The alarm didn't ring. The lights in the bunker simply transitioned from pitch black to a clinical, blinding white at exactly 06:00.
I sat up in the narrow bed, my heart racing. The room was a concrete box. No windows, no clock, just a heavy steel door that hissed open before I could even reach for my shoes.
Lu Sheng stood in the doorway. He was already dressed in a fresh black shirt, his sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms that looked like they were corded with steel. He wasn't carrying a gun this time. He didn't need to.
"You're three minutes behind," he said.
"I don't have a watch," I snapped, pushing my hair out of my face.
"Excuses are for the dead. Eat. Then work."
He pointed to a small tray on the kitchenette counter. A bowl of plain congee and a glass of water. It was functional, devoid of flavor, and exactly what a prisoner would eat.
I sat at the workstation while I ate, the glow of the four monitors reflecting in my eyes. Lu Sheng didn't leave. He pulled up a chair five feet away close enough to see every keystroke, far enough to remind me I wasn't worth his conversation.
"The Qin Group's offshore ledger," he said, nodding toward the screen. "It's hidden behind a rotating 256-bit encryption. They change the seed every hour."
I looked at the code. It was a nightmare of nested loops and false directories. "This isn't just a bank account. This is a black-market laundering hub. If I trip the silent alarm, they'll wipe the drive from their end."
"Then don't trip it."
"I need more processing power. This tower is fast, but it's not...."
"I didn't bring you here to tell me what you can't do, Lin Xiao." Lu Sheng leaned back, his eyes narrowing. "I brought you here because you're supposed to be 'Zero.' If you can't break a rotating seed, then you've lied to me about your value. And I don't keep useless things."
The threat was quiet. It wasn't a shout; it was a cold statement of fact. My hands hovered over the keyboard. My fingers were cold, but the anger in my chest was starting to burn.
"I'm not useless," I whispered.
"Prove it."
For the next four hours, the only sound in the room was the rapid-fire clicking of the mechanical keys. I forgot to finish the congee. I forgot that I hadn't showered. I was back in the code, weaving through the Qin Group's defenses.
Whenever I slowed down, I could feel Lu Sheng's gaze on the back of my neck. He wasn't a cheerleader. He was a predator waiting for me to stumble.
At 10:15, the final firewall flickered and died. A list of 412 accounts populated the screen. The total balance at the bottom was a number that made my head spin.
"I'm in," I breathed, my shoulders finally dropping an inch.
I expected a compliment. I expected a nod.
Lu Sheng stood up and walked over. He didn't look at me. He looked at the data. He reached past me, his chest inches from my shoulder, and inserted a hardware key into the terminal.
"Transfer the first ten accounts to the routing numbers on this drive," he ordered.
"That's nearly two hundred million dollars," I said, looking up at him. "Where is it going?"
"Away from the people who want you dead." He looked down at me, his face inches from mine. He reached out, his thumb catching a stray strand of hair near my eye and tucking it behind my ear.
The gesture wasn't tender. It was possessive. Like a man checking the finish on a high-end tool he'd just purchased.
"You did well, Lin Xiao. Don't make the mistake of thinking it's enough."
He pulled the drive, turned on his heel, and walked out. The heavy door hissed shut and the lock clicked.
I was alone again. I looked at the screen, then at the door. I had just stolen two hundred million dollars for a man who wouldn't even tell me his middle name.
I was safe from the Qin Group. But as I looked at the empty tray of food, I realized the price of that safety was becoming my own soul.