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墨書 Inktalez
It was much easier to go out than to come in. Song Bunan even found a cloth bag inside to store his documents. Just as he was getting ready to return the way he came, the ghost reappeared, pointing with its pale, slender finger at a dirty and chaotic corner of the room, claiming that it was the exit.
The small pile of old documents, which crumbled at a touch and were covered in years of accumulated dust, made it hard for Song Bunan to breathe as he approached. The designer who managed to carve an exit in such a corner was indeed talented. He adjusted his mask and took a folder to sift through the mess, soon discovering something resembling a button.
“Going out here leads to where that child is; you two can reunite,” the ghost said, mimicking his actions by squatting beside him, a smile returning to its face. In its gaze, Song Bunan saw a hint of encouragement. He secured the bag on his back and pressed his hand on the button, asking the ghost once more why it was helping him.
Being entrusted with this task by someone who had died in the Mighty Falcon Team did not convince him. Time was running short, and even if the ghost didn’t speak the truth, he had no other options but to take a gamble.
The ghost merely smiled at his words, stood up, and performed an exaggerated salute before silently dissipating into thin air.
He lost the bet. Song Bunan felt speechless.
The exit was a passageway about half his height, not much different from the way he had crawled in, but without any branching paths—just one route leading into darkness.
Inside this passage, strange sounds echoed; footsteps could be heard along with indistinct murmurs, and occasionally there were raised voices as if engaged in heated arguments. He discerned that the voices came from the end of the tunnel and mustered all his strength to crawl toward them.
As he got closer, the conversations became clearer. To his surprise, he recognized that one of the speakers was Xin Yi along with the captain he had met before. They seemed to be arguing about something's right or wrong, with Xin Yi sounding particularly angry.
There was a vent at the end providing some cover; Song Bunan didn’t rush out but quietly crouched inside to observe through the gap.
The decor here appeared much more normal than in that small dark room—there were standard desks and chairs neatly arranged along with bookshelves filled with documents. Two computers were positioned back-to-back; it looked like an office of sorts.
However, the ceiling remained low; standing inside, Xin Yi’s height of over six feet seemed like it might touch the ceiling. The captain wore a tight black outfit and faced away from the vent, making it hard to see his expression. But judging by his tone while speaking now, it was clear he wasn’t happy.
In front of them lay several sheets of paper that appeared to be personnel files based on their printed format. Song Bunan attempted to make out their contents but found it too difficult from such a distance. He shifted into a more comfortable position as he listened to the two resume their argument over some matter once again.
The content revolves around the "traitor" within Mighty Falcon. The captain explains to the team that he concealed the existence of this place for their own good, but Xin Yi disagrees. Xin Yi feels that such a place is an insult to himself and their fallen comrades.
"If all the mission data were openly displayed in the archive room, would we still have good days ahead? Regardless of whether there are traitors above us, some things should never be made public from the start. You've been with Mighty Falcon for decades; how could you think that hiding these matters means we are guilty?" The captain slammed his hand on the table, causing the mouse on it to bounce slightly.
Xin Yi furrowed his brows and leaned closer to the captain, saying, "The true circumstances of many missions have been concealed, and the original plans from above have been maliciously altered. As a result, so many people died, and all that’s written in the files is 'useless' as a conclusion. What does 'useful' even mean?"
From their conversation, Song Bunan deduced that the upper echelons of Mighty Falcon maintained a hands-off yet watchful attitude towards the members of the ground unit. The results of each mission were hidden from other members who did not participate, and even the causes of death were rarely disclosed truthfully. As for the conclusion of "useless," it was clear that the higher-ups had their own agenda regarding them.
It seemed that Mighty Falcon had perhaps always been a target for finding experimental subjects. Song Bunan rubbed his chin and noticed that the captain had stuffed several documents into his pocket and seemed ready to leave. Xin Yi attempted to stop him but was blocked.
"I've said before, even if Mighty Falcon encounters major issues, we must stand united. But since you don't trust me now, then go your own way without interfering with each other. As for the true circumstances surrounding your team’s betrayal back then, go find your own clues; I don’t know anything."
With that, he quickly walked away, his footsteps fading into silence. Song Bunan observed Xin Yi, who stood there with a dark expression, clearly in a foul mood. This was the first time he had seen such an emotional display from him; he found it quite interesting and thought that witnessing this side of Xin Yi was one of the highlights of his visit.
Poor Xin Yi, unable to vent his frustrations after being outmatched by his captain, stood there like a statue. Song Bunan scratched his head and deliberately made some noise in the pipe to attract his attention. When Xin Yi clenched his fists and approached him, he shook the partition vigorously and called out a few times.
