Chapter 275: Why is all the gear that fell along the way missing?

Zhao Youcheng personally led the team into the jungle.

Originally, Wu Mingyu and the other captains were firmly against it. But now, Ying Yuezi was injured and still shaken up. Wu Mingyu had pulled his back, and Wu Yaoming’s leg was scratched. Almost all the captains from China were wiped out. The other captains, on the other hand, were doing fine.

China couldn’t go without a captain, so Zhao Youcheng stepped in. 

With no other choice, they had to agree. However, Wu Yaoming insisted on going along with Zhao Youcheng to assist him. Even though he was injured, it didn’t affect his ability to move.

After resting for five hours, the group entered the jungle again. 

It took them only two hours to reach the river. By now, it was morning, and the sun had just risen. The jungle was calm and peaceful.

This time, Zhao Youcheng was leading a fresh batch of inspectors who hadn’t encountered any previous incidents. The ones who had experienced the earlier chaos were still mentally scarred, so sending them back into the jungle too soon might cause panic and unnecessary trouble. 

As a result, Zhao Youcheng had handpicked a new crew.

Despite being over sixty years old, Zhao Youcheng was incredibly fit. He walked through two hours of jungle without breaking a sweat, which impressed Wu Yaoming.

“Old Zhao, this is where we first picked up Wang Yun’s trail,” Wu Yaoming said, pointing to the river in front of them.

There wasn’t much to say. Zhao Youcheng had already seen everything that happened earlier through the video footage. He scanned the area and then walked to the riverbank, carefully inspecting the surroundings.

“This river is really fast. If someone fell in, it’d be tough to survive,” Zhao Youcheng said. “A regular person wouldn’t dare go in. But Wang Yun? That’s a different story.”

“Get the fish drones ready,” Zhao Youcheng ordered the team behind him.

The team promptly pulled out ten fish drones that looked incredibly lifelike—almost indistinguishable from real fish.

“Old Zhao, I’ve already used satellite positioning to track the entire course of this river,” said Alfa as he approached, handing his phone to Zhao Youcheng.

Zhao glanced at the screen for a few seconds. His eyes narrowed slightly.

“This river leads to a nearby sea area. If that’s the case, it could be a bit tricky,” Zhao Youcheng said.

Alfa nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, there are two exit points from the river that I’ve already scouted. Both are in the vicinity of Enclosed Mountain. If Wang Yun and his crew followed the river, even if they didn’t end up in the sea, they’d have to come ashore at one of these two places,” Alfa explained, pointing at the map. 

The red circles he marked were the exit points. One at the edge of Enclosed Mountain, the other right in the center.

The problem was that the closest exit, located at the edge of Enclosed Mountain, was a good forty kilometers away from where they currently stood. 

With such a long distance, let alone a person drifting in the river—at the current speed of the water, even small fish would get knocked around and dizzy. By the time anyone tried to climb out, they’d likely have already drowned, not to mention the dangerous creatures lurking in the river.

“Captain Wu, what’s your take on this?” 

Zhao Youcheng handed his phone to Wu Yaoming, who looked at the map before passing it to the other captains. Each captain studied it carefully, and they all fell silent, deep in thought.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t take the river route,” Hardy spoke up first. “Remember, Wang Yun’s got three people with him. Even if he’s an expert swimmer, can he guarantee that the other three are just as good in the water?”

The other captains nodded in agreement.

“Captain Hardy makes a good point. I doubt Wang Yun would choose to risk the river. I think he led you guys to the river last night just to mess with you and buy himself time to plan his escape,” added Werner, his words carrying weight with the group.

After hearing this, Wu Yaoming turned to Zhao Youcheng. 

“I agree with them. I think Wang Yun is still somewhere in this jungle, playing mind games with us. We’ve already stationed our people at all the exits, so he can’t slip out unnoticed,” Wu Yaoming said confidently.

Zhao Youcheng remained deep in thought, his hands clasped behind his back, his expression serious. Everyone waited for him to speak.

“I remember you mentioned before that there was a time you tried to capture Wang Yun in the mountains, but he still managed to escape, right?” Zhao Youcheng asked out of the blue, catching Wu Yaoming off guard and causing his face to flush.

“Uh, yeah… that was because he had a human skin mask to disguise himself. But this time, he doesn’t have that, so there’s no way he can hide,” Wu Yaoming said, his tone a bit awkward.

“Alright, in that case, I’ll leave it to all of you to continue searching the area. Also, make sure to keep a close eye on those ten drone fish. Leave fifty people here, and the rest can continue with the search. Captain Wu and I will stay behind and wait for good news from you.”

Zhao Youcheng quickly gave out instructions.

Wu Yaoming, however, seemed a bit puzzled. 

“Old Zhao, are we really staying here? Do you think Wang Yun is still in the area? But this place looks barren, and there’s barely anywhere to hide.”

He glanced around at the surrounding terrain. On both sides of the river were smooth, steep slopes. Even if Wang Yun was good at climbing, he wouldn’t risk taking such a difficult path while looking after his group.

Zhao Youcheng turned to look at Wu Yaoming, his expression complicated.

“Captain Wu, haven’t you noticed anything?”

“Huh? Noticed what?” Wu Yaoming asked, clearly confused.

Zhao Youcheng pointed at the ground.

“I recall that when you were fleeing last night, it was quite chaotic, right? And this morning, when you were taking inventory of the gear, some of it was reported missing. A few items had been dropped along the way, including a protective suit. Just now, we retraced our steps, and though five hours have passed, the areas where you scattered the sulfur powder and the other repellents should still be clear of any animals. So why is it that the dropped gear is nowhere to be found? All that’s left are a few scraps of cloth torn by branches and some discarded medicine bottles?”

Zhao Youcheng slowly explained, his words making everyone tense up.