《Hidden Blade》

Chapter 32: The Second Witness

The air in the basement warehouse safe house was stagnant, smelling of rusted iron and the ozone scent of overworked cooling fans. It was a stark contrast to the attic’s quiet sanctuary; here, every breath felt like a preparation for combat.

Su Nian sat hunched over a makeshift desk—two wooden crates topped with a sheet of plywood. Her laptop was plugged into a satellite uplink that Li Mo had scrambled through three different European proxies. The bruise on her temple had turned a deep, angry purple, but she didn't feel the pain. All she felt was a cold, crystalline focus.

"Global Aegis," she whispered, the name of the security firm tasting like copper in her mouth.

"They aren't just a security firm," Lu Tingshen said, standing over a map of the city he had pinned to the concrete wall. He was cleaning his handgun with a methodical, almost meditative rhythm. Click-slide-snap. "They’re a private army. Farid uses them for everything from asset protection to 'discreet removals.' The men who hit us last night? They weren't amateurs. They were trained to kill without leaving a signature."

"But they left a digital one," Li Mo said, his voice coming through the intercom from his own hidden location. "Nian, I’ve bypassed their local firewall. I’m inside the Global Aegis payroll server. You aren't going to believe who’s on the list of 'External Consultants.'"

Su Nian’s fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling the data Li Mo had unlocked. Her eyes widened. "Two active-duty police inspectors from the Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Unit. And... a senior clerk from the High Court."

"Farid didn't just hire muscle," Su Nian said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, low register. "He’s built a shadow government inside the legal system. No wonder every piece of evidence we send to the lower courts vanishes within an hour."

"If we can't trust the system, we bypass it," Lu Tingshen said, holstering his weapon and walking over to her. He leaned down, his face close to hers, the scent of gun oil and coffee a strangely comforting presence. "How do we bleed him, Nian?"

"We don't go for the man yet," Su Nian said, a predatory light gleaming in her almond-shaped eyes. "We go for his vault. Ahmad Farid has a private offshore fund called 'The Emerald Trust.' It’s the bank account he uses to pay off his shadow army. Without that money, Global Aegis becomes just another group of out-of-work thugs."

"But the Emerald Trust is guarded by a Level 7 encrypted ledger," Li Mo warned. "It’s hosted in a secure data center in Cyberjaya. Physical and digital security are synchronized. You can't hack it from the outside without triggering a 'Burn' command that wipes the entire drive."

"Then we go to Cyberjaya," Su Nian said, standing up. "I don't need to hack it from the outside. I just need ten minutes of physical access to the server rack."

The room went silent. Even Lu Tingshen paused, his hand resting on the hilt of his knife. "Cyberjaya is a fortress, Nian. That data center is owned by one of Farid’s cronies. It’s guarded 24/7."

"Which is why you’re going to get me in," she said, looking him directly in the eye. "Not as Su Nian. But as a technician from the Telecommunications Commission. And you? You’re my security detail."

The plan was insane. It was a suicide mission dressed in high-visibility vests. But as they prepped the gear over the next six hours, a new energy filled the safe house. They were no longer the prey.

Than walked over to Su Nian, holding a small, encrypted thumb drive. "Sister... Li Mo showed me how to use the 'Ghost Protocol.' If you get the drive into the server, I can run the mirrors from here. You don't have to stay inside for the upload."

Su Nian squeezed her brother’s hand. "You’ve grown up too fast, Than. But I need you to be my eyes on the outside. Watch the CCTV feeds. If you see a silver van, you tell us immediately."

"I will," the boy promised, his face set in the same grim determination as hers.

At 2:00 AM on Wednesday, a white utility van with a forged 'MCMC' logo pulled up to the gates of the Cyberjaya Data Nexus. The rain had turned into a fine, clinging mist that obscured the security cameras.

Su Nian was dressed in a navy-blue technician’s jumpsuit, her hair tucked into a hard hat, a pair of thick-rimmed glasses hiding her sharp features. Beside her, Lu Tingshen looked every bit the professional security guard, his posture rigid, his eyes scanning the perimeter with a bored, practiced indifference.

"ID," the guard grunted, leaning out of the kiosk.

Lu Tingshen handed over two forged badges that Li Mo had spent the last four hours perfecting. "Emergency maintenance on the fiber optic backbone. The storm tripped the surge protectors on Rack 4. If we don't fix it, the Minister’s private line goes down."

The mention of 'The Minister' was the magic word. The guard scanned the badges, his movements slow and lazy. He didn't even look at Su Nian. To him, she was just another low-level cog in the machine.

"Floor 3. Rack 4. Don't touch anything else," the guard muttered, hitting the button to raise the gate.

Inside, the data center was a cathedral of cold air and blinking lights. The hum of thousands of servers sounded like a swarm of angry bees. Su Nian felt her pulse racing, her skin prickling with the sheer amount of data flowing through the walls.

They reached Floor 3. Lu Tingshen positioned himself at the end of the aisle, his hand resting near the hidden holster under his vest. "Ten minutes, Nian. Starting now."

Su Nian moved with surgical precision. She opened the back of Rack 4, her fingers flying through the tangle of cables until she found the primary uplink. She plugged in the thumb drive, her heart hammering against her ribs.

Connection Established. Bypassing Firewall... 10%... 30%...

On her tablet, she watched as the Emerald Trust’s secrets began to bleed out. Names of politicians. Dates of bribes. The cost of a human life in Kuala Lumpur—written in digital ink.

"Someone’s coming," Lu Tingshen’s voice came through her earpiece, low and urgent.

Su Nian looked at the screen. 60%... 70%... "I need two more minutes, Lu."

"You have thirty seconds. A patrol is coming up the elevator."

Su Nian gritted her teeth. She could hear the clack-clack of heavy boots on the metal grating at the end of the hall. She didn't look up. She focused on the progress bar.

85%... 95%... Complete.

She yanked the drive out just as the elevator doors hissed open.

"Hey! What are you doing in that rack?" a voice shouted.

Lu Tingshen stepped forward, his body blocking the guard’s view of Su Nian. "MCMC Maintenance. We’re finishing up. Rack 4 was a mess—you guys really need to check your surge protectors."

His voice was calm, almost patronizing. He looked like a man who was annoyed at being bothered during a graveyard shift. The guard hesitated, his hand hovering near his radio.

"ID again," the guard commanded.

Su Nian stepped out from behind the rack, her face perfectly composed. "Here’s the work order, Officer. Signed by Director General Salleh. If you want to call him at 2:30 AM to verify, be my guest. But he’s not a morning person."

She handed him a tablet with a fake, high-level authorization screen. The guard looked at the seal of the MCMC, then at the two tired technicians, and finally sighed. "Fine. Get out of here. And don't come back without a day-shift permit."

They walked out of the building with the measured pace of people who had nothing to hide. It wasn't until they were back in the utility van, three blocks away, that Su Nian finally let out a breath she felt like she’d been holding for a lifetime.

"We got it," she whispered, holding the drive up like a trophy. "The Emerald Trust is ours."

Lu Tingshen didn't say anything. He pulled the van into a dark alley, killed the engine, and then turned to her. Without a word, he grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her into a fierce, bruising kiss. It was a kiss of relief, of adrenaline, and of a shared victory that felt like the first real c***k in Ahmad Farid’s armor.

"Now," Lu said, pulling away, his eyes burning with a dark, satisfied fire. "We start the bank run. By morning, Farid’s shadow army isn't going to have enough money to buy a cup of coffee."

Su Nian leaned her head back against the seat, a cold, triumphant smile spreading across her face. The girl from the attic had just robbed a Minister. And she was just getting started.