The gunshot echoed through the underground station.
For a moment—
nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The woman in white staggered backward, her hand instantly pressing against the blood spreading across her chest.
Shock filled her eyes.
Not because she had been shot.
Because she knew who had pulled the trigger.
Slowly—
very slowly—
she looked toward the man.
The architect.
The one who stood behind every lie.
Every experiment.
Every death.
His arm remained extended.
The pistol still smoking.
"You..." she whispered.
The man lowered the weapon calmly.
"As I said."
His voice was cold now.
Completely stripped of charm.
"You became inconvenient."
The woman laughed weakly.
Blood stained her lips.
After everything—
she laughed.
"You always were predictable."
Another wave of chaos erupted around them.
Several armed men raised their weapons.
Others hesitated.
Confused.
Terrified.
Because if he could kill her—
he could kill any of them.
The station instantly divided into two sides.
Loyalty shattered.
Fear took its place.
Then someone fired.
Another gunshot.
Then another.
Within seconds the underground station became a battlefield.
Bullets tore through concrete pillars.
Glass exploded.
Men shouted orders that nobody obeyed.
Years of control collapsed in moments.
"GET DOWN!"
Lu Shen grabbed Xiaoyu and pulled her behind a support column just as gunfire ripped through the space where they had been standing.
The pillar shook violently.
Dust fell from above.
The station echoed with chaos.
"What is happening?" Xiaoyu shouted.
"The organization is breaking apart."
Lu Shen checked the magazine in his weapon.
His face remained calm.
Focused.
Dangerous.
The woman in white was still standing somehow.
Barely.
Blood continued running through her fingers.
Yet her eyes never left the architect.
Not once.
The man looked almost disappointed.
"I expected more from you."
The woman smiled faintly.
"And I expected a soul."
The architect sighed.
Then raised his pistol again.
This time—
aiming directly at her head.
Xiaoyu's heart stopped.
Before he could fire—
a shot rang out from somewhere else.
The architect instantly stepped sideways.
The bullet missed him by inches.
Everyone froze.
Who fired?
Then a figure emerged from the shadows near the archive room.
An older man.
Grey hair.
Thin build.
A pistol shaking in his hands.
One of the armed men gasped.
"Director Han?"
The entire station went silent.
The architect's eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
The old man stepped forward.
His expression looked exhausted.
Like someone carrying guilt for decades.
"I should've done this years ago."
The architect laughed.
"You should've done many things years ago."
Director Han ignored him.
Instead—
he looked toward Xiaoyu.
And lowered his head.
A gesture of apology.
The sight confused her completely.
Then he spoke.
"I'm sorry."
Silence.
The station became still again.
The old man's eyes filled with regret.
"We all failed you."
Xiaoyu couldn't answer.
There was too much happening.
Too many truths.
Too many lies.
The architect looked bored.
Then—
without warning—
he shot Director Han.
The old man collapsed instantly.
The station erupted.
Several people opened fire at once.
Bullets flew in every direction.
The architect disappeared behind a pillar as concrete exploded around him.
"Move!" Lu Shen shouted.
He grabbed Xiaoyu's wrist again.
They ran.
Past abandoned train cars.
Past broken equipment.
Past decades of secrets.
Gunfire followed them through the darkness.
The station trembled beneath the violence.
Then—
a scream echoed behind them.
Xiaoyu turned instinctively.
The woman in white had fallen.
Blood pooled beneath her.
Her breathing was weak now.
Fading.
The architect saw it too.
And smiled.
That smile made Xiaoyu stop.
For twenty years—
that man had destroyed lives.
Families.
Children.
Everything.
And he still smiled.
Something inside her changed.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Resolve.
She looked toward Lu Shen.
For the first time since meeting him—
her eyes were completely steady.
No confusion.
No uncertainty.
Only clarity.
"We end this."
Lu Shen froze.
The determination in her voice surprised even him.
Behind them—
the woman in white lifted her head weakly.
Then pointed toward the archive room.
Toward the hidden evidence.
Toward the secret her father died protecting.
With her last strength—
she whispered:
"Page... seventy-one..."
Then her hand fell.
The station became silent for a second.
Page seventy-one.
Lu Shen's expression changed instantly.
He knew something.
Something important.
"What is on page seventy-one?" Xiaoyu asked.
For the first time in a long while—
Lu Shen looked genuinely shocked.
Then he turned toward the archive room.
And whispered:
"Oh no."
The blood drained from his face.
Because suddenly—
he understood why the architect wasn't afraid.
Why he came here personally.
Why he wanted the archive destroyed.
Page seventy-one wasn't evidence of the past.
It was a blueprint for something that hadn't happened yet.