The window was nailed shut; if it had been facing outward, he could have kicked it open. However, Song Bunan was crawling with his head facing outwards and couldn’t turn around due to the heavy bag on his back. With great strength, Xin Yi managed to grip the gap in the partition and pulled it apart with a loud crash.
Their eyes met; a hint of embarrassment appeared on Xin Yi's face as Song Bunan pretended not to know anything while crawling out of the pipe. Once on solid ground, he curiously looked around and asked how someone could disappear halfway through searching for something.
"I found an opening in the roof and wanted to check what was inside. I didn't expect the pipe to be so long. When did you catch up?" Despite still harboring anger in his eyes, his voice was devoid of any negative emotion as he kindly brushed off the dust from Song Bunan’s clothes while glancing at the bag on his back.
Song Bunan grinned widely and handed over his bag without hesitation, slumping into a chair with pride as he replied, "As soon as I noticed you were gone, I retraced your steps through the same route and crawled into that pipe after you. However, seeing you went toward one marked area, I chose another path instead. This bag is what I retrieved from that room over there; consider it an unexpected gain. Then I crawled back through the pipe to come here; thankfully you were here; otherwise, I would have had to go back again."
"Did you hear anything?" Xin Yi asked with flickering eyes. Upon meeting Song Bunan's bright gaze, he almost revealed everything that had just happened but saw him shaking his head honestly instead, claiming he had been too focused on crawling through darkness to notice any other sounds.
He couldn't even tell if he was lying. His dark eyes were filled with an innocent expression, and if one looked closely, they could see their own reflection in the glimmer. Most of the time during the day, Song Bunan's gaze would be like this; even when he spoke the little schemes in his heart, his eyes remained unchanged. He decided not to dwell on it anymore, answering that it was nothing before shifting the topic.
Song Bunan eagerly began to pull out stacks of documents from his bag, arranging them neatly and pointing at the items. "This is the foundation of your Mighty Falcon. From project initiation to implementation and records of obstacles faced along the way, everything is documented in great detail. I must say, you all really know how to hide important things; stuffing them into the gaps of the building makes it impossible for anyone who isn’t personally involved to find them. I’m just lucky to have stumbled upon this secret."
Xin Yi pushed aside the earlier unpleasantness and crouched down to sift through the pile of documents. He didn't notice Song Bunan's suddenly cold gaze directed towards the door after he shifted his focus, as if a hawk had locked onto its target.
"How come these documents are still in the building? According to what we were told, they should have been destroyed or lost during the updates," Xin Yi remarked. He knew that Mighty Falcon had once faced a near dissolution crisis, but everyone with more experience than him claimed that no documents had been retained. Now it seemed those words were heavily diluted with falsehoods.
"Well, I don't know about that. All I know is that this pile of stuff is what I found and brought out, so it's mine! Don’t think about helping them take it back! If you want to take it away, you’ll have to pay," Song Bunan said with a mischievous grin, even rubbing his fingers together to emphasize his determination.
His quirky antics amused Xin Yi, who nodded in agreement while mentally questioning all the information about Mighty Falcon he had once believed. It wasn't that he didn't want to trust this place that had supported him for decades; rather, after recent events, blindly believing would make him feel like a fool.
"What’s in here? The decor looks quite new," Song Bunan said as he attempted to pry open the tightly shut cabinets but couldn't budge them no matter how hard he tried. He blew on his fingers, which throbbed from exertion, gritting his teeth as he sent a friendly greeting to whoever designed those cabinets.
Xin Yi packed the documents back into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "This is where every order from above is stored. The contents of those cabinets are the real details of each mission—from being commissioned to having decisions made above and then distributed into our hands."
"The paper your brother gave you came from here. But unfortunately, the cabinets can’t be opened; they’re encrypted." He gently squeezed Song Bunan's reddened fingers to ease his pain, receiving a disdainful pout in return. Song Bunan expressed how much he hated underhanded tricks; lives were at stake for those below.
"Alright then, let’s not get hung up on these trivial matters." Seeing Xin Yi with his bag on, Song Bunan waved his hand and headed outside. "Since we can’t open them now, we’ll bring tools next time. Today has already yielded results; let’s go raid that Confidential Vault and see what we can gather—whatever we find will do. With these documents in hand, even if Mighty Falcon discovers them but doesn’t intend to reclaim them, it won’t matter; they’ll burn nicely for firewood."
Xin Yi admired Song Bunan's determination as he followed him into the unknown darkness ahead.
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