General Denzhen sat at his computer desk, working through urgent matters. The office felt colder than usual, despite not turning on the ventilation. Every breath of air felt stale and thin.

  The desk was crowded with datapads and files. Filing cabinets stood half-open, stuffed with documents. Loose papers had drifted across the floor, and he had not bothered to collect them.

  He had just replied to a message from the Luen siblings about elevated Yang activity in one of Yau’s towns. Denzhen promised to send a pair of Kingmakers to investigate a specific area with reported sightings. It was the only thing that’d appease them.

  He was about to start reading the field reports from Tribunes who had recently scouted inside Ho Man Ting, tracking Tien Tao Rioter movements, when his desk communicator rang. The monitor identified the caller as Captain Aiguo. Denzhen pressed the desk control, and the Captain’s voice came through.

  ‘General Denzhen, sorry to disturb you. I need your help.’

  ‘What is it, Aiguo?’

  ‘I’m at the Simulation Deck entrance on level fifteen. Keung’s final session is due, but the access door is sealed. Clearance lock.’

  ‘That shouldn’t be possible. The lockout is only meant for the tower’s upper levels.’

  ‘Well, it’s happening here too,’ the captain continued. ‘My pass won’t even ping the panel. But the Manchukuo are walking in and out just fine. One of them just told me that it’s part of their “security sweep”.’

  ‘They told you that?’

  ‘Yes, General,’ Aiguo’s voice sharpened. ‘I’m the Captain of the Kingmakers. Since when do imperial bodyguards outrank me on my own training floor?’

  Denzhen sat very still. ‘It must be a mistake. Don’t let it stress you. I’ll speak to General Qin Shi and get this sorted immediately.’

  Aiguo took a steadying breath. ‘Yes, General. Understood.’

  Denzhen walked the dormitory halls towards the far end. Just like his office, the air up here had a sharp, cold bite, as if the tower’s ventilation had been turned down a few degrees.

  The corridors were quiet, much like the rest of the tower. Since the attempt on Emperor Puyin’s life, everything had changed. Kingmakers no longer dominated the tower’s corridors. Now the Manchukuo guards stood on every floor, no longer confined to the royal palace in the highest floors. They did not lounge or chat. They simply watched.

  Denzhen rounded the final corner and saw Baoyan’s room at the end of the corridor, just as he’d been told. The door was open, and General Qin Shi was inside. Two Manchukuo guards stood on either side of the entrance, spears braced against their shoulders like posts.

  Their midnight-blue armour caught the corridor light with a fresh polish. The spears looked newer too, the shafts thicker, the cannon heads larger. Even at rest, the weapons seemed to lean into the space, taller and heavier than the last model.

  As Denzhen approached, he could see the back of General Qin Shi standing inside, while a Kingmaker was rummaging aggressively through the room’s contents.

  Denzhen stopped at the doorway, just before the two guards. They did not shift. Denzhen waited for them to, but they did not.

  ‘Excuse me,’ he said finally. ‘I need to go inside.’

  The guards stared straight ahead, as if they did not even compute what the General just said. Qin Shi turned at the sound of his voice.

  ‘It’s fine. Let him in.’

  Only then did the guards step aside.

  Denzhen passed between them, his frown deepening. ‘They only listen to you now, General?’

  ‘I apologise for that, Denzhen. It was my order. I’m at a critical stage in the investigation into Baoyan. I told them to stop anyone coming through. They took it further than I meant.’

  Denzhen’s eyes moved past him to the single Kingmaker tearing the room apart. The mattress had been dragged off the frame. A wall panel lay open. The table was scattered with personal holos and files, tossed into uneven piles. He recognised this Kingmaker. It was Ganchou Miji, a legate who worked closely under the elder Dragon.

  ‘What have you found so far, sir?’ Denzhen asked.

  ‘His manifesto. He titled it “King in the East”.’

  ‘What was in it?’

  ‘It reads like a call for violence against Kingmakers. The manifesto is framed as an analysis on history. In it is accusation after accusation against the dynasty, for crimes against East Kowloon. He was hoping to ignite a culture war inside and outside the tower.’

  ‘A culture war?’

  Beside them, Kingmaker Ganchou yanked a poster from the wall.

  Qin Shi went on. ‘The timing aligns with Mingchi’s secessionist rhetoric. In my assessment, Baoyan was building towards a larger campaign, turning Easterners against us. The assassination attempt was not the end goal. It was rushed. Something forced his hand.’

