"Boss!" Lin Ke cried, half laughing, half on the verge of tears. He rushed forward—then stopped at Aegis's look of pure disgust. "I knew you'd be fine!"
"You almost weren't" said Viper, scanning him with a professional eye. "Who patched you up? The work's... perfect." He lifted Aegis's wrist, checking his vitals. "Even a transfusion of Panda blood. That's not easy to find."
The team exchanged bewildered glances. Panda blood was so rare, even with his special identity, Boss's medical team had to plan months in advance.
"They left extra too" Zhao Yunqi commented quietly at the extra bag waiting on ice. He reached out to get it checked, and move it to storage.
"Boss, the congee smells divine, what did you add in it?" sniffed Lin Ke, hopefully. He had been half starved these days and light congee would do nicely.
"Touch them and you have training sessions with me for a week" snapped Aegis icily. Zhao Yunqi and Lin Ke stopped like they had been shot and hastily moved away from the table.
Li Jian smiled faintly. Training sessions with their boss were like suicide missions.
Chen Yuzhe looked around, checking for signs of the Hostage. Was he the mysterious benefactor who saved their boss? Seeing no one, he turned to their boss, meaning to ask him when he ordered "Debrief. Now."
"We had the target locked," said Li Jian grimly. "Then came an interference. We still haven't been able to trace it, but, we know it's deliberate. The signal was designed to compromise our extraction route the moment we moved. The hostage facility was rigged with adaptive sensors that mirrored our movements. It was a trap that triggered late, faulty design is my guess, but it was meant for us."
"So was there ever a real hostage?" Lin Ke asked, his voice tight. "Or did they feed us a phantom?"
"No," said Chen Yuzhe—Rhino—his tone certain. "I recognized the hostage. He and his wife were renowned researchers when I was still in training. They were the kind of minds this country built its defenses on." He hesitated, guilt flickering across his steady face. "Boss, I take full responsibility for this. As your tactician, I should have anticipated an adaptive countermeasure. That was my failure."
"Mine too," Li Jian admitted quietly. "I underestimated their ability to track us."
"And me," Lin Ke added, his usual humor gone. "I should've caught the anomaly in the system code. Maybe I got complacent."
Zhao Yunqi—Viper—exhaled slowly. "I missed the initial tail during recon. That's on me." He stood straighter, eyes resolute. "We all failed you, sir. We accept whatever disciplinary measures you deem fit."
The room went still. The air felt heavy, dense with shame.
Each of them had bled and fought alongside their captain for years. Their Captain, was their shield, their faith. He had unflinchingly stood by their side when they were at their lowest and now, they'd jeopardized everything he'd worked for.
Aegis regarded them in silence, his expression unreadable. The weight of his gaze was almost physical. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet—but carried absolute authority.
"You all need to be punished," he said. "Not for failure—but for foolishness."
The team exchanged uncertain looks. Lin Ke frowned slightly. "Foolishness, sir?"
Aegis's eyes locked on him. "Why did you miss it?"
Lin Ke hesitated, thinking aloud. "Because the interference wasn't a standard hack. It was a real-time adaptive loop. It bypassed every one of our attack codes and mirrored our tactical behavior."
He trailed off mid-sentence. The realization struck them — their defense systems didn't counter it because... they were never meant to.
"It wasn't a system glitch," Chen Yuzhe said hoarsely. "Someone fed them our codes. They knew our methods before we deployed."
"We weren't blind," Li Jian murmured. "We were blinded."
And then came the final, unspoken conclusion—cold and inevitable.
"There's a traitor," Zhao Yunqi said quietly. "Someone on the inside."
The words hung heavy in the air.
The team turned to each other with a mix of disbelief and dread. For a heartbeat, it felt as if the floor had dropped from under them. Trust, that rarest bond between soldiers, trembled on the edge of collapse.
Before anyone could speak, Aegis's voice cut through the room like a blade. "I don't believe a single person in this team has betrayed me."
The authority in his tone left no room for argument. "I trust every one of you. And I know you trust me."
He looked at each of them in turn—Lin Ke, Chen Yuzhe, Zhao Yunqi, Li Jian—and continued, his voice low but resonant. "And now, you need to trust each other, and yourselves."
"What we encountered wasn't failure, it was clear deceit. Your failure was in not recognizing it sooner." He let the words sink in for a moment and continued.
"The greatest weapon the Black Lotus wields isn't their tech, or their assassins—it's doubt. They infect the very fabric our teams are on built on and let fear do their work for them. The moment you turn give into the fear, you start doing their job."
He paused, his gaze steady. "You've shared bullets and blood. That's not a bond you question. Not now. Not ever. The only way to honor your comrades is to trust them—completely, irrevocably. Anything less, and they've already won."
The silence that followed was profound.
Each man stood straighter, the shame replaced with something deeper—resolve. Their captain's unflinching faith didn't feel like forgiveness; it felt like a challenge.
Lin Ke swallowed hard. The words I trust you echoed in his mind like an oath.
