157: Chapter 157 Hiding in Desperate Circumstances, Listening to the Thunder

He integrated himself completely into the environment, becoming like the shadows in the corner themselves. He was gambling on the nature of the opponent's "temporary inspection"—it might just be a routine procedure, not something they would stay for long, nor would they conduct a carpet search of every corner of the base's perimeter. He was gambling that his concealment ability, tempered by "Star Visualization" and his special state, could help him get through unnoticed as long as the opponent did not conduct targeted, high-intensity detection. At the same time, this allowed him to remain in the best position for "eavesdropping" to obtain potential key conversational information. This was the most dangerous, but also perhaps the only, choice that could simultaneously ensure survival and the acquisition of information. It required absolute willpower, control over his body, and subtle mastery of his "Spiritual Sense" so that it would not leak a single trace of energy fluctuation.

Ling Ye instantly entered the deepest state of "Turtle Breathing" and "Introspection." His heartbeat nearly stopped, and his body temperature rapidly converged with the environment under the conduction of the cold rock wall. His mental will sank into the core of "Star Visualization"; the light of that eternal star no longer radiated outward but retracted extremely, as if transforming into an absolutely silent singularity in his "Sea of Consciousness" that absorbed all fluctuations, reducing the "manifest" characteristics of his own emotions, thoughts, and even life energy to the minimum.

He elevated the "hearing" and "information perception" functions of his "Spiritual Sense" to the extreme, but carefully controlled its "emission" and "fluctuation" attributes, making it like the most passive receiving antenna, only capturing sound waves and information ripples propagating in the air, never actively "probing" the opponent, lest he trigger a countermeasure.

Inside the cavern, the atmosphere seemed to become even more heavy after the burly figure entered.

"Keith. Report the situation." The newcomer, a burly man known as "Rake," had a low, gravelly voice carrying an unquestionable sense of authority; he was clearly a superior or a senior member. He casually closed the airtight door, his gaze sweeping over Keith and the entire cavern like a hawk.

"Captain Rake." Keith stood at attention, his tone carrying respect and a hint of imperceptible tension. "At 1.7 standard hours ago, Observation Point 'Nest Seven' detected signs of suspected unauthorized activity in the entrance tunnel—the ground tripwire warning device was triggered, and the life signal scanner detected a momentary, unconfirmed, weak energy interference reading. Per protocol, no deep contact was made, and I have evacuated to this outpost with the key equipment. The evacuation route has been cleared, and the observation point is marked as 'suspicious, requires re-examination.' A brief report has been submitted to the Command Center via encrypted channel."

The report was concise, professional, and fully compliant with protocol.

Rake listened quietly, his gaze resting on Keith's face for a moment before sweeping over the metal box and backpack he had placed on the chair. "Weak energy interference reading? Specific parameters."

"The reading was extremely low, with a duration of less than 0.1 seconds. The spectral characteristics resembled static discharge or an old insulation fault, failing to form an effective signal signature. The equipment self-test showed no abnormalities." Keith added, his tone also carrying a hint of uncertainty. "But combined with the tripwire warning... I judge there is a low probability of unauthorized biological or mechanical activity."

"Was the tripwire device set up by you? Location?" Rake pressed.

"Yes, Captain. Set up ten meters inside the main entrance tunnel of the observation point, a standard tripwire warning."

"Were you present when it was triggered?"

"No, I was finishing a periodic communication inside the cavern and was preparing to return. I arrived at the entrance to investigate about thirty seconds after it was triggered."

Rake walked to the table, picked up Keith's portable scanner, pulled up the history, and browsed through it quickly. The dim light of the screen reflected on his angular face, showing no expression.

The cavern was silent, save for the low hum of the environmental control unit.

Behind the corner, Ling Ye did not even dare to let a single hair tremble. He knew that his life or death might depend on Rake's judgment of that "weak energy interference reading."

