227: Chapter 227 Striking

Darkness, like thick ink, permeated every corner of the abandoned building.

There was no starlight, no moonlight, only the city's eternal, dim, turbid background light in the distance, which shone through the broken window openings and cast grotesque, twisted shadows on the dust-covered floor.

The air was stagnant, carrying the scent of concrete dust and rotting wood.

Ling Ye was lurking in a room on the second floor that faced the exact opposite direction of his afternoon observation point. The window here was smaller and lower, making it less likely to be detected by any potential observation equipment in the distance.

He placed the disassembled parts of his rebar spear and the pipe cutter within arm's reach, then sat on the floor with his back against the cold wall, his body relaxed but his spirit taut like a drawn bowstring.

A risky move.

This decision had been made after hours of calm deliberation.

The risk was suffocatingly clear: getting close to that power distribution box where the sensor had been deployed again was almost tantamount to walking straight into a trap if discovered.

The other party might have left hidden alarm devices there, or there might be scheduled remote data transmissions; any abnormal approach could trigger an alarm.

It was even possible that the place itself was a carefully laid trap designed to lure in "sensitive targets."

But the potential gains were equally huge.

If he could obtain the sensor's appearance, potential model, approximate energy fluctuation frequency, or even how it connected to the network (wired/wireless), he would have a more concrete understanding of this monitoring network.

This would not only help him evade it better, but might also allow him to exploit its blind spots in the future, or even... in extreme cases, consider limited interference or deception.

The key lay in the method, timing, and absolute safety redundancy.

He abandoned the idea of "observing when the maintenance team appeared next."

The cycle was unknown, the wait was too long, and there were too many variables.

He chose to act while they had just deployed it and it was likely still in the debugging or initial operation phase, when vigilance was relatively lower (though by no means absent), and when the night was deep and quiet with extremely poor visibility.

The action plan strictly followed the principles of "no contact, extreme distance, and rapid extraction":

Reconnaissance path planning: Instead of approaching from the direction of the afternoon observation point, he would take a wide detour, approaching from the side-rear of the power distribution box, using a narrow alley piled with construction waste and an open space overgrown with waist-high weeds as the approach path.

This path was relatively concealed, but allowed for multiple directions for retreat.

Observation and detection methods: Do not get closer than ten meters.

He needed an extension of his "eyes."

While searching for a backup hideout in that dilapidated building that afternoon, he had found something unexpected—a discarded child's telescope with severely damaged lenses.

Although the convex lens of one of the eyepieces was covered in scratches, it was barely usable.

Using a knife and some found glue, he carefully fixed this lens to one end of a short, hollowed-out, black-painted steel pipe, creating an extremely crude but effective monocular "periscope" that allowed him to extend it from behind cover to observe the distance while remaining completely hidden.

Energy Perception limitation: Unless absolutely necessary, he would never actively use "Energy Perception" to scan the sensor, to avoid potential energy feedback or alarms.

He would rely only on his vision and that crude periscope for observation, and record the weakest energy characteristics the sensor might emit in its natural state (if the xuanyuan ring or his own Spiritual Sense could passively capture them).

Time window: The action time was set between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM.

This was the time of day when people were most drowsy and vigilance was relatively low; it was also when activities in the city's lower levels had almost completely ceased.

The total duration of the operation, from leaving the hideout to returning, would not exceed forty minutes, and the time spent observing near the power distribution box would never exceed three minutes.

Retreat plan: Three retreat routes were pre-set to deal with pursuits or interceptions from different directions.

Once any abnormality was detected (such as the sensor indicator light flashing abnormally, unknown light sources or sounds nearby, or the feeling of being watched), he would immediately abandon observation and retreat along the pre-planned route at maximum speed, never looking back.

He rehearsed the plan repeatedly in his mind; every detail, every possible accident and corresponding response, was as clear as if carved by a knife.

He swallowed the last bit of food, which was as hard as a stone, drank some water, and then began his final preparations.

He left all non-essential items in the hideout.

He only carried the homemade monocular periscope, the sharpened rebar spearhead (wrapped in cloth and tucked at his waist), the pipe cutter, and a small roll of thin wire for temporary fixing or creating simple tripwires.

He checked his clothes again to ensure there were no loose buttons or reflective objects.

He used the deeper furnace ash he had found, mixed with mud, to re-coat his exposed skin, especially his face and hands.

2:50 AM.

Ling Ye left the temporary hideout silently, like a nocturnal animal waking up.

He did not take the stairs; instead, from a damaged balcony on the second floor, he used the protrusions and cracks in the outer wall to climb down like a gecko, landing on the pile of broken bricks and rubble behind the building without making a sound.

Then, he merged into the deeper darkness.

Following the planned path, he hugged the base of the walls, moving quickly under the cover of architectural shadows and waste.

The wind seemed to have stopped; everything around was deathly silent, with only his own almost inaudible footsteps and heartbeat.

He avoided any direction that might have light sources or human voices, as if walking through a minefield.

Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the pre-determined approach point—the end of the alley piled with construction waste, right next to the open space overgrown with weeds.

About thirty meters across the open space was the green Municipal Government power distribution box, which was just a blurry square outline in the dim light.

He lay behind the pile of trash, motionless, concentrating his perception.

There were no abnormal energy fluctuations, no aura of hidden people, and none of the extremely faint humming that electronic devices might produce when on standby (if there were any, it would be hard for him to detect at such a distance).

