292: Chapter 292 Suspicious Figure Discovered

The morning light slowly filtered in.

The nameplate atop the high tower shone brightly under the sunlight, its reflection sweeping across the cooling box on the right.

Chen Xiaodao squinted, not because of the glare, but because he saw—

At the seam of the cooling box, there was a slight, subtle vibration.

It wasn't the trembling caused by thermal expansion or contraction of metal; it was rhythmic, pulsing like breathing.

He didn't move, not even blinking, just quietly pricking up his right ear.

He activated the Ear Aperture Micro-Vibration Technique, amplifying his hearing threefold.

Thump, thump, thump... The heartbeat was still there, but it was slightly faster than before.

The other party had sensed the change in light.

Chen Xiaodao pursed his lips, his mind racing: Three days ago, the System popped up a message: "Strengthen night defense, prioritize patrolling the south scaffolding group."

He had been testing a sword array at the time and casually marked it as read.

Now it seemed that wasn't a reminder, but a warning.

He took a gentle breath, smelling a scent—like rust mixed with burnt rubber, coming from the soles of shoes.

This person had been crouching for a long time, their body temperature had risen, and the scent on them was beginning to waft out.

It wasn't a temporary intrusion; they had been here several times before.

His right hand rested on the sword hilt, his thumb gently pressing against the catch before releasing it.

He couldn't act. He couldn't move now.

He slowly retreated, sticking to the scaffolding, knees slightly bent, feet flat on the ground, shuffling bit by bit.

For every half-step back, he paused for two seconds, listening to the wind, the heartbeat, and the sound of liquid flowing in the cooling pipes.

After eight steps, he retreated behind a pile of scrapped mecha.

These had been blown up during testing last month; their shells were cracked and crooked on the ground, perfectly blocking the line of sight.

He crouched down, back against a metal shell, hiding himself entirely in the shadows.

His gaze fixed back on the gap in the cooling box.

No one came out.

But he knew the person inside had moved.

The slight vibration from before had vanished—indicating the other party had sucked in their stomach and held their breath.

They were waiting for his next move.

Chen Xiaodao wasn't in a hurry. His left hand fished out a communication talisman, and he glanced at it.

No response. The blockade outside wasn't in place yet, and no mecha had been deployed.

Normal; this kind of alarm response took two quarters of an hour.

He tucked the communication talisman back, his right hand resting on the sword hilt once again.

This time he changed posture, left knee on the ground, right leg bent, center of gravity shifted back, ready to charge or retreat at any moment.

His eyes remained fixed on that gap.

Time passed bit by bit.

The sound of dew dripping started up again, plop, plop, the rhythm restored.

Just at the moment the third drop hit the ground—

Behind the cooling box, a black shadow flashed.

It wasn't the whole person coming out; a shoulder first poked out half an inch, sliding along the box body, then rapidly lowered, crawling along the ground.

Chen Xiaodao's pupils contracted.

They were out.

He didn't move.

The person crawled forward using their elbows and knees, movements steady, like a snake.

Dragging a long, strip-shaped metal bag behind them, wrapped in black cloth, revealing a bit of interface pattern at the edge—it was a fixed clamp for the energy guide rail.

They weren't here to steal things.

They were here to install things.

Chen Xiaodao's mind lit up: The main control node of the third production line, the core connecting all energy guide rails.

If an interference device were installed there, it would explode the next time it started up.

He remembered the accident at the Zhao Clan of Xiling last month—three lives lost, leaving only half a belt.

He gritted his teeth, fingernails digging into his palms.

But he still didn't move.

He knew someone must be directing this kind of person. Catching one was useless; he had to see clearly what they were actually trying to do.

The black shadow continued to crawl, moving along the bottom of the scaffolding, avoiding the blind spots of the sensor wire mesh.

The movements were practiced; they had clearly been here more than once.

Chen Xiaodao adjusted his angle, staring at the other party's route through the gap in the wreckage.

One step, two steps... bypassing the seventh pillar, entering the energy guide rail connection area.

The ground was made of alloy plates, with three-finger-wide gaps between each, used for routing wires.

The person crawled to the second plate and suddenly stopped.

Looked up.

Chen Xiaodao immediately lowered his head, leaving only one eye to look out through the gap.

The other party was observing.

Not looking at the surroundings, but looking overhead—there was a surveillance Spirit Eye there, disguised as a vent, facing directly at this area.

Chen Xiaodao sneered inwardly: It had already been replaced. That thing was dismantled three days ago; what's installed now is a spare rail, and it has no power at all.

But that person didn't know.

They waited for ten breaths, confirming there was no movement, before continuing forward.

While crawling over the connecting plate, their boot stepped on a loose piece of metal, emitting a very faint "click."

Chen Xiaodao's ears twitched.

It was this sound that let him clearly hear the rhythm of the footsteps—pausing every three steps, the right leg exerting more force, a bit of a limp.

