DISTRICT II – TEMPLE OF ORDER
It stood like a relic from a better time — towering, symmetrical, built with quiet arrogance and disciplined silence. The Temple of Order once served as a moral compass for the shattered cities. Now, it was a sanctum of hypocrites.
And at the center sat Mentor Huang, cross-legged, robed, flanked by guards and wisdom.
Su Chen walked through the main gate with no effort.
Because there were no alarms for ghosts.
Inside – Observation Hall
Su Chen didn't bow.
Didn't speak.
He just stood at the foot of the dais like a shadow that refused to kneel.
Mentor Huang opened his eyes slowly.
"I was told you were dead."
Su Chen didn't smile.
"I was told you cared."
A flicker of expression passed over the old man's face. Not guilt. Not sadness.
Just recognition.
"You've changed."
"You haven't," Su Chen replied. "That's the problem."
Huang gestured for the guards to leave.
They did.
"I made you strong," Huang said calmly. "I taught you logic. I warned you not to love."
"You watched them betray me," Su said, voice razor-sharp. "You watched me bleed out. And you did nothing."
"Emotion was your flaw. I wanted you to survive. This… is survival, isn't it?"
Su Chen stepped forward.
"No. This is justice."
"Justice is a myth."
"Then call me the mythmaker."
SYSTEM ACTIVATED: MEMORY SPLICE
[Target: Mentor Huang][Injecting Reconstructed Memory Layer]Effect: Mentally insert custom memory of betrayal. Alters perception.[Initiating…]
Suddenly, Mentor Huang's surroundings shifted.
In his mind, he was back in that sealed chamber from years ago.
Watching a younger Su Chen begging for a retrial.
Bleeding. Weakened. Defiant.
And Huang, standing with the other council members, saying:
"Let the boy die."
Then a simulation of Su's death played before him.
Blood on white tile.
No sound. Just Su Chen's eyes staring through him.
It lasted five seconds.
But Huang flinched like it was fire on his skin.
Back to Reality
He gasped, cold sweat trickling down his neck.
"You're in my head," he growled.
"No," Su Chen said. "You're in mine. I just let you visit."
Huang stood, chest rising.
"What do you want?"
"I want you to kneel," Su Chen said. "In front of the boy you condemned."
A pause.
Then laughter.
Short. Bitter.
"You'll never get that."
Su nodded.
"Then I'll burn down everything you taught — until your students learn to curse your name."
Outside the Temple – Ten Minutes Later
The Temple's sky server was compromised.
Su Chen uploaded every record he found — suppressed court trials, silenced whistleblowers, and worst of all: internal memos from Huang justifying public sacrifices "for balance."
Uploaded to every rebel broadcast system, encrypted and timed.
They would go live in twenty-four hours.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Mentor Huang - Integrity Collapse 44%][Trait Unlocked: The Fallen Pillar]Targets known as mentors or teachers suffer greater emotional and reputational backlash when exposed.
[Next Target: Colonel Mei Xun – Military Strategist / Past Confidant]
BACK IN THE TEMPLE
Mentor Huang sat alone.
The guards outside heard nothing.
But if they had looked inside, they would've seen the old man shake — not from fear, but from shame…the kind that turns belief into dust.
He stared at Su Chen's final words, carved into his temple's altar:
"You taught me silence. I perfected it into a blade."
Elsewhere – Abandoned Metro Line
Su Chen stood on a train rail, arms out, eyes closed, letting the wind rush past his ears like ghosts whispering names.
"Mei Xun," he said.
"The general of loyalty. The only one who held my hand… while the knife was in my back."
"Let's find out if she bleeds."
End of Chapter 7