Chapter 87 Suspicious Behavior

The moment Zhang Jianguo walked through the base gate, his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

He kept his head down, trying his best to look normal. He gripped the handle of his toolbox so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The micro-camera in the lining felt like a piece of red-hot iron, burning his palm through the canvas.

"Engineer Zhang, which equipment shall we look at first today?" asked Xiao Liu, the soldier leading the way, casually.

"Huh?" Zhang Jianguo paused for a moment. "Oh, first... let's look at the instruments by the reactor. Two of the pressure gauges weren't very accurate last time."

Xiao Liu nodded and walked ahead.

Zhang Jianguo followed behind, his gaze unable to help but darting around. Surveillance cameras were installed in every corner, their red indicator lights blinking like countless eyes.

He quickly withdrew his gaze and stared at his own toes.

They arrived at the reactor area.

Xiao Liu stood on the perimeter and did not follow him in—this was the rule; when equipment was being maintained, soldiers only stood guard from a distance. Zhang Jianguo took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and walked into the room filled with pipes.

A wave of heat hit his face.

The apparatus was running, and the humming of the pumps filled the entire space. Various instrument panels were densely arranged on the control cabinet, with needles jumping and numbers flickering.

Zhang Jianguo put down the toolbox, his hands trembling as