Chapter 359: So Ruthless? 

Xiao Yu extended both hands in front of him, as though gripping something invisible, and gave a quick twist in the air. Then he looked back at the two corpses and the spots where they had fallen, his expression grim.

A normal broken neck doesn’t necessarily kill someone instantly—sometimes it doesn’t kill at all. Many people don’t understand the mechanics of twisting a neck to cause death. The actual fatal factor is fracturing the cervical vertebrae, damaging or severing the spinal cord in the canal, leading to immediate respiratory and cardiac arrest—and resulting in instantaneous death.

Without long-term professional training, it’s hard even for a soldier to pull this off. Strength, technique, and angle are all indispensable. The killer’s method was clean and precise. That sensation… Xiao Yu tried simulating it himself. It was like snapping the neck of a chicken or duck.

Rising to his feet, Xiao Yu glanced at Zhou Lie, whose face was unsightly. Zhou Lie had also noticed Xiao Yu’s neck-snapping gesture just now and offered an opinion, “It’s similar to military close-combat killing techniques.”

Xiao Yu nodded and exhaled. The perpetrator couldn’t be a run-of-the-mill assassin—no average killer would dare strike in such a place. Nor were they likely regular military personnel, as any foreign soldier entering the country was strictly monitored. 

Killing people and stealing data… the answer was clear: intelligence operatives—spies or agents. And from their method, clearly top-tier.

Using his Falcon’s Eyes skill, Xiao Yu found no fingerprints and no trace evidence. The only clue left was their scent.

***

Twenty minutes later. In the Morgue.

Xiao Yu stood before two more bodies, those of Academician Liu’s actual assistants.

“The cause of death was a broken neck, forcibly twisted. Before they died, they appear to have been tortured. We found needle marks under their fingernails, and on their thighs, armpits, and other areas. The punctures range from about one centimeter deep to around ten centimeters. These spots are soft and sensitive, so being pricked there would be excruciating, ordinary people could hardly bear it. We suspect they were tortured.”

“…”

After listening to the medical examiner’s explanation, Xiao Yu turned and left.

He then went to each victim’s home and the scents matched. In both residences, Xiao Yu caught the same odors he’d detected on the two suspects in the institute’s monitoring room and lab. Confirming that there were just two perpetrators, one male and one female—though someone else might have helped them escape.

So, if you were the criminals, what would you do after succeeding?

Run.

And if you were foreign intelligence agents, what’s the quickest way to flee?

By plane.

Xiao Yu headed for the Beijing airport. In response to the incident, the airport had already halted flights; no planes could leave. National Security had the authority to enforce that.

Still, they didn’t know the suspects’ true identities. How to find them?

Xiao Yu activated his Monarch Butterfly’s Nose.

Forty minutes later, he stood in a VIP lounge, pausing at a pair of seats and twitching his nose a few times. He’d found the trail, but they had already fled.

It was clear that by the time Xiao Yu and the others arrived at the airport, the suspects had been alerted and slipped away.

“Pull the VIP lounge surveillance. Gather passenger lists for outgoing flights,” Xiao Yu gave the order.

Soon, the surveillance footage lay before him.

A young man and woman, like a couple, had recently been sitting in those two lounge chairs. A check of their ID showed one was a local citizen and the other was a Chinese-descended foreign national.

Footage from the airport entrances and exits revealed that about ten minutes earlier, the pair had left the airport.

“Move in!” Xiao Yu commanded, and the security personnel sprang into action.

No one doubted him. 

Why suspect these two specifically? There was no need to ask. Xiao Yu had already taken charge of all special-ops teams, and his orders were followed without question.

“How did you confirm it was them?”

Inside a transport van, Wang Dong voiced the question everyone had in mind.

Xiao Yu stayed silent.

Wang Dong immediately understood. It was the kid’s own secret, so he didn’t press further.

The result of the operation… the suspects were gone.

“Lock down the city. Block external networks.” Xiao Yu gave the next order.

Locking down the city made sense. Blocking external networks? They would sever all external network connections—wired, wireless, and satellite signals—leaving only domestic internet.

The big boss called personally.

“They can transmit that stolen data out if the network stays open. Cutting it off is the only way,” Xiao Yu explained.

Then the order was carried out. But it was only authorized for eight hours by the big boss. Regardless of whether they caught the suspects in that time or retrieved the stolen tech, Beijing’s external internet had to be restored after eight hours.

“We’ve narrowed down their approximate location!” Group Eight Leader Wang Haonian phoned in. “We’ve pinpointed where the suspects left the taxi and have already sent people to raid the area.”

That was the efficiency of the capital’s security forces.

Sitting in the van, Xiao Yu just pursed his lips.

Did anyone really think the pair would wait there to be arrested? 

Eight hours… The pressure was immense.

They arrived at the spot where the suspects had gotten out. A few security personnel waited for Xiao Yu. As expected, the two were nowhere to be found.

Xiao Yu went all in again, picking up their scents from the air. Fortunately, he managed to trace them.

First, he found discarded clothing in a sewer drain; the suspects had changed outfits. Then they’d accessed the underground drainage pipes to reach a subway station. From a station exit, they moved to a different external area. At last, via a nearby street, they entered a residential complex…

Without Monarch Butterfly’s Nose, not even a miracle could have kept up with them. All along the way, the security personnel kept watching Xiao Yu as though he were some mystical being. 

A giant question mark loomed in their heads: How on earth is he doing this?

Xiao Yu ignored them. Was he supposed to explain the philosophy of cheat skills to them?

‘Good thing I have “Dad” in my corner,’ he mused inwardly. 

Without support from the two big bosses, he’d likely have been hauled off for research by now.

In front of an apartment building came a loud crash as the entrance door was rammed open. Xiao Yu led his team inside. They took the elevator, methodically checking each floor. Finally, on the 12th—top floor—

Boom!

The apartment door was forced open, and Xiao Yu strode in.

“Ah!”

A woman in the living room screamed from the couch.

Xiao Yu slapped her across the face. The scream cut off, and she toppled over, unconscious.

“There’s only a female suspect here!” one of the security officers reported after a quick search.

“What?” Xiao Yu frowned.

Something felt off. He could sense two distinct traces in the unit earlier. They had both come in here. On the 12th-floor top unit, how could the other one possibly escape?

He got up and continued searching the rooms. Then, stepping onto the balcony, he looked upward.

The rooftop?

Without a moment’s hesitation, Xiao Yu climbed up to the roof. Just in time to see a figure gripping a hang glider and jumping off the building.

‘Holy—! 

Xiao Yu stared, his heart seizing. They would stop at nothing to get away?

‘Now that is a spy’s move!’