The morning of the second day since the Ω's Touch warning broke, the air seemed to freeze with the tension. Lu Chenzhou and Su Wanqing, leading the task force, had been working through the night, still in the midst of an intense deployment and search.
Based on the target area outlined in the encrypted logs, today's focus was on inspecting Zone C of the Century Junction Hub subway system—where Metro Line 1 intersected with the Airport Express Line. It had the highest foot traffic and the most complex layout.
"Before the morning rush, we need to complete a full inspection," Lu Chenzhou said with a serious expression, pointing to key markers on the operation map. "Retrieve all no-ticket access records from the past seven days and cross-reference them with every suspicious passenger."
Su Wanqing, organizing surveillance images provided by the tech team, appeared exhausted, but she didn't allow herself to relax for even a moment. The note from last night, "detonate from the inside," kept echoing in her mind, making her instinctively feel that danger was closer than they imagined.
At 6:40, the inspection team began entering various entry points, equipment rooms, and communication manholes. Su Wanqing led the forensic team and bomb disposal experts to conduct thorough scans of the electrical wells and garbage passageways.
At 7:03 AM.
Just when everyone thought this was nothing more than a tense drill, a sudden explosion rocked the entire station.
Boom—!
At the intersection of Metro Lines 2 and 4, a secondary tunnel experienced a violent explosion, flipping an empty train car, bending the rails, collapsing walls, and filling the entire platform with smoke and screams.
"Seal off all passages in Zone C!" Lu Chenzhou ordered, rushing toward the explosion site. His earpiece crackled with reports from various teams: "Passengers trapped! We need medical support!"
Su Wanqing quickly followed, assisting medical personnel in evacuating the injured. As they moved through an emergency evacuation passage, she suddenly noticed a man wearing a construction vest, his head lowered, walking briskly toward the blocked-off area, attempting to leave.
"Wait!" Her brows furrowed as she quickly chased after him.
The man was thin, his face covered in dust, appearing to be an ordinary worker, but the shape of his backpack was unusual—unnaturally swollen, with metal contours faintly visible on the straps.
Su Wanqing stopped him. "Which construction company do you work for? What's in your bag?"
The man froze, his face changed abruptly, and he shoved her away, trying to escape!
"There's a bomb suspicion! Stop him!" Su Wanqing yelled.
By then, Lu Chenzhou had arrived. Ignoring the chaos of the crowd, he lunged at the man, knocking him to the ground. The two struggled, and the backpack slipped off, hitting the ground with a dull thud.
"Don't move!" Lu Chenzhou punched the man's wrist, knocking the switch he was trying to activate to the floor, while pinning him down as he continued to struggle.
Su Wanqing rushed to open the backpack and immediately went pale—inside was an incomplete explosive device, the timer still in preparation mode, with just one trigger needed to detonate it.
Her hands trembled as she pulled out wire cutters and a jammer from her side pouch, quickly completing the power cut and chip shielding operation.
"It's disabled!" she exhaled with relief.
But just as everyone turned their attention to the man, he slowly raised his head, a sinister smile on his lips. Then—
"Don't touch his mouth!" Su Wanqing screamed.
It was too late. The man suddenly clenched his right molar, and with a sharp "crack," a stream of black liquid poured from his mouth, his pupils dilating rapidly.
"Cyanide," Su Wanqing's voice was icy.
"Another death soldier," Lu Chenzhou loosened his grip on the man's now limp body, his fingers quickly searching his collar to pull out a waterproof card.
On the front of the card was that familiar strange symbol; on the back, a string of letters and numbers: "Z-Beta_4".
"Is this their operation code?" Su Wanqing frowned. "After Ω, there's the Z series... they aren't just targeting our city after all."
Lu Chenzhou clenched his fist. "Dead men don't fear anymore? No, these clues they've left behind are exactly what we need to continue investigating."
Meanwhile, the surveillance analysis team quickly pulled up the man's activity logs from the past few days, revealing that he had been spotted at multiple key equipment maintenance points in the early morning and had used forged documents to infiltrate logistics areas.
The subway management confirmed that the man was not a member of any outsourced teams.
"This means there are other infiltrators we haven't detected yet," Su Wanqing said in a low voice.
The failed explosion caused only localized injuries, but fortunately, it did not lead to a catastrophe. The temporary lockdown lasted until noon, and the police launched a city-wide investigation, conducting background checks on all technical personnel within the transportation hubs.
For Lu Chenzhou and Su Wanqing, it was a day filled with lingering fear, but it also marked the true beginning of The Ω Plan.
They knew this confrontation had only just begun.