57: Chapter 57 The Traitor, Feints and the Spider's Advancement

The tingling from his Spider-Sense wasn't an alarm; it was like needles pricking the back of his neck, one after another.

Alex sprang from the bed, his movements as light as a cat's. His hand reached for the Glock 19 under his pillow, his Anti-Surveillance Detection ability instinctively unfolding, a faint sensation of electric current sweeping across the room—nothing unusual. But the directionality of his Spider-Sense was very clear: the corridor outside the door, something was approaching.

It wasn't Hank. He remembered Hank's footsteps—that distinct rhythm of former special forces, intentionally lightened yet still steady.

Nor was it Rex. Rex had an old injury in his foot, resulting in an almost imperceptible imbalance when he stepped.

These footsteps were very light, very professional, and even a little... familiar.

Alex moved silently to the side of the door, his back pressed against the wall, his breathing kept to a minimum. His Dynamic Vision activated automatically in the dim environment, and in the light leaking under the door gap, a shadow moved extremely slowly past.

The shadow stopped at the doorway.

Alex placed his finger on the trigger guard. His heartbeat was too steady for someone facing an assassination—the combined effects of Mental Pillar and Comprehensive Physical Enhancement allowed him to enter a state of cold focus in this life-or-death moment.

The person outside did not attempt to open the door. The silence lasted for about ten seconds. Then, a very faint "click" sound, like some kind of electronic device being attached to the door panel.

A tracker? Or a micro-bomb?

Alex was almost about to burst through the door. But the tingling of his Spider-Sense suddenly shifted—not toward the doorway, but toward... the direction of the surveillance room downstairs?

His eyes narrowed.

A diversion? No, it was double insurance.

The person at the door might be the executor sent to install surveillance or demolition devices, while the real mastermind, or rather, the mole, was watching all of this from the surveillance room, ensuring the "accident" happened and cleaning up the traces.

Alex immediately gave up on breaking through the door and instead quickly edited an encrypted message, sending it to Hank in the next room. The content consisted of only two words and a set of coordinates: "Mole, surveillance room, utility pole 300 meters to the east."

Hank's reply came three seconds later: "Received. 'Raven' has been neutralized. Rex is on the way to the surveillance room."

Raven? That communications expert.

Alex understood instantly. The person at the door was "Raven," and the mole in the surveillance room... the scope had narrowed.

He no longer waited. Since Hank had already taken action, "Raven" at the door had likely already received a warning or was preparing to evacuate.

Alex yanked the door open—there was no one outside, only a black metal piece the size of a fingernail attached to the top of the door frame. He tore it off; it was cold to the touch, a micro-signal transmitter, not a bomb.

The tingling of his Spider-Sense was now completely focused downstairs. Holding his gun, he moved quickly and quietly through the corridor with the fluid movements brought by Parkour Mastery, rushing toward the stairwell.

Just as he reached the final stretch of the corridor leading to the surveillance room, he heard a muffled thud from inside, like a human body hitting a metal cabinet.

Alex slipped to the side of the door and carefully peeked in.

Inside the surveillance room, Rex was pinning a man wearing a base combat uniform firmly against the console with one hand, the man's face pressed against the screen, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. It was "Gear," the technical analyst.

Rex's other hand held a dagger, the tip pressed against "Gear's" carotid artery, his eyes chillingly cold.

"Why?" Rex's voice was suppressed with anger. "I brought you back from Iraq, gave you a job, gave you a new identity. Is this how you repay me?"

"Gear" grinned, his teeth stained red with blood. "They... captured my sister. In Kiev... the Guardians of Truth said if I didn't cooperate, they'd send her to the mines in Donetsk..."

Alex walked in. Crisis Prediction did not sense any threat from Rex, but his Spider-Sense remained highly sensitive to "Gear." This person still had a contingency plan.

"Where is your communication device?" Alex asked, while simultaneously using Anti-Surveillance Detection to scan "Gear's" entire body.

"Searched him, nothing." Rex gritted his teeth.

Alex's gaze fell on "Gear's" left wrist—there was an ordinary electronic watch there. But the feedback from Anti-Surveillance Detection showed a subtle, abnormal fluctuation at the watch face.

"The watch."

Rex immediately tore off the watchband. Embedded on the back of the watch face was an ultra-thin chip, with a red LED light flickering weakly.

