Fu Yucheng held the small piece of paper and muttered, “This is bad. If Mo Ziwei finds out that we hid his brother for so long, I fear that…”

“Yu-ge, do you think that Mo Ziran will betray us?” The boy looked down at the floor, with an imperceptible darkness shrouding his face.

I should have killed him back then.

“Mo Ziran isn’t the issue.” Fu Yucheng shook his head. “Little Mo, you have seen Mo Ziwei’s methods too… He can make even a stone speak immediately.”

He groaned again. “Also, even if Mo Ziran’s lips remain shut, every floor, except for Mo Ziwei’s own, is monitored by an AI. There’s no privacy anywhere. Mo Ziwei walked out of our apartment, so, of course, automated monitoring will detect-”

As Fu Yucheng was saying this, he suddenly paused. “Wait, that’s not right.”

Bai Mo asked him, “What isn’t?”

“Yesterday, Mo Ziwei climbed down the water pipe on the outer wall, so he was not caught by the surveillance cameras. But today, he would definitely have been caught on camera walking out the door. However, if that’s the case, the guards should have come to arrest us already. Unless…”

Unless Mo Ziran had just left.

The equipment of Fort Hurricane was old. AI surveillance, screening and identification, then uploading layer after layer, it all took a while.

However, things weren’t looking good. Mo Ziwei would know about it in a few hours at most.

They had to leave immediately.

Seeing his solemn expression, Bai Mo cautiously asked, “What’s the matter?”

Fu Yucheng came back to his senses and sighed. “Little Mo, we have to go. Grab everything that is important to you. Don’t bring too much, let’s try to travel light.”

“Go? Go where?”

Fu Yucheng said solemnly, “I will explain it to you in detail later. In short, we have to leave Fort Hurricane immediately, the sooner the better.”

Bai Mo looked at him with total trust in his dark eyes. “I’ll do anything you say.”

Fu Yucheng stared at the boy for a while and then nodded gently.

Then, he took out the diary and the old book from under the mattress, carefully taking them into his arms. “Let’s go.”

After the two of them got out of the apartment, Fu Yucheng made them take several turns without stopping, until they finally arrived at a spiral staircase at the end of the corridor.

“Why did we come here?” Bai Mo, following after him, couldn’t resist asking.

“We have to try our best to avoid everyone else right now. Usually no one ever comes down this staircase,” Fu Yucheng explained.

The entire central fortress was made of large pieces of black basalt and granite, thick and cold. This spiral step ladder was the same, devoid of any superfluous decoration, there wasn’t even a lamp. If one were to stand next to the old iron railing and look down, they would only see a black hole underneath, quiet and deep.

“Noob, light,” Fu Yucheng said.

The quantum brain, Noob, which was floating above his shoulders, suddenly emitted a faint, pale blue light, looking almost like a magic sphere.

The two descended slowly, not meeting anyone else on their way down the stairs.

A cold breeze was blowing in through a narrow window by the stairwell, producing a high pitched sound similar to a weep.

Bai Mo stopped suddenly and said in a low voice, “There’s someone crying. Um… they’re probably five or six floors below us.”

“Why would anyone be here?” Fu Yucheng frowned. “Could it be Mo Ziran…? Whatever, let’s go down and take a look.”

The two lightly went down the five floors and spotted a small figure. It was Mo Ziran, sitting in the stairwell, sobbing and wiping away his tears.

Fu Yucheng breathed a sigh of relief. “Ziran, what are you doing here?”

Startled, Mo Ziran suddenly raised his head.

When he saw Fu Yucheng and Bai Mo, he relaxed and wiped his eyes, embarrassed. “Yucheng-ge, I… I had planned to go back at first. But after I left, I kept thinking about it, and I really feel like there’s something wrong with my brother… I don’t know what to do, so I just- I just came here to hide.”

He pursed his lips. “Yucheng-ge, it might be better for me to go back to your place.”

“We can’t go back.” Fu Yucheng looked at him and sighed. “We have to leave Fort Hurricane.”

Mo Ziran asked, “But why?”

“Our corridor has automated surveillance. It’s extremely likely that, when you stepped outside the apartment, you were caught on camera. The thing is that, since Fort Hurricane is so old, it takes time for the data to be uploaded and analyzed, so there’s some delay. We’re in a very dangerous position right now, Mo Ziwei might come look for us at any second.”

Fu Yucheng looked at his watch as he spoke. “It’s 11:05am… At twelve o’clock, the four gates of the central building will close, and they won’t be opened again until 9am tomorrow. We only have 55 minutes to get out of here.”

Mo Ziran’s voice faltered. “Did- did I get you two involved?”

Bai Mo looked at him coldly. “What do you think?”

“Little Mo, stop talking.” Fu Yucheng thought for a while. “Both of you, come with me.”

11:46am.

Less than a quarter of an hour before twelve o’clock.

At the central fortress’ eastern wall, the dark, rusty gate was tightly shut. There were five groups of guards clad in exoskeleton armor crossing by as they patrolled. Not even a fly could pass over the walls unnoticed.

The squad captain, Gordon, yawned discreetly and couldn’t resist complaining in his head, man, this is bullshit. His shift usually ended at nine o’clock, and it was already almost twelve now… He just wanted to go home and sleep.

However, the four captains of Mo Ziwei’s personal guard had all given them orders. They had increased manpower at the four gates, north, south, east and west, which had to be strictly guarded and make sure that person wouldn’t get out.

Alive or dead.

Thinking about this, Gordon couldn’t help but sigh.

Sibling disputes, although common, were always complicated.

Besides, he had met the younger brother of the fortress master before. Gordon felt that young master Mo was just like a little white rabbit, not threatening at all. How could he have gotten into trouble with his brother…?

