358: Chapter 358 Undercover Operation, Secret Assistance

In the center of the enemy camp, the battle flags fluttered.

The large flag embroidered with blood patterns rattled in the wind, but an inconspicuous piece of metal had quietly been added to the base of the flagpole—thin as paper, it was embedded in the seam, seamlessly integrated with the copper ring.

The flag-bearer was a burly man with a fleshy face, currently grinning as he cursed at the city: "Chen Wuwang, you shrinking turtle! I'll dig up your ancestral graves and use them as latrines!"

How could he know that the flag in his hand had already become a communication tool?

Just as he finished shouting his third curse, a Gray-robed man paced over, his fingertips twitching slightly within his sleeve as his Divine Sense swept through the area like a spiderweb.

Three Nascent Soul Experts stood on the high platform, their auras overlapping to form an invisible Restriction—any fluctuation of spiritual power exceeding the threshold would be instantly exposed.

But the thing inside the flagpole did not rely on spiritual power.

It used quantum entanglement.

The undercover agent crouched behind the flag formation, pretending to organize the ropes, his head lowered and his breathing steady.

His name was Chen Qi. Three years ago, he was the most inconspicuous Utility Disciple in the Chen Family's outer sect. Now, wearing the skin of an enemy scout, he was mixed into the logistics team, unable to even get a hot meal.

But he was alive.

And clear-headed.

He knew the Gray-robed man's Divine Sense swept every thirty breaths, each time lasting for seven seconds.

He also knew the commotion in the northwest was a heat source intentionally released by the Chen Family mechas to disrupt the enemy's rhythm.

It was time.

With a flick of his right hand, his thumb pressed the miniature Talisman Button hidden in his sleeve.

"Beep."

A soft sound only he could hear.

The chip inside the flagpole started a self-destruct countdown while simultaneously activating the preset entanglement signal channel.

Data was compressed into an unparseable stream of gibberish, instantly penetrating the hundred-mile blockade through a connection that surpassed the Law of space, dropping into the Chen Family underground command node.

The Gray-robed man's brow twitched.

He felt a hint of abnormality—it wasn't spiritual power, nor was it Divine Sense, but a kind of... sense of displacement, like a gear jamming.

He suddenly turned his head, his gaze sweeping toward the flag formation like a blade.

But there was nothing.

The flag-bearer was still cursing, the flag was still fluttering, and the soldiers were laughing as usual.

He frowned and whispered to himself, "Strange..."

Before his voice faded, another commotion came from behind.

"Report—the heat source in the northwest is intensifying! A mecha formation is suspected to be gathering!"

"Bullshit! Didn't you say three hundred just now? Now it's five hundred?"

"My Lord, should we have the Sorcerer Corps blast them first?"

The enemy leader sat atop a Red-Scaled Beast, his expression grim.

He had just ordered a pause in the charge, and now another abnormality had appeared in the northwest; anger flared in his heart: "Investigate! Check for me whether it's true or false! Don't be so damn jumpy!"

Chaos erupted again.

Amidst the clamor, Chen Qi slowly stood up, patted the dust off his knees, walked to the weapon rack, and picked up a rusty blade to begin wiping it.

His movements were natural and his expression numb, looking exactly like a veteran who had stayed up for three days.

No one spared him a second glance.

His lips twitched slightly; he didn't smile, but simply let out a soft sigh.

It was done.

—

In the underground secret chamber, blue light drifted.

A holographic sand table floated quietly, reflecting the enemy's formation outside the city. On the monitoring screen, heat source points were densely packed, and data streams rolled silently.

Chen Wuwang stood before the sand table, his left hand resting on the console and his right index finger unconsciously tapping the edge of his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye. His silver hair fell over half his face, covering the three old scars left by the Zerg on his right cheek.

Suddenly, the terminal let out a "ding."

His gaze sharpened.

