The entrance to the tunnel was behind a rock. It normally opened automatically when it sensed Daechir, but this time it didn't budge at all.
"Is it broken?" Afastin asked.
"No, someone must have hacked it and broken in." She had to open it manually. She jumped down first, then looked up at Afastin and the others. "I'll go ahead. You three follow behind me." She moved incredibly fast, disappearing almost as soon as she finished speaking.
When she saw the potato robot lying face down on the ground, she urgently asked, "What happened? Did someone break in?"
"Help me up first, then we'll talk." Daechir helped him up and anxiously waited for him to speak. The potato robot slowly said, "Not long after you left, seven people broke in."
"Where are they now?"
"They probably went into the tunnels."
"Which tunnel?"
"I don't know. I was lying face down and couldn't see." Daechir cursed, "You're useless!" Then she turned and left.
At Tunnel Number Twelve, she rushed forward, running for two kilometers until she spotted three people ahead. She stopped and coldly regarded them. "Who are you?"
One of them exclaimed upon seeing her, "Wow! What a beautiful girl!"
Daechir lunged forward and knocked the speaker to the ground. The other two froze in shock, never expecting such a beautiful girl to be so formidable. Just as they were about to act, their legs gave way, and they fell to their knees simultaneously.
"Where are the other four?" Daechir demanded.
"They're in another tunnel," one of them answered.
"Which tunnel?"
"We don't know. We split up."
Daechir found it strange that these intruders hadn't triggered any of the traps throughout the tunnels. She asked, "How did you get in here?"
This time, no one answered.
Without another word, Daechir pulled out a dagger and stabbed one of them in the back of the shoulder. The man let out an agonized scream.
"How about now? Want to try again?" she asked.
The wounded man trembled as he spoke. "We hacked your system."
"Are you from Illuminati?"
"Yes."
"How did you find this place?"
"Our superiors gave us the location. That's how we found it."
"Oh! What's your objective?"
"No specific objective. We were just ordered to investigate and report our findings back to them."
Daechir considered how to handle these men. The location was clearly compromised now. Killing these few wouldn't help, but letting them go was unsatisfying. She decided to leave this difficult decision to Afastin. She tied up the three men, then went to find the other four.
These four weren't as fortunate. They had entered Tunnel Number Sixteen but apparently couldn't proceed and had turned back. Furious, Daechir killed all four of them at once.
She positioned five hundred spiders to guard the entrance to Tunnel Number One, ready for battle at any moment.
Afastin looked at the three bound men and asked, "Why didn't you kill them all? What's the point of keeping them here?"
Daechir handed him a knife. "Fine, you do it."
Afastin stepped back in fear. "I can't do that. Let's just lock them up."
The potato robot came over and asked, "What do we do now? This place has been exposed again. This must be because you all keep going out to play. That's what led to this situation."
Daechir said, "From today, we'll close the remaining two tunnels and completely cut off contact with the outside world."
"What about the other tunnels?" Afastin asked.
"The other tunnels don't lead outside," Daechir explained.
More than four months passed, and the three imprisoned men gradually integrated into life at the Eagle's Nest. At first, they were forced to work, but later, seeing their intelligence, Daechir had them modify the various traps in the tunnels. As time went on, all three grew to like it there, and one of them even began a romance with Daechir.
Now, the two sat closely together. "Are you really a robot?" he asked.
Daechir smiled. "Shalu, how many times have you asked me that? Yes, I am indeed a robot."
"Who made you so perfect? That person must be a genius."
Daechir opened her mouth wide and extended a small tongue. "Look closely. Is there any difference between me and other girls?"
The man was surprised. "You can talk with your mouth open?"
He stared for a while. "I don't see any difference."
Daechir opened her mouth even wider. "Look more carefully."
"Is your tongue a bit redder?" the man asked.
Daechir shook her head. "No. Deep in my tongue, there's a voice box. That's where my voice comes from."
"Enough, stop," the man said, painfully accepting the truth.
"It's okay," Daechir embraced Shalu, comforting him. "Except for not being able to have children, I'm no different from other women. If you don't believe me, you can test it out."
Hearing this, the man's body immediately responded, and soon the two were passionately intertwined like twisted rope.
After the fat man's death, another Illuminati member took his place, and the girl from Greenway Orphanage was once again put to important use.
At "Flame Farm," De Silva wanted to pursue Basali again. He put on a wig, cleaned his dentures, and bought a new pair of elevator shoes. His confidence returned. "Dear Basali, I'd like to invite you to see a movie. Would you do me the honor?" He had practiced this line many times until he had it perfect.
He walked toward her room. Basali had just finished dinner and was playing with her daughter. Seeing De Silva standing at the door, she asked, "Do you need something?"
De Silva became nervous and stammered, "I, I dear..." He couldn't get the rest of the words out.
Over the years, Basali had many suitors, but she remained single. De Silva had given up hope, but yesterday Basali had said something to him that rekindled his hopes.
At that moment, the little girl spoke up. "Bald uncle, did you bring me candy?"
"But I have hair. Why call me bald?"
"Your hair is fake. Everyone knows that." De Silva blushed, then had a quick idea. "Would you like to see a movie? I'll take you and your mom."
"Oh, you want to invite Mom to a movie too?" The little girl asked.
De Silva asked with a heavy heart, "Who else has come by?"
"Including you, that makes four people," the little girl explained.
Basali interjected, "What time is the movie?"
De Silva was overjoyed. "There's one at 8:30. Let's go together?"
The little girl asked, "Mom, are you really going to a movie with this bald uncle? I don't like him. He's so ugly."
"Then you can stay home alone while I go with him."
In the end, all three went together.
Over the years, "Flame Farm" had become a genuine farm, of course as a cover for their identities. The more than 400 warriors of the "Courage Alliance" worked as farm employees during the day. About a dozen of them had infiltrated Illuminati. Some had even become high-level leaders, making this place increasingly secure.