Chapter 20 — I Built an Empire in the Wasteland

Yên Nhi quickly operated on the wrist control panel of the armor Bạt Phong was wearing, her fingers skimming through the layers of code with a strange proficiency that only knowledge hidden deep in her subconscious could explain. She wasn't recharging—that was impossible right now—but was reconfiguring the armor's transmitter into a completely different device.

She remembered now. The pages of her father's documents, hidden among a series of biochemical formulas, contained a section of notes about the "Alpha-7 neural protocol" - the neural implant technology that Black Eagle developed specifically for high-ranking commanders, helping to enhance reflexes and muscle strength far beyond the natural age limit. Doanh Chính Nam, fifty-five years old but fighting like a warrior in his prime, is definitely carrying that implant.

"Bạt Phong, hold him for thirty more seconds!" She shouted.

"Try to hurry up!" He replied, bracing himself to block another slash, his arm shaking from the force of the impact.

Thirty seconds in a life-or-death sword fight feels like a lifetime. Bạt Phong backs, dodges, blocks, each move consumes the little remaining energy. Doanh Chính Nam, sensing his opponent's weakening resistance, pressed harder, his eyes flashing with the light of someone about to win.

"It's over, young man," he said, swinging his sword for the decisive strike.

At that moment, Yên Nhi completed the final operation, pressing the activation button. An invisible electromagnetic pulse emanated from the control panel in Bạt Phong's hand, aimed precisely at the Alpha-7 neural protocol frequency she had just identified.

Doanh Chính Nam stopped mid-slash, his body suddenly convulsed violently, the energy sword fell from his hand, extinguished. He fell to one knee on the ground, clutching his head, his face distorted by the sudden pain that shot through his nervous system.

"What..." He hissed through his teeth, trying to stand up but his body no longer followed the orders of his artificially enhanced brain. "What did you do?"

"Alpha-7 Neural Protocol." Yên Nhi stepped forward and stood next Tô Bạt Phong, her voice rang out with authority for the first time since the day she was rescued. "My father warned in documents that it had a serious security flaw — anyone who understood it well enough could remotely disable it. You relied on your own organization's technology to gain that artificial power, Colonel. And now, that same technology has turned against you."

Bạt Phong didn't waste time, rushing forward before Doanh Chính Nam could recover, snatching the deactivated energy sword and kicking it far away. He stood in front of Doanh Chính Nam who was kneeling, the last remaining energy gun aimed straight at him.

"It's over," Bạt Phong said, his voice was still breathless but full of certainty.

Doanh Chính Nam looked up, his eyes no longer had the cold authority as before, only the bitterness of someone who had just realized defeat. "Do you think killing me will solve the problem? The Black Eagle will still exist. My ideals will still exist."

"I don't intend to kill you," Bạt Phong replied, lowering the gun barrel a bit. "I want you to live, to see your own ideals crumble before your eyes, by people you consider unworthy of survival."

All around, the sounds of gunfire gradually became less frequent. With Lôi Quang Việt retreating from the battle and Kình Bá Đông tightening the siege, the Black Eagle army no longer had a central command, quickly falling into chaos. Many commandos dropped their weapons and surrendered when they realized their Colonel was defeated, others fled towards the armored vehicles.

Ứng Thị Lụa, standing and observing the entire development from a nearby position, witnessed Doanh Chính Nam kneeling in defeat, witnessing how Bạt Phong chose not to take his life even though he had the complete right to do so. She lowered her weapon, stepped out of her hiding place, raised her hands in surrender.

"I surrender," she said, moving closer. “And I can show you the exact location of the prisoner transport vehicles — the three armored vehicles at the back of the column are carrying other samples the organization has captured over the years, from the more remote areas of Phế Thổ.”

Yên Nhi turned around, eyes wide open. "Are there many other people detained like me?"

"At least eight people," Ứng Thị Lụa replied, her voice low and full of regret. "I've been silent for too long about what this organization actually does. It's time for me to stop being silent."

