217: Chapter 217 The Glittering Light of the Rift

Time was stretched thin and viscous amidst the dead silence and oppression.

Behind the cable reel, Ling Ye seemed to have merged with the rubble beneath him; even his breathing was so faint it was nearly non-existent. Only his eyes, peering through the gaps in the dust and shadows, remained locked firmly on the direction of the substation.

The three figures in dark plain clothes paused briefly before the rusted small iron door.

One of them held a palm-sized black device with flashing red and green indicator lights and scanned the area near the door lock a few times.

Without any unlocking motion, the seemingly heavy iron door silently slid inward, creating a gap just wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.

Deeper darkness and that trace of breathing-like dark blue dim light poured out from behind the door, like the slightly opened maw of a giant beast.

The three did not speak and slipped into the door sideways one by one.

After the last person entered, the iron door closed silently again, perfectly sealed as if it had never been opened.

Outside, only two people remained on guard.

One leaned against the box truck, back turned to the substation, holding a tablet with a screen, fingers occasionally sliding across it, seemingly monitoring data.

The other stood not far away, holding that strangely shaped detection device, slowly scanning the surrounding ruins with a relaxed posture, yet sharp eyes.

The window of opportunity had appeared.

But just two people did not mean laxity.

Their positioning echoed each other, covering the main observation angles.

Directly approaching the substation or the Warehouse carried an extremely high risk of being discovered.

Ling Ye did not move.

He was like a patient spider, waiting for the prey to reveal a flaw, or for the environment to provide cover.

The wind seemed to have picked up a little.

It whipped up the dust and scrap paper on the ground, making a whimpering sound.

The lead-grey "sky" hung even lower, faint thunder rumbled in the distance, and the air became more humid and sultry.

Was it going to rain?

For concealment and movement in the ruins, this was both a help (noise cover) and a hindrance (traces, discomfort).

The "Plainclothes Agents" holding the detector seemed to have his attention partially diverted by the wind and the changing weather; he looked up at the sky and said something to his companion by the truck.

The "Plainclothes Agents" by the truck nodded, put away the tablet, took out two folded, dark hooded ponchos from the cargo hold, and tossed one to his companion.

Now was the time!

In the split second they were distracted by retrieving and preparing the ponchos, there would be an extremely brief gap in their line of sight and vigilance!

Ling Ye moved.

He did not rush toward the substation or the Warehouse, but rather, like a ghost, he hugged the ground, utilizing the shadows of a collapsed billboard and a pile of old tires to move about ten meters forward and to the side at high speed and with minimal noise, hiding in the shadow of a huge concrete pipe half-buried in the soil.

Here, he was closer to the substation's chain-link fence, about thirty meters away from the truck and the two "Plainclothes Agents", and at a slightly off-angle, placing him in the blind spot at the edge of their vision.

Just as he settled his body, large, cold raindrops began to fall sporadically, soon forming lines, and the world was filled with the rustling sound of misty water vapor.

The curtain of rain quickly became dense, and visibility dropped sharply.

The two "Plainclothes Agents" had put on their ponchos and returned to their guard positions, but clearly, the sound and curtain of rain had interfered with their audio-visual perception.

The "Plainclothes Agents" holding the detector raised the device a bit higher, seemingly trying to adjust the mode to counter the weather interference.

Good opportunity!

The sound of rain was excellent cover.

Ling Ye took a deep breath and hesitated no longer.

Like a shadow blending into the rain, he flashed out from behind the concrete pipe, hugging the ground closely, using small puddles and low-lying areas formed by the rain as cover. In a few bounds, he silently crept to the edge of the substation's rusted chain-link fence.

There was a broken gap in the chain-link fence, half-hidden by some crushed stones weighing it down.

He carefully moved the stones, curled his body, and crawled through.

Now, he was inside the substation area.

A dozen meters ahead was the transformer box emitting blue light, as well as the tightly closed small iron door next to it.

To his left was the back wall of the three-story Warehouse, with a row of ventilation windows about three meters off the ground, fitted with broken iron grilles.

To his right were other substation equipment and rusted metal supports.

Within the cracked gap of the transformer box, the dark blue halo pulsed slowly like a living thing, emitting a cold, unnatural energy fluctuation.

This fluctuation had similarities to the feeling in the core area of the Dark Nest, but it was weaker, more sluggish, and... seemed to carry an unstable restlessness that could spiral out of control at any moment.

Ling Ye did not rashly approach the box.

His target was the Warehouse roof.

But climbing the back wall directly was too close to those two "Plainclothes Agents", and the Warehouse wall was smooth with no obvious handholds.

His gaze quickly scanned and landed on a rusty metal support next to the transformer box that extended from the ground and connected to the top of the box.

This support extended diagonally upward, its top seemingly resting on the edge of a broken window on the second floor of the Warehouse.

A possible path!

Climb the support, enter the Warehouse through the second-floor window, and then find a way to the roof!

The rain grew heavier; dense raindrops pounded on the metal, cement, and ground, creating a loud splashing sound that perfectly masked any subtle noises.

The "Plainclothes Agents" by the truck in the distance seemed to shrink his neck and aimed the probe of the detector in another direction.

The other person returned to the side of the truck's cab, seemingly taking shelter from the rain.

