Silence filled the room.
The screen went black.
The entire Blue Rose system had collapsed — just as Khả Vũ had intended.
No alarms.
No mocking voice from Tống Dực.
Only a faint red light blinking weakly in the corner of the ceiling.
An Thư caught her breath, one hand resting on the control panel.
"So… it's really over?"
Khả Vũ didn't answer.
His eyes locked onto the disk slot — where a faint blue flash had just flickered.
Something's not finished.
He leaned down and pulled out a small chip, no larger than his fingertip.
When he inserted it into a handheld device, a short video flickered to life.
Three children.
One was Khả Vũ — sharp-eyed, reading a book.
One was An Thư — short-haired, laughing mischievously.
And the third…
It wasn't Tống Dực.
A pale-haired boy, with ash-grey eyes.
A voice echoed from the recording:
"Blue Rose wasn't just the three of you."
"There was another — someone your parents never spoke of."
A man appeared in the footage — wearing a white lab coat, his eyes obscured.
"You were never the creators.
You were vessels — built to reach the original gene."
"The one who truly holds power… is the fourth."
The screen flickered violently.
An automatic sequence initiated.
File name: "X.A.R. Protocol – Phase 2"
An Thư turned to Khả Vũ.
"We were never meant to stop it.
We were just the prologue."
Khả Vũ let out a faint laugh.
Not soft. Not light.
The kind of laugh that comes from realizing
the real war… was only just beginning.