Chapter 23 – Smoke and Steel
The smoke clung to everything, thick and suffocating like a memory best forgotten.
Bai Xueqing coughed, hand covering her mouth as Mo Chen pulled her behind a stack of crates. Gunfire echoed through the warehouse, each shot lighting up the haze like lightning through storm clouds.
"Exit?" she asked.
"South side—if Zhihao managed to loop the system."
As if on cue, Zhihao's voice crackled through the earpiece. "Kind of busy not dying right now! But, yes! Exit's open!"
A figure loomed in the mist—mask, gloved hands, no visible weapon.
Mo Chen lunged first. The masked figure dodged, spun, and countered with a knife from their sleeve. Steel met steel as Mo Chen blocked with a baton he pulled from his jacket.
Xueqing moved in a blur, sweeping the attacker's legs. The figure hit the ground hard but rolled and disappeared again into the fog.
"She's trained," Mo Chen said, panting. "Not just some grunt."
"She?" Xueqing raised a brow.
He smirked despite the chaos. "Footwork. Lighter stance. Smaller frame."
"Are you analyzing enemies mid-fight again?"
"Just trying to keep up with you."
Zhihao burst in through the emergency exit, covered in soot and holding what looked like a frying pan. "We need to get out. Now."
"Is that from a break room?" Mo Chen asked incredulously.
"Hey, I improvise!"
They bolted toward the exit, dodging another spray of bullets. The masked woman appeared again, this time targeting Xueqing.
But Mo Chen was faster.
He stepped in, taking a graze across his shoulder as he tackled the attacker away from Xueqing. The masked woman hit a wall, groaned, and vanished into a maintenance shaft.
"Mo Chen!" Xueqing dropped beside him. "You're bleeding."
He winced. "Just a scratch. You okay?"
Before she could answer, an explosion rocked the warehouse. Flames bloomed behind them.
Zhihao grabbed them both. "Time to go!"
They stumbled out just as the warehouse collapsed inward, flames clawing at the night sky.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Xueqing looked back once, eyes narrowed.
"That wasn't just a threat," she said. "That was a declaration of war."
Mo Chen nodded, blood on his sleeve and fire in his eyes. "Then let's start planning our counterattack."