114: Ghost in the Cage

Following the safe observation points marked on Butcher's map, the trio arrived at the top floor of an abandoned floating building.

This place had once been a luxury restaurant, but now only shattered observation windows and dust-covered tables and chairs remained. From here, they could look out and see the building known as the "Higher Academy" in its entirety.

The academy was pure white and elegantly designed, surrounded by a high wall and an aerodynamic field shimmering with pale blue energy arcs. It stood silently in the center of the filthy and chaotic port area, like an isolated island, so holy it looked out of place.

"Let's begin," Chen Feng ordered.

Lao Mo immediately set up a portable multi-spectrum scanner from an equipment bag disguised as a toolbox. Complex energy structural diagrams and data streams instantly filled the screen.

"Boss, the shield's energy structure analysis is out." Lao Mo spoke quickly, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "It's a 'Tidal' cyclic shield with periodic energy fluctuations. Every thirteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds, a weak energy window appears for about one point seven seconds."

He paused and added, "However, this fluctuation is itself an alarm mechanism. Any attempt to cross during the window will be immediately flagged."

"A trap within a trap," Chen Feng commented.

On the other side, Reno was using a military-grade high-powered telescope to carefully observe the security forces inside the academy. His brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

"Reporting, Boss," he said, lowering the telescope with a solemn tone. "I've recorded the patrol routes of their ground agents. There are three teams in total, six people per team, patrolling in a crisscross pattern that covers all blind spots."

"Is there a problem?"

"The problem is, their routes are too perfect." Reno's voice held a hint of confusion. "They're as perfect as a standard example from a textbook. Everyone's walking speed, turning time, and eye contact during handovers are precise to the second. I've been a Guard Team leader for so many years, and I've never seen such a rigid patrol."

Reno analyzed, "I think this rigidity is a weakness. As long as we calculate the time difference precisely, we can slip in at the moment they cross paths."

"No." Chen Feng vetoed his suggestion almost immediately.

"Why?" Reno was puzzled.

"Because this patrol route isn't for you to see; it's bait to 'lure the tiger from the mountain.'" Chen Feng's gaze was as sharp as a blade. "Behind a perfect route, there's bound to be a perfect fire trap. The gap you think you see is exactly the center point of overlapping fire."

Reno understood instantly, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his back.

"Then what do we do?"

"If physical infiltration won't work, we use non-physical means."

As Chen Feng spoke, he took a small box from his coat. When opened, three insect-sized, pitch-black micro-machines lay quietly inside.

"These are?"

"'Ghost' drones, traded from the exchange." Chen Feng handed one to Lao Mo. "Write a camouflage program for them to simulate the most common spatial dust signals in this area."

"Understood!" Lao Mo immediately began the operation.

A few minutes later, at the lowest point of the shield's energy fluctuation, the three "Ghosts" disguised as dust silently passed through that lethal barrier.

The footage transmitted back by the drones appeared on Chen Feng's personal terminal.

The interior of the academy was not a grim prison, but a peaceful and beautiful garden. The grass was lush, exotic flowers were in full bloom, and several people in white research coats were leisurely strolling along the paths, talking softly.

Then, they saw Eve.

In front of a flower bed filled with strange glowing plants, the girl with long silver hair was kneeling on the ground, holding a pair of delicate small scissors, carefully pruning the leaves and branches.

She was wearing a clean research coat and moving freely; there was even a hint of a tranquil smile on her face.

But when the drone zoomed in on her face, both Reno and Lao Mo gasped.

Those were a pair of hollow, numb eyes.

Her smile was standard and formulaic, but there was no emotion in her eyes—no joy, no sadness, not even pain. She was like a delicate doll with a pre-set program, perfectly executing the command for "tranquility."

This was more chilling than seeing her locked in shackles.

"Get closer, capture clearer facial data," Chen Feng ordered in a low voice, suppressing the shock in his heart.

Just as one of the drones tried to approach from another angle, a sudden change occurred!

Sizzle—

Without any warning, that drone exploded into a cloud of tiny electrical sparks in mid-air, instantly disintegrating.

Immediately after, a cold and heartless AI-synthesized alarm sounded over the academy: "Warning! Illegal logic intrusion detected! Purification program initiated!"

"Oh no! We're exposed!" Reno roared.

Almost simultaneously, a shrill alarm echoed throughout the academy, and several teams of fully armed Alliance Agents swarmed out of the building, heading straight for the abandoned tower where they were located!

"Retreat!" Chen Feng decided instantly.

The three didn't hesitate for a second, immediately packing up their equipment and turning to run.

Under Lao Mo's guidance, they didn't choose the regular streets but instead pried open an inconspicuous manhole cover and jumped in without hesitation.

An indescribable stench hit them.

This was Free Port's sewer system.

The sound of the agents' hurried footsteps and the "beep-beep" of sonar detectors came from overhead.

"Submerge! Hold your breath!" Lao Mo growled.

To evade detection, the three could only grit their teeth and immerse their entire bodies in a viscous, fermented green liquid, leaving only their eyes and noses exposed above the murky surface.

After an unknown amount of time, when the movement overhead had completely vanished, the three finally climbed out of the foul-smelling liquid in a wretched state and returned to the wanderer without further incident.

Inside the bridge, no one cared to clean the nauseating stains off themselves.

Chen Feng immediately pulled up the last images transmitted before the destruction, as well as the "Logic Bomb" data stream recorded by the drone that had caused its self-destruction.

He packaged all the data, applied triple encryption, and sent it through a secure anonymous node to Su Li, who was far away on Ashen Earth Star.

At the end of the message, he only attached one sentence.

"Analyze exactly what is trapping her."

In the agonizing wait for Su Li's reply, Chen Feng looked at Eve's hollow yet beautiful face on the screen, feeling a troublesome sense of powerlessness for the first time.

What they were up against was not cold chains and high walls, but a terrifying technology from the level of the soul that they had never heard of and could not even understand.