Chapter 248 The Captured Spy

January 22, 2039.

2:00 AM, Underwater Monitoring Center of the offshore platform.

Xiao Li, the duty officer, had been staring at the sonar images on the screen for four hours. This was his job—monitoring underwater activity within a 500-meter radius of the platform. Any anomaly had to be discovered and reported immediately.

On the screen, all was calm.

The underwater structure of the platform appeared as a clear outline on the sonar—twenty-eight main piles driven deep into the seabed, with massive concrete bases at the bottom, surrounded by scattered anchor chains and auxiliary facilities. Occasionally, a few fish would swim by, leaving fleeting points of light on the screen.

Xiao Li yawned and took a sip of his coffee.

Just then, two points of light appeared at the edge of the screen.

Xiao Li's sleepiness vanished instantly. He zoomed in on the image and adjusted the parameters—the two points of light were moving slowly toward the underwater base on the southeast side of the platform. Their speed was very slow, about five meters per minute, clearly a deliberate control.

It wasn't fish.

Fish wouldn't swim in such a regular trajectory, nor would their speed be so constant.

Xiao Li's heart began to race. He watched the two points of light as they drew closer and closer, finally reaching the edge of the platform's underwater base and stopping.

A few seconds later, they began to move slowly along the base, as if searching for something.

Xiao Li took a deep breath and picked up the walkie-talkie, trying to keep his voice steady:

"Commander Zhao, we have a situation at the Underwater Monitoring Center."

Two minutes later, Zhao Gang rushed into the Monitoring Center.

He was wearing his combat uniform, and his hair was still wet—he had been showering and rushed out immediately upon receiving the news, not even having time to dry his hair.

"What's the situation?" His voice was low and urgent.

Xiao Li pointed at the screen: "Here, two underwater targets. They aren't fish; their movement is slow and their trajectory is very regular. They're near the southeast base now and have been stationary for three minutes."

Zhao Gang stared at the two points of light, his pupils contracting slightly.

That suspicious fishing boat from three days ago had indeed been scouting the area. They had mapped out the radar blind spots and the patrol boat patterns, then struck from underwater.

"Can you confirm what they are?" he asked.

Xiao Li shook his head. "The depth is too great for the optical cameras to see clearly. But the sonar signatures show two humanoid targets equipped with breathing apparatus and... possibly heavy loads."

Heavy loads.

A term flashed through Zhao Gang's mind: explosive devices.

Without hesitation, he turned and barked into the walkie-talkie: "Frogman team, Level 1 deployment! Underwater capture!"

At 2:10 AM, four frogmen slipped silently into the water from the dock on the north side of the platform.

They wore black wetsuits, carried oxygen tanks, and had specialized silent fins on their feet. Each held an underwater submachine gun, with capture ropes hanging from their waists.

The team leader was Old Zhou, forty-five years old, a retired Marine who had been in underwater security for eight years. He directed with hand signals underwater—the four of them fanned out, flanking the target area from different directions.

The real-time sonar feed was transmitted back to the Monitoring Center. Zhao Gang stared at the screen, watching the four points of light representing the frogmen approach the two stationary targets from different directions.

"Have they noticed?" Xiao Li whispered beside him.

Zhao Gang didn't speak, only staring at the screen.

Suddenly, the two targets moved.

They began moving rapidly away from the platform toward the deep sea.

"They've been spotted!" Zhao Gang growled into the walkie-talkie. "Old Zhou, they're running! They're fast!"

Old Zhou's steady voice came through the earpiece: "Understood. We're in pursuit."

The four points of light accelerated in pursuit. Underwater chases were a greater test of skill than those on land—too fast, and bubbles would expose you; too slow, and you'd lose them. Old Zhou led his team, maintaining stealth while maximizing speed.

The targets were clearly professionally trained as well, using tricky escape routes—shifting left and right, up and down, trying to use the complex underwater terrain to shake off their pursuers. But Old Zhou and his team were more familiar with these waters and managed to block their path every time.

The chase lasted ten minutes.

Finally, the two targets were cornered near an underwater rock wall with nowhere to run.

Old Zhou signaled, and the four frogmen lunged simultaneously.

Muffled thuds came from underwater—the sound of a struggle. Bubbles surged, blurring the sonar image. Zhao Gang stared at the chaotic screen, his fists clenched tight.

After dozens of seconds, the image gradually cleared.

Beside the four points of light were two more—the captives.

Old Zhou's slightly breathless voice came through the earpiece: "Commander Zhao, we've got them. Two live ones. They have..."

He paused.

"Have what?" Zhao Gang asked.

"Explosive devices. C4 explosives, timed detonators, already set."

Zhao Gang sucked in a sharp breath. "Have they been disarmed?"

"Disarmed. Safe."

Zhao Gang let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair.

Outside, the night was deep. The sea surface shimmered, as calm as if nothing had happened.

At 3:20 AM, the two captives were escorted onto the platform.

Their diving gear was removed, revealing their true faces—two Caucasian men in their thirties with blond hair and blue eyes, their skin pale from prolonged diving. They wore professional tactical wetsuits with various tools hanging from their belts, clearly well-trained professional spies.

Zhao Gang stood before them, his gaze icy.

"Search them," he said.

