Chapter 348: We Have a Cheat

Why must the foreign forces insist on using Wu Hanran?

Xiao Yu couldn’t figure it out. He would never do something so foolish if he were in charge of an intelligence agency.

Were they afraid others wouldn’t know their intelligence agent was stirring up trouble in another country?

They were digging their own grave.

For instance, if it were the National Security Bureau, they would follow Wu Hanran’s trail, and uproot those foreign forces completely, wiping them out.

Unless…

“They have no choice but to use Wu Hanran? Or perhaps…” With a sudden look of realization, Xiao Yu smiled, “Wu Hanran has always controlled those three sets of blueprints?”

“What do you mean?” Zhou Lie asked, puzzled.

“I get it now.” Shen Mei’s eyes lit up. “Leverage.”

“Yeah, more or less.” Xiao Yu nodded. “Those people are using Wu Hanran’s daughter as a hostage, but Wu Hanran can also use the blueprints as leverage. If he actually handed them over, he’d be a fool.

“Like in a kidnapping. After the ransom is paid, the victim is usually killed. Wu Hanran is worried about his daughter’s life, he would never hand over the blueprints. So those people can only make Wu Hanran fetch what they want in exchange? And they even have to protect him, because if anything happens to him, they’ll never get what they’re after.”

“Mm!” Zhou Lie and Shen Mei both nodded.

The analysis made perfect sense.

If it were them, they’d do the same.

But there was one unfortunate point. The enemy had used a sacrificial pawn to divert them and extract Wu Hanran. They had probably already escaped from S City.

The trail was completely cut off.

“No leads? It doesn’t matter.”

Xiao Yu’s expression suddenly turned strange.

Shen Mei and Zhou Lie froze, staring blankly at their little brother.

“Why are you all looking at me like that? Planning to jump me or something?” Xiao Yu shrugged. “The ninth hidden site… ah, that place… no!”

Zhou Lie slapped his forehead. 

Shen Mei suddenly came to a realization. They had been so focused on capturing the target that they completely forgot about it.

“When we were tracking Wu Hanran, I checked that dug-up spot. There were no signs of any underground passage.” Xiao Yu grinned. “Which means my guess was wrong.”

Wrong about the hidden site’s location, and still so happy? 

Of course, he was. 

It meant the other side hadn’t found the right spot either. They were thinking along the same lines. And what did that mean? It meant those people didn’t know the exact location of the hidden site either. 

Everyone was on the same starting line.

The other side wanted to find the remaining two hidden sites—they were after something. But what if Xiao Yu and his team found it first? 

Wouldn’t the other side have to show up? Wait for the prey to come to them? Would it work? 

It would.

So, it all came down to who found it first. If the other side found it first, National Security’s efforts would be wasted. But if they found it first, then the other side was finished. Simple logic, right?

Zhou Lie and Shen Mei weren’t slow. They instantly understood what Xiao Yu was planning.

“But…” Zhou Lie’s face twisted with frustration. “How do we find it?”

“Yeah.” Shen Mei nodded. “Those blueprints have been around for decades. Only eight sites were found in all this time. If it was that easy…”

The meaning was obvious—they weren’t the only smart ones here. Did they think those expert analysts were amateurs? Those people hadn’t found it after decades, why should they be any different?

“I stand firm,” Xiao Yu’s lips curled into a smirk. “Walk your own path. Let the haters yap… Ahem, no, I mean, sincerity breaks even the hardest stone.”

Zhou Lie, “…”

Shen Mei, “…”

‘Is the kid due for his meds?’

“I refuse to believe this.”

Xiao Yu grabbed the military-grade tablet beside him, pulled up the hidden site blueprints, and gritted his teeth.

He didn’t know why but suddenly, the future felt bright.

Because he had a cheat.

Shen Mei and Zhou Lie quietly left, not disturbing Xiao Yu, who was immersed in analyzing the blueprints.

Xiao Yu stood frozen like a statue, tablet in hand, eyes scanning every detail on the diagrams.

‘No. This won’t do.’

Snapping out of his thoughts, Xiao Yu shook his head.

‘Start over. What’s step one?’

Repair Expert—Copy all ten blueprints into his mind.

Imitation Expert—Replicate every pattern and line from the designs.

Psychology Expert—Analyze the mindset of the original designer.

And finally, he pushed his brain’s thinking, analysis, and processing to the absolute limit.

From the start, Xiao Yu’s greatest cheat wasn’t the system, it was his monster-like brain!

In this life, he avoided pushing his mind to the extreme because when he entered that state, he became a cold, emotionless human machine.

In his past life, nobody liked that version of him. No matter how many major cases he cracked, his colleagues kept their distance. Nobody wanted to work with a monster. Nobody liked having their thoughts laid bare as if stripped naked under those emotionless eyes.

Xiao Yu had been alone in his past life.

And he hated loneliness.

So, in this life, he changed. He learned to control his brain. He became brighter, more playful, and happier.

He could be childish, clever, gentle, cheerful, reckless, or composed. He learned how to enjoy a normal person’s life. He even learned to act spoiled in front of Mu Qingwu—because that was his wife’s biggest weakness.

“Why must you force me to become a monster again? I hate violence and confrontation the most. Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to just sit down, have some tea, and talk things through?”

Xiao Yu shook his head. The light in his eyes grew cold and numb.

“If… I was the designer of the hidden sites back then.”

“No, the person who designed the blueprints isn’t necessarily the one who built the sites.”

“That ‘日’ character carries a distinct style, representing… the nation.”

“If there’s a ‘日’ character, then could there also be a ‘本’¹ character?”

“The first eight hidden sites were built at the four corners formed by breaking down ‘日’ into ‘口’ strokes. So, could the last two hidden sites be placed at the corners of the ‘本’ character?”

“But if one character was used this way, would the other still rely on the corners?”

“What if it’s inside the character itself? What’s within ‘本’?”

“The two blank spaces inside the strokes of ‘本’.”

“If that’s the case, where would ‘本’ be on the map?”

“Next to ‘日’, adjacent.”

“By calculating the relative size of ‘日’ on the map we can estimate the size and position of ‘本’.”

“A pair of characters… using their shapes to infer their spatial arrangement. That means the two blank areas inside ‘本’ should be…”

Xiao Yu lifted his head, his eyes regaining their sharpness and spark.

“Found it!”