Gordon’s thoughts were running wild when someone appeared.

He steeled himself. “Who is it? Show me your ID card and the fortress master’s authorization. Oh, instructor Fu?”

The person arriving turned out to be the overseer of the cold weapons training camp, Fu Yucheng.

The camp overseer was tall and athletic and had a neutral expression on his handsome face, with only a touch of impatience. Standing behind him were two guards wearing exoskeleton armor, and the three of them looked very stylish.

Gordon wasn’t familiar with the overseer, but he had heard that the fortress master appreciated instructor Fu, who came from the parking lots. Not too long ago, he had made an exception and this instructor Fu had been appointed as the overseer of the cold weapons training camp, which had never happened before at Fort Hurricane.

Thinking of this, Gordon hurriedly smiled and greeted him. “So it’s you, instructor Fu. Do you have a mission assigned today?”

Fu Yucheng said impatiently, “What do you think? I have an urgent task, open the door quickly!”

Gordon smiled attentively and said, “Of course! Instructor Fu, please show me the ID card and the fortress master’s authorization, and I will open the door immediately.”

Fu Yucheng curled his lips and took out a metal ID card. “This came up suddenly, so I haven’t obtained the authorization from the fortress master yet. I’ll get it to you later when I come back.”

Gordon wiped his sweat. “That’s not possible, instructor Fu. We’ve received clear orders and warnings. Right now, an authorization from the fortress master is required to enter and exit the gate. I can’t do anything about it…”

Fu Yucheng sternly interrupted him, “I have an urgent task, didn’t you hear me? Do you want to delay the Fort’s important business? How many extra heads do you have, that you want the fortress master to chop one off for fun?”

Gordon immediately thought of Mo Ziwei’s blue Spectral Hook, and couldn’t help but shudder.

He stuttered, “But, but…”

Fu Yucheng rolled his eyes, leaned close to his ear, and lowered his voice. “I just got some news from an informant. The young master appeared in Parking Lot 9 this afternoon. We’re on our way to arrest him.”

When Mo Ziran was very young, he had been taken care of by a distant aunt for a couple of years. He had lost his mother when he was still a child, and his relationship with this aunt had always been very close. And this distant aunt of his was the manager of Parking Lot 9.

The old folks at Fort Hurricane knew about it. Gordon had worked in the central fortress for more than 20 years, and, naturally, he was well aware of it.

After listening to Fu Yucheng’s words, he immediately believed him a little bit more, but he still hesitated. “But, just in case… Instructor Fu, I…”

Seeing him repeatedly make excuses, Fu Yucheng suddenly became annoyed and he cursed him out, right in front of his face. “Fuck. You. If I don’t catch anyone today, when the fortress master asks about it, I’ll tell him it’s because of this son of a bitch that kept coming up with all sorts of excuses! Tell me, since you keep obstructing me over and over again like this, are you doing it on purpose or not?”

He was obviously speaking seriously, and Gordon broke out in a cold sweat.

This sibling’s squabble was now at the most delicate point. If Fu Yucheng complained to the fortress master, knowing his temper, could Gordon survive?

Gordon thought about it, fear and regret in his heart, and hurriedly said, “I understand, I understand… Open the gate! Open the gate!”

A pleasing smile appeared on his face, and he eagerly leaned close to Fu Yucheng. “Instructor Fu, you’re a generous man that doesn’t mind these small mistakes… when you’re in front of the fortress master, please put in a good word for me.”

While talking, he took off a small bag of trading coins hanging from his waist and discreetly stuffed them into Fu Yucheng’s hand.

Fu Yucheng secretly felt amused. He had always been the one who had to bribe the gatekeeper to go out, but instead, today the squad captain was the one bribing him.

This really was… a good scam.

He put the bag of trading coins into his pocket with a righteous look. “Captain Gordon, I’m always honest with the fortress master, you have nothing to worry about. Open the door quickly, I’m on a mission, so I have no time for your nagging.”

Gordon said with a grin, “Of course, of course.”

He waved his hand around violently and said anxiously, “Open the door already!”

A guard hurried to the gate, pulled at a metal rod as thick as his arm and pressed several buttons on the control panel nearby.

Behind the door, a large number of densely packed gears slowly began turning. The old door covered in rust made a creaking sound, and, finally, slowly opened.

Fu Yucheng, followed by the two guards, marched to the door.

“Wait.” A brusque voice could be heard.

“Xu… Captain Xu.” That was Gordon’s scared voice.

Fu Yucheng’s heart sank slightly.

He looked back. The one arriving was, indeed, the bearded man who had searched his room the night before. That is, Xu Weiwei, one of the four captains of Mo Ziwei’s personal guard. Xu Weiwei was big and broad everywhere, and, since his name sounded too girly, everyone called him Beard Xu.

“Fu Yucheng, it’s so late, where are you trying to go? Where’s your authorization? I already thought that something was off with you yesterday. Hm.” Beard Xu sneered and waved his hand fiercely.

Dozens of guards that stood at his back immediately surrounded them. The heavy duty firearms and long crossbows in their hands were all aimed at the three people standing in the middle.

Bai Mo, wearing an exoskeleton armor, immediately turned sideways to cover Fu Yucheng.

Mo Ziran appeared to be stunned and motionless.

Beard Xu seemed to notice something was off and squinted his eyes. “Fu Yucheng, which battalion are the two guards next to you from? Tell them to take off their face guards and goggles.”

Bai Mo making Mo Ziran feel bad as if he didn’t know Fu Yucheng was the real thief… Anyway, Fort Hurricane’s arc is almost over, I’m excited~ Thank you everyone for reading!

If you want extra chapter releases, check out ko-fi goals!

And if you like the story, review it on NU and add it to your reading list here!