68: Wang Jianguo's cunning and escalation of "fishing"

In the underground command center of the National Special Bureau, on the enormous circular main screen, a stream of dark blue data cascaded silently like a waterfall, illuminating Wang Jianguo's chiseled face with flickering light. His deep gaze was fixed on the center of the screen, where a top-secret warning about the Scavenger team's operation was displayed. This warning had been sent by Evelyn Li, who risked exposure and great danger to penetrate layers of firewalls. The text was brief, yet every word carried immense weight, each character exuding a chilling sense of danger and a desperate resolve.

"Scavenger... Morpheus, that old fox, finally couldn't resist extending his claws, and he went straight for the most venomous one." Wang Jianguo's lips curled into a cold arc that could almost freeze the air, but there was no surprise or panic in his eyes. Instead, they gleamed with a calm, 'just as expected' certainty, as if everything was under his control. "It seems the 'bait' we meticulously prepared for him is working well. The 'good news' the gardeners sent back about Excellence being 'stably useless' yet occasionally showing flashes of brilliance has made him both reassured and itching with impatience. Reassured that Excellence's cognition seems to be completely destroyed, with no further threat or risk of losing control; itching for the temptation of those 'fragments of truth' that occasionally surface like ghosts, as if from a higher dimension. He wants to get closer, see more clearly, and personally weigh it with his dirty hands. He's even... eager to pluck this seemingly ownerless yet alluringly fragrant 'fruit' ahead of time."

His voice was steady, as if he were analyzing a chess game rather than responding to an imminent infiltration crisis.

"Director Wang, intelligence confirmed. The Scavenger directive is real and valid, targeting our base's perimeter security personnel, Zhang San, with an action window of 36 hours. Should we immediately activate the 'Mousetrap' countermeasure plan to intercept the Scavenger action team, arrest the lurking agent 'Stand-in,' and reverse-track the command source?" Xiao Zhang's voice chimed in from the side, calm and seeking instruction.

"No." Wang Jianguo waved his hand decisively, the sharp light in his eyes intensifying. It was the excitement and caution of an old hunter seeing his prey finally unable to resist stepping to the edge of the trap. "Intercept? Arrest? That's too direct, too boring. Wouldn't that be alerting the enemy and wasting the 'generous gift' Miss Evelyn exchanged with her own safety? It would also render all our previous groundwork and performances futile. We need to... turn his scheme against him, and go with the flow."

A bolder, more precise, and riskier plan quickly formed, was simulated, and had its details refined in his seasoned mind.

"Our security personnel, Zhang San, will be 'accidentally' injured, but the injury must be controlled to a 'just right' precise degree—requiring him to be off duty for a sufficiently long time (at least three months), the injury must appear sufficiently real (a fractured tibia in the lower leg, accompanied by localized soft tissue contusion), but absolutely must not be life-threatening or leave permanent disability. The entire accident scene must withstand the most rigorous forensic review, fully conforming to all characteristics of a traffic accident, and absolutely must not arouse the slightest suspicion from the other party. Then," Wang Jianguo's instructions were clear, his pace unhurried, yet imbued with undeniable authority, "the base security department will proactively and 'anxiously' apply to headquarters, requesting the urgent dispatch of an 'experienced, absolutely reliable' temporary replacement to fill the vacant position and ensure foolproof perimeter security."

Xiao Zhang immediately understood his superior's intention, a flicker of surprise in his eyes quickly turning into admiration: "You mean... our person will go one step ahead, assume a false identity, and play the 'Disguise Expert' that The Foundation wants to plant?"

"Exactly!" Wang Jianguo's face showed a triumphant smile, almost like a chess player making a brilliant move. "Let our ace agent take The Foundation's carefully written script, step onto the stage they built, and perform for them! We must firmly control this critical entry point that is about to be opened, both to ensure Excellence's absolute safety from any substantial threat, and... to use this channel to precisely feed Morpheus Li, far away in the Free Confederacy, our meticulously crafted, 'customized bait' that he most wants to see. This play must be performed realistically, flawlessly, so that he believes it deeply and secretly gloats over his people 'successfully' infiltrating our ranks!"