Seize the opportunity!

Ling Ye lowered his figure and darted out like a cheetah, rushing to the side of the transformer box in a few steps and hiding in the shadow of the huge box.

He quickly checked the metal support.

It was heavily rusted but looked sturdy enough.

He grabbed a horizontal support bar, tested its weight-bearing capacity, and then used both hands and feet to start climbing up.

The slippery metal and rain increased the difficulty, but relying on his excellent body control and core strength, he moved upward steadily and quickly.

Rainwater flowed down his tattered clothes, dripping into the mud below, instantly washed away and submerged by more rain.

He climbed to the top of the support, which was less than a meter away from the broken window on the second floor of the Warehouse.

There was no glass in the window, only a few twisted iron bars, one of which had broken, forming a gap large enough for a person to crawl through.

He reached out to grab the window sill, engaged his core, pulled himself up, and silently flipped into the window, landing on the cold, dusty, and glass-shattered floor of the second floor of the Warehouse.

Success!

Temporarily out of the direct line of sight of the two "Plainclothes Agents".

The interior of the Warehouse was empty and dark, with only faint, rain-blurred light filtering in from the broken windows and holes in the roof.

The air was thick with dust, mold, and a... faint, metallic, fishy smell similar to a mixture of ozone and rust.

Some discarded wooden boxes, oil drums, and unknown machine parts were scattered on the floor.

In the distance, on the wall near the substation, there seemed to be a huge crack, and a faint, intermittent dark blue dim light was faintly shining from deep within the crack, echoing the light from the transformer box outside.

This place, indeed, had some connection to the source of the blue light.

Ling Ye did not immediately investigate the crack.

His primary goal was the roof.

He found a section of rusted metal stairs leading to the third floor.

The third floor was similarly empty, but a corner of the roof had collapsed, revealing an irregular hole through which rain was pouring down, accumulating a puddle on the floor.

Beside it, a remnant of an iron maintenance ladder, leaning diagonally, pointed toward the intact part of the roof.

He climbed the maintenance ladder, poked half his body out of the hole, and observed quickly.

The view from the roof was excellent!

Through the curtain of rain, the full view of the substation below was clearly visible.

The two "Plainclothes Agents" were still by the truck, seemingly trapped by the rain, their range of movement restricted.

And that small iron door leading deep into the substation remained tightly closed.

He lowered his body and found a position on the roof that allowed him to observe below while remaining relatively concealed (close to an abandoned ventilator base).

The rain hitting his body was cold and bone-chilling, but he didn't care.

From here, he could clearly see every move of the two people by the truck, and perhaps, could hear their conversation more clearly (if the sound of the rain were a little quieter).

More importantly, he could look down from a height and see the details inside the substation wall and the area near that small iron door.

He restrained all his presence, raised his attention to the extreme, his gaze like a cold probe, piercing through the curtain of rain, locking onto the area below.

About ten minutes passed, and the rain showed no sign of weakening.

The "Plainclothes Agents" holding the detector seemed a bit impatient; he said something to the tablet (perhaps communicating with his companions who had entered the iron door), then shook his head, put away the device, and also climbed into the truck's cab, leaving only one person leaning against the door, seemingly on guard.

Just at this moment, the rusted small iron door, which had been tightly closed, silently slid open inward once again.

The three "Plainclothes Agents" who had entered came out.

Unlike when they went in, they now had a silver, briefcase-sized sealed container in their hands.

A faint energy flow seemed to flash across the surface of the container.

The expressions of the three were even more serious than when they went in, even carrying a hint of... vigilance.

The leader walked to the truck and spoke a few words quickly to the two left behind.

Due to the distance and the sound of the rain, Ling Ye could only catch scattered words/phrases:

"... sample activity is very high... exceeded expectations..."

"Resonance interference intensified... the key simulation signal produced a slight feedback..."

"Immediately... return... G-7 Node data abnormal... need to report..."

"... clean up the scene... trace elimination procedure..."

Return? Report? Clean up the scene?

Ling Ye felt a jolt in his heart.

Were they leaving already? And they wanted to "clean up the scene"? Did this mean eliminating the traces of their presence, or did it mean... doing something to this "secondary node" itself?

He saw two of them quickly return to the back of the truck and start operating the equipment.

The other person walked to the side of the transformer box, took out a palm-sized, remote-control-like device from his waist, and aimed it at the crack emitting the blue light.

Not good!

Were they going to close or destroy this blue light source? Or activate some "trace elimination" device?

If he let them take the sample and leave after eliminating the traces, he would likely get nothing, and his whereabouts would have been exposed for nothing (although he hadn't been discovered yet, they would likely do a more thorough check before leaving).

Must do something!

At least, he had to figure out what was inside that "silver sealed container", or, before they "cleaned up the scene", try to investigate deep into that crack!

But there were five of them, well-equipped, and about to leave, with their vigilance at its peak.

Direct conflict was the worst option.

Ling Ye on the roof, his brain working at high speed.

His gaze swept over the substation, the truck, the figures in the rain below, and that small iron door that had been opened again, was not yet closed, and was emitting a faint blue light.

An extremely risky idea, like lightning streaking through the darkness, suddenly emerged.