The message came before dawn, a single sealed letter left at camp's edge with no rider, no tracks, nothing to explain how it arrived.
"Nobody saw anyone approach," Garrow said, checking the perimeter carefully. "That's not normal."
Xu's voice came sharp through Wei Liang. "Careful. Something that can leave a letter without a trace isn't ordinary."
Liu Che broke the seal carefully, scanning it fast. His face tightened.
"What does it say," Wei Liang asked.
"It's from someone claiming to be the last surviving founder," Liu Che said slowly. "Says they've watched everything unfold from a great distance. Says they want to meet, one final time, before deciding whether to help what we've built, or end it."
The camp went tense fast.
"Another one," Wei Dong said, frustration plain in his voic
