SAFE HOUSE — DAWN
The first light of dawn seeped through cracked windows, illuminating the sparse room where Su Chen sat motionless, the weight of recent battles pressing heavily on his shoulders. The virus had crippled the Council, yet the system's warning echoed louder than any siren.
"Real traitor unidentified. Hidden in plain sight."
His mind raced. If Yue Lin wasn't the traitor, then who had orchestrated the ruin, weaving a deeper web of lies beneath the already shattered empire?
THE SYSTEM'S CLUE
Su Chen's wrist console beeped sharply. A new file unlocked: encrypted data logs spanning years, conversations hidden within innocuous messages, fragments of a puzzle only his system could decode.
[Suspected: High-Level Insider — Codename: Specter]Trait: Ghost in the MachineSpecialty: Concealed sabotage, manipulating friend and foe alike.
He scrolled through intercepted transmissions — a familiar voice, distorted and masked, issuing orders that dismantled Su Chen's alliances and sabotaged missions.
FLASHBACK — THE BETRAYAL
Memories flooded back: quiet whispers behind closed doors, misplaced ambushes, betrayals so precise they couldn't be coincidence.
His best friend, Li Wei — the man who had stood by him through the apocalypse, the lover whose betrayal had shattered his trust and nearly ended his life.
Was Li Wei the Specter?
CONFRONTATION PLANNED
Determined, Su Chen set a trap.
"If you want to hide, you better slip carefully."
He sent encrypted signals, planting false intel and watching carefully for who acted.
LI WEI'S POV
Li Wei moved through the ruins, torn by his own demons. Loyalty battled survival, love tangled with ambition.
"Su Chen... I never wanted this war."
His voice was bitter, haunted.
Yet every step pulled him deeper into the game — a game where the only winners were ghosts.
SYSTEM ALERT
[High probability: Specter identified — Awaiting confirmation.]
ENDING SCENE
Su Chen stared into the cracked mirror, face hardening.
"Time to face the ghost."
End of Chapter 16