  ‘The regicide in Pik,’ Denzhen said.

  Qin Shi gave a slight nod. ‘Likely. We’re still mapping the sequence.’

  Denzhen’s gaze stayed on the wrecked room. ‘And collaborators?’

  ‘Oh, there’s no question he had a few.’ Qin Shi’s voice lowered a fraction. ‘We have some possible names. Kingmakers he was close to before the attempt. Some names were unsurprising… Others were not.’

  ‘Which ones surprised you?’

  Qin Shi held Denzhen’s look. ‘I can’t disclose that yet. Not until the investigation is complete.’

  Denzhen pursed his lips. ‘That’s fine, General. I’m here about something else. Captain Aiguo’s waiting at the Simulation Deck for training. He’s meant to prepare the final session, but he’s locked out. Are captains not included in clearance?’

  ‘I see. That will be on me.’ He glanced towards the scattered room, then back to Denzhen. ‘I ordered the Simulation Decks sealed after we confirmed Baoyan had accessed them a week before his attempt. The restriction was meant to cover Tribunes and below. It looks like it caught the captains as well. My mistake.’

  Qin Shi lifted his wrist and tapped at his holocommunicator. After a moment, he lowered his arm. ‘Done. Aiguo’s clearance is reinstated for the Decks.’

  Denzhen gave a short nod. ‘Thank you. I’ll tell him it’s sorted.’

  ‘And to you. Light guard you.’

  He turned and left the room.

  The General was back in his office. He had already sent Captain Aiguo a message about the Simulation Decks, specifically mentioning it as a simple error. He knew the mood in the tower was turning brittle. The new protocols had frustrated every Kingmaker. Aiguo would have felt it the moment his clearance failed.

  It wasn’t just the training grounds. Any room Baoyan had touched was now being treated like some contamination site. Sealed, logged, guarded. Accessible to only Manchukuo and the elder Dragon.

  General Denzhen leaned back in his chair, trying to not think about the headache forming behind his eyes. He thought about Qin Shi’s words about Baoyan’s possible accomplices.

  Some names were unsurprising… Others were not.

  Denzhen straightened in his seat, cracked his knuckles, and woke his computer. The screen flickered to the home page.

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  He signed into the Kingmaker server with his user credentials. The system took his fingerprint from a tiny panel on his table, then a second-factor code from his holocommunicator. A prompt appeared at the edge of the screen: YAOZHI DENZHEN, WELCOME.

  He opened the Dragon’s directory. Denzhen moved past the general dashboards and into Active Assignments, where the tower’s live operations were indexed by which Kingmakers were leading it.

  From there, he went to Qin Shi’s name.

  Baoyan Investigation.

  He clicked.

  ACCESS DENIED.

  Denzhen stared at the denial for a moment. Of course. But who could the names be?

  This wasn’t the first time he’d been locked out of files he needed. Denzhen still remembered a few tricks from his younger days.

  He backed out of the directory, opened a black console window, and switched to the maintenance layer he still had access to from his older command duties. It was not a pretty interface, just a thin line of system text and some extra back-end privileges.

  He slid a data wire from his holocommunicator and docked it into the terminal port. A few taps on his wrist and the device began uploading a small tool package. One he made himself. The console immediately flooded with white text as the injector ran its checks and loaded its modules. He did not use this method often. Only when he needed answers and did not have the luxury of permission.

  Lines of back-end output stacked fast, one after another, as Denzhen stepped around the usual prompts and verification screens.

  Denzhen felt a warmth around his wrist. He glanced down and saw his holocommunicator spitting holographic code in fast, jagged bursts.

  Then, that warmth turned to uncomfortable heat. My holocommunicator is overheating… They must’ve updated the security since my last attempt!

  The metal casing scorched his skin through his green coat’s sleeve. He unclasped it and dropped it on the desk. Its micro-fan whined, the holographic display flickering. The server was dumping junk data into the link, choking his tiny processors until they cooked. If the core melted and the connection severed mid-handshake, the resulting dead-drop would trip every alarm on the servers.

  Denzhen couldn’t pull the wire now. He had seconds.

  He wrenched open a drawer and grabbed a quantum cipher-drive. He gripped the drive with both hands, thumbed the middle of the thin cylinder which housed pressurised micro-reserves of liquid nitrogen. He snapped it in half.

  A violent hiss filled the office.