There was only the rustling of the night wind through the weeds and the faint, low rumble of the city background in the distance.

He waited for five minutes. He confirmed there were no changes.

Then, like a snake, he slid silently into the weeds.

The weeds were tall and could well conceal his figure, but they also limited his movement speed and field of vision.

He lowered his body, almost pressing against the ground, and used the gaps in the weeds to slowly crawl toward a position behind the side of the power distribution box, which was half-covered by a few overturned concrete slabs.

The distance was shortening bit by bit. Forty meters, thirty meters, twenty-five meters...

He could see the power distribution box more clearly. The box was rusted, and the door seemed to be closed.

The spot where those two people had placed the device that afternoon was at the base of the box near the back wall, now shrouded in shadow and not clearly visible.

Twenty meters. This was the limit distance for planned observation; he could not get any closer.

He stopped behind a huge concrete slab half-buried in the soil; this formed a natural groove that could block lines of sight from multiple directions and had a narrow gap through which he could extend the periscope.

He slowly and extremely carefully extended the crude monocular periscope a little bit through the gap in the concrete slab, adjusted the angle, and aimed it at the location on the base of the power distribution box.

Through the scratch-covered convex lens, the field of vision was blurry and distorted, but enough for him to distinguish the details.

He saw it.

At the bottom of the gap between the power distribution box base and the brick wall behind it, where it had been covered by dirt and weeds in the afternoon, there was now a matchbox-sized, black, matte-surfaced, unmarked square device tightly wedged there.

On one side of the device, there was an extremely tiny, dark red LED indicator light, flashing extremely regularly and faintly at a frequency of about once per second.

If you didn't look carefully, it almost blended into the darkness.

It was it! That sensor!

Ling Ye held his breath, trying to keep his hand as steady as a rock, and observed carefully through the periscope.

The device seemed to have no exposed antennas or interfaces.

Perhaps it had a built-in antenna, or... was it connected to the power distribution box's own lines in some way to obtain power and transmit data?

The frequency of the indicator light was very stable; it didn't look like random pulses for data transmission, but more like a "heartbeat" or "standby" indicator.

He tried to elevate the passive perception of the xuanyuan ring, as well as his own most subtle sensing of energy, to the limit, and "felt" toward the direction of the device, extremely cautiously, as if lightly touching the surface of the water with a feather.

There was no obvious, active energy radiation.

However... there was an extremely faint, yet unusually stable, electromagnetic fluctuation of a specific frequency band, as if precisely modulated, diffusing extremely weakly into the surrounding air with that device as the center.

This fluctuation was very "clean," not filled with the chaotic corrosiveness of the "abyssal eye" pollution, but closer to... some kind of digital signal carrier? Or was it a beacon used for synchronization or identification?

Besides this, there was also a more obscure, almost imperceptible "perception field" similar to passive infrared or motion sensing, which detected physical changes in the surrounding environment (such as temperature or vibration).

The range of this "field" was not large, perhaps only a few meters, but it was enough to cover the critical area around the device.

Ling Ye's heart sank slightly. As expected, it had a passive detection function!

Although the detection range and accuracy might be limited, once a larger creature (like a human) approached, or if there were abnormal changes in ambient temperature or vibration, it was very likely to trigger an alarm or record it.

He recorded these characteristics: black matte square appearance, dark red regularly flashing indicator light, weak stable modulated electromagnetic waves, passive environmental perception field.

The observation time had already passed two minutes. He could not stay any longer.

He slowly retracted the periscope, his body like a taut spring, and began to move with even slower, more cautious motions, preparing to retreat bit by bit along the path he had come, back into the depths of the weeds, and then evacuate.

Just at this moment—

"Beep."

An extremely faint, short sound, as if an electronic device prompt, suddenly came from the direction of the power distribution box!

Although faint, in the deathly silent night, it was as clear as a thunderclap!

Ling Ye's blood seemed to freeze instantly! He immediately stopped all movement, his body pressed tightly into the groove behind the concrete slab, even holding his breath completely!

Was it the sensor's prompt sound? Or something else? Had he been discovered?

He listened intently, his eyes staring fixedly at the direction of the power distribution box through the gap in the concrete slab.

The dark red LED indicator light was still flashing regularly, with no change in frequency. There was no other movement around either.

Could he have misheard? Or was it some other sound from the distance, distorted by the wind?

He dared not gamble. He had to leave immediately! Whatever that sound was, this place was no longer safe!

He no longer pursued absolute silence; using the fastest speed, like a startled rabbit, he dropped to all fours and, using hands and feet, almost "rolled" back into the deeper part of the weeds, then followed the path he had come, running wildly toward the construction waste alley at a speed much faster than when he had arrived!

Adrenaline surged through his veins, and the stinging pain of his wounds was completely ignored. There was only one thought in his mind: Leave! Immediately! Right now!

Just as he was about to rush out of the weeds and step into the alley—

"Hum..."

A low, steady engine sound, from far to near, quickly became clear! It was a vehicle! And it was driving toward this direction!

Ling Ye was terrified! He slammed on the brakes, abandoned the originally planned retreat route from the alley without hesitation, lowered his body, and lunged with all his might toward the other side of the weed-filled open space, a corner that was darker and piled with more large abandoned construction materials!