From a Nanny to a Pampered Wife & Mother.

Lu Zi Zhen walked, with his weapon raised, pointing forward for immediate shooting in case of danger, he was checking every five meters with thermal and infrared.

Halfway through, they found discarded gloves and syringes and a chemical stench lingered in the air.

Lu Zhi Hao picked one up with tweezers, checking them out, "Experimental nerve agents," he murmured, "They have been using this tunnel for transfers, I think..."

"Look at this," One of the Hawk men pressed a wall panel. A faint click, and a sliding slab revealed a storage alcove packed with unmarked boxes.

Inside were vials. Crates of them.

"Mom," Zi Zhen said through the comms, "You will want to see the serial numbers of these."

Wan Ruyi zoomed in through his body cam feed and froze for a moment, "Those are my codes. These were made under Professor Mo's prototype system. He's still using my original formulas… damn that man!"

Her voice was shaking now with anger and frustration.

"…or he is trying to perfect them...." Lu Zhi Hao thought otherwise.

The tunnel opened into a reinforced steel bulkhead, sealed with a biometric lock.

"Ruyi," Zhi Hao spoke up, "we need your override."

She was already typing on the laptop, "On it. Sending the code sequence now, just stand by for a minute."

Three seconds later, the lock disengaged with a hiss. The steel doors groaned open, revealing a massive underground complex lit with sterile blue-white light.

Surveillance cameras lined the walls, but their feeds were frozen, a digital blind spot created by Wan Ruyi's breach.

Inside, the hallway forked.

"Thermals split left and right. The targets are right. The heat profile on the left is much stronger."

"What about the security?" Zi Zhen inquired.

"There's minimal. They didn't expect you to make it through the tunnel, thus they didn't make any arrangements."

Lu Zhi Hao gestured, "Split and sweep."

Lu Zi Zhen's team moved quickly through the corridor. Behind the second reinforced door, they found them.

Lu Ting Zhou, strapped to a medical chair, breathing but unconscious. His vitals were displayed on a screen beside him.

Song Yaya was awake but groggy, handcuffed to a railing, a red mark blooming along her temple.

"Mom…" she rasped weakly, looking up at the camera feed above them, "He's here. The professor…"

Zi Zhen unlatched her cuffs while his men secured the room, "We have got you. Don't worry."

Ting Zhou was lifted gently into a mobile gurney that one of the men had brought. They had him but time was short.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhi Hao's team approached the stronger thermal signal.

They found a chamber with a thick observation glass, behind which a tall man in a lab coat stood with his back to them, watching a screen that showed all four of them in real-time.

"Welcome my dear guests," came a voice over the intercom. It was smooth, very controlled, and familiar.

"Professor Mo," Zhi Hao growled, vividly angered.

The man turned around to face him. There were no burns, no disfigurement whatsoever, and it was perfectly preserved.

"You are too early," Mo said with a foxy smile. "But I suppose that's your wife's doing. Always three steps ahead all the time."

Zhi Hao raised his weapon pointing towards him.

Mo didn't flinch and showed no signs of fear, "Shoot me, and you destroy the only chance to shut this down permanently. There's a failsafe you don't know exists and if I go down, the entire facility collapses… including the kids you just pulled out. Imagine the consequences."

He held up a small remote, showing that he had the capabilities to escape scot-free again. "Care to negotiate? It's better to chat in a civilized manner."

Meanwhile, in the Mobile Command Van, Wan Ruyi's eyes narrowed dangerously.