226: Chapter 226 Peeping Through

Under the lead-grey sky, the wind whipped up dust and scraps of paper on the street, carrying the distinct scent of the Industrial Zone—a mixture of rust and low-grade fuel.

Ling Ye crouched behind a windowless opening on the fourth floor of an abandoned five-story residential building, his body pressed tightly against the cold, rough wall, revealing only half of his face, which was smeared black with furnace ash, and a pair of eyes as calm as a deep pool.

This place was about a kilometer northwest of the shantytown, on the edge of an old residential area that was equally dilapidated but had a slightly lower building density.

This building was one of the tallest and most decrepit in the vicinity; most of its walls had peeled away, and the stairwell was filled with rubble, having long been abandoned.

However, its location was excellent—it happened to be situated next to an irregular crossroads, overlooking three branch roads leading in different directions, as well as a main road in the distance that connected to the Old Factory District.

Behind the building lay another area of low, ruined structures with mostly collapsed roofs, providing complex retreat paths.

It had taken Ling Ye half a day to find and clear out this observation point.

Using scavenged broken wooden boards and loose bricks, he had simply constructed a cover inside the opening, allowing him to observe the outside while creating shadows within to minimize the risk of exposure.

He had also set up several backup observation points and escape routes on different floors of the building.

At this moment, it was the afternoon of the second day after the start of the "Light Chasing" plan.

On the first day, he had gained nothing.

There were only ordinary military patrols, sparse pedestrians, and a few dilapidated trucks transporting trash or construction materials.

He had even begun to doubt his judgment—was the activity of "The Plainclothes Organization" limited only to the core area of the "Dark Nest" and the adjacent underground pipe network?

In the outer areas, did they rely solely on fixed monitoring networks and rarely move on the ground?

But this afternoon, just as he was preparing to end his observation and return to a more hidden temporary overnight spot he had found in another ruin nearby, a change occurred.

The first thing that caught his attention was a white van with no markings in the distance, heading along the main road, turning into a branch road within his observation range.

The van looked very ordinary, even somewhat dilapidated, with dark tint on the windows.

But its route was distinctly different from the vehicles usually seen on this branch road (mostly tractors or tricycles heading to a small open-air landfill nearby).

It was not driving fast, seemingly observing the buildings and facilities along the road.

Ling Ye's heart rate accelerated slightly.

He immediately reined in all his Qi, shrank his body further into the shadows, and locked his eyes onto the van without blinking.

The van slowly drove through the crossroads and stopped beside a green, rusted Municipal Government power box on the side of the road, about seventy or eighty meters away from the building where Ling Ye was located.

The parking spot was clever, happening to be in the blind spot of a surveillance camera (if it was still effective) and avoiding the line of sight from the main traffic direction.

The door opened, and two men stepped out.

Both were wearing ordinary dark jackets and work pants, with baseball caps pulled low over their eyes.

One held a black device the size of a tablet computer, while the other carried a small, silver-grey case that looked like a toolbox.

Their demeanor was natural, just like ordinary municipal maintenance workers.

But Ling Ye noticed the details: their steps were steady and coordinated, and their gazes swept over the surrounding environment sharply and quickly, including the dilapidated building where Ling Ye was located (the gaze swept over, but did not linger).

The man with the device walked to the power box, seemingly fiddling with the equipment at will, while the man with the case crouched down to check the soil and weeds near the base of the power box.

They stayed there for about three minutes.

During this time, the man with the device seemed to read some data from the tablet and whispered something to his companion.

The man with the case nodded, then took out a device the size of a cigarette pack, black, with small indicator lights and an antenna, from the toolbox, and with extremely covert and rapid movements, stuffed it into an inconspicuous gap next to the base of the power box, slightly covering it with soil and loose grass.

After doing this, the two did not talk much, quickly returned to the van, started the engine, made a U-turn, and drove out of Ling Ye's line of sight along the branch road they had come from, merging back into the traffic on the distant main road and disappearing.

