862: Chapter 857 Cat and Mouse

The gulfstream g650 sliced through the clouds at an altitude of thirty thousand feet.

The cabin's climate control system isolated the severe cold of minus fifty degrees Celsius in the outside world.

Shen Yan swirled half a glass of amber-colored whiskey in his hand.

He didn't drink it, merely watching the golden liquid leave oily streaks along the glass wall.

On the holographic projection table before him, the newly acquired blueprint for the "Underground Quantum Computing Center" was slowly rotating.

The lines were so complex they resembled a maze drawn by a madman.

This thing wasn't meant for human eyes.

It was meant for gods to see.

What the System provided was not just a blueprint, but an industrial behemoth twenty years ahead of the current era.

The seismic rating required for the foundation alone had to reach Richter scale 12.

The cooling system needed to directly extract deep underground water for heavy water replacement.

Not to mention the quantum bit array layout in the core computing area; if it was misaligned by even one micrometer, the entire computing center would become an expensive dud.

It might even become a real nuclear bomb.

"Boss, this thing..."

Lin Zhiyuan sat opposite him, holding a tablet computer, his eyes nearly popping out.

He was a coder, and although he understood hardware, a monster combining civil engineering and quantum physics like this clearly exceeded the limits of his knowledge.

"I'm afraid no construction company in our country would dare to take this job."

Lin Zhiyuan spoke a hard truth.

"Even if they took it, they couldn't do it."

Shen Yan set down his glass, tapping the armrest lightly with his fingers.

"This requires a madman—a madman pathologically obsessed with structural aesthetics while also being proficient in quantum mechanics."

In his mind, the golden System interface popped up again.

"[Today's random intelligence has been refreshed.]"

"[Intermediate Wealth Intelligence: Coordinates of a rare earth mineral deposit in an East African country.]"

Shen Yan didn't even look at it.

Rare earth was valuable, but what he lacked now was money.

He lacked time.

"System."

Shen Yan murmured mentally.

"I want to trade."

"[Host, please state your request.]"

"I will use that unused High-Level Intelligence from last time—the exploration data for the Gulf of Mexico deep-sea oil field—to exchange for one person."

That was intelligence worth at least five billion US dollars.

In the past, Shen Yan might have felt a pang of regret for half a second.

But now, he didn't even bat an eyelid.

"[Evaluating intelligence value...]"

"[Value is equivalent.]"

"[What type of talent does the Host require?]"

"Someone who can understand these blueprints and perfectly build what they depict."

The System was silent for three seconds.

It seemed even it was searching its massive database for such a demanding condition.

"[Search complete.]"

"[Target locked: Franz von Heisenberg.]"

"[Codename: 'The Mechanic'.]"

"[Identity: A fallen Bavarian noble, dual Ph.D. in Physics and Architecture, Eleventh on Interpol's Red Notice list.]"

"[Crime: Three years ago, to verify a structural mechanics formula, he unilaterally detonated his ancestral castle, which was four hundred years old, and coincidentally hacked the local police department's command system.]"

"[Current coordinates: Not fixed; this individual possesses extremely strong anti-reconnaissance capabilities.]"

Shen Yan's lips curved into a playful smile.

Testing a structural formula by blowing up his own castle?

Crazy enough.

I want him.

"Send me his real-time coordinates."

"[Transaction complete.]"

"[Target's current location: Country H, Macau, The Venetian Macao Casino.]"

Shen Yan opened his eyes and downed the rest of the liquor in his glass.

"Guang Ke."

Chen Guangke, who was wiping the Glock pistol, looked up.

"Change the flight path."

Shen Yan stood up and walked to the porthole, looking down at the churning sea of clouds.

"We're going to Macau."

"To catch a very fast rabbit."

...

It turned out the System's assessment was spot on.

This wasn't a rabbit; it was an oiled loach.

The first capture attempt was an absolute disaster.

In a VIP suite at The Venetian Macao Casino.

Shen Yan, along with Chen Guangke and four bodyguards, blocked the front and back exits.

The man with a messy mop of blond hair, wearing a cheap, ragged T-shirt, was hunched over a gambling table.

He had a mountain of chips piled in front of him.

Upon seeing Shen Yan enter, Franz didn't panic; instead, he let out a flippant whistle.

"Looks like I won too much and made the house unhappy?"

His German-accented English carried a strange lilt.

Shen Yan wasted no words and simply waved his hand.

Chen Guangke lunged forward like a cheetah.

Just as Chen Guangke's fingers were about to grasp Franz's collar.

The lights in the entire casino suddenly went out.

Immediately followed by the activation of the fire sprinkler system.

A crowd in chaos, screaming dealers, and water mist spraying everywhere.

When the backup power came on ten seconds later.

All that remained on the gaming table were the chips and a napkin with a grimacing face drawn on it.

A line of crooked Chinese characters was written on it:

"Your bodyguards are too slow, as if they skipped breakfast."

Chen Guangke was so furious he almost flipped the table.

Shen Yan, however, smiled as he picked up the damp napkin.

Interesting.

To hack into the casino's security system, create chaos, and escape perfectly within ten seconds.

This required not just skill but an extremely calm mind.

This only solidified Shen Yan's determination to acquire this person.

The second confrontation happened half a month later.

On a private island in the Maldives.

The System indicated Franz was vacationing there, enjoying the money he won at the casino.

This time, Shen Yan didn't bring so many people.

He directly deployed the armed helicopters of a security company he had just acquired.

Four helicopters sealed off all escape routes from the island.

He even dispatched two speedboats to patrol the sea.

It was an inescapable net.

The result?

When Shen Yan stepped onto the beach, he only saw a lounge chair and a still-bubbling glass of iced cola.

Franz was gone.

Radar showed an unidentified object moving at high speed underwater.

The guy had prepared a single-person micro-submarine long ago, hidden beneath the shallow reefs.

He had escaped again.

He even left a Morse code message in the submarine's sonar signal.

Translated, it read: "Next time, could you try a quieter method? The helicopters are too noisy."

Chen Guangke's face turned green; this was blatant humiliation.

"Boss, this guy is a slippery eel who has evolved!"

"It seems like he can control anything that carries electricity."

Shen Yan stood on the beach, watching the white foam on the distant sea surface.

"He doesn't control it; he understands it."

"He understands the flow of every electron, just like understanding his own backyard."

Talent like this, using him to build a house, was a terrible waste.

But precisely because of this, the Quantum Computing Center needed him.

Over the next two months.

This game of cat and mouse evolved into a global tug-of-war.

On the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo.

Franz used the traffic lights to create an epic traffic jam, trapping Shen Yan's convoy on the overpass.

He hacked into the giant electronic screen on the roadside, displayed his own face, and gave Shen Yan the middle finger.