"A pulse-triggered signal device..." Rex's expression changed. "It sends the final coordinates and a self-destruct command when the heartbeat stops!"

"Gear" gave a miserable smile. "It's too late... before I came in, I already started the overload program for the base's backup generator... In five minutes, the power will go out, all electronic locks will temporarily fail, and the 'friends' on the perimeter will come in..."

Boom!

Before he could finish speaking, a dull explosion came from deep within the base, followed by the lights flickering violently a few times before going out completely. The pale light of the emergency lamps barely illuminated the space.

"Damn it!" Rex punched the console.

"Hank!" Alex growled into the communicator.

"Here! 'Raven' has been subdued and injected with a sedative. But the backup generator exploded, the perimeter sensors are down, and thermal imaging shows at least six units rapidly approaching the perimeter wall!" Hank's voice was accompanied by the sound of rapid running. "We must evacuate immediately through the No. 3 emergency tunnel! The car is ready!"

"Take 'Raven' and 'Gear' with you!" Alex decided instantly. "They're still useful!"

The No. 3 emergency tunnel was located on the far west side of the base, a narrow tunnel disguised as a drainage pipe, with the exit at a junk car salvage yard one kilometer away. This was the final escape route designed by Rex.

In the darkness, Alex's Dynamic Vision and Environmental Perception Enhancement played a key role. He could almost "see" the obstacles at every step, leading Rex and Hank, who was carrying the two captives, as they hurried through the complex underground tunnel.

The tingling of his Spider-Sense had not dissipated, but it was no longer pointing at the pursuers behind them, but rather... at the exit ahead?

"Hank, the exit might be ambushed." Alex lowered his voice.

"Understood. I'll go first." Hank handed the captives to Rex and accelerated toward the iron door at the exit. He didn't push it open rashly but instead extended a slender fiber-optic scope through the crack in the door.

A few seconds later, he pulled it back, his expression grim. "Two vehicles, eight men, well-equipped, deployed in a tactical formation. We're blocked."

Pursuers behind, blockade ahead. The only sounds left in the tunnel were the hissing electrical noise of the emergency lights and the suppressed breathing of the few.

Alex closed his eyes, his brain working at high speed. The exchange list unfolded in his consciousness, Popularity Points: 3,250,920. What ability could break the deadlock?

[Tactical Terrain Prediction (Basic)]: Costs 800,000 points, can briefly predict small-scale terrain changes and optimal movement routes.

[Sonic Shock (Basic)]: Costs 1,500,000 points, can release directional sound waves, interfering with electronic equipment and causing temporary dizziness in personnel.

[Camouflage and Environmental Blending (Basic)]: Costs 500,000 points, can significantly reduce one's visual and thermal signal characteristics in specific environments for a short time.

The third one had the best cost-performance ratio, but it could only solve the concealment problem and couldn't break through the encirclement. The second one was powerful but had high consumption and uncertain effects. The first one...

"Exchange, Tactical Terrain Prediction (Basic)." Alex recited silently in his heart. 800,000 Popularity Points were instantly deducted.

A cool sensation surged into his brain, and the dim tunnel before his eyes seemed to be instantly covered by a stream of data. Several faint "paths" and "probabilities" emerged. Breaking through the main entrance, success rate lower than 7%. The abandoned maintenance pipe on the left was partially blocked, but... there was an old ventilation opening above, leading to a processing workshop in the salvage yard, success rate... 42%.

"Don't go through the main entrance! Turn left, enter the maintenance pipe, watch for the ventilation grate three meters above your head; that's the weak point!" Alex whispered sharply, charging toward the left first.

Hank and Rex followed without hesitation. The maintenance pipe was full of grease and rust, the space narrow. Following the prediction, Alex precisely found the old ventilation grate fixed with rivets. Hank pried at it with his dagger a few times, but it didn't budge.

"We're out of time!" Rex heard the sound of footsteps faintly coming from the tunnel behind them.

Alex took a deep breath, the power of Comprehensive Physical Enhancement concentrated in his legs and shoulders/back, the techniques of Parkour Mastery mobilizing his entire body's muscles. He stepped back two paces, took a short run-up, stepped continuously on the pipe wall to gain momentum, his body vaulted into the air, and his shoulder slammed hard into the connection point of the grate!

"Clang!" The rusted rivets flew off, and the grate fell inward. An opening large enough for one person to pass through appeared, revealing a dark ventilation duct behind it.

