It started with a whisper.
Then a flicker.
By sunrise, Longhai was burning—not with fire, but with information.
Screens across the city lit up with leaked documents: secret property grabs, forced evictions masked as redevelopment, entire blocks bought for one yuan through dummy corporations. Every name, every connection—public.
And at the center?
The Silver Circle.
Morning Newsroom – Longhai Metro Bulletin
Reporters scrambled across keyboards like war correspondents.
"This one's real," someone whispered. "These are internal memos. And look—Luo Zixuan's signature."
A young editor muttered, "Who gave us this?"
No one answered. But one reporter quietly scrawled two characters into her notebook:
林峰
Silver Circle Headquarters – 8:04 a.m.
The boardroom was chaos.
Screens flickered with live coverage.
"There's a protest forming outside City Hall—students, preservationists, even retired civil engineers."
"They're chanting 'restore the ruins'!"
Luo Zixuan stood deathly still.
"They've turned the old tunnels into symbols," Greycoat muttered. "You buried skeletons. He gave them skeleton keys."
Luo's voice was calm, but dark as smoke.
"Find him."
"And?"
Luo turned, gaze cold.
"Break his legs. Then find out who else helped."
Meanwhile – Tunnel Sector 12, Beneath Shijing District
Lin Feng walked alone now.
He'd sent Mouse and Ye San topside.
Su Qingyue and Qian had taken another route—decoys, in case someone was tracking movement.
But here, in the damp stillness of Sector 12, he wasn't alone for long.
Xu Shanyue stepped from the shadows.
Not armed. Not smiling.
"You gave the city a mirror," she said. "But have you thought about what happens when people see their real face?"
Lin Feng didn't flinch. "That's the point. They've been walking in lies. Now they walk in truth."
She stepped closer.
"I should report this. Your entire operation."
"You won't."
She looked at him—then, unexpectedly, her voice softened.
"No. I won't."
Silence stretched between them.
"You could've just climbed higher," she said. "Played the quiet game. Why dig under thrones when you could sit on one?"
Lin Feng met her gaze.
"Because power without memory is a lie."
For a long moment, neither moved.
Then, almost too softly to hear, Xu said:
"If you fall… no one will bury you properly."
Lin Feng gave a faint smile. "Then I'll just keep digging."
Aboveground – 10:12 a.m.
Crowds now surrounded the Silver Circle's Eastern office.
Journalists pushed past barricades. Protestors hoisted signs. Police held their lines, nervous.
And deep inside the heart of that building…
Luo Zixuan tapped a chess piece, hesitated—and for the first time—removed a knight from the board.
End of Chapter 70 – Ember and Exposure