It wasn't one person.

He suddenly understood: Just now in the cooling box, there was only one person's breathing. But this person's walking rhythm didn't match that breathing.

There was someone else inside.

Or, someone had already gone ahead.

The back of his neck tightened.

He didn't rush to think too much, continuing to stare at the person in front of him.

The other party crawled past the last stretch of open ground, approaching the entrance of the third production line.

There was a half-person-high safety railing there, with a sign hanging on it: "High-Voltage Spiritual Energy, No Entry Unless For Maintenance."

The person stopped, pulled tools from their bosom, and began to unscrew the bolts at the bottom of the railing.

The movements were very practiced; they removed two in three motions.

Chen Xiaodao's eyes tightened.

This wasn't the first time they had come.

His right hand gripping the sword loosened, then tightened again.

Should he act?

The thought had just arisen before he suppressed it.

No. This person was just doing the work. Who was behind them? How did they get in? Was there a second batch? If he acted now, would others take advantage of the chaos?

He had to keep watching.

He slowly exhaled, slowing his breathing to let his heartbeat drop.

A heartbeat that was too fast would trigger spiritual power fluctuations that experts could detect.

He watched as the person lifted the railing, crawled inside, put down the metal bag, and opened it.

Inside was a row of thin, long metal spikes, their surfaces engraved with twisted runes, the spike tails connected to black wires, leading to a palm-sized control board.

Chen Xiaodao recognized that type of rune—Yin Corrosion Array.

It was specifically for destroying spiritual energy circuits; once installed, it would slowly corrode the guide rail core, and when the production line was running at full speed, it would explode directly.

One of the three great forbidden techniques of the Eastern Wasteland.

Ordinary people couldn't get their hands on it.

A name flashed through his mind: Mo Yuan.

But he couldn't be sure.

He could only watch.

The person began to assemble it, first sticking the control board onto a support beam, fixing it with a magnet, then picking up the first spike and aiming it at the guide rail seam.

Just at this moment—

A soft sound came from the distance, like a wrench dropping on the ground.

The person suddenly looked up, their hand stopping in mid-air.

Chen Xiaodao heard it too.

It wasn't the patrol team. At this time, the patrol team was in the North District.

It was another group of people.

His eye twitched.

Less than five breaths later, another black shadow emerged from the corner of the left passage, walking against the wall, carrying a tool bag in hand.

Then a third one, further away, crouching behind abandoned cables, checking equipment.

Three people.

They weren't acting together; they had come in in batches, each responsible for different places.

This was planned sabotage.

Chen Xiaodao understood: They weren't just trying to blow up one production line.

They wanted to paralyze the entire Technology Workshop.

His right hand left the sword hilt, and his left hand took out the communication talisman again.

This time he didn't ask for support.

He changed the order:

[Discovered three intruders, acting separately, carrying Yin Corrosion Array devices, targets are the main control nodes of the third, fifth, and seventh production lines. Requesting to seal internal passages, prohibiting anyone from approaching the production line area, await my further instructions].

He pressed send.

The communication talisman vibrated once.

He put it away and continued to stare at the person in front of him.

The other party had resumed their actions, hammering the first spike into the seam.

Chen Xiaodao didn't move.

He couldn't move.

He had to follow them and see where exactly they were going to install these things.

He slowly stood up, sticking to the edge of the wreckage, preparing to change positions to get closer to the maintenance passage of the third production line.

Just at this moment—

The person looked up and suddenly looked toward the direction where he was hiding.

Chen Xiaodao immediately crouched down, lowering his head.

His heart was pounding.

Did the other party see him?

He didn't dare move.

Ten breaths passed.

No sound.

He carefully lifted his eyes to look.

The person had already lowered their head, continuing to hammer the second spike.

A false alarm?

No.

Chen Xiaodao looked at his own hand.

A drop of dew had slid across the back of his hand.

When he moved just now, a drop of water had dripped from the cooling pipe overhead, hitting his wrist and rolling onto the back of his hand.

If that person had looked up from that angle, they could indeed have seen the reflection.

He was exposed.

But he couldn't run.

If he ran, he would alert the enemy.

He could only gamble—that the other party hadn't seen clearly, or wasn't sure.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and laid low again.

His eyes peered through the gap, staring fixedly at the person.

Spikes were hammered into the guide rail one by one.

He counted.

One, two, three...

Stopped at the fourth.

The person didn't continue.

They pulled a small compass from their bosom, glanced at it, then looked up, gazing into the depths of the factory area.

Following their gaze, Chen Xiaodao saw—

The main factory building of the Technology Workshop, standing quietly in the morning light.

He understood.

These people were waiting for a signal.

Waiting for a certain time, or someone's command.

His hand gripping the sword slowly loosened.

Then it tightened again.

He decided to follow.

As long as they didn't act, he wouldn't act.

He wanted to see with his own eyes where exactly these people were going to bring disaster.