"Quick!"

The three of them climbed in one after another, and Rex, who came in last, barely covered the hole with the fallen grate. Almost at the same time, the footsteps of the pursuers and the light of their flashlights swept over the position where they had just been.

The ventilation duct was filled with the smell of years of dust. While guiding the way based on the residual perception of Tactical Terrain Prediction, Alex asked Rex in a low voice: "Where is your car located in the salvage yard?"

"Southeast corner, a blue old container truck, the keys are inside the left front wheel."

After crawling for about five minutes, lights and noisy machine sounds appeared ahead.

They crawled out from a vent, landing right next to the metal crushing workshop of the recycling yard.

The massive noise masked their movements.

The blue container truck was not far away.

However, just as they were stooping and approaching quickly, the stinging sensation at the back of Alex's neck suddenly intensified!

He lunged forward, tackling Hank and Rex beside him!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three bullets flew by, almost grazing their scalps, and struck the scrap metal pile nearby, sending sparks flying.

A sniper! On the water tower opposite the recycling yard!

"Three o'clock direction, water tower!" Hank growled, already drawing his gun to return fire, but the distance was too great, and his pistol posed no threat.

"I'll go draw him out, you guys get in the truck!" Rex said, about to rush out.

"Wait!" Alex held him back.

Although his Tactical Terrain Prediction ability had faded, in the fleeting glimpse he had just seen, there was a small blind spot in the sniper's view from the water tower—the angle formed by the front of the container truck and a pile of old buses nearby.

"Listen to my command." Alex spoke extremely fast, "Hank, when I count to three, shoot at that oil barrel on the left to create noise and smoke.

Rex, you take the captives and rush at full speed to the blind spot at the angle between the truck head and the buses, don't show yourself.

Then, Hank, shoot at that pile of tires on the right, repeat it once. I will rush over during the second cover."

"And then? How do we get on the truck? The sniper must have locked down the direction of the truck door." Rex asked.

Alex looked at the top of the container truck: "We won't go through the door.

Hank, your marksmanship is the best, I need you to accurately shoot near the firing port where the sniper on the water tower might appear after we reach the blind spot; you don't need to hit him, just suppress him for three seconds.

Rex, give me a boost, I'll go in through the sunroof on the roof and open the door from the inside."

The plan was risky, but there was no better choice at the moment.

"One, two, three!"

Hank pulled the trigger, the bullet hit the broken oil barrel, the residual fuel ignited, exploding into a small ball of flame and black smoke.

Rex darted out like a cheetah, carrying two hostages, yet his speed was not slow, and he successfully reached the blind spot.

The gunfire from the water tower hesitated for a moment.

"Now, the tires on the right!"

Hank shot again, the tires were hit, bursting and smoking.

Alex rushed out the moment the smoke rose. With Parkour Mastery and Comprehensive Physical Enhancement, his speed reached an astonishing level, almost turning into a shadow as he followed closely behind Rex into the blind spot.

"Hank, suppressive fire!"

Hank knelt halfway on the ground, holding his gun with both hands, holding his breath, aiming at a faint reflection point on the water tower, and pulled the trigger continuously! "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The bullets struck the concrete exterior wall of the water tower, sending up debris.

"Up!" Rex crouched down, hands interlaced.

Alex stepped onto his palms, used the force to leap upward, grabbed the edge of the container truck roof firmly with both hands, used his core strength, and with a clean and neat flip, got onto the roof.

As expected, there was a maintenance sunroof on the roof, and the lock was old-fashioned.

Alex used his dagger to pry open the lock, lifted the sunroof, and jumped down without hesitation.

It was very dark inside the truck, he quickly felt his way to the side door and opened it from the inside.

"Quick!"

Rex threw the two captives onto the truck first, then he and Hank took turns covering each other as they rushed onto the truck.

Hank jumped onto the truck last and slammed the door shut.

"Hold on tight!" Rex had already scrambled to the driver's seat, and the keys were indeed there.

The old diesel engine roared, the blue container truck violently smashed through a pile of scrap in front, and rushed toward the exit of the recycling yard!

The sniper on the water tower fired two more shots, but the bullets struck the thickened container, leaving only dents.

The container truck rushed onto the highway, merging into the sparse early morning traffic.

Not until they had driven over ten kilometers and confirmed there were no pursuers did the three people in the car breathe a sigh of relief.