This was a dangerous move, a treacherous path walked on a knife's edge. If successful, it would be equivalent to cleverly opening a reverse-operation "backdoor" in Morpheus Li's seemingly impenetrable intelligence network, allowing precise control over the information flow he receives, guiding his judgment, and even manipulating his decisions. But if the slightest flaw were exposed and detected by the other party, it would be tantamount to inviting a wolf into the house, with unimaginable consequences.

"Immediately select the top disguise masters, psychological warfare experts, and behavioral mimickers from the Fortress team's reserves, code-named 'Shadow,' and put them through urgent, high-intensity, immersive role-playing training! Objective: perfectly imitate all characteristics of The Foundation's lurking agent 'Stand-in'! Including their background, personality traits, micro-expression habits, catchphrases, and even some unknown small gestures and subconscious behavioral patterns! Training materials will be based on all the data we previously intercepted about 'Stand-in' and supplementary information provided by Evelyn. Remember, it must be a perfect imitation, absolutely no flaws! This is a death order!" Wang Jianguo issued the command, his tone resolute.

"At the same time," he turned to another technical team, "give Excellence a 'preventive shot' too... Hmm, given his current cognitive state, we can't be direct; a more subtle method is needed. Have the medical team and psychological intervention team work together to find a way, through subconscious guidance and neural anchoring techniques, to plant a seed in his deep consciousness: that a new security personnel, with a kindly face, gentle tone, like a trustworthy elder uncle from next door, will appear. He is here to help him, protect him, and someone he can feel at ease and rely on. The operation must be extremely delicate, leaving no trace of artificial intervention, making it appear as a spontaneous psychological need from the patient's subconscious."

"The act must be complete, from inside out, without any flaws," Wang Jianguo finally emphasized.

Thus, an extremely subtle, highly confidential "role-swapping" drama quietly unfolded under absolute secrecy, with every step striving for perfection, like the operation of the most precise clock.

A few days later, on the periphery of Excellence's rehabilitation base, a security guard named Zhang San, responsible for night patrols, was "accidentally" knocked down at an intersection by a seemingly out-of-control shared bicycle that suddenly rushed out from a side road, while riding his electric bike home after work. The entire accident was fully recorded by the intersection's surveillance cameras. The perpetrator was a panicked university student (who, after strict background checks and short-term behavioral guidance, was completely unaware of the truth). Zhang San's injuries were "confirmed": a fractured tibia in his left lower leg, accompanied by localized soft tissue contusion, with complete hospital diagnostic certificates, requiring at least three months of bed rest. The entire incident appeared to be an unfortunate but common minor urban traffic accident.

The head of the base's security department "anxiously" reported to his superiors, emphasizing that the position involved perimeter security of a core area and could not be left vacant for even a day, requesting the urgent dispatch of reliable personnel to fill in. The report was approved through layers of bureaucracy with "extremely high" efficiency.

Soon, a middle-aged male security guard named "Wu Dayou" (the disguised identity of The Foundation's "Stand-in"), about fifty years old, with a kindly face, dark skin, and always a friendly smile, arrived on time to report for duty with transfer orders issued by headquarters. He spoke with a slight local accent, was diligent and conscientious in his work, and treated colleagues with warmth and appropriate boundaries, quickly integrating into the base's perimeter security team. He had an inconspicuous old scar on his wrist, perfectly consistent with the "Stand-in" characteristics in the data (meticulously replicated by the National Special Bureau's top makeup team). He was the National Special Bureau's ace agent—"Shadow."

