Chapter 199: Stolen Data

Chapter 199: Stolen Data

Bang!

Morphine Woman twisted the bathroom door handle twice but couldn't open it. She then kicked the door open and rushed in, aiming her gun at Lin Zeyu in the bathtub. With a sneer, she said, "Lin, you're taking quite a long bath."

Lin Zeyu realized that she wasn't even pretending anymore, not just in her actions but also in her appearance.

The intruder was no longer Rose but a woman with blonde hair, her face and arms slowly transforming back to their original form.

"You..." Lin Zeyu's expression turned to one of surprise.

"Surprised? There's more to surprise you." Morphine Woman's face revealed a dangerous smile as she pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A shot hit Lin Zeyu's abdomen, causing his body to explode and transform into chains of energy that bound Morphine Woman.

Morphine Woman was startled and wanted to react.

Just then.

Bang!

Another shot rang out, piercing the shower curtain.

Morphine Woman looked down at her abdomen, where a bloody hole had appeared, and blood was gushing out.

Bang!

Another shot was fired from behind the shower curtain, hitting her wrist, causing her pistol to fall to the ground.

At this moment.

Lin Zeyu finally lifted the shower curtain with his revolver and stepped out.

Morphine Woman covered her wound and screamed in agony, unleashing her full power and using her skills to break free from the trap. She turned and fled the bathroom, shouting, "Help! Help! Save me!" As she ran, her body began to transform, and she covered her wound with a sticky layer of skin, temporarily stemming the blood flow.

This was an additional effect of her transformation ability, allowing her to temporarily close wounds and prevent the injury from worsening.

However, the wound was still there, only temporarily staunched. She needed immediate medical attention.

She wasn't acting alone this time; three others had come to assist her.

The plan was to capture Lin Zeyu and force him to reveal the backup of Sikes Technology's data.

But she hadn't expected to be countered.

Just as she was about to reach the door, Lin Zeyu activated the Hunter Mark.

Pff!

Morphine Woman's wound, which had been closed, burst open again.

She screamed and fell to the ground.

Lin Zeyu stepped forward, trampling her arm under his foot, and aimed his gun at her head. "You're going too far. You didn't even need to use your beauty trap to reveal your true intentions."

Just then.

The door was pushed open from the outside.

Morphine Woman's eyes lit up with hope as she turned to look at the door.

Outside the door were her three teammates. With their help, dealing with Lin Zeyu would be more than manageable.

However, when the door opened, it wasn't her teammates who appeared but Lin Zeyu's.

Lu Heng walked into the room and asked, "All taken care of?"

"Of course, it was a piece of cake," Lin Zeyu boasted.

Holding his gun, he aimed at Morphine Woman's head and asked, "Should we finish her off?"

"Let Iron Blood handle it. We need to interrogate them about their mission." Lu Heng replied.

It wasn't long before Chen Lianian arrived with his team and took the four Ability Users, including Morphine Woman, for interrogation.

By that evening, the interrogation had yielded results.

At around 9 pm, Lu Heng received a call from Chen Lianian, who reported the findings.

"These four individuals are from the White Eagle Federation. They entered a week ago and headed to the Coastal region after their arrival.

"The target of these four is you; they're after the backup of your Sikes Civilization's technological data."

After hearing this, Lu Heng asked, "Wasn't Alex Austin with them?"

Earlier at the hotel, dealing with the three White Eagle Ability Users outside had been easy, despite them all being Ability Users above level 20.

However, Lu Heng's current level had reached 28, and he could take down these Ability Users in their early 20s with a single move.

From start to finish, there had been no sign of Alex Austin.

According to previous intelligence, the team responsible for stealing the technological data should have been led by Alex Austin.

Chen Lianian replied, "We've interrogated them about this. These four aren't part of Alex Austin's team, but they're from the same batch, and their target is also the technological data."

Lu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Do they know Alex Austin's whereabouts?"

Chen Lianian answered, "No, we've interrogated all four, and since their actions don't overlap with Alex Austin's, they're unaware of his plans."

As expected, since the two teams were operating separately, they naturally wouldn't know each other's plans.

If Alex Austin and Morphine Woman had different mission objectives, then with Morphine Woman here, Alex Austin should be heading to the National Defense Academy of Sciences.

After all, these were the only two places with access to Sikes Civilization's technological data.

As for the security at the Academy of Sciences, someone else would be responsible for that.

...

The next evening, at 11:30 pm, Lu Heng was about to go to sleep when he suddenly received a call from Jian Qing.

Through the phone, he could hear Jian Qing running as she spoke, "This is urgent, so I'll be brief. The Academy of Sciences has been attacked, and some backup hard drives containing technological data have been stolen.

"I've just received an urgent mission from my superiors to rush over for support. Get ready and head out as well."

