secret base
In an abandoned building not far from Liu Xia's residence, Bai Fei's hands were tied behind her back with a strong hemp rope. Her clothes were dirty and messy from the mud and dust on the ground. Even her head was covered with a black cloth bag by the kidnappers. She was lying unconscious on the cold concrete floor.
At a certain distance from here, two men were standing at the window smoking, the orange flame flickering in the darkness, and two thin wisps of smoke slowly floated up from the lit cigarette butts. There was a high-powered telescope in front of them, and the lens was facing Liu Xia's residence.
"Will catching this little girl really be of any use?" the man in camouflage uniform continued, a cigarette in his hand, frowning. "Liu Yuecheng's nephew has been searching the company for so long and still can't find the source code. How can his daughter, a college student, find it?"
"Tu Wu, just do what I tell you to do, and don't worry about anything else."
The middle-aged man wearing glasses took a deep breath of cigarette, the white mist swirled in his lungs before he slowly exhaled.
"It's all Liu Feng's fault for causing such trouble that we've run out of time. We finally waited for Liu Xia to wake up from her coma, so we can only give it a try."
Tu Wu's strong arm was wrapped in several layers of bandages, and red blood was already seeping out of the outer bandage. It was obvious that he was seriously injured. The pain made his face pale, and cold sweat kept dripping from his forehead, sliding down his cheeks and into his neck.
"Old Chen, you know my muscle strength best."
He seemed to recall the terrifying experience again, holding up his arm with lingering fear and said, "This Liu Xia is indeed a bit strange. I didn't see any weapons on him. It felt like something tore at my arm. If I hadn't dodged quickly, I would have lost my arm."
"The wound on your arm is very strange. It's somewhat different from the wound Liu Feng suffered when he was torn apart by such a huge force."
Chen Mingyuan threw the empty cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it hard a few times to completely extinguish the red light.
"The muscle tissue in the center of the wound has completely disappeared. If I hadn't sewed it up in time, you probably wouldn't have been able to save your arm."
"Come to think of it, this is all your fault!" Chen Mingyuan said angrily, "I finally managed to lure Liu Xia to the old house, but you were so clumsy that you couldn't even hide it properly. Otherwise, you wouldn't have caused so much trouble."
Tu Wu knew that he was in the wrong, so he immediately smiled flatteringly and didn't dare to continue talking nonsense, for fear of causing Chen Mingyuan greater displeasure.
"Watch her carefully, don't let anything happen again." Chen Mingyuan was too lazy to argue with him about this topic and emphasized, "Pay special attention to the tracking device on her body, don't lose her."
…
Liu Xia sat on the bed and looked at the open photo album, which was a family photo taken ten years ago.
At that time, Liu Xia was only twelve years old, but he was nearly 1.6 meters tall. He stood behind his parents like a little adult. Although he still looked childish, he could already see some of the characteristics of an adult.
The background behind them is in the yard of their old house. The house is a very ordinary bungalow with a huge banyan tree next to it. The reason they chose to take pictures here is that they are about to move.
She remembered her father saying that this house carried many beautiful memories for the family and would not be sold even if they no longer lived in it. Her father also converted it into an e-sports room, which became a secret base for the father and daughter. Even her mother thought that the bungalow had been abandoned long ago.
Whenever she was in a bad mood, her father would lie and say he was sending his daughter to a study class and take her to a secret base to play games and watch movies. They would play for the entire day, which was also a compensation for not being able to accompany his daughter often.
Sometimes he would work in a secret base because it was quieter there and he wouldn't be disturbed.
If my dad really hid something, besides putting it at home, it is very likely that he put it in a secret base. The secret base is not far from home and can be reached in ten minutes.
Apart from this, there seems to be no other clue.
Thinking of this, Liu Xia immediately took off all her clothes and put on a new set from the closet, just in case the kidnappers had placed any tracking devices on her. Then she grabbed her half-charged old phone and turned off the one the kidnappers had given her. She took some cash with her for emergencies, stuffed the necessary power banks and some sundries into her backpack, and left.
