The vehicle came to a halt in front of a massive, modern building, humming with activity.
Liu's body was still limp in chan's arms, drenched from rain and exhaustion.
Inside the lobby, people stopped dead in their tracks. Eyes widened at the sight of the man chan carried—his clothes torn and soaked, his sword strapped to his back as if he had walked straight out of another era.
For a moment, the room was frozen. Whispers rippled through the crowd.
But not a single person dared move.
Not with Chan standing beside him.
His posture, perfect and unyielding, radiated authority. His gaze swept across the room, silently commanding silence.
"Take him to the medical bay,"
Chan said simply. No one questioned him. No one breathed louder than a whisper.
The murmurs died immediately under his unspoken control.
~~~~~~
Liu's eyes fluttered open in the stark, sterile room. Bright lights burned against his eyes, unfamiliar walls and machines surrounding him.
He struggled to sit up, heart racing. His hands brushed over the strange surface beneath him, over clothes soaked through and unfamiliar.
Where… am I? he thought, panic rising. I don't know this place… these people…
He looked around, trying to make sense of the environment. Officers in modern uniforms moved efficiently, screens flashing faces and information he didn't understand. Nothing looked familiar. Nothing felt real.
"Easy," a calm voice said.Liu turned his head toward it. Standing a few feet away, arms crossed, Captain Chan watched him with an intensity that pinched the air around them.
"Where am I?" liu whispered, voice shaking. "What… what is this place?"
Chan's eyes narrowed slightly, lips pressed in a thin line. "This is headquarters. And you are… under my observation."
"I—I was chasing a criminal… a tunnel… a force pulled me here!" Liu exclaimed, voice frantic. "You have to believe me!"
Chan's expression didn't change. His jaw tightened. "I don't believe anything yet. Not your excuses. You'll explain later… if I decide you may."
Liu's chest tightened. His mind spun. Nothing made sense—the world had shifted around him, and no one, not even this captain, would believe him.
"I—I'm not lying!" he tried again, desperation breaking through.
Chan's eyes held a calm, piercing authority. "Whether you lie or not doesn't matter. The tunnel, the chase… the world outside your head—it's irrelevant here. You follow rules. You obey. That is all you have."
Liu's hands shook, gripping the edge of the table. For the first time, he felt completely powerless—not because of the chase, but because of the world he had landed in.
And in that moment, one thought cut through the confusion, sharper than fear: he had no idea how to survive in this time, and no one—not even this captain—was going to help him.