Lu Heng furrowed his brows, "Even if Alex Austin was personally involved, it shouldn't be that easy to breach their defenses, right?"

Jian Qing replied swiftly, "I don't know the specifics, but it wasn't a direct assault. According to the information we received, Alex Austin launched a surprise attack to create chaos, and then other Ability Users stole the data."

After ending the call, Lu Heng informed Su Muyu and Lin Zeyu, put on his coat, and prepared to set off.

The three of them met up and rushed to the military airport, where they joined Jian Qing and boarded a plane bound for the capital.

...

At 2 a.m., Lu Heng, his two companions, and a squad of Ability Users led by Jian Qing exited the airport.

Several troop carriers were already waiting outside the airport.

Once they were onboard, Jian Qing began questioning the instructor on the vehicle.

"What happened?"

The instructor briefly explained the situation, "Several powerful Ability Users launched a surprise attack on the Academy of Sciences, drawing the guards' attention. Then, a psychic Ability User took control of a researcher and stole a hard drive.

"By the time we found the researcher, they had already been silenced, and the hard drive was nowhere to be found."

Jian Qing asked, "What's the plan now?"

The instructor replied, "We're conducting a city-wide manhunt. The spy who stole the hard drive hasn't left the city yet. We must recover the hard drive before it's smuggled out of the country."

An hour later, the troop carrier arrived at the neighborhood where the Academy of Sciences was located.

The entire area was already under lockdown.

After getting off the vehicle, the group underwent a thorough search at the blockade entrance before they were allowed to enter.

Inside the Academy of Sciences, security was tight, with guards posted every few steps.

Several groups had already arrived before Lu Heng's party, all ready to participate in the manhunt.

The Capital Ironclad Investigation Bureau had also dispatched personnel to conduct an on-site investigation.

Inside the temporary command center, a general in charge of the operation was deploying the action plan, determined to cast a net across the entire city to find the culprit.

Lu Heng listened briefly and felt that a city-wide manhunt was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

In this era, it was no longer possible to capture someone simply by conducting a city-wide search.

Ability Users had all sorts of ways to evade capture due to their unique abilities.

Some could fly or turn invisible, making it easy to escape with the stolen item and fly out of the city, leaving no trace for anyone to find.

Of course, a city-wide manhunt was still necessary.

Even if they couldn't retrieve the hard drive, they might at least catch a few spies who stole the data.

However, once the hard drive's data was smuggled out of the country, even if they caught the culprits, it would be too late.

After entering the conference room, Lu Heng noticed several familiar faces, including Chen Zihang.

The instructor then led Lu Heng and his companions to a general and introduced them.

The general promptly assigned them their roles, "You've arrived at the right time. We're short-staffed. The search area has been divided, and the first batch of soldiers has already begun the search. You are the second batch, so head out now. Maintain communication and make sure to recover that hard drive."

The dozen or so lieutenants in the room immediately stood up and saluted, then turned and rushed out of the conference room to board military vehicles and head to their assigned areas.

A city-wide manhunt was the simplest and most direct approach.

It was also the only approach they had.

Jian Qing already held the rank of captain, so Lu Heng and his companions were assigned to her team, led by her, to search one of the designated areas.

As they left the conference room, Lu Heng and Chen Zihang waved at each other in greeting, as there was no time for conversation.

After exiting the conference room, Lu Heng reached out and pulled Jian Qing aside, asking, "Are we just going to search aimlessly?"

According to the task assigned by their superiors, Jian Qing needed to search the designated area thoroughly.

Following the general's orders, they were to leave no stone unturned in their search.

Jian Qing, being a soldier, replied, "Executing orders is what we should do."

"I'm not part of the military chain of command, and I want to see the scene where the hard drive was stolen," Lu Heng requested.

"Well..."

In truth, Jian Qing also wanted to take a look, as blindly following orders without knowing the specifics would be ineffective.

In the military, generals disliked such special requests.

If every soldier had their own ideas, nothing would get done.

Jian Qing understood this. If she were leading regular soldiers, she would have immediately carried out the task. But Lu Heng wasn't part of the military chain of command.

So, she took Lu Heng and his companions to find Instructor Liu and make a request, "Instructor Liu, Comrade Lu Heng wants to inspect the scene where the data was stolen."

Instructor Liu's expression turned serious, and he said, "You should follow the orders from above first."

Jian Qing interjected, "Instructor, the Sikes Civilization's technological data was brought back by Comrade Lu Heng. I believe letting him inspect the scene will help in recovering the stolen data."

This was indeed a special case, and after considering it, Instructor Liu decided to give it a try. He reported to his superiors and then led Lu Heng and his companions into the Academy of Sciences to inspect the scene of the hard drive theft.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end