Zhao Yunqi's hands, which had been clenched unconsciously, eased open.
Even Li Jian, usually composed, felt a rare sting behind his eyes.
For years, Aegis had been their shield, their blade, and their compass.
To see their boss give them their unyielding trust hit harder than any reprimand.
"Can you do it?" He asked again, his voice snapping like a whip.
"Sir, Yes Sir" they yelled in unison.
"Good" he replied. "Now we plan to smoke out the traitor".
"Falcon, do not inform headquarters just yet. Tell them you are still looking for me."
"Ghostwire, you are tracing down that interference signal. There's clearly a flaw in their coding. Looking at their plan, the system was meant to trigger when we went in. It delayed. Find out why."
"Rhino, you are on recon. Find a different safehouse to move the Professor to."
"Viper you are with Rhino. The Prof seems to have been a captive for sometime. Check if he needs help."
He smiled coldly at his team who looked a bit confused. "I said there's no traitor within this team and I trust you. That doesnt mean I blindly trust everyone else" he sneered. "Get going", he snapped and his team scattered.
Aegis sat back on the couch, reaching for the blood bag again. He ran his hands over it. reverently. like he had done in the past couple of hours since he woke up. His thoughts were focused on her.
Who was she?
He had noticed her the moment she walked in. She was beautiful, yes. Stunningly so. But she was also just another school girl there to do her homework.
Just moments before her arrival, he had intended to leave guns blazing, overpowering his hunters and using their vehicle to reach the safe house. Even if he didn't succeed, it would've alerted his team and they would've reached him immediately.
Instead, she happened. Something about her captured his attention and he had stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.
He didn't know how long he stood watching her - seeing her tie up her hair, working on her math. All he knew was that his body gave up first. When he was at his weakest, he mistook her hurried footsteps as the enemy's and lashed out.
Thank god he controlled his attack at the last possible moment. Otherwise, the consequences would've been devastating.
It floored him that she didn't hold his attack against him. Her true willingness to help someone whom she believed in sparked something within him.
"I did warn you Kid.." he muttered, closing his eyes, remembering the moment their eyes met. Hers could hold his world.
Every action of hers had slid between his defenses. Now, his favorite hobby was recalling the their brief time together and discovering new things to admire.
Her gentle support when he needed it.
The authority in her tone when she was working.
The way she tied his mask back for him, only because she knew it mattered to him.
The way she set up the booby traps, so that he would be more peaceful resting and waking up.
The warm congee waiting in the kitchen.
The clean white shirt she must've changed while sleeping. He felt oddly bashful thinking about it.
His heart remembered it all, and for the first time, it felt strange.
He was not used to someone caring so much. But there it was - the bag of blood and the empty porridge bowl undeniable proof of her presence.
His hand gently caressed the blood bag again.
"Let me set up the transfusion for you" chipped in Yunqi and reached for the bag.
"Not this one. Use the standby". This was too precious to be used. Just like the congee. He couldn't bring himself to share it. Maybe this is all he would ever get of her in his life. The thought gutted him more than he cared to admit.
"Sir, we seem to be all out", he said hesitantly.
"Then I recover as I always do. We are not using this, are we clear?" He growled leaving a stunned Yunqi.
Their boss was acting a bit weird.
Do you want me to review the prescription? he prodded.
"What prescription?" queried Aegis, a bit annoyed by the questions. "I did not..."
He stopped short when Yunqi pulled it out from under the ice pack. "Let me see.."
"Give that to me" roared Aegis, startling Yunqi. Honestly, Aegis was startled himself. He had never lost control like this.
Ignoring the incredulous stare from his subordinates, he turned his eyes to scan the prescription. Graceful, elegant writing stared back at him. It was rather like her- gentle with unyielding strength.
"Don't ignore your health - I hope you get better soon" one more memory to lock away in his heart.
As Aegis folded the prescription back, he noticed his team staring at him. He knew they wouldn't let it rest without before asking. "Go ahead ask" he growled impatiently.
Fearing they wouldn't get the chance again, the team rushed in with their questions
"Was it the divine doctor who saved you?" -Zhao Yunqi
"Are you sure they aren't part of the scheme?" - Li Jian
"Did they set up the booby traps?" - Chen Yuze
"Do we have a sister-in-law"? - Lin Ke
As one everyone turned to stare at Lin Ke.
"It was a legitimate question" Lin Ke seriously defended. "My roommate in college acted this weird when he ..." before he could dig himself deeper, Yuze reached and tapped his mute acu point.
His team silently lit a candle for him in their heart. Of all the dumb things to ask...
"Don't know, yes, yes, don't be silly - she's a school kid" Aegis whispered and moved to put away the prescription.
"Are you leaving, or do I need to order you to?" he asked dangerously.
"Ermm boss, you need to tell us where to find the Professor" coughed Yuqi.
And with that info, the team left, dragging Lin Ke who was gaping at their boss like he was seeing an alien.
For a second, they felt their boss was almost... human. And for the first time they weren't sure if that made him stronger, or more dangerous than ever.