บททั้งหมดของ Love and pain : บทที่ 161 - บทที่ 170

Nobody moved.The rain continued falling softly across the industrial district while Seraphine stood between the recovery teams and Oliver’s group.“Correcting a mistake.”The words still hung heavily in the air.Because no one expected to hear them from her.Not Elias.Not Lyra.Not even the older executive.Especially not him.His expression hardened into something colder now.Dangerously cold.“You’re compromised.”Seraphine didn’t react.“No.”Another pause.“I’m finally observing the outcome correctly.”The executive stepped closer slowly.“You trained those operatives yourself.”“Yes.”“And now you’re protecting them.”Seraphine looked toward Elias quietly.Then Lyra.Finally Oliver.“They were never supposed to survive by becoming less human.”Silence crashed across the street.Because somehow—that sentence changed everything.Elias stared at her like he genuinely didn’t recognize the person speaking anymore.For years—Seraphine was the embodiment of Cross conditioning.Contr

The maintenance gate slammed shut behind them.Darkness swallowed the tunnel instantly.For several seconds, the only sounds were heavy breathing, rushing water, and distant gunfire echoing somewhere above the city.Nobody stopped running.Not yet.The narrow rail tunnel stretched endlessly beneath the streets, illuminated only by scattered maintenance lights flickering weakly overhead.Oliver led the way beside Ariana while Clara and Lyra stayed behind them.Elias followed last.Still carrying Seraphine.Blood dripped steadily from her injured shoulder onto the tunnel floor.And that was becoming a problem.Fast.Daniel glanced backward nervously."She's losing a lot of blood."Nobody answered.Because everyone could already see it.Seraphine's face had become noticeably pale.Her breathing was growing weaker too.The woman who once seemed completely untouchable now looked frighteningly human.Vulnerable.Real.After nearly ten minutes of running, Lyra finally raised her hand."Stop.

The maintenance station felt smaller that morning.Not physically.Mentally.Because now they had a direction.And once people have a direction—standing still becomes impossible.Lyra connected the storage drive to an old maintenance terminal she managed to repair using spare equipment scattered around the station.The screen flickered weakly.Then came alive.Everyone gathered around.Even Daniel.Though he looked like someone approaching an exam he hadn't studied for."Please tell me this isn't another secret underground facility.""No promises," Clara replied.Daniel sighed deeply.Of course.The terminal loaded slowly.Damaged archive fragments appeared one by one.Encrypted records.Participant numbers.Research classifications.Years of hidden lives compressed into cold digital files.Oliver felt his stomach tighten.Because behind every file was a person.Not data.Not statistics.People.Cross had spent years forgetting that difference.Lyra navigated through the records care

The safe house transformed instantly.One moment it felt almost peaceful.The next—everyone was moving.Fast.Lyra continued pulling information from the recovered Cross communications while Clara packed medical supplies.Daniel stood in the center of the room looking overwhelmed."Why is every plan suddenly a rescue mission?""Because Cross keeps creating victims," Ariana answered.Daniel frowned."That's depressing."Nobody disagreed.At the terminal, Lyra enlarged the available data.The relocation order remained heavily encrypted, but fragments still appeared.Destination code.Transport authorization.Personnel assignments.Not enough to see the entire picture.Enough to understand the danger.Elias studied the screen carefully."They're moving him before anyone else discovers the records."Oliver nodded."Containment.""Exactly."Seraphine crossed her arms."The old executive won't risk exposure."Another pause."Noah becomes a liability."The word made Oliver uncomfortable imm

The safe house changed instantly.One moment it felt almost peaceful.The next—everyone was moving.Fast.The notification on the screen remained visible like a countdown clock nobody could stop watching.**Participant 017 relocation authorized.**Cross had found Noah.Or maybe they never lost track of him.Either way—they were moving him tonight.And that meant Oliver's group was out of time.Daniel looked at the screen in disbelief."Do these people ever take a day off?""No," Seraphine answered.The fact that she sounded serious made it worse.Lyra pulled up a digital map of Ashford City.The city appeared across the monitor in a web of roads, rail lines, and districts."If Cross is relocating him, they'll use one of three routes."Elias immediately stepped beside her."Show me."For several minutes, both of them worked through possibilities.Watching them together felt strange.A former participant and the woman who trained him.Now cooperating.Life was weird.Very weird.Arian