"Grass! (a type of plant)"

The thief's eyes widened as he stared in terror at the scythe so close to him.

"You're asking for death! Do you know who my boss is? He's a ninth-level martial artist!"

Yu Rui flicked her sickle, leaving a bloody gash on his face, and calmly said, "Answer the question. I don't want to hear any other answers."

Warm blood flowed down his cheek, and the clear sensation and pain instantly brought him back to his senses. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

"We don't have a stable base; we only have temporary shelter!"

"Temporary accommodation?" Yu Rui frowned. "What do you mean?"

Wilderness bandits rarely have a stable base; they usually roam the wilderness like nomadic tribes of the past.

The main reason was the presence of strange beasts. They were worried that staying in one place for too long would attract powerful beasts, so they chose to constantly roam and scout, staying in a safe place for a few days.

This is to ensure safety.

Aside from a few powerful thief gangs, most thieves live this way.

Yu Rui frowned, sensing something amiss.

"You mean you haven't been in this area for very long?"

"Yes, yes," the thief hurriedly replied. "Our boss doesn't want to keep running around, so he wants the people at the monitoring station to teach them how to use the equipment and establish a stable base."

"But if there is no progress in the next few days, we will have no choice but to relocate."

Yu Rui pondered for a moment, then remembered something.

"I remember you attacked the monitoring station because you were checking if Zhang Lei, a ninth-level martial artist, was there during the raid. How did you know that?"

"I...I don't know."

The thief was also unaware: "It was a sudden decision by the boss, and we don't know why that person isn't here."

Yu Rui squinted. With this kind of survival method, it was impossible for wilderness thieves to keep monitoring the station and find an opening.

However, the fact that they were able to pinpoint the gaps in the monitoring station so precisely suggests that there was likely an inside agent involved.

With the adult's hint, the identity of this inside man was basically determined.

Zhuge Ling, huh?

Does Your Excellency know about the survival methods of wilderness bandits, which is why you made this judgment?

But the thief also said that there are powerful thief gangs that can be stationed in one place, and the adults must have considered this.

Therefore, there must still be flaws in Zhuge Ling's words.

"Do you know Zhuge Ling?" Yu Rui continued to ask.

Who is it?

This answer was exactly what Yu Rui had expected. If anyone really knew Zhuge Ling, it could only be their boss.

If Zhuge Ling was an inside agent, but didn't go back with the thieves, instead waiting for them to arrive and staging this charade, what was her purpose?

Yu Rui fell into deep thought.

Seeing that she remained silent, the thief carefully exerted his strength, trying to break free of the rope, but it was all in vain.

Yu Rui wasn't stupid to be appointed as the vice leader by Qin Sheng; after some thought, she could roughly come up with a few possibilities.

Zhuge Ling didn't want to stay in the wilderness any longer, so she deliberately exposed the monitoring station and then returned to the city in a natural way. Her appearance was all an act.

Or perhaps she had a reason to go into the city, for example…

Living weaponry!

Yu Rui's eyes lit up. The living weapons created by the adults were something that any force would covet. If Zhuge Ling was also sent to Kaitian City under someone's orders, it was possible that he would orchestrate such a show.

Once we return to the city with them, we can naturally investigate Qin Sheng within the city.

Perhaps they've already resolved their identity issues; all they're missing is a chance to return to the city!

This guess finally reminded Yu Rui of the flaw that Zhuge Ling had inadvertently exposed!

Surfing the internet!

She said that people like them could access the forum of Kaitian Academy, so they knew that freshmen faced assessments related to disasters.

This is definitely a hot topic among the upperclassmen, and Ye Bufan's victory over the calamity will surely become a trending topic. There's no reason why Zhuge Ling wouldn't know this.

However, because of Qin Sheng's emergence this year and the introduction of living weaponry, even though the academy has stated that it cannot be used in the short term, the forum posts are still discussing living weaponry.

Ye Bufan's post about defeating the calamity was naturally buried, so Zhuge Ling was unaware of it.

Since her goal was to develop living weapons, she would naturally choose to avoid this topic to avoid revealing her purpose.

This caused her to reveal a flaw!

She let out a long breath, her eyes filled with awe.

As expected of an adult, she discovered the problem simply by listening to her retelling.

Yu Rui guessed correctly. Qin Sheng did indeed realize that Zhuge Ling was problematic from this point, and he also knew about the survival methods of wilderness bandits.

Combining these two points, it's easy to deduce that Zhuge Ling is an inside agent, most likely after the living weapons.

Although these are all speculations, they are not conducting a case and do not need evidence.

"Um... Big sister? Grandma?" the thief said cautiously, "Can you let me go? I promise I won't tell anyone about what happened today!"

"One last question," Yu Rui continued, regaining her composure.

"Where is your temporary base?"

He honestly gave a location, and the sickle handle struck him on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

When they returned, Shangwu was already waiting for them. The two exchanged a few words and found that the intelligence was correct. It seemed that they were both spineless.

"Ji Sheng, you go first."

To ensure timely notification to the monitoring station at the other location, Ye Bufan and the others sent Han Jisheng off first.

After waiting for several hours, they inadvertently revealed their "purpose" through the communication devices on their motorcycles.

After shunting most of the wilderness bandits, we still need to consider the personnel remaining at the stronghold.

Fortunately, this is the wilderness; there's not much else, but plenty of exotic beasts.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!