Chapter 38 – The Gloved Man Strikes Again
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The storm hit at midnight.
Bai Xueqing jolted awake to the shrill alarm from her phone. Within seconds, she was out of bed, throwing on a coat. Mo Chen was already waiting at the door, dressed in black, his expression hard as steel.
"Surveillance grid just went down in Sector C," he said, tossing her a comm earpiece.
"Someone's testing our defenses again?" she asked.
"No," he said grimly. "This time, they're after you."
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Twenty minutes later, they stood in the underground parking level of Bai Corp. Two guards lay unconscious, and the door to the sub-basement had been sliced open with high-frequency lasers—military-grade.
Mo Chen crouched beside the control panel. "Clean job. Someone bypassed the core security in under three minutes. That's not a hacker. That's a ghost."
Xueqing knelt beside one of the guards. "Knocked out, not killed. They weren't here to make a statement."
From the shadows behind the elevator shaft, a soft clink echoed.
Mo Chen grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a column just as a throwing needle embedded into the wall where her head had been.
"Too close," she muttered.
"Too bold," he replied.
Footsteps echoed through the dim space. A figure emerged, dressed in a long coat, hands gloved, face hidden behind a sleek mask with voice modulation built in.
"Miss Bai," the gloved man spoke, his voice deep and distorted. "We finally meet."
Xueqing straightened, her posture cold and regal. "I assume you're the one threatening my staff."
"You flatter me. But yes."
Mo Chen stepped forward, his presence radiating danger. "Big mistake showing your face."
"I didn't come to fight," the gloved man said. "Only to warn."
"Strange way of warning," Xueqing said. "What do you want?"
"The seal," the man said simply. "Before it awakens."
Xueqing's eyes narrowed. "You know what it does?"
"Only that it will bring death to the unworthy and power to the true heir."
"I'm guessing you believe that's you?"
"I don't believe," the gloved man replied. "I know."
He reached into his coat. Mo Chen tensed, ready to attack—but the man only pulled out a white jade token and tossed it onto the ground.
Xueqing picked it up.
A phoenix emblem.
Identical to hers.
"This isn't over," the gloved man said, stepping back. "But you're not the only one reborn, Bai Xueqing. You just forgot who else burned with you in that fire."
With a swift leap, he disappeared into the shadows.
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Mo Chen exhaled slowly. "He's getting closer."
Xueqing turned the jade token over in her hand. Her fingers trembled ever so slightly.
"Not just closer," she whispered. "He's one of us."