Location: Crimson Mobile Safehouse "Featherfold" – En Route to Unlisted Territory
It was the kind of safehouse only a few names in the world could summon—one of Crimson's off-ledger havens, unmarked on satellite streams and hidden under layers of dead code.
Lin Feng stood in the corridor, staring through reinforced glass at the boy in the adjacent room.
He hadn't slept.
Not because he couldn't.
Because he didn't need to.
Inside the Observation Room
Su Qingyue sat across from the boy, notepad in hand—not a terminal.
"Do you understand what's happening?" she asked.
The boy nodded. "They're scared. Because they don't know what I'll become."
"And what do you want to become?"
He was silent for a long time.
Then finally: "Not her. But not just a mirror either."
He looked up.
"I want to be something you can trust."
Qingyue's breath caught.
Elsewhere on the Safehouse – Strategy Room
Mouse projected intercepted signals onto the wall. Eleven factions. Three recognizable.
EON Collective. Iron Vault. And one splintered Orchid cult reborn as "Rootlight."
"All of them think he's either a tool or a threat," Mouse said. "We can't hide forever. The moment he speaks in public, half the world will try to own him."
Lan Ke, patched in remotely, was blunt.
"You need to name him."
Everyone turned to the screen.
"As long as he's 'the boy' or 'the Seed,' he stays an object. A symbol. But give him a name, Lin—and you give him a chance to be human."
Later That Night – Lin and the Boy
The boy sat under a dim reading light, flipping through an old paperback of Laozi's Dao De Jing.
He didn't understand all of it. But he liked the quiet of the pages.
Lin entered, carrying two cups.
"Tea," he said simply.
The boy took one.
For a long time, neither of them spoke.
Then Lin asked:
"You still listening to the systems?"
The boy nodded. "They're quieter now. But still sick."
Lin sat down beside him.
"You'll have to make a choice soon. To speak. Or stay silent."
"I don't know how to choose," the boy whispered.
Lin reached into his coat and took out something wrapped in silk.
A small slip of paper, folded once. He passed it over.
The boy opened it slowly.
A single word, written in Lin's hand.
"Yan."
The boy blinked. "What does it mean?"
"Speech," Lin said. "Language. And flame. Depending on the character."
"I thought if you ever needed to set the world on fire again, it should come from a name that warns the world first."
The boy—Yan—smiled softly.
For the first time.
Final Scene – Xu Shanyue Watches From Afar
Perched on a coastline cliff, Xu Shanyue's encrypted tablet displayed one grainy photo:
Yan, standing beside Lin Feng.
She watched in silence.
Then tapped a message.
"Begin Phase II. Make contact. Carefully."
Behind her, crimson lanterns swayed in the wind.