The cold light from the mobile phone screen cast a bluish-white light on Liu Xia's face. It was around four in the morning, and the sky was still mostly dark. The shadows of the trees outside the window swayed slightly under the street lights that were still on. The chirping of birds had begun to sound, and the early-rising sparrows were jumping and singing on the branches.
This time, Liu Xia chose not to drive but to run over via a shortcut. The moment she walked out of the basement, the cold wind enveloped her. However, her improved physical fitness made her not feel much cold.
It would have taken Liu Xia ten minutes to walk, but he reached the destination in just two minutes. Along the way, he carefully observed whether there was anyone following him nearby, and only came over after making sure that no one was following him.
After passing through a narrow corridor which was still a dirt road and turning a few corners, I finally saw the mottled walls and a rusty gate. There was an old-fashioned lock on the door, which was covered with a thick layer of dust. I rarely came to the secret base since my parents passed away.
With a single bound, she leaped over the wall, more than a meter tall, and landed lightly in the courtyard. Her soles kicked up a little dust, but it was effortless for her. The ground was paved with blue stone bricks, which her father had laid himself. Aside from some fallen leaves and dust, it was relatively clean. Judging by the details in every corner, this secret base was indeed untouched.
Liu Xia couldn't help but think of an old saying: It's darkest under the lamp.
The two groups searched her home and old house thoroughly, but they missed this bungalow that was built ten years ago.
I found the room key in the small kitchen I built in the yard and successfully opened the door to enter the room.
Because the e-sports room needs to be kept dry, my father specially made moisture-proof measures when modifying the room. In addition, all the windows are closed tightly. Apart from being a little stuffy in the room, there is almost no dust or smell. Everything in the room is perfectly protected.
Liu Xia took out his cell phone and looked at the time. Nearly forty minutes had passed since he returned to the real world. Judging from the time it took for his consciousness to shift several times, he was afraid that he would soon lose consciousness again.
It took too long to get home, but it was inevitable.
Sitting on the green painted gaming chair in front of the desk, the backrest with excellent load-bearing performance supported Liu Xia's back steadily, but it felt a little cold to the touch.
She picked up the puppy toy on the table. It was a bee puppy doll. Its face, swollen from being stung by a bee, had a cute smile on it. It wore a small orange hat, and its round eyes reflected Liu Xia's face in the light. It also carried a small backpack of the same color as the hat, which looked funny and interesting.
This was the first gift Liu Xia gave to her father, and it was always placed where he could see it when he looked up.
Liu Xia opened Bee Puppy's backpack and, as expected, found a cold metal USB drive inside. This was Dad's habit: he'd keep important things right under his nose, so others wouldn't miss them.
No one would have thought that such an important thing would be placed in such a conspicuous place, just like when he hid his private money, he would always put the money under his mother's nose, but this little trick could not be hidden from his own daughter.
The metal USB flash drive is engraved with the logo used when the company was first established. It was specially ordered by my father. It is more secure and less prone to damage than ordinary storage devices on the market. If nothing goes wrong, this is the "brain domain source code" they have been looking for, but this may just be one of the backup files.
In any case, what the kidnappers wanted has been found. Her parents are no longer around, and Bai Fei was kidnapped because of her. If it can bring Bai Fei's safety back, it would be no big deal for Liu Xia to hand over the source code.
But she still had to figure out one important thing. It didn't matter how that bastard Liu Feng died, but it was very important to her whether the car accident her parents had suffered had anything to do with this thing.
The picture in front of her eyes began to show signs of fragmentation, and the familiar feeling of dizziness came over her again. Liu Xia was already used to it and prepared herself. She stuffed the metal USB drive back to its original position. She walked to the sofa, lay down in a comfortable position, and waited for her consciousness to change. She was afraid that this time it would be too late to contact the kidnappers.
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