Hank administered a sedative to the two captives, ensuring they wouldn't wake up for a while.

"Straight to the airport?" Rex asked, "My private jet is already prepared, flying straight to Nashville."

Alex shook his head, looking at the night view of Los Angeles outside the window: "No, according to the original plan, we drive back."

"What? That's too dangerous! The Guardians of Truth must have set up checkpoints at all traffic nodes along the way!"

"I know." A cold curve appeared at the corner of Alex's mouth, "So, we give them a 'false target'."

He took out a spare, unmarked mobile phone and used a voice-changing app to dial a number—that was a fake emergency contact he had previously deliberately let "Gear" leak out.

"The container truck is a decoy, we have already boarded a private jet, heading to Nashville." He finished in a hurried tone, immediately hung up, turned off the phone, took out the SIM card and snapped it, and threw the phone out of the car window.

"Now, the Guardians of Truth will concentrate their power to check all private jet routes flying to Nashville." Alex said, "And we, driving this inconspicuous container truck, will slowly take the highway.

Hank, contact Taylor, tell her our real arrival time and the backup extraction point."

"Understood."

Alex leaned against the cold wall of the cargo compartment and closed his eyes. The series of escapes, decisions, exchanges, and commands just now had consumed a lot of his energy.

But the continuous stinging of his Spider-Sense, at this moment, seemed to have quietly changed after reaching a certain critical point.

It was no longer a simple, passive danger warning, but had gained a trace of... active probing sensation. Just like a spider's web, it could not only sense touch but also vaguely distinguish the texture and size of the object touching it.

【Reminder: Spider-Sense (Primary) proficiency significantly increased. Frequent, high-intensity crisis stimulation and successful responses have prompted the ability to evolve.】

【Advanced condition activated: Successfully avoid fatal threats by relying on Spider-Sense in three different high-crisis scenarios (2/3).】

【Next evolution direction: Spider-Sense (Intermediate) — Increase warning range to 100 meters, enhance ability to vaguely identify threat types (such as distinguishing malice, murderous intent, surveillance, etc.).】

The evolution conditions have been met twice. Once outside the courthouse, and the mole and sniper at the base just now count as one.

One more to go.

Alex opened his eyes and looked at the highway receding rapidly outside the car. He knew that this last leg of the journey back to Nashville would absolutely not be calm.

The Guardians of Truth, and that Senator Winston hidden behind the scenes, would not let him off so easily.

And he, likewise, did not intend to let them off either.

"System," he asked silently in his heart, "If I want to exchange for an ability that can perform remote, covert counterattacks and fits the current technological level, what do you recommend?"

The system interface appeared, with several options highlighted:

【Information Fog (Primary)】: Costs 1.2 million points. Can create small-scale information pollution against specific targets (individuals or small organizations), causing internal communication chaos, delays, and errors, lasting 24-72 hours. The effect depends on the target's level of informatization.

【Psychological Suggestion (Primary)】: Costs 2 million points. Through language, behavior, and environmental arrangement, extremely subtly influence the short-term decision-making tendencies of specific individuals (requires close contact, effect is weakened on those with firm will).

【Logical Vulnerability Implantation (Primary)】: Costs 1.8 million points. Can implant an extremely covert, context-compliant logical contradiction or data anomaly into existing electronic evidence or written reports, which requires professional auditing to discover.

Alex's gaze fell on the first option.

Information pollution... make the Guardians of Truth temporarily deaf and blind? This might buy valuable time for him and the FBI investigation.

"Exchange, Information Fog (Primary), Target: The known 'Guardians of Truth' North American operations network."

Popularity points deducted by another 1.2 million, remaining: 2,450,920 points.

An invisible ripple seemed to spread out with him as the center, and along some mysterious connection, it projected into the unknown distance. He didn't know what the specific effect was, but the system displayed "Effective."

After doing all this, he felt a deep fatigue wash over him.

"Alex, Taylor replied." Hank said, handing over the phone.

On the screen, there was only a short sentence and a coordinate: "The manor is ready. Waiting for you. Safety first. — — T"

There was also a photo, of a quiet, brightly lit manor villa in the suburbs of Nashville, like a warm island in the night.

Alex looked at the photo, then looked at the two unconscious moles on the floor of the compartment, and the seemingly endless night outside the car window.

The road is still long.

But at least, there is light ahead.