Chapter 7 — I Built an Empire in the Wasteland

More than fifty kilometers north of Tàn Đô, hidden deep under a limestone mountain range plowed by war to completely deform its original shape, is the main remaining base of the organization called Black Eagle. This was once one of three top-secret survival research centers of the old army before the Great War, where scientists from all fields were gathered to find ways to help people survive the disaster that the military leadership at that time vaguely predicted would happen.

Colonel Doanh Chính Nam sat in the command room, a cold stone room renovated with a few metal panels and a geothermal energy-powered lighting system, his eyes glued to an old screen displaying a blinking red warning line: SIGNAL OF SAMPLE DETENTION COMPARTMENT 07 — LOST CONNECTION. That line had been appearing for three days, and during those three days, he had barely left the command room, leaving only his subordinates to review all the backup satellite data left over from before the war, trying to find out what had happened at the Thunder Dragon Shelter.

Doanh Chính Nam is over fifty-five years old this year, his white hair is neatly cut in the old military style, his face is full of wrinkles of a person who has lived through too much loss but still maintains the cold eyes of a commander used to ordering life and death. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, a habit he had whenever he was thinking about something important.

"Situation report." He ordered when the door to the command room opened, a female officer walked in, standing at attention in front of the desk.

Ứng Thị Lụa, thirty-eight years old, is the highest-ranking surviving intelligence officer of the Black Eagle, who has followed Doanh Chính Nam since the early days of the organization's full operations before the Great War. She has a sharp face, her eyes always maintain a calm and professional look even though inside there are more complex thoughts than what she shows on the outside.

"The technical team has finished analyzing the last wave of signals before losing connection, Colonel." She reported, her voice monotone. "There are signs of manual intervention in the containment compartment control panel, not an accidental technical problem. Someone actively opened the compartment and woke up Test Model 07."

Doanh Chính Nam frowned, his eyes flashing with anger that was hard to hide. "Who can access the Thunder Dragon Shelter? That area has been marked as a highly contaminated area on all circulating maps, no civilians dare to go near."

"That's what concerns me, Colonel," Ứng Thị Lụa replied. "If it wasn't one of us, then whoever found that entrance must have been a single individual, by chance, ignorant of the true value of what was inside. But whoever he was, he had awakened a most important asset to the organization."

Doanh Chính Nam stood up, walked closer to a large map hanging on the wall, the Tàn Đô area was circled in red ink that had faded over the years. "Prototype 07 is not just a human being, Lua. It is the result of fifteen years of research, the only remaining key to the entire radiation immunity serum project that Chúc Vĩnh Khương left behind before he betrayed the organization."

Hearing that name, something flashed across Ứng Thị Lụa's eyes, but she quickly regained her usual composure. She had known Chúc Vĩnh Khương, witnessed many years of his hard work in the main laboratory, and had also heard vague rumors about his death that no one in the organization dared to ask the Colonel directly.

Doanh Chính Nam still stood with his back to her, his eyes distant as if lost in an old memory. "Vĩnh Khương was my best friend in this organization, Lua. We built the serum project together from the first days, when we both believed we were doing the right thing for humanity." His voice was low, almost without his usual cold commanding tone. "But in the final year, when the Great War was near, he began to waver. He wanted to release the serum formula to all remaining areas, dividing it equally among everyone, no matter who they were. He called it conscience. I called it dangerously naive."

"You have..." Ứng Thị Lụa let the question hang, not daring to complete it.

"I did what was necessary to protect the project." Doanh Chính Nam turned to look at her, his cold eyes returned as if no moment of weakness had ever happened. "The world after the war will not have enough room for everyone to survive, Lua. That is the harshest law of nature. If the serum is divided among millions of people, it will have no value, and the Black Eagle organization - the most worthy, the most sacrificed - will drown in that chaos like everyone else. I do not regret my decision. Vĩnh Khương is just a necessary loss along the way."

Ứng Thị Lụa remained silent, bowing her head to hide the fleeting expression on her face. She never knew the specifics of Chúc Vĩnh Khương's death, only hearing rumors that it was an "accident during war", but what the Colonel just said confirmed what she had suspected for many years without daring to dig deeper.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked, trying to keep her voice even as if nothing had just happened.

"Send a small, discreet reconnaissance team to the area surrounding the Thunder Dragon Shelter." Doanh Chính Nam ordered, his voice decisive. "There's no need for a direct confrontation right away, just need to determine the location and condition of Prototype 07. If she's still alive and nearby, we'll figure out the next step. If it falls into the hands of another force strong enough to protect it, we need to know in advance to prepare countermeasures."

"Yes, Colonel." Ứng Thị Lụa bowed her head, turned around and prepared to leave the room.

"Silk," Doanh Chính Nam called back when she was almost at the door. "Remind the reconnaissance team, absolutely do not harm Prototype 07. We need her alive, intact. Without her, the organization's twenty years of research will be a waste." Ứng Thị Lụa nodded and left the command room with a question in her heart that she had never dared to ask directly: whether Doanh Chính Nam cared about Yên Nhi as a person, or simply as a living research tool with strategic value. She had served under him long enough to know the answer, but was wise enough to never say it out loud.

On the way to the reconnaissance team gathering area, Ứng Thị Lụa stopped for a moment by the stone window looking out at the desolate mountains, where there used to be lush green pine trees before the war, now only bare, blackened tree trunks stood still like dry bones. She thought about the years before the Great War, when the Black Eagle organization still had the noble ideal of protecting people from disasters, rather than being a place where a young girl was detained for seven years just to collect blood to maintain a project that had long since lost its original meaning.

But she had no choice but to continue serving. The Black Eagle was the only family she had left after all her relatives died in the first bombardment of the Great War. Leaving the organization means facing the desolate Phế Thổ alone, something that even a seasoned intelligence officer like her is not sure she can survive.

A five-man reconnaissance team was dispatched that night, lightly armed to avoid attracting attention, carrying a detector that could detect unusual energy sources within a radius of a few kilometers — technology that no civilian in Phế Thổ could possess or defend against if discovered. They set out towards Tàn Đô, carrying Colonel Doanh Chính Nam's cold orders: find the lost property, at any cost, except harming that "property" itself.

The leader of the reconnaissance team was a young officer named Can, who had just joined the Black Eagle in recent years, had never known the glorious days before the Great War, and only knew how to organize through harsh training exercises and the oath of absolute loyalty to the Colonel. Before leaving, he gathered the remaining four people and repeated the order again under the flickering oil lamplight in the stone corridor.

"We only observe, do not interfere." Need to say, serious voice. "If you detect Test Sample 07, report it immediately via encrypted channel, absolutely do not act arbitrarily. The Colonel has made it clear that whoever messes up this time will be responsible before the entire Black Eagle." The whole team nodded, silently checking their equipment one last time before leaving the base, disappearing into the thick night of the desolate limestone mountains, starting the long journey towards Tàn Đô - where a boy scavenging scraps and an amnesiac girl were gradually building the first bricks for a roof that neither of them knew would soon have to be protected with blood and tears.

Meanwhile, at Camp Dawn dozens of kilometers away, Bạt Phong and Yên Nhi were completely unaware that a hunting machine had begun moving, silently moving towards them from a direction that neither of them had ever thought of.