Chapter 342 The Fake Picture

"Let's go, follow them."

Chen Yu tilted his chin, looking toward the direction where Ma Kui's team had vanished.

The women remained silent in tacit understanding, naturally adjusting their pace and distance.

Zhang Wanyue asked in a low voice, "Why are we following them?"

Chen Yu said indifferently, "You'll know in a moment."

The ten of them moved forward along the street, maintaining a distance of about one block; with Dr. Qiao there, they wouldn't be detected, nor would they lose sight of them at corners.

"Dr. Qiao."

"Hmm?"

Hearing Chen Yu call her name, Qiao Xi stepped out from the middle of the group.

"Take a look, that one in front, what level is he at?"

Chen Yu said calmly without turning his head.

Qiao Xi just narrowed her eyes slightly, paused for two or three seconds, and then spoke:

"The one in the camouflage vest, his strength is between S-rank and SS-rank, leaning towards combat type, and his energy form is very dense."

Chen Yu nodded.

However.

Qiao Xi continued quickly, "But the Skinny Tall Guy next to him is much stronger than him, between SS-rank and SSS-rank."

"?"

Following Qiao Xi's words, Chen Yu narrowed his eyes and looked at the Skinny Tall Guy beside Ma Kui.

He was wearing a gray T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black cargo pants on the bottom, and the pant legs tucked into a pair of worn-in military boots.

His attire was so ordinary that one would forget him with a single glance in a crowd.

"Between SS-rank and SSS-rank???"

Wang Mengmeng curled her lips, "Really? Since when did such high-level Awakened become so common?"

She had gone through immense trouble just to upgrade to S-rank, how come every time she met someone, they were S-rank or SSS-rank!

Qiao Xi shook her head, "Common? Not really. On this street, apart from them, there are no other energy forms above S-rank."

"Of course..."

Qiao Xi said quietly, "It doesn't rule out someone like Lin Yue, who only displays terrifying energy when her Talent is activated."

Wang Mengmeng breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed her S-rank still had some value.

Chen Yu withdrew his gaze, "Dr. Qiao, remember Ma Kui's energy signature. For the next while, I need you to occasionally sense his location. You don't need to keep it on, just scan once in a while to ensure he hasn't lost us."

"Mm."

Qiao Xi nodded.

The next second,

Chen Yu frowned because his chat box flickered.

It was a message from Hao Ling.

[Hao Ling: Image]

[Hao Ling: Image]

[Hao Ling: Image]

[Hao Ling: Handsome, the set of images has been sent. We've delivered as agreed, no refunds or exchanges, okay?]

Chen Yu opened the image:

In the night, the center of the frame showed an asphalt road with faded lane markings. An old, broken streetlamp stood by the side of the road. Further to the side, one could vaguely see the outline of a low wall, which indeed looked like the abandoned gas station she had mentioned.

Near the bottom center of the frame stood a blurry figure.

The person was wearing a long red dress, the hem slightly lifted by the wind, but the face was completely indistinguishable, just a blurry patch of color.

Chen Yu saved the images and sent them in bulk to the women's shared channel.

There is strength in numbers.

Everyone analyze them together.

After all, Chen Yu wasn't very confident in his own analytical abilities.

"Hao Ling sent the images,"

Chen Yu reminded them and continued to open the second image:

Same location, same streetlamp, same wall.

But the position of the red figure had changed, moving forward two or three steps, and the blurry outline was slightly larger than in the first one.

The third image was even closer; the face was still a blur, but one could see her head slightly tilted, as if gazing directly at the camera.

Overall,

one was closer than the next, and each had a stronger sense of oppression than the last.

"Ahhh! What is this?!"

Wang Mengmeng was startled by these images, "Is this a female ghost?!"

Deng Yuxin also leaned back and hurriedly closed the panel, "What are these three images?!"

Li Mengyao didn't dare to look directly at them either...

But Zhang Wanyue frowned, "The images are scary, but it looks more like a deliberately created effect?"

Wang Mengmeng was stunned, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Wanyue analyzed objectively, "The lighting in these three images... was definitely not taken at night."

Zhang Wanyue continued, "The sky is very dark, but near the horizon, there is a layer of warm yellow residue, the tone leans towards orange. This is the color of the afterglow within half an hour after sunset, not midnight. If it were really taken at eleven at night, the sky should be a cool-toned dark blue or pure black; it's impossible to have this kind of warm background light."

She swiped to the second image, "This one is even more obvious. At eleven at night, this kind of reflection wouldn't form on the wall."

Shen Qingci carefully inspected them according to Zhang Wanyue's analysis, then immediately spoke, "The third one is also wrong..."

Li Mengyao's mouth hung open for a long time, "...So she didn't take them at night at all?"

Zhang Wanyue nodded, "Mm, it's highly likely these are fake images taken... not long after sunset."

Shen Qingci said helplessly, "So that means we were indeed tricked. Even that female ghost in red was played by one of their people."

"Let's go, follow Ma Kui."

Chen Yu closed the panel and started walking.

Qiao Xi followed immediately.

Not far away,

Ma Kui had already walked out of the trading area, stopped at an alley entrance, and turned his body to look behind him.

He was followed by five team members, three men and two women.

"Only this one."

Ma Kui sighed softly, "Let's strive to catch Hao Ling this time."

"Captain..."

A girl asked in a low voice, "If, I mean if... we still can't catch her this time, then the supplies we've spent are really too much, right?"

Another girl said helplessly, "What other choice do we have? We were tricked out of two-thirds of our supplies; can we just accept it like this?"

A boy spoke up, "Captain, use it. If we drag this out any longer, she'll leave after staying in the city for a few days."

Ma Kui looked at the Skinny Tall Guy, "Liang Jing, what do you think?"

Liang Jing said indifferently, "Let's pursue. No matter who is standing behind her, I am confident I can get the supplies back."

"Fine!"

The silver card in Ma Kui's hand ignited...

"Hiss!"

The ashes swirled in mid-air and then slowly drifted toward the southeast!

"Southeast."

Ma Kui murmured, "This direction... east of the city, leaning south, seems to be that old residential area? Even the Eye of Peace can't cover it!"

Liang Jing shook his head, "I took a look when passing by; the buildings are low, the roads are narrow, and there are many intersections. If she really is staying there..."

Ma Kui gritted his teeth, "Then let's go quickly. It's getting dark, and with so many side roads here, it'll be even harder to find her after dark."

...

...

New Capital City, old residential area in the southwest.

The buildings on both sides changed from three-story apartment blocks to two-story self-built houses, with mottled walls, missing windows, and discarded furniture and debris piled up at some entrances.

The silver line made a turn at the alley entrance, pointing toward a gray-white two-story building.

The small building had a courtyard, and the courtyard gate was rusty.

Four people were standing at the courtyard gate.

Leading them was a burly man in a black T-shirt, with a half-sleeve tattoo on his arm, his hands crossed in front of him.

Behind him on the left was a thin-faced woman leaning against the wall, smoking.

Behind him on the right was a Man with the Baseball Cap squatting on the steps.

At the very back was a tall person standing by the door, arms crossed, responsible for keeping an eye on movements in the distance.

Four people, four positions, sealing the courtyard gate tightly.