Chapter 345: Someone Is Running Away

Early morning, outside a breakfast stall.

Sitting on the curb, Xiao Yu munched on a crispy pancake while scrolling through a tablet. He was studying ten architectural blueprints of underground structures—the shelter blueprints.

Xiao Yu had spent a solid nine hours examining them. The tablet even had to be charged once overnight.

What was he doing?

Treasure hunting—using the blueprints to deduce the locations of the remaining two hidden shelters.

In his past life, Xiao Yu had enjoyed playing intellectual puzzle games like this. 

Then he realized people who enjoy these games were just torturing themselves. Not only do they burn through an ungodly number of brain cells, but they also waste an absurd amount of time.

But last night’s effort wasn’t in vain.

Finishing the last bite of his pancake, Xiao Yu put down the tablet, took two gulps of bottled water, and got up. He headed toward a nearby business vehicle.

Inside the car, several special agents were sound asleep.

Pulling all-nighters wasn’t something people with normal sleep schedules enjoyed.

As soon as the car door opened, every sleeping agent instantly snapped awake.

‘Such discipline.’ 

Xiao Yu was impressed.

“Did you find anything?” Shen Mei rubbed her eyes groggily.

Zhou Lie turned his gaze toward his younger colleague.

‘Damn, why does this responsibility keep falling on me? I’m just here to assist, I’m not even leading this case’ 

Xiao Yu sighed, feeling as if he had somehow been roped into commanding the operation. 

“No discoveries yet, but after reviewing previous research on the first seven shelters, I found something interesting.”

Never assume you’re the only smart person in the room.

After obtaining these blueprints, experts had already attempted to analyze the probable locations of the hidden shelters. And surprisingly, one particular expert had uncovered a notable pattern.

They had found a… “Sun”.

The Chinese character for “Sun” (日).

If you break it apart, it consists of two “mouth” (口) characters stacked vertically.

Each “口” has four corners, meaning each corner corresponds to a potential location.

The eighth shelter’s location coincidentally aligned with one corner of this “日” pattern.

When overlaying the locations of the eight discovered shelters, two “口” characters formed a full “日”.

The “Sun” symbol, representing a former foreign adversary. So where were the remaining two shelters?

Xiao Yu had spent the entire night analyzing this.

Initially, he wondered if the missing shelters were located between the two “口” characters. But experts had already considered this theory and found nothing. Yet the “日” pattern’s accuracy was undeniable.

Building upon this, Xiao Yu pushed further.

Then an idea struck him.

He thought of the ancient script version of “日”—a circle with a dot in the center, symbolizing the sun.

If that were the case, could the missing shelters be at the central point of this “日”?

After hearing Xiao Yu’s analysis, Shen Mei was dumbfounded, while Zhou Lie let out a curse and fell into deep thought.

‘Are you two still following? Can you at least acknowledge the newbie in the room?’ 

Xiao Yu twitched his lips, staring at his senior colleagues.

“Should we check it out?” Shen Mei asked, looking at Zhou Lie.

Zhou Lie nodded.

As the two seasoned agents discussed their next move, Xiao Yu felt a mix of admiration and frustration.

‘When will I ever be as sharp as them? Can you guys at least look at me?’

***

S City, A Remote Mountain Area.

Sitting in the helicopter, Xiao Yu frowned.

After all that searching, they ended up in the province where his hometown was located.

As the helicopter descended to about four or five meters above the ground, Xiao Yu and the team climbed down the rope ladder.

Zhou Lie held a surveying instrument, while Shen Mei studied a map.

Two geological experts accompanied them, pointing out calculations.

They were using the locations of the previous eight shelters to pinpoint the center of the “日” symbol.

Xiao Yu didn’t say much. He wasn’t an expert in this field. Instead, he activated his Falcon’s Eyes and scanned the surroundings.

It was a mountainous region, with forests, rivers, and rugged terrain.

The site was about twenty kilometers from the city outskirts.

Roughly fifty meters away, a narrow mountain road was visible. Large vehicles wouldn’t be able to enter, but off-road vehicles could.

Then, something caught his eye.

A lone off-road vehicle was slowly driving along the road.

Ordinary people might not have noticed anything unusual. But Xiao Yu did.

The vehicle had a license plate from another province.

Suspicious.

This was an isolated mountain area, with no villages or shops nearby.

Why would a non-local vehicle be here?

Even locals rarely drove this deep into the mountains unless they had a reason.

Another detail stood out: the vehicle was covered in dust, and the tires had heavy mud caked onto them. It had clearly traveled a long distance.

It wasn’t normal.

Not normal at all.

More importantly, it had been parked until just moments ago.

It was highly likely that the driver saw the armed helicopter and decided to leave. Otherwise, the slow acceleration and sudden speed-up wouldn’t make sense.

Was he overthinking it?

Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes. “Check that vehicle.”

Zhou Lie and Shen Mei followed his gaze, spotting the off-road vehicle in the distance. Then they turned back to Xiao Yu in confusion.

“It’s suspicious. Just check it.” Xiao Yu didn’t bother explaining further.

Shen Mei gestured to a team member, who immediately radioed the helicopter crew.

Within moments, the aircraft veered off to pursue the vehicle.

Retracting his gaze, Xiao Yu turned back to the team. 

“Have we pinpointed the exact location?” he asked.

“Almost.” Zhou Lie pointed ahead. “About a kilometer away.”

The team set off on foot toward the suspected location.

Just as they neared their target—

“Wait!”

Xiao Yu halted abruptly, his sharp eyes locked onto a spot a few meters away. He walked over, crouched down, and examined the ground.

Footprints.

“A single person. Fresh tracks, less than half a day old.”

The team’s expressions darkened.

Who would come this deep into the mountains?

They remembered Xiao Yu’s earlier suspicion about the off-road vehicle.

Could someone have come here searching for the shelter?

“Move!”

Xiao Yu sprang into action, sprinting in a particular direction. The others immediately followed.

Five minutes later, Xiao Yu skidded to a stop.

In front of him was a freshly dug pit. The soil was still damp. 

A discarded shovel lay nearby.

Scanning the ground, Xiao Yu spotted something that made his expression change.

The footprints weren’t normal walking steps.

They were long-strided—running.

“Someone is running away.”

Without hesitation, Xiao Yu lunged forward, sprinting like a cheetah in pursuit.