Only after the footsteps completely faded did Lu Cheneng, like a dormant cheetah, silently slip out of the shadows, vigilantly checking that there was no more movement outside the barracks. He quickly walked to the compartment and opened the door. Wen Shifei flashed out, his face pale, a fine layer of cold sweat on his forehead, clearly trying to suppress the pain and tension.
"It's okay." Lu Chen's voice was low and steady, carrying a soothing force, but his furrowed brow remained unfurled. "They won't give up easily. This place has been exposed. We must move immediately."
Wen Shifei took a few deep breaths, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and thought quickly: "I know a place - the 'shipwreck' warehouse in the old dock area. It was used for smuggling in the early years and was later abandoned. It has a complex structure, half soaked in sewage, and the entrance is extremely hidden. The spies of the Black Snake Gang and the chaebol rarely set foot in that area."
"Okay!" Lu Chenhang made a quick decision, "Pack your things and leave immediately!"
The two of them moved swiftly and silently to gather all the necessary items. Lu Chencheng carefully inspected the bandage on Wen Shifei's shoulder, confirming it wasn't broken or bleeding. He draped his spare coat over her, covering the conspicuous bandage. Before leaving, he took one last look at the abandoned military camp that had provided temporary shelter. His eyes swept across the corner where the "mole" had finally laid down before his death, and a trace of heavy respect and even deeper determination flashed in his eyes.
Crossing the deserted streets felt like walking through a silent cemetery. The crumbling skyscrapers, like giant tombstones, cast long, suffocating shadows. Lu Cheneng walked ahead, like the most perceptive scout, his senses heightened to the utmost, capturing every strange smell on the wind, every faint vibration on the ground, every suspicious silhouette in the shadows. Wen Shifei followed closely behind, enduring the pain in his shoulder as he vigilantly monitored the rear and flanks. The Black Snake Gang's threat was like a leech, and the chaebol's "scavengers" were even more likely to fire a deadly bullet from any shadow.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of rust, rotting garbage, and some kind of chemical. As they passed an abandoned holographic billboard, the remaining image flickered a few times, revealing a middle-aged man with a cold face and sharp eyes—Lu Qiming! He seemed to be giving a speech about "order" and "purification." Lu Cheneng didn't stop, but his eyes grew even deeper and colder, like a thousand-year-old ice.
Suddenly, a faint, high-frequency "buzzing" sound passed over my head!
"Drone! Get down!" Lu Cheneng roared, and suddenly threw Wen Shifei to the ground, rolling under the wreckage of an abandoned hovercraft next to him!
Almost simultaneously, a red scanning beam, like the fangs of a venomous snake, swept across the spot where they had just stood! A miniature reconnaissance drone, painted with the eagle emblem of the Tianshu Zaibatsu, flew low, its compound eyes flashing a cold red. It circled several times, as if trying to confirm something, before finally, unwillingly gaining altitude, flying off into the distance.
"It's the chaebol's 'bee eyes'..." Wen Shifei lowered his voice, still feeling a lingering fear.
"It seems my father is more 'concerned' about my whereabouts than the Black Snake Gang." Lu Chenheng sneered, his eyes growing colder. He helped Wen Shifei up, and after confirming the drone was gone, the two of them retreated into deeper shadows, moving more cautiously.
The old dock area was thick with a damp, cold, salty, and decaying odor. Turbid, greenish sewage slowly flowed through broken pipes and ditches, emitting a sickening odor. Rusted gantry cranes, like the skeletons of giant beasts, stood silently above the filthy waters. The "sunken" warehouse Wen Shifei had mentioned lay half-submerged, half-floating beside a fetid waterway. Its massive hull was rusted, barnacle-covered, and stained. It tilted, partially submerged in the dark green sewage. The entrance was hidden behind a corroded hole near the waterline, making it incredibly concealed.
"This way." Wen Shifei led Lu Cheneng with ease, stepping on the slippery, moss-covered concrete blocks, carefully wading through the knee-deep cold sewage, and crawling into the warehouse through the hole.
The warehouse's interior was vast and extremely dim. Only a few rays of light filtered in through cracks and broken windows high above, forming pale shafts of light through which swirled dust. The air was damp and cold, mingling with the strange smell of rust, rotting wood, and spoiled engine oil. The ground was littered with broken wooden crates, twisted metal pipes, rusted giant gears, and the remains of abandoned machinery, like a graveyard of the viscera of a steel monster. Underfoot lay thick mud and stagnant water.
Wen Shifei, enduring the chill and shoulder pain, quickly found a relatively dry corner formed by stacked abandoned shipping containers. Lu Cheneng tacitly helped clear away the debris and lay down moisture-proof mats. Like the most sophisticated detector, he himself began a thorough inspection of the entire vast warehouse space. He climbed up the rusted steel frame, checking every possible blind spot for surveillance; he leaned close to the ground, listening for any unusual vibrations; he used the analyzer's simple scanning function to detect any hidden tracking signal transmitters. After confirming that it was temporarily safe, he returned to Wen Shifei's side.
The two sat on a moisture-proof mat and ate some dry food under the emergency light to replenish their energy. After a brief rest, Wen Shifei turned on the analyzer again, the faint blue light illuminating her focused, slightly pale face. The complex data stream of "File Zero" once again flowed across the screen.
Lu Chensheng leaned against the cold container wall, his gaze involuntarily drifting to Wen Shifei. Her brow furrowed slightly, her fingertips darting across the virtual keyboard, her movements occasionally slowed by shoulder pain, yet she remained completely focused. This focused expression brought back memories of the daring hacker girl he'd first met, the one who'd invaded the Oracle system. But now, her eyes, lacking their former loneliness and aloofness, held a burning dedication to a common goal... a tenacious charm that made his heart tremble.
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