." Amanda's reply was cold.

Chiyo finally set the cup down. She crossed her arms loosely and tilted her head.

"Officer Amanda, you are rather impatient compared to the Amanda I know from the Dungeon Division."

"Well, I'm not the same Amanda," she said.

Her hand slipped into the back of her jacket and pulled out a gun. She pointed it directly at Chiyo's forehead. The air in the room tensed like a drawn wire.

Chiyo did not even flinch. She let out a small sigh, as if she had been expecting irritation, but not quite this form of it.

"My personal guards are really lacking these days if they couldn't spot a gun like that."

Amanda's finger rested on the trigger.

"Where is she?" she demanded.

Chiyo blinked once.

"Who are you talking about?"

"You know exactly who I mean." Amanda tightened her grip. "You are meeting with traitors. I want information. Now."

Chiyo tapped her finger against her teacup, pretending not to understand.

"Traitors. Traitors. Many claim such things these days. You need to be more specific."

"Enough." Amanda leaned forward. "I want the information about the traitors you've been meeting. All of it."

Chiyo smiled faintly.

"I refuse to answer."

Amanda fired.

The sound cracked through the room like a lightning strike. Chiyo jerked back with a cry, her hand flying to her upper arm as blood quickly blossomed through her sleeve.

"You…" Chiyo winced hard, her face contorted in disbelief. For the first time, she looked genuinely startled. "You shot me. You actually shot me."

Amanda's expression did not change.

"The next bullet goes into your head," she said calmly. "I have many ways to find information, but you are the easiest route. Do not test my patience."

Chiyo gripped her bleeding shoulder and struggled to sit straight. Her breathing quickened.

"I told you already. I'm not the Amanda you think I am."

Chiyo's face turned pale. She pressed her hand harder against the wound. Her breathing grew shallow.

"You… don't want to meet them," she whispered.

"Speak clearly."

Chiyo's voice turned into a hoarse murmur.

"Here is advice. Take whatever you have and leave this country if you want to live. This place is no longer a country. It is a controlled experiment. Every part of it is used by someone. Every citizen. Every structure. Every dungeon."

Amanda frowned.

"That does not answer my question."

"I don't care." Chiyo winced again. "I am telling you what you need to hear."

Amanda's arm lifted again. Her finger returned to the trigger.

Before she could fire, a voice came from behind her.

"Stop."

Amanda turned slightly. A teenage girl stood at the doorway, her hair tied up in a high ponytail. Her eyes were fixed on Amanda with fear and anger mixed together. The girl was one of Chiyo's nieces. Amanda had seen her before during surveillance reports.

The girl stepped closer.

"Aunt Chiyo doesn't meet those people often," she said. "But the last time she met one of them… I saw her."

Amanda narrowed her eyes.

"Explain."

The girl swallowed.

"She took off her mask. She looked just like you."

Amanda froze, her gun still aimed at Chiyo, but her eyes locked on the niece.

"What did you just say?"

"She looked exactly like you," the girl said, her voice trembling. "Same hair. Same eyes. Same face. Even the way she walked."

Amanda's jaw clenched.

Chiyo looked down, still gripping her arm.

"She is lying," Chiyo muttered weakly.

"No I'm not," the niece insisted. "Aunt Chiyo, you told me never to mention it, but I'm saying it now. I can't let you die."

"Keep quiet," Chiyo hissed.

The girl stepped forward again.

"We don't know where those traitors are. We don't know how to find them. But there are labs here. Secret labs. A lot of them. They pop up everywhere."

Amanda turned fully toward her.

"Where?"

"I don't know the exact places. They move. They shut down. They get rebuilt. But there are at least six in this district alone."

Amanda's gaze returned to Chiyo.

"You know about these."

Chiyo exhaled slowly, her voice weak from pain.

Amanda holstered her gun without breaking eye contact with Chiyo.

"You should get medical help," she said quietly. "I didn't plan on killing you today."

Chiyo glared at her through the pain.

"You shot me," she said. "You made that very clear."

Amanda turned toward the door.

"I'll come back. When I come back as an officer you will die."

Amanda paused for a moment. Her hand rested on the doorframe.

"That is my problem, not yours."

She walked out without a single glance back. Her footsteps echoed down the hallway, steady and controlled.

Behind her, Chiyo slumped sideways, her niece rushing to catch her.

"Auntie, stay still," the girl whispered in panic. "I'll call someone. Hold on."

Chiyo pressed her hand over her wound, her eyes narrowing. "Thank you for saving me! If you didn't come I would have died today,"

The niece nodded shakily, bit surprised since she expected to hear scolding or worse punishment like death for running her mouth.

"I'll always save you, Lady Chiyo! You're my priority," She muttered those words with a pride, as Chiyo whsipered. "This is why I wanted a girl."

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