The members of Project Zero convened in the digital silence of [Channel: Zero]. The euphoria from Operation Gatecrasher had evaporated, replaced by the cold, heavy gravity of their new reality. Their target was no longer just the Prometheus Initiative; it was the Initiative's ultimate goal—the data, the research, the very science of the dormant Abyssal god beneath their feet. Their next objective was to plant the insidious 'Janus' virus in the rebuilt Sichuan Dam facility.
But the world had changed. The enemy was no longer ignorant.
General Jiang Wei presented the new intelligence, his report painting a grim picture. "The Sichuan facility is no longer a secret base; it is a fortress on high alert," he typed, his tone somber. "Our networks show they've tripled the Awakened guard patrols. They've installed a new, multi-spectrum sensor grid around the entire perimeter, capable of detecting everything from thermal fluctuations to spiritual energy residue. And, as expected, the ventilation shafts your team used last time, Captain, have been permanently sealed with a meter of reinforced alloy."
Hephaestus added his own bleak assessment. "Their digital network is in total lockdown. I've run preliminary probes. It's completely air-gapped and has been rebuilt from the ground up with counter-intrusion protocols I've never seen before. The 'resonance key' trick won't work twice. We're facing a digital ghost town."
Lin Mei processed the information, her face a mask of stone. "So, to summarize," she typed, "we can't get in physically, and we can't get in digitally. The target is, for all intents and purposes, impenetrable."
The impasse was total. Their previous methods were now obsolete. They were locked out, the enemy safe within their new fortress. A tense silence fell over the channel. They had the perfect weapon—the Janus virus—but no way to deliver it.
It was Su Liying, Crystalline_Mind, who broke the silence. She had been quiet throughout the briefing, her Analysis Core working in a furious, silent burst of activity. Crystalline_Mind: You are all correct. A direct assault on the facility itself is no longer a viable strategy.
A pause.
Crystalline_Mind: Therefore, we will not target the facility.
The statement was so paradoxical it momentarily confused the veteran members. Hephaestus: What are you talking about, girl? The facility *is* the target.
Crystalline_Mind: We are thinking like soldiers, focused on the walls of the fortress. We need to think like an assassin, and look for the secret passage. And I believe I have found it.
A new file appeared in the channel. It was not data from the Leech. It was a collection of archived public works documents and geological surveys, some dating back twenty years. Crystalline_Mind: I tasked my Core with digging into the history of the dam itself, from before the Prometheus facility was even built. Twenty years ago, a civilian engineering firm was contracted by the state to conduct a 'geological stabilization project' in the area, supposedly to mitigate earthquake risks. Crystalline_Mind: That firm was a shell corporation. A Prometheus front. Their project was a sham. They didn't drill to stabilize rock; they drilled a single, two-kilometer-deep borehole directly into the geothermal tap that the dam utilizes. It was their original, secret power source before they built the main conduit we severed in Operation Gatecrasher.
A map appeared, showing the dam, the river, and a series of dotted lines representing underground tunnels. Crystalline_Mind: According to their own archived safety reports from that time, the borehole was eventually deemed too unstable for continuous use and was 'permanently' sealed with a high-density rock polymer. But their report flags a design flaw. The polymer seal, while incredibly strong, is brittle. It is uniquely vulnerable to a specific, high-frequency seismic vibration. It can be shattered, but only from the inside.
She laid out her audacious, insane, and utterly brilliant plan. Crystalline_Mind: We will use the river. We will deploy a submersible, unmanned drone upstream. The drone will navigate to a submerged water outflow pipe that connects to the old, flooded borehole system. It will travel through those tunnels until it reaches the polymer seal. It will then place a specialized vibrational charge against it, shattering the seal. From there, the drone will swim *up* the geothermal vent—a column of superheated water—and emerge inside the very heart of the facility's power plant. The plant's control system is, by necessity, networked to the entire base. The drone will attach the Janus virus directly to that system. No alarms. No guards. No walls to breach. We will enter through the facility's own forgotten heart.
The members of the Inner Circle were stunned into a profound silence. The plan was a work of genius, bypassing every single one of the enemy's new defenses by using a forgotten piece of their history against them.
But once again, the genius of the plan was predicated on impossible technology. Nomad-Lead: "Chief... your plan is magnificent. But a submersible drone that can withstand the crushing pressure and intense heat of a geothermal vent, all while navigating autonomously through uncharted tunnels... such a thing does not exist in any guild's arsenal."
Hephaestus: "And a 'vibrational charge' capable of shattering a specific rock polymer without causing a mountain to collapse on top of it... the physics of that is beyond me. I cannot build a miracle I cannot understand."
As if on cue, Oracle came online. He had been watching. He had been listening.
Oracle: The Chief Analyst's plan is the optimal path. The required technology is available.
Two new, impossibly complex blueprints materialized in The Archive, their titles sending a shiver of awe through the team.
[Blueprint: 'Nautilus' Class Geothermal Infiltration Drone] Oracle: Based on the designs of a deep-sea exploration avatar from a world with oceans of liquid magma. Its hull is a bio-organic crystal composite that adapts to pressure and heat.
[Blueprint: 'Harmonic Pulse' Demolition Charge] Oracle: This device does not explode. It emits a targeted, resonant seismic frequency designed to shatter specific molecular bonds in crystalline or polymer structures. The principle is simple.
The path was now clear. The impossible had, once again, been made possible. Oracle: Hephaestus, you have 72 hours to construct the devices. General, coordinate the logistics for a covert launch upstream of the dam. Captain, prepare a support team for the launch and retrieval operation.
A final directive appeared, addressed to the architect of the plan. Oracle: Chief Analyst. You will personally guide the drone's final approach using its live sensor feed. This is your operation.
The next day, in the quiet, sunlit world of the academy library, Su Liying was searching for a book on advanced physics. She passed the aisle where Qin Mo was sitting, his head buried in a history text.
She did not plan to speak. The silent nod they had shared was enough. Their partnership was unspoken.
But as she passed, his voice, a quiet, low whisper not meant for anyone else in the world to hear, reached her ears.
"Good work, Chief."
She froze for a single, heart-stopping second, her back to him. The world seemed to tilt on its axis. It was the first time he had ever directly acknowledged their shared secret. The first time he had spoken to her, the Chief Analyst, not just Su Liying, the classmate.
A thousand questions swirled in her mind. But she crushed them down. She did not turn. She did not reply. She simply gave the smallest, almost imperceptible nod of her head, and continued walking.
A slow, determined smile touched her lips. The game was afoot. And for the first time, she felt like she was truly his partner in it.