Back outside, the abandoned zone felt almost normal.
Almost.
The air was still too quiet, and the street still looked dead. But at least the sky was real again.
Lin Lan's tablet reconnected to base signal in short bursts. The screen filled with pending uploads.
Mu Chen's stomach sank.
Data.
Everything they recorded inside the gate would now go straight back to the system.
Zhou Xiao leaned on his knees, breathing hard. "We cleared it?"
Lin Lan nodded, but her face was pale. "Core is down. Gate is closing."
Ye Fan didn't answer.
He stood still, watching the space where the gate had been. Like he expected it to reopen. Like he expected something to crawl out.
Mu Chen watched Ye Fan too.
Ye Fan's control was back in place. Tight, hard, sharp.
But Mu Chen knew now that it was not the same.
Ye Fan had felt what it was like to be closed, even for a minute.
That kind of relief was addictive.
The team returned to the van.
The ride back was silent.
Zhou Xiao fell asleep sitting up for a few minutes, then jerked awake when the van hit a bump. Lin Lan stared at her tablet like she wanted to burn it.
Mu Chen kept his hands folded in his lap.
Ye Fan sat across from him, eyes on the window.
But Mu Chen could feel his attention anyway, like pressure in the air.
When they reached the base checkpoint, scanners beeped and lights flashed green.
The gate behind them was closed, but their real danger was still ahead.
Inside the base.
They walked back into the ready room.
Colonel Luo Wei was waiting again.
She looked at their faces and knew it had been worse than expected.
"Report," she said.
Lin Lan stepped forward. "Gate inside abandoned zone. Signal dirty. Multiple monsters. Mental attack. Core destroyed. Exit successful."
Luo Wei's eyes narrowed. "Casualties?"
"None," Lin Lan said.
Luo Wei's gaze moved to Ye Fan. "Status?"
Ye Fan's voice was flat. "Stable."
Luo Wei held his gaze. "Any linking?"
Ye Fan's jaw tightened. "No."
Mu Chen felt the lie again.
This time, it sat heavier.
Not because a link had happened.
Because something close to it had.
Luo Wei looked at Mu Chen. "Lieutenant Mu. You observed."
Mu Chen nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Any notes?"
Mu Chen kept it simple. "The gate copied a warehouse layout. It felt staged. Like a test."
Luo Wei's eyes sharpened. "A test for who?"
Mu Chen paused for half a second, then answered. "For the team. For reactions."
It was true enough to hide the deeper truth.
Luo Wei nodded once, like she filed it away.
Then she said the words Mu Chen hated.
"The institute will want full data."
Lin Lan's face stayed blank, but her fingers tightened around the tablet.
Ye Fan's posture went stiff.
Luo Wei continued. "Debrief in one hour. Until then, rest. Eat."
The team broke apart.
Mu Chen started walking toward his divider space.
Ye Fan's voice stopped him.
"Mu Chen."
Mu Chen turned. "Major?"
Ye Fan looked around once. The ready room had people coming and going, but no one was close enough to hear.
"Come," Ye Fan said.
It wasn't a request.
Mu Chen followed.
Ye Fan led him down a side hallway to a small equipment room. He shut the door behind them.
No chairs. Just shelves of gear and a faint smell of metal.
Mu Chen stood still. "Major?"
Ye Fan stepped close.
Too close.
Mu Chen didn't move back. Moving back would look like fear.
Ye Fan's eyes were hard. "Don't do that again."
Mu Chen kept his voice calm. "Do what?"
Ye Fan's jaw clenched. "That calm. That closing. Whatever you did."
Mu Chen held his gaze. "I kept you stable."
Ye Fan's eyes flashed with anger. "I didn't ask you to."
Mu Chen's voice stayed soft. "You did. You said close me."
For a second, Ye Fan's expression broke.
Not weakness.
Shock.
Like he didn't expect Mu Chen to repeat his own words back to him.
Ye Fan's voice came out rough. "I said it because I had to."
Mu Chen nodded. "Yes."
Ye Fan's hands curled into fists. "You don't understand. If the institute sees you can do that, they will—"
"Take me," Mu Chen said.
Ye Fan froze.
Mu Chen continued, simple and quiet. "They will put a tag on me. They will pull my file. They will run deep tests. They will decide where I belong."
Ye Fan stared at him like he hated how accurate it was.
Mu Chen looked up at the shelf above Ye Fan's shoulder. He kept his face calm, but his words were real now.
"I don't belong to them," Mu Chen said.
Ye Fan's throat moved. He swallowed.
For a moment, he looked almost young. Like a boy who had learned too early what it meant to belong to a system.
Then his face hardened again.
"You still can't do it," Ye Fan said. "Not in front of cameras."
Mu Chen nodded. "I know."
Ye Fan stared at him a second longer, then spoke the real rule.
"No linking," Ye Fan said. "Not even a little."
Mu Chen met his eyes. "Then don't push me to."
Ye Fan's gaze sharpened. "I'm not pushing you. I'm warning you."
Mu Chen didn't argue.
Because Ye Fan was right.
But Mu Chen was right too.
If Ye Fan got pushed again, in another gate, in another test, Ye Fan would break.
And if Ye Fan broke, Mu Chen would step in.
Because Mu Chen couldn't watch it happen.
Not to someone who knew the word orphan the way Ye Fan did.
Outside the door, footsteps passed. A voice laughed once, then stopped.
Ye Fan stepped back like he remembered where they were.
He opened the door.
Before Mu Chen walked out, Ye Fan spoke one last time, harsh and low.
"If you want to survive here," Ye Fan said, "you stay small."
Mu Chen looked at him.
His voice was quiet. "I've been small my whole life."
Ye Fan's eyes flickered.
Mu Chen walked out.
The cold lights in the hallway didn't change.
But Mu Chen felt something new now.
A line had been drawn.
And both of them were already standing too close to it.