Ethan's image flickered across the tactical display.
His eyes settled on Mei.
Not Joshua.
Not Shane.
Her.
"You still don't understand why you're here."
Mei's grip tightened around her blade.
"I understand enough."
"No." Ethan's smile disappeared. "You think Shadow brought Blaze here because we wanted combat data."
He paused.
"Blaze was useful. You were the objective."
Joshua immediately stepped between Mei and the display.
"Explain."
Ethan ignored him.
"Mei was Shadow Squad's best assassin."
Fei's expression tightened.
Ethan continued.
"She knew how we moved. How we communicated. How we hunted. She could read a Shadow formation before the first attack was launched."
Mei said nothing.
Because he was right.
She had spent years learning exactly how Shadow killed people.
And then learning how to survive Shadow.
Ethan's voice lowered.
"Then you disappeared."
"Left," Mei corrected.
"Whatever word makes you feel better."
His eyes hardened.
"When you returned, you were different."
Mei's gaze sharpened.
"You mean I stopped following orders."
"I mean you became unpredictable."
The calibration display flashed.
MEI — PREDICTIVE COMBAT MODEL: 94%
Then the number changed.
ERROR.
Ethan's expression darkened.
"That's why you're dangerous."
Joshua looked at the display.
"The system can't predict her."
"It could," Chen Zhou said. "If she fought like she used to."
Mei finally smiled.
"I don't."
"No."
Ethan looked almost amused.
"That's the problem."
The dungeon had learned Blaze's habits.
Joshua protected Shane.
Shane protected the wounded.
The Hunters maintained their formation.
Fei covered dimensional breaches.
Those behaviors were predictable.
Mei was different.
She could deliberately abandon the person she appeared to be protecting.
Change weapons.
Reverse direction.
Break formation.
Use herself as bait.
Then strike from somewhere the enemy had already ruled out.
Ethan understood that.
Shadow had trained her to become that way.
And now they were afraid of what they had created.
"There is another reason," he said.
Mei's expression changed.
Ethan noticed.
"The dungeons react to you."
Joshua looked at her.
Fei went still.
Ethan continued.
"You recognize mechanisms before our scanners identify them. You knew the Core was being stabilized. You knew where the anchors were."
His eyes narrowed.
"And you knew what the Eternal Seal was."
Mei's blood went cold.
He couldn't know about her first life.
Not everything.
But he knew enough.
"You think I'm connected to the Void Heart."
"I don't think."
Ethan leaned toward the camera.
"Shadow has records."
A new file appeared.
SUBJECT: MEI
DUNGEON COMPATIBILITY: ABNORMAL
VOID HEART RESPONSE: CONFIRMED
SEAL COMPATIBILITY: UNKNOWN
Joshua stared at the screen.
"What the fuck is this?"
Mei didn't answer.
Ethan did.
"Before you left Shadow, we discovered something."
Fei shook her head.
"No."
Ethan glanced at her.
"You weren't cleared for that information."
Fei's face hardened.
"So you used me without telling me."
"We used everyone."
Mei's eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Ethan continued.
"Shadow believes the dungeons aren't simply invading our world. They're searching for something."
"The Void Heart," Mei said.
"Among other things."
He paused.
"And every piece of evidence points back to you."
Joshua looked at Mei.
She could feel the question in his eyes.
Ethan saw it too.
"That's why we couldn't simply kill her."
Shane raised his weapon.
"Then what the hell did you want?"
Ethan answered without hesitation.
"Containment."
The word landed harder than any threat.
"We wanted Mei separated from Blaze. Isolated from outside interference. Forced into a controlled dungeon environment."
Mei understood immediately.
"You wanted to see what happens when the dungeon thinks it has me."
Ethan smiled.
"Exactly."
Fei's face went pale.
"They were going to use her as a test subject."
"No."
Mei's voice was colder.
"They were going to use me as a key."
The calibration system screamed.
VOID RESPONSE DETECTED.
The chamber shook.
Ethan's smile vanished.
Mei looked at the glowing symbols beneath her feet.
Now she understood the real trap.
Shadow hadn't sent Blaze into the dungeon to measure their strength.
They had sent Blaze because Blaze would protect her.
They wanted the team around her.
They wanted the dungeon to study those bonds.
They wanted to identify exactly who Mei would sacrifice herself for.
And once they knew that—
They could use those people against her.
Joshua stepped closer.
"Mei."
She looked at him.
"They're not getting you."
Her eyes softened for half a second.
Then she turned toward the approaching creatures.
"No."
She drew her blade.
"They're not getting any of us."
The chamber doors slammed shut.
Mei looked at the sealed exits.
Then at the calibration display.
A slow, dangerous smile appeared.
"If Shadow wants to know how I fight..."
She raised her blade.
"...let's give them something they've never seen before."