  He waved the fractured cylinder directly over the scorching face of his holocommunicator. The sub-zero coolant trickled over the red-hot metal and vanished into clear vapours. Frost exploded across its casing, the sounds of the micro-fan finally becoming quieter.

  He held his breath, shivering through the sting of the liquid on his fingertips as he hoped his device would survive the hack.

  A single line of text appeared on the main computer screen: ROLE OVERRIDE GRANTED (TEMP).

  The console requested a second biometric check. He pressed his thumb to the reader on the desk and watched the progress line crawl across the screen.

  <空用戶>, WELCOME.

  Denzhen did not blink. He minimised the console, returned to the directory, and reloaded the investigation file.

  This time, it opened.

  The investigation directory was laid out in neat layers: briefings, evidence logs, interview notes, then a section marked Persons of Interest. The lead investigator was exactly who Denzhen expected: Legate Ganchou Miji.

  He opened the file. A list of names filled the screen, and he recognised the distinct names at once. South Kowlooni names. Every Southern Kingmaker was here, flagged as a suspected accomplice to Baoyan.

  Convenient scapegoats? Or was there a real East-South connection?

  Even the Southern Praefect assigned to Keung’s detachment.

  Bui Ushi. I’ve known him since he was a wee auxiliary. I need to speak with him about his relationship with Baoyan. I trust he will clear things up.

  Then, at the bottom, Denzhen saw a name that caused his heart to sink.

  Captain Shen.

  For a moment, he did not move. His finger hovered over the trackpad.

  No. That can’t be right. He can’t be suspect. Shen is one of the most loyal Kingmakers I’ve ever known… There must be a mistake—

  Another folder caught his eye, sitting where it had no right to be. It did not belong in the Baoyan investigation at all.

  Chuan Wan Dam Report.

  What’s the Aunt Tong case doing here? And why is it buried inside this persons-of-interest list? This has nothing to do with Baoyan…

  He opened it.

  Among many files, three documents appeared familiar immediately. Yutai’s report. Then Ushi’s. Then Shing’s. The three files that were in Denzhen’s possession until General Qin Shi unceremoniously closed it after Yutai’s kidnapping.

  Except they were not closed at all. The case status read active, and the assigned lead sat at the top of the page: Legate Ganchou Miji. Again.

  Oddly enough, his name being here surprised Denzhen less. He was the one assigned to escort Tong’s research team through No Man’s Land and into the dam.

  Denzhen skimmed the Legate’s latest mission notes. Miji was already hunting for Dr Jode, with orders to bring her to the tower for questioning.

  Denzhen stared at the screen, the pieces refusing to sit together.

  He copied all three reports to his personal drive, then logged out. Back in his own profile, he uploaded them into a private folder and opened Ushi’s report first, using it to refresh his memory of what they had uncovered in Fengcheng. He could barely read it before Qin Shi snatched it away from him. He skimmed it for the important details

  KINGMAKER FIELD REPORT

  FROM: Praefect BUI Ushi

  REPORTING OFFICER: General YAOZHI Denzhen

  SUBJECT TAG(S): Dr Chinh, Chuan Wan Dam, Yang

  FENGCHENG, KAM SHAN

  “14th Layue: Praefect Shing and I entered Tong Feng’s headquarters via Gehinnom under Black Jacket escort. Inner wing under lockdown; Tong is holding the remaining members of Dr Chinh’s research team in a secured wing…

  Tong stated she is running a controlled honeypot at Gehinnom to identify a suspected Yang contact and the internal Black Jacket who facilitated Dr Jode’s removal…

  Tong provided live surveillance. Shing assessed patron micro-movements and identified one primary suspect. Tong deployed Shou Feng to detain the individual immediately…

  Operation interrupted by recall from Tribune Cheng: Praefect Yutai abducted at Fort Ho Man Ting during an unauthorised infiltration. Shing and I ceased activity and returned to the Tower. Dr Jode not recovered during this window. Tong continues detentions and internal identification efforts.”

  Denzhen leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled in front of his mouth, and stared at the screen without seeing it.

  What does any of this have to do with Baoyan? Did Qin Shi think the Centurion knew something about Chuan Wan Dam? That makes no sense. I was the only one overseeing that assignment until Qin Shi shut it down. So why is it buried here, inside Baoyan’s investigation, behind Dragon-only clearance?

  His jaw tightened.

  Nothing about this is procedural. Why is Qin Shi keeping this case sealed for himself only?

  Denzhen lowered his hands.

