41: Chapter 41 Memory Palace

Chen Zhi got straight to the point: "Senior Engineer Gao Yayin has absconded."

"She took the laboratory's most core encrypted hard drive. If we don't find her and the hard drive within seventy-two hours, our investment, hard work, and something even more important over these past few years will..." His voice trailed off to a whisper at the end.

Chen Zhi looked up, staring intently at Lin Ning, his voice hoarse as he said, "I don't care how you distinguish good people from bad people by reading their faces. I need you to tell me—"

"The day before yesterday at the Chuangxinzao Building, what did you see? Every single detail!"

Lin Ning understood what Chen Zhi meant; it was just like that movie, "Memory Palace."

However, he wasn't sure if he could do it. But thinking about Chen Zhi's words, thinking about how our own achievements being stolen by foreign countries would instead be used to restrain us, and considering the strategic significance of the liquid metal, he relented.

"I'll try my best!"

Lin Ning took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Chen Zhi's gaze gradually softened, looking at the young man with his eyes closed with admiration.

It's truly good. While there are traitors who betray their own blood and roots, there are also those who strive to break through their own limits to fight for their motherland.

Chen Zhi lowered his voice and guided him, "Recall slowly, what were you doing..."

Lin Ning knew that what Chen Zhi wanted wasn't a metaphysical explanation, but an analysis based on the scientific information he was familiar with.

And he happened to want to test just how much potential this body, after being upgraded, was hiding that he hadn't yet fully grasped.

His consciousness sank.

In that bright and spacious lobby of the Chuangxinzao Building.

He "saw" himself sitting on the sofa in the lounge area, holding a document bag in his hand.

"I was waiting for the recipient at the time." Lin Ning said with his eyes closed, his speaking pace steady.

"It was around 4:17 PM. The sun was shining in through the glass wall, and it felt very comfortable on my body."

Chen Zhi's eyes widened; he entered the state faster than someone who had received training.

He quickly made a gesture toward the observation window.

A technician quickly entered from outside the door, sat down next to Chen Zhi, and began operating the computer.

They pulled up the lobby surveillance footage for the corresponding time and began to compare it in sync.

"The elevator chimed, a 'ding,' the sound was very crisp." Lin Ning continued.

"Senior Engineer Gao Yayin walked out of the elevator furthest inside, followed by two people, a man and a woman."

"She was wearing a laboratory white coat, with a light gray shirt and black dress pants underneath. There were three pens tucked into her chest pocket—two black, one red."

The technician zoomed in on the surveillance footage, and the color and number of the pens matched.

Chen Zhi's eyes lit up: "Continue."

"She was talking to the young man in black-rimmed glasses beside her," Lin Ning's brows furrowed slightly, as if he were trying hard to focus, "She was speaking very quickly, saying... 'The liquid metal data for the A-Qreb direction must be double-checked three times. The calculation model for the interface energy barrier needs further optimization. The expert group will want to see the preliminary report next week.'"

Chen Zhi looked up at the technician, who shook his head: "The regional audio pickup is poor. The content isn't clear in the surveillance audio."

But Lin Ning had heard it.

Or rather, he had heard it at the time, and now his enhanced brain had re-parsed and restored those blurred syllables into clear words.

"Good," there was a hint of suppressed excitement in Chen Zhi's voice, "And then? Where did she walk? Where did she look? Who was around her?"

This was the key.

Lin Ning's breathing slowed as his entire focus immersed into the memory's imagery.

The flow of time was stretched within his consciousness.

Senior Engineer Gao Yayin walked from the elevator entrance to the main revolving door in exactly twenty-seven steps. During these twenty-seven steps, which took about forty seconds—

"She turned her head three times, almost imperceptibly." Lin Ning slowed his speaking pace, as if describing it while watching.

"The first time was on the third step after exiting the elevator. Her gaze quickly swept across the southeast corner of the lobby, where there was a large patch of potted plants—money trees and monsteras. Next to the greenery area were two lounge chairs, and someone was sitting on one."

"What kind of person?" Chen Zhi pressed.

"Male, around thirty years old, wearing a gray jacket and dark blue jeans. He was looking at his phone the whole time, his index finger swiping on the screen at a fast frequency, as if he were scrolling through short videos or chatting." Lin Ning paused, "But thinking back now, the rhythm of his swiping was wrong—every five or six seconds, he would pause for half a second, then continue. It's like he was..."

Chen Zhi, being more knowledgeable about the meanings of various human states and actions, guessed upon hearing Lin Ning's description: "Like he was waiting for a message?"

Lin Ning realized, "Yes!"

The technician had already pulled up the surveillance footage from the corresponding angle and locked onto the man in the gray jacket. Zooming in, they indeed saw the subtle regularity in the rhythm of his finger swiping.

"The second turn," Lin Ning continued, "was when she reached the center of the lobby, about fifteen steps away from the revolving door."

"She cast a quick glance at the temporary parking spot outside the main entrance. A silver sedan was parked there... a Volkswagen Lavida. The last digits of the license plate were... 7 and 3, I couldn't see the middle numbers. The windows were tinted dark, so I couldn't see the driver."

The surveillance footage switched to the external camera—

A silver Lavida was indeed parked in the temporary spot at the corresponding time, and the driver had not exited the vehicle.

"The third time was just before she was about to walk out of the revolving door," Lin Ning's voice sounded a bit strained, and he hesitated for a few seconds.

"She glanced at the emergency exit next to the service desk. There was a cleaning cart parked by the door, and a cleaner was wiping the handrail."

"The cleaner was a woman, around fifty years old, wearing a mask and a blue work cap, dressed in a gray cleaning uniform."

"Was there anything special about the wiping action?" Chen Zhi keenly captured the key point.

Lin Ning was silent for a few seconds, carefully replaying that image.

The cleaner held a rag and wiped slowly back and forth on the metal handrail. One, two, three...

"Her movements were very slow, and she wasn't wiping the part of the handrail that is frequently gripped, but rather the corner where the handrail connects to the wall."

Lin Ning opened his eyes, "And on her cart, on the top layer, there was a bucket of detergent, with a yellow rag draped beside it. But under the rag... thinking back now, it seems like a piece of something black and square was showing, like a walkie-talkie or a small electronic device."

Lin Ning felt a sense of dizziness from overusing his brain, but his spirit was exceptionally exhilarated. Not only had his body become stronger, but his Psychic Power had definitely been raised to another level as well.

Chen Zhi issued orders into his headset: "Team A, immediately track the identity and movements of the man in the gray jacket from the surveillance. Team B, investigate that silver Lavida; I want the owner's information and all their movements over the last two days. Team C, lock onto that cleaner; check her employee file and her whereabouts for the last three days."

As the orders were sent out one by one, Chen Zhi looked back at Lin Ning with a complex expression: "Anything else?"