Bạt Phong ordered Thanh Sơn and a few people to take Ứng Thị Lụa with him to locate the vehicles carrying prisoners, while he and Yên Nhi escorted Doanh Chính Nam and assigned them to a strict guard group. Less than fifteen minutes later, cheers rang out from the stopped armored vehicles — their doors were flung open, revealing eight emaciated, panicked but alive people, brought into the light of day for the first time after many years of captivity.

Yên Nhi stood looking at that scene, tears rolling down her face covered in dust and gun smoke. She walked over, knelt down in front of a young girl trembling in a pile of iron chains that had just been broken by Thanh Sơn, and grabbed that girl's hand with all the sympathy of someone who had experienced exactly that pain.

"I understand how you feel," Yên Nhi said, her voice choked. "But now I'm free. Really free."

Bạt Phong stood watching Yên Nhi comfort the victims who had just been rescued, his heart filled with a feeling of both relief and heaviness. The battle is over, but the wounds that Black Eagle has caused over the years will take a long time to heal.

While everyone was still cleaning up the battlefield, Lôi Quang Việt appeared, leading the remnants of the Gray Wolf army that had retreated before, taking slow and somewhat hesitant steps towards the central area. Several people in the defense alliance immediately raised their guns in vigilance, but Bac Phong raised his hand to stop.

"I didn't come to cause more trouble," Lôi Quang Việt said, his voice was somewhat different from the familiar arrogance. "I'm withdrawing my troops from the north flank, to give you guys a chance to turn the situation around. I don't expect forgiveness, but at least, I don't want to continue being a hunting dog for someone who treats human life like trash."

Bạt Phong looked at him for a long time, remembering the seven years of being bullied, remembering each beating, each time he was robbed of the fruits of his labor. But he also remembered what Yên Nhi once said, about helping others even when it's not easy.

"You withdrew your troops at the right time, saving a group of children on the north slope," Bạt Phong said, his voice lowered. "I can't forget the seven years you bullied me, but I also won't deny what you just did. If you really want to change, prove it with actions, not words." Lôi Quang Việt nodded, without saying anything more, signaling the remnants of his army to put down their weapons and stand aside to help clean up the battlefield and take care of the wounded - an image that no one in the alliance ever thought they would one day witness.

Doanh Chính Nam was escorted past, his hands were tied tightly with ropes taken from the shelter, his eyes still flashed with stubbornness even though his body had completely lost the ability to fight. When he passed by where Yên Nhi was standing with the rescued victims, he stopped walking and was pulled back by the guards but still tried to look back at her.

"Do you think liberating these few lives will change anything for the entire Wasteland region?" He asked, his voice still containing some inherent contempt. "The world out there will still be as cruel, whether we are caught or not."

Yên Nhi stood up straight, looked straight into his eyes, without any fear like the first days she was rescued. "Maybe you're right, my father and I alone cannot change the world. But at least, these eight people will live. And the formula my father left behind will help many more people, not because they are 'worthy' by his standards, but simply because they are human, and they deserve the same chance to survive as anyone else."

Doanh Chính Nam did not respond, just remained silent as he was led away. His upright posture was now bent due to failure and his age was no longer hidden by artificial enhancement technology.

That afternoon, when the rare pale sunlight of Phế Thổ filtered through the dust clouds and shone down on the messy battlefield, the whole alliance began the work of cleaning up, burying the deceased, and bandaging the wounded. Diễm Thư and a few assistants ran around among dozens of emergency cases, while Sáu Mộc, even though his leg still hurt from shell fragments, still tried to cook a large pot of porridge to share with everyone, from allied soldiers to newly rescued victims.

Bạt Phong stood in the middle of the battlefield, looking around at that scene of both pain and relief, then turned to look at Yên Nhi standing next to him. Although her face was still covered in dust and tears, her eyes shone with a light that he had never seen before - the light of a person who had truly found herself, not just a victim of the past, but the master of her own future.

"We did it," he spoke, his voice hoarse with fatigue but filled with emotion.

"No, we're just getting started," Yên Nhi replied, holding his hand tightly, looking with him at the horizon where the sun was gradually disappearing behind a layer of dust, signaling a new day was coming for this desolate wasteland.