  I need to find Dr Jode before Qin Shi does, and work out what he’s really after. I’m not convinced Baoyan is relevant to this. He feels like the convenient cover.

  Denzhen lifted his holocommunicator and sent a single, direct summons to Praefects Shing and Ushi. No explanation. Just an order to report to his office immediately.

  He placed his hands on top of his desk and waited.

  The silence of his office consumed the space, broken only by the low hum of his terminal and the faint breathing of the cold ventilation. He kept his eyes on the door, listening for the cadence of approaching boots.

  He could not stop himself from remembering the absence that had come before Baoyan’s attempt. No footsteps. Just the moment of realisation that a gun was pointed at the back of the Emperor’s head, right in front of him.

  After a few minutes, the buzzer sounded. Shing and Ushi were outside, requesting entry.

  Denzhen authorised the lock. The door slid open and the two Praefects stepped in. They halted just inside, straightened their posture, and bowed.

  ‘Shing. Ushi. Thank you for coming straight away.’ Denzhen waited until the door sealed behind them. ‘I have an urgent task for you. Do you remember the Aunt Tong case?’

  ‘The one General Qin Shi shut down?’ Shing asked.

  ‘That one.’ Denzhen kept his voice flat. ‘I’m reopening it. I need you both to locate Dr Jode as quickly as possible and deliver her to Aunt Tong for questioning. Find out about her time at Chuan Wan dam, what things Dr Chinh shared with her. It may have more clues about why the doctor was targeted.’

  ‘Why to Tong?' Ushi repeated. ‘You don’t want us to question her at the Tower?’

  ‘No,’ Denzhen replied firmly. ‘This needs to stay discreet. That means you’re off all Kingmaker channels.’

  Shing’s posture stiffened. ‘Why are we working outside the system?’

  ‘Because that’s the order I’ve given you.’ Denzhen replied.

  There was a pause, as if more of an explanation was expected.

  Denzhen lowered his voice. ‘Listen carefully. The Yang are after something connected to Chuan Wan Dam. If they can sabotage it, they will. That puts the dam researchers at the centre of this, whether they realise it or not. And with Yang operatives active in this tower, I’m not confident General Qin Shi is following the right line. I’m also not convinced his inner circle is as clean as he thinks.’

  He let that settle, eyes moving between the two. ‘Am I understood, Shing? Ushi?’

  ‘Sir, this feels inappropriate—’ Shing opened his mouth, but Denzhen lifted his hand.

  ‘I will decide what is and isn’t appropriate, Praefect. Your job is to execute the task I’ve given you.’ He pointed at them. ‘And I’ve chosen you two because I’m confident neither of you are compromised. Do both of you understand?’

  ‘Yes, General,’ they answered.

  ‘Good. No more digital filings. No uploads. When you return, you will produce a handwritten report and place it in my hands. Not in any server.’

  ‘So you want us to locate Dr Jode and deliver her to the Aunt,’ Ushi said, ‘and extract everything she knows about her expedition.’

  ‘Yes,’ Denzhen replied. ‘Tong Feng is counting on me, and Dr Jode is the best chance we have of understanding what happened to Dr Chinh, and what dangers Chuan Wan Dam is truly facing. And I want you to learn what you can about Legate Ganchou Miji’s role in all of it.’

  Shing exchanged a quick look with Ushi. ‘You mean the Kingmaker who escorted the researchers into No Man’s Land? Do you think he’s Yang?’

  ‘I cannot say for sure,’ Denzhen said. ‘But what I do know is that Qin Shi has him looking for Dr Jode as well. You need to reach her before he does.’

  Shing began, ‘But he outranks—’

  Denzhen cut in, voice flat. ‘Then beat him anyway. Bring me Dr Jode before a Legate does, and I’ll see both your names put forward for Tribune selection.’

  There was a moment of silence.

  Then Shing and Ushi bowed.

  ‘We’ll leave for Kam Shan immediately,’ Ushi said.

  ‘Good.’ Denzhen nodded once. ‘May the Light guide you.’

  They turned to go.

  ‘Actually, Ushi, I need to have a word with you.’

  Shing stopped too, glancing back.

  ‘In private,’ Denzhen added.

  Shing looked between them, gave a small shrug, and stepped out. The door sealed behind him.

  Ushi faced Denzhen again, posture straight. ‘Yes, General?’

  Denzhen’s eyes did not soften. ‘It’s about Centurion Baoyan.’ A pause. ‘And I want the truth.’