“So…”
Lin Mo spoke slowly, digesting the startling information.
“You moved the command center to this underground bunker, unilaterally cut off effective communication with the various units of the 103rd Division, and even…”
He thought back to that disciplined Shi Bian Ti squad.
“Used those soldiers of the future who had turned into Shi Bian Ti to leak the weaknesses of Defense Line Two, the hidden outposts of Defense Line Three, and even the specific location of the far rear to the Abnormal Beings?”
“Exactly,” Su Xiji admitted frankly, without a hint of shame.
“What I needed to do was accelerate the collapse of the 103rd Division in a preset direction, guiding the Shi Bian Ti along the route we planned. I wanted their main force to crowd into the… nuclear explosion graveyard we chose for them.”
“Those soldiers of the future who turned into Shi Bian Ti retained their consciousness, discipline, and humanity. Passing information through them is more covert and more credible than doing it ourselves.”
He pointed to the black instrument lying casually to the side.
“And these little gifts you found are the electronic fuse components used to remotely activate the underground nuclear bombs from a safe distance.”
“They need to be deployed at specific signal-enhancement nodes. We prepared many of them, placing them in different areas as backups and decoys.”
Chu You’s eyes shone with an even greater light of realization!
‘I knew this instrument looked familiar,’ she thought. Hearing the phrase ‘electronic fuses to remotely activate underground nuclear bombs’ finally caused the floodgates of her memory to burst open!
‘I remember now!’
When she was still at the Swordbearer Headquarters, she had once accidentally flipped through a tattered, coverless technical manual in the deep levels of the library — a place that stored countless obscure ancient books and forbidden technical archives.
It had mentioned the maintenance and activation mechanisms of the old-era doomsday systems.
Inside were diagrams and brief descriptions of multi-encrypted wireless fuse modules…
Although the details were blurry, that unique industrial design and the described functions were strikingly similar to the black instruments before her!
What that manual had mentioned seemed to be an upgraded iteration of these devices!
No wonder the archives were so vague about the final stages of Su Xiji and the 103rd Division.
If this plan truly existed and was partially executed, regardless of its success, it involved a top-level taboo — the unauthorized use of weapons of mass destruction at the cost of an entire elite division to achieve a strategic goal.
Such records were destined to be sealed, altered, or deliberately blurred in any era.
Su Xiji’s personal evaluation would also inevitably remain shrouded in controversy and mist, caught between being a traitor and a tragic hero who executed a necessary evil.
Su Xiji’s voice pulled Chu You back from her chaotic memories.
“As for Lu Sanshan and Wang Yun from the Confidential Office… the reason I locked them up…”
For the first time, Su Xiji’s face showed clear, complex emotions — care, helplessness, and an unshakeable determination.
“It was because they strongly opposed my plan.”
“Lu Sanshan believed it was unfair to the soldiers on the front lines,” Su Xiji said in a low tone.
“They are fighting bloody battles without knowing they have become the bait and inevitable sacrifices of the plan. He believes every soldier should have the right to choose their own fate and way of fighting under informed circumstances… even if that choice is to rush toward death, it should be made with a clear mind. And Wang Yun… she questioned it more from a technical and consequential standpoint.”
Su Xiji looked at Chu You as if he were looking at someone else through her.
“She repeatedly calculated and questioned whether the pollution power of the Shi Bian Ti could really neutralize such high-concentration, large-scale nuclear radiation as the models suggested. If it couldn’t, or if the neutralization was incomplete, the leaking radioactive dust would spread with the wind. What kind of long and hidden disaster would that be for the citizens of Bin Hai City who might not evacuate in time, or for the ecological environment of even more distant regions?”
“She said it was using one unknown disaster to gamble on the alleviation of another, and the cost was unpredictable.”
Speaking to this point, Su Xiji sighed softly.
“I understand all their concerns; I have even interrogated myself countless times in the dead of night. But… the situation on the battlefield changes in an instant, and the window of opportunity is fleeting.”
“The internal traitor is acting, the Shi Bian Ti are attacking, and every minute and second, soldiers are dying and lines are collapsing. As the supreme commander, I do not have time at this critical juncture to sit down for a long philosophical or ethical debate that might never reach a conclusion.”
His gaze turned cold and hard again.
“So, I ordered their temporary detention to ensure the plan would not be interfered with or leaked from the inside. It was not an easy decision, but I had to make it.”
“As for the others in the frontline headquarters…”
Su Xiji’s tone softened slightly.
“I gave them a choice. To all those who had just married and had no children, those who were only children, and those whose parents were elderly and frail or whose families had special hardships… I sent them to perform the final task of deploying the fuses on the surface. Where they go after the task is finished is for them to decide.”
He looked around the room as if his gaze could pierce through the rock walls to see those remaining behind.
“As for those still here, in the command center, they all know the full plan and… they volunteered to stay and carry out this crazy plan with me.”
….
The long narrative finally came to an end.
Su Xiji looked as if he had unloaded a heavy burden, yet also as if he had taken on something even weightier.
He leaned against an ammo crate, looking at the two listeners from the future, awaiting their reaction.
Lin Mo’s brow was furrowed as he sank into deep thought.
Su Xiji’s plan was cruel, radical, and full of immense risk and ethical controversy.
However, it was undeniable that under such extreme and desperate strategic circumstances, this seemed to be the only way to break the deadlock and seize a sliver of strategic initiative.
It explained all of Su Xiji’s seemingly contradictory behaviors and why historical records were so vague — whether it succeeded or failed, this was not a piece of history that could easily be brought into the light.
As for Chu You, her face maintained a solemn gravity following her realization.
She had finally connected the memory fragments, the instruments before her, and Su Xiji’s story.
The ambiguity of the historical records now had a bloody footnote.
She also understood that Su Xiji was not someone who could be defined simply as a traitor or a hero.
He was a commander pushed to a dead end, wielding forbidden power and making an extreme choice — a lonely decision-maker walking the edge of moral hell.
….
The warehouse remained silent for a long time.
The faint sound of airflow from the ventilation system sounded like the heavy breathing of this underground tomb, or perhaps a long, helpless sigh echoing from the depths of history.
Finally, Lin Mo looked up at Su Xiji and asked the most critical question.
“Then, Commander Su, right now…”
“How far has the plan progressed? And… most importantly, in coming to see us tonight, do you have other intentions besides laying your cards on the table?”
The question went straight to the heart of the current situation and the future.
After this revelation, would there be cooperation, confrontation, or… some new variable?
Su Xiji met Lin Mo’s gaze, that complex and inscrutable light flashing in his eyes once more.
He knew that the true game might have only just begun.