Meanwhile, during Excellence's rehabilitation treatment, the psychologist "just happened" to intensify his "environmental security building" training. During a deep relaxation and guided meditation session, the doctor used extremely gentle, suggestive language to carefully plant a pre-set "trust anchor" in his chaotic sea of consciousness: "...You will feel increasingly safe, like being surrounded by warm sunlight... There will be an uncle, reliable like an elder, with a warm smile, who makes you feel at ease... He is by your side, protecting you, you can trust him..."

When "Shadow" (Wu Dayou), dressed in a crisp security uniform, first brought a plate of cleanly washed and neatly cut fresh fruit to Excellence's ward under the guise of a routine patrol, and asked him with a concerned and simple tone, carrying a slight local accent, "Young man, how are you feeling today? Do you have a good appetite?" Excellence, in a semi-drowsy state after medication, felt the "trust anchor" buried in his subconscious gently triggered. He tilted his head, his eyes somewhat unfocused, looking at this kindly-faced, warmly smiling uncle. He inexplicably felt an indescribable sense of comfort and familiarity, even giving him a rare, unguarded, foolish smile, and mumbled vaguely, "...Sweet... Thank you, Uncle..."

"Shadow" successfully infiltrated the target area, and initially, yet crucially, gained the "protected object's" instinctive trust. His every glance, every movement, every word spoken with an accent, perfectly matched what The Foundation could imagine the "Stand-in" to be.

At the same time, according to the "feeding" plan personally formulated by Wang Jianguo, "Shadow" began to regularly send "intelligence packages" mixed with true and false information, meticulously crafted by the National Special Bureau's intelligence analysis team and psychological warfare experts, to Morpheus Li through an extremely covert, one-way special channel simulating The Foundation's lurking agent communication methods. These intelligence packages were like precisely calculated fragrant bait:

"...Target's emotions are extremely unstable. Today, he had an emotional breakdown because he couldn't successfully place a circular block into its corresponding shaped slot, crying for an hour, requiring medication for sedation..." (This part was largely true; Excellence did get frustrated by rehabilitation setbacks, but the duration was slightly exaggerated.)

"...In his discarded scribbled papers, chaotic lines suspected of containing non-Euclidean geometric topological structures were found. Photos attached, requesting algorithmic analysis..." (The paper was specially made, and the patterns were meticulously drawn by a mathematical consultant hired by the National Special Bureau, mimicking the pandora fragment style, and secretly swapped by "Shadow.")

"...Night monitor recorded his sleep talking, repeating syllables involving 'Kabbalah,' 'Tree of Life,' 'Hilbert Space Infinite Dimensional Extension'... Suspected uncontrollable resonance between his fragmented consciousness and ancient mystical systems or higher-dimensional mathematical concepts..." (The dream content was implanted by a psychologist during deep guidance, and the monitor audio clips were carefully edited and denoised.)

These intelligence pieces were nine parts true, one part false, a mix of reality and fabrication. They fit Excellence's 'cognitively collapsed, childish behavior' facade, yet were perfectly interspersed with enticing, 'mysterious' flashes, seemingly from a higher cognitive dimension. It was like carefully prepared bait, emitting a fatally alluring scent, hung on a transparent fishhook, just waiting for Morpheus Li, that cunning and greedy old fox, to take the bait.

Wang Jianguo, overseeing the command center, watched the encrypted feedback from Morpheus Li, which had been transmitted back by "Shadow" and then deciphered, indicating "high interest," "great satisfaction," and a demand to "continue close observation, prioritizing the target's survival and stability." A satisfied smile, showing everything was under control, finally appeared on his lips.

"Fishing, you know, impatience is the biggest taboo." He picked up his teacup, gently blew away the tea leaves on the surface, and said leisurely, "The fragrant bait has been cast, and the line is long and hidden enough. Now, all we have to do is maintain absolute patience, and watch... watch this old fox, who fancies himself a god, how greedy he truly is, and with what 'elegant' posture he will slowly swim into the gentle net we have prepared for him."