The soldiers searched them thoroughly, finding waterproof locators, encrypted communication devices, underwater cutting tools, and a roll of waterproof blueprints—the blueprints marked the precise locations of the platform's underwater structure and the preset demolition points.

Zhao Gang took the blueprints, looked at them for a few seconds, then looked up at the two captives.

"Who sent you?"

The two remained silent and expressionless.

Zhao Gang smiled. "Not talking? It doesn't matter. We have professional interrogators; they'll make you talk."

He turned and ordered the soldiers: "Lock them up and interrogate them separately. Be careful; these two are dangerous."

"Yes, sir!"

At 9:00 AM, the interrogation results reached the base.

Lin Mo sat at his desk in the Chief Designer's Office, looking at the report with a furrowed brow.

The report showed that the two captives were mercenaries for a certain country's intelligence agency, belonging to an action group codenamed "Poseidon." They were remnants of George's organization after its collapse, recruited by that country's intelligence agency specifically to sabotage the sky ladder project.

Their mission was to install underwater explosives to blow up the anchoring base on the southeast side of the platform—one of the most critical of the twenty-eight main piles. If it were destroyed, the stability of the entire platform would be affected, delaying the project by at least a year.

Lin Mo put down the report and remained silent for a long time.

Li Xiao stood nearby and whispered, "Senior, it's George again."

Lin Mo nodded. "He's not dead. He just changed masters."

Li Xiao hesitated. "What does Director Fang say?"

Lin Mo pulled up another document. "She just sent this. George is currently hiding in South America, cooperating with a certain country's intelligence agency to specifically sabotage our project. These two were recruited by him."

Li Xiao bit her lip. "How is this man like a cockroach that just won't die?"

Lin Mo looked at her and suddenly smiled.

"Cockroaches are indeed hard to kill," he said, "but they can be squashed one by one."

Li Xiao was taken aback for a moment, then she laughed too.

"Senior, that's satisfying to hear."

Lin Mo stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the base.

"Notify Zhao Gang," he said. "After the interrogation, hand those two over to Director Fang. She has deeper channels and can dig out more."

Li Xiao nodded. "Understood."

"And," Lin Mo turned around, "tell Chen Xueming to continue strengthening the guard at the platform. This time it was underwater; next time it might be from the air or from within. Tell him not to slack off."

"Okay."

At 3:00 PM, Chen Xueming stood at the edge of the platform, looking at the calm sea.

The sea was very blue, the sun was bright, and seabirds circled in the distance. Everything was so peaceful and beautiful.

But he knew that just twelve hours ago, beneath this calm water, someone had tried to blow up everything he had worked so hard to build.

Liu Jianguo stood beside him, also looking at the sea.

"Chief Chen," he said, "were those two guys really George's people?"

Chen Xueming nodded. "Yes."

Liu Jianguo was silent for a while, then muttered a curse.

Chen Xueming glanced at him. "Factory Director Liu, you know how to curse too?"

Liu Jianguo glared at him. "Nonsense, I'm human too. It wouldn't feel right if I didn't curse those bastards out."

Chen Xueming laughed.

After laughing, he turned to walk back.

"Let's go, time to get to work. The schedule can't be delayed."

At 6:00 PM, Zhao Gang held a security meeting in the Command Center.

In attendance were the heads of the platform's various subsystems, as well as Lin Mo and Li Xiao joining via video from the base.

"Everyone knows the situation," Zhao Gang said, getting straight to the point. "That fishing boat from the day before yesterday was scouting, and these two divers today were the ones taking action. They mapped out our patrol patterns and found an underwater blind spot, nearly succeeding."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"From now on, security measures are being upgraded. First, the underwater sonar will be manned twenty-four hours a day, with two people per shift monitoring each other. Second, patrol boats will increase their nighttime patrol frequency, focusing on the southeast direction. Third, all personnel and materials entering or leaving the platform will be subject to random spot checks in addition to regular inspections."

Liu Jianguo raised his hand. "Commander Zhao, what are the random spot checks looking for?"

"Everything," Zhao Gang said. "Identity, luggage, communication devices. Anyone could be compromised, including you and me."

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

Lin Mo spoke from the screen: "Zhao Gang is right. George won't just come once. This failure will be followed by another. Our task is to ensure every attempt fails."

He paused, his voice becoming steady:

"The sky ladder project is not just a technical project; it's also a security project. Everyone's vigilance is part of the project. So, I'm counting on you all."

A low chorus of responses echoed in the meeting room: "Understood."

At 11:00 PM, Zhao Gang stood at the edge of the platform, looking out at the pitch-black sea.

In the distance, a patrol boat was slowly passing by, its searchlight beam sweeping across the sea. Further out, the underwater sonar buoys swayed gently with the waves, emitting faint flashes of light.

His phone rang. It was a message from Fang Lin:

"The two captives have talked. They've given up their handlers and contact methods. Following this lead, we can catch even more people."

Zhao Gang looked at the message, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

He replied:

"Good work. I'll keep watching over here."

Fang Lin replied instantly:

"You too. Get some rest."

Zhao Gang put away his phone and continued looking at the sea.

Tonight the wind was light and the waves were gentle. But he knew that beneath this calm, there were always undercurrents surging.

So let them come.

Catch them every single time.

Until you give up.