The Xiaji Strain

In a maximum-security prison where every cell is a digital panopticon, death row inmate Wu Chen dies mysteriously hours before his execution. Investigator Xia Ji discovers that his death is a meticulously staged escape echoing an ancient vendetta. Beneath the iron discipline, a secret neuro-enhancement experiment codenamed “Xiaji” turns convicts into living test subjects. As Wu Chen’s revenge against the officials who slaughtered his family unfolds, the prison becomes a chessboard where modern technology hides crimes far more sophisticated than the blood feuds of antiquity. Progress has not eliminated evil—it has given it a laboratory coat and a security clearance.