156: Chapter 156 Stealthily Moving Forward, Straight to the Heart of the Enemy

The opponent had just retreated, their minds unsettled (perhaps), and following their orders to "maintain concealment" and "retreat," their movement patterns might be relatively fixed.

Tracking him would not only allow him to escape the current predicament (by following him to find a new exit) but could also allow him to strike directly at the periphery of the opponent's organizational network, obtaining first-hand information regarding the second phase of "Cleaning," the distribution of observation points, and the search strategies for "the key" and "sensitives"!

This could be the key to breaking the current information deadlock, or even to maneuvering or confronting this force in the future.

The risks were enormous, but the rewards were equally staggering.

He had to utilize the concealment and perceptual advantages of his "Spiritual Sense," maintaining an extreme distance, like the craftiest fox following behind a tiger, stealing its movements and intelligence.

His mind made up, Ling Ye hesitated no longer.

He quickly checked his own status and equipment, confirming his multi-function knife, a small amount of food, and water were on his person.

Then, he took a deep breath, raising the perception of his "Spiritual Sense" to the limit of the precision he could currently maintain, like invisible tentacles, reaching into that narrow rock crevice ahead of his body.

The interior of the rock crevice was more winding than imagined, but the traces of manual excavation were obvious; the ground was relatively flat, and the width only allowed one person to pass sideways.

The air held the lingering faint scent of sweat and machine oil from the observer, as well as the metallic and composite Materials smell unique to military equipment.

The rock walls were damp, growing sparse, glowing moss that provided extremely faint light.

Ling Ye squeezed into the rock crevice sideways, his movements as light and slow as a cat.

He probed with his toes first, confirming the foothold was stable and silent, before moving his body.

He suppressed his breathing to the lowest level, even doing his best to control the sound of his clothing rubbing against the rock wall.

At the same time, his "Spiritual Sense," like the most precise radar, scanned ten, twenty, or even further meters ahead, capturing the subtle changes in airflow, the disturbance of dust on the ground, and any possible sounds or energy residues.

The tracking distance had to be just right.

Too close and he was easily discovered; too far and he might lose him.

He relied on the extremely faint but continuous "information trail" and residual life energy left by the observer, captured by his "Spiritual Sense," to judge his direction and speed.

This "trail" would dissipate over time, so he had to be quick.

The rock crevice wound downwards, seemingly leading deeper into the underground.

The temperature gradually dropped, and the humidity increased.

Occasionally, he could hear the faint sound of dripping water in the distance.

After tracking for about fifteen minutes, a fork appeared ahead.

One path continued downwards, while the other extended horizontally, leading to a relatively open space that looked like a natural karst cave.

In the perception of his "Spiritual Sense," the observer's "trail" had entered the horizontal passage.

Ling Ye paused slightly at the fork, perceiving carefully.

The airflow in the horizontal passage was slightly better, and there seemed to be a weak draft blowing from deeper within, carrying a hint of... the metallic and dusty smell unique to old ventilation ducts?

Was it leading to another underground facility, or was it connected to the old pipe network of the city?

He had no time to ponder; he quickly followed.

The horizontal passage soon became spacious enough for a person to walk upright.

Beneath his feet appeared rusted rails and the remains of wooden sleepers—this seemed to have once been a small mining track.

The rock walls on both sides showed traces of artificial reinforcement, but they were all dilapidated.

After continuing forward for about ten minutes, a faint, rhythmic humming sound, similar to a ventilation fan or a low-power pump running, drifted from ahead.

At the same time, the air began to mix with a hint of a faint, combined scent similar to ozone and the heat from electronic equipment.

There was an artificial facility!

It was very likely the "backup extraction point" or some small outpost the observer had mentioned!

Ling Ye's heartbeat accelerated slightly, but he immediately calmed it with his will.

He became even more careful, nearly shrinking the perception range of his "Spiritual Sense" to within thirty meters ahead, focusing on scanning for possible traps, sensors, or hidden cameras.

The humming sound became clearer and clearer.

Ahead, the passage turned at a right angle to the right, and from the corner shone a steady, white cold light, much brighter than the glowing moss.

Ling Ye stopped before the turn, back against the rock wall, condensing his "Spiritual Sense" into a single line, carefully "probing" around the corner.

Behind the corner was an artificially reinforced cavern of about twenty square meters.

In one corner of the chamber, a few folding tables and chairs were placed against the wall, with some electronic equipment casings and cables scattered on the table.

In another corner was a simple metal cot, with a sleeping bag piled on it.

In the center of the chamber was a small environmental control unit (providing air circulation and temperature control) humming as it ran, along with a hanging LED cold light.

That observer—Keith—was standing in front of a table with his back to the entrance, seemingly operating a portable terminal.

His backpack and that metal case were placed on the chair next to him.

There was no one else in the chamber.

This looked like a temporary, functionally simple forward base or safe house.

The observer seemed to be reporting or receiving new instructions via the terminal.

Ling Ye held his breath, reducing his own presence to the minimum, while simultaneously elevating the "auditory" portion of his "Spiritual Sense" to the extreme, attempting to capture the extremely faint key-pressing sounds Keith might make while operating the terminal, as well as any audio information, however faint, that the terminal itself might leak.

Keith operated it for a moment, seemingly ending the communication; he straightened up, stretched his neck, and then turned around, beginning to tidy up the things on the table, seemingly preparing to rest or perform equipment maintenance.

Just at this moment, on the other side of the chamber, a heavy metal airtight door, previously half-hidden by debris, suddenly made a soft "hiss" sound, and behind the circular observation window on the door, light and shadows wavered vaguely!

Someone was coming in?!

From another path?!

Alarm bells rang loudly in Ling Ye's heart!

Almost at the same time, Keith also whipped around, his hand pressing toward his waist, looking vigilantly at the airtight door.

"Verification passed. Temporary inspection."

A cold, electronically synthesized voice, transmitted through the intercom inside the door, rang out.

The airtight door slowly opened inward.

A figure wearing camouflage combat fatigues similar to Keith's, but with a more burly build, appeared at the doorway.

He was holding a pulse rifle with a more rugged design, his gaze quickly sweeping across the chamber.

A companion changing shifts?

Or a surprise inspection by a superior?

Ling Ye's heart almost jumped into his throat!

He was hiding right behind the corner, no more than seven or eight meters from the chamber entrance!

Once these two walked out of the chamber, or if that newcomer possessed more sensitive detection equipment, he would very likely be exposed immediately!

He had to react immediately!

Risk retreating, quietly withdrawing along the path he came?

Or... take a gamble, utilizing the moment their attention was drawn to each other, to make a more unexpected move?