A line of text popped up on the screen: [Encrypted intelligence reception complete. Source: Code Name 'Shadow Nail'. Verification passed.]

Immediately after, a fragment of data began to load.

"Zzz..."

The screen flickered, coordinates blurred, and a large amount of gibberish appeared in the troop distribution of the left wing. The supply line's path was intermittent, as if interfered with by something.

Chen Wuwang narrowed his eyes.

He didn't immediately deploy troops or call for reinforcements; instead, he reached out and swiped in the air, opening the underlying interface of the family rise system—the information source tracing module.

This wasn't an instruction actively issued by the System, but a silent program he had long ago set: once specific encoded intelligence was received, it would automatically compare enemy movement patterns from the past seventy-two hours, combining multiple variables such as terrain, Spiritual Qi tides, and sentry tower feedback to perform a reverse deduction.

Data flowed rapidly.

Three minutes later, the phantom image on the sand table was reconstructed.

The previously blurred gap on the left wing clearly emerged—there was a temporary Floating Plank Road connecting two ridges, specifically for logistics transport.

The defense was weak, with only two Golden Core Stage Cultivators on rotation, and they would briefly lose contact every fifteen minutes due to spiritual energy interference.

It was exactly the flaw.

Chen Wuwang stared at that plank road for a full ten seconds, then suddenly chuckled.

"Good lad," he said softly, as if to himself. "Hiding deep enough, and transmitting accurately."

He didn't praise the completeness of the intelligence, nor did he say the plan was thorough. He knew how difficult it was for the other party in the enemy camp—they couldn't use communication talismans, couldn't leave traces, and even looking at a map a few extra times would arouse suspicion.

But this person had managed to stuff a chip into the battle flagpole and timed the chaos perfectly to trigger the transmission.

Smart, bold, and calm.

Such a person deserves to win.

With a swipe of his finger, he archived the entire intelligence report as "S-Rank Strategic Reserve," raising the encryption level to the highest, such that even the Family database could not access it unless he personally unlocked it.

Then, he pressed the communication mute button without saying a word.

No orders were sent, no troops were moved, and he didn't even blink an extra time.

As if nothing had happened.

But his posture changed.

His body, which had been leaning casually, straightened, his shoulders dropped, and he moved his feet forward half a step. His entire being was like a fully drawn bow, just waiting for the command.

He knew that from this moment on, the enemy no longer called the shots in this battle.

—

In the enemy camp, the flag-bearer was still cursing.

"Chen Wuwang, your mother—"

"Slap!"

A slap landed on the back of his head.

The adjutant roared, "Shut up! Are you ever going to finish? If you keep shouting, I'll throw you into the cannon barrel as ammunition!"

The flag-bearer held his head, not daring to make a sound.

The wind swept dust from the wasteland, and the flag rattled loudly.

No one noticed that the metal piece at the bottom of the flagpole had already melted into ash and dispersed with the wind.

Chen Qi crouched by the pile of weapons, sharpening his blade with his head down, the blade reflecting his calm eyes.

He heard someone shouting in the distance, "Prepare Fire Rain coverage! Sorcerers, form Ranks!"

He also heard that the city remained silent, without even a single response.

But he knew that someone in the city had heard.

—

In the secret chamber, Chen Wuwang slowly closed the System interface.

The light and shadow of the sand table cast cold blue patterns on his face. He turned and walked toward the hidden door in the corner.

Outside the door, the wind howled, and the sound of city wall bricks rubbing against each other could be faintly heard. The twilight deepened as the last ray of light on the horizon was swallowed by the clouds.

He reached out and grabbed the doorknob, the metal feeling cold to the touch.

Stepping out, his figure vanished into the depths of the dark corridor.

Wind poured in from the end of the corridor, blowing the strands of his high ponytail and revealing the cold light of his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye.

In the next moment, he would ascend the city wall, the focus of ten thousand troops.

But for now, he was still hidden in the darkness.

Waiting for the best moment.