A few seconds later, Rake put down the scanner and looked at Keith: "Your handling complies with protocol. At a time when the search priority for 'the key' has been raised and the second phase of 'Cleaning' may be advanced, caution is necessary. The Command Center has received your brief; the order is: Observation Point 'Nest Seven' is temporarily abandoned and shifted to latent monitoring mode. You are to remain at this outpost, strengthen passive monitoring of the underground pipe network in the surrounding area (a radius of 500 meters), and focus on filtering for abnormal energy readings and unidentified life signals. I will dispatch a two-person patrol team to conduct cross-patrols in adjacent sectors. If there is a confirmed discovery, report it immediately; do not act without authorization. Understood?"

"Understood, Captain!" Keith stood at attention and responded.

"Additionally," Rake walked to the control panel beside the airtight door and operated it a few times, "the outpost defense Rank is raised to 'Yellow.' Non-identified signals within 100 meters will trigger an automatic warning. Stay on standby, ready to relocate at any time."

"Yes!"

Rake finished his instructions, did not linger further, and turned to walk toward the airtight door. With a "hiss," the door opened again; his burly figure disappeared outside, and the airtight door slowly closed and locked.

Inside the cavern, only Keith remained. He seemed to heave a sigh of relief, walked to the bed and sat down, rubbed his temples, and then began to organize his equipment, check his weapons, and start a new, seemingly more comprehensive monitoring terminal on the table.

Ling Ye remained motionless, continuing to lurk. He had obtained extremely important information: the observation point was temporarily abandoned, but the surveillance network had tightened; the opponent was focusing on searching for "the key," and the second phase of "Cleaning" might be advanced; this outpost was a node in the opponent's network, and the defense Rank had been raised.

Now, Keith was staying behind, and he was trapped behind the corner. He had to find a way to leave without alerting Keith.

Returning to the rock crevice the way he came would inevitably mean passing the cavern entrance, which was too risky.

Perhaps... he could try to find another exit from this cavern? Or, wait for Keith to rest or for his attention to shift, and then seize the opportunity to act?

But time waited for no one. The patrol team added by the opponent could arrive at any time, and the defense System might also be activated.

Just as Ling Ye was rapidly thinking of a way to escape, the monitoring terminal in front of Keith inside the cavern suddenly emitted a short, slight "beep."

Keith immediately looked at the screen, his brows furrowing.

On the screen, a waveform representing energy readings was pulsating slightly but continuously. The source of the waveform did not seem to come from the feedback of the detection network outside the cavern, but... from inside the cavern?!

To be precise, it was coming from that metal box Keith had previously placed on the chair and which was now lying quietly!

Inside the box, something seemed to be emitting, at extremely low power, periodic wisps of extremely weak but abnormally pure cold energy fluctuations! This fluctuation was completely different from the standby energy during his previous communication, and was closer to... a highly diluted and weakened version of that "sense of disharmony" within the barrier of the Old Factory District?!

Keith's expression changed drastically; he stood up abruptly, took a step to the metal box, and stared at it intensely!

Without any external commands, the box had activated some kind of... induction or beacon mode by itself?!

Was it because it was close to some specific "environment"? Or was it because... there was some "thing" nearby that had activated it?!

Keith's breathing became suddenly rapid. His hand slowly reached toward the holster at his waist, his gaze, like the most vigilant leopard, swept violently toward the direction of the cavern entrance—

Which was the corner where Ling Ye was hiding!

No, not just the entrance. His gaze seemed to pierce through the rock wall, searching every corner and every inch of shadow within the cavern!

Was the box "calling"? Or was it "warning"?!

Ling Ye's heart nearly stopped beating at this moment!

Was he exposed?! Because of himself? Or because there was something else near this cavern?!

There was no time to think! Keith had already drawn his pistol, the muzzle slightly raised, while his other hand operated the terminal rapidly, seemingly preparing to trigger an alarm or call for support!

A matter of life and death! He had to react immediately! He could not continue to lurk!