The whole process, from parking to leaving, took no more than five minutes.

Clean, neat, and professional.

Ling Ye did not move.

He remained there like a stone statue for another full ten minutes, confirming that the van did not return and there were no other unusual movements around, before slowly and exhaling a long breath.

Found it!

Although he hadn't seen the iconic unmarked box truck, that white van and the behavioral patterns of those two men highly matched the characteristics of the mobile detection/maintenance teams of "The Plainclothes Organization"!

They were clearly deploying or maintaining a fixed monitoring device!

That small black device was likely some kind of sensor for energy fluctuations, environmental parameters, or even biological signals!

This discovery verified part of his speculation: "The Plainclothes Organization" had indeed constructed a network consisting of fixed monitoring points outside the core area of the "Dark Nest".

These monitoring points were disguised as municipal facilities, deployed and maintained by mobile teams.

The monitoring range might cover a considerably vast area.

The power box where the sensor was deployed was a "Node"!

And, judging by the proficiency of their operation, there might be many such nodes in this area, or even across the entire city outskirts!

This was an accidental flaw that allowed him to glimpse the tip of the iceberg of this massive monitoring network!

The value was immense!

But he was not excited by this.

On the contrary, a deeper chill rose from his spine.

The existence of this network meant that the control "The Plainclothes Organization" had over this area was far more rigorous and systematic than he had imagined.

Any unusual energy activity, or even abnormal biological signs, could be captured and marked by this network.

His previous actions (destroying the nest, activities near the G-7 Node) likely had already left some kind of "trace" or "abnormal signal" on this network, which was what led to the opponent's more detailed and targeted search for him.

And he was currently operating within the monitoring range of this network!

Although that sensor had just been deployed and might still need time to calibrate and integrate into the network, the risk had risen sharply.

He had to immediately re-evaluate his action plan and safety status.

Continuing to stay at this observation point was too risky.

When those two people left, had they scanned this building with their equipment?

Although their gazes didn't linger at the time, who knew if they had more covert detection methods?

He had to evacuate this observation point immediately, and before figuring out the specific capabilities and coverage of this monitoring network, he must minimize any "abnormal" activities that could be detected.

This meant:

Strictly limit the energy discharge of "Star Visualization" and the xuanyuan ring, unless absolutely necessary.

Avoid lingering near monitoring points (such as that power box) or engaging in activities that might generate energy/biological signals.

Find the "blind spots" of the monitoring network.

Sensors usually have coverage and accuracy limits; perhaps in the depths of buildings, underground, or in certain special terrains (such as areas with heavy metal structure interference), the detection effect would be weakened.

Try to understand the specific type and detection target of the sensors.

If he could observe the deployed device at close range (extremely dangerous!), perhaps he could judge its function.

An extremely bold, and also extremely dangerous, idea emerged in Ling Ye's mind: on the premise of ensuring absolute safety, wait for the van and the maintenance team to appear next time (if there was a fixed maintenance cycle), try to observe their maintenance operations from a distance, or even... after they left, find an opportunity to perform an extremely fast, non-contact check on the newly deployed sensor (such as observing its shape with binoculars, sensing its energy characteristics)?

This thought made his heart rate accelerate again.

This was tantamount to dancing on the blade of a knife, touching a trap right under the hunter's nose.

But the value of obtaining sensor intelligence could be extremely high.

It could help him better evade monitoring, and even... if there was an opportunity in the future, perhaps he could try to interfere with or deceive this network.

Risk and opportunity, like poison and honey, were tightly intertwined.

Ling Ye slowly retreated from the observation point into the deeper shadows of the building.

He needed to move immediately to find a new hiding place for tonight.

At the same time, he needed time to calmly weigh the feasibility of that crazy idea and formulate a retreat plan in case of failure.

In the grey background of the city, an invisible giant net composed of cold data and hidden devices was slowly tightening.

And he, this lone wolf trying to "chase light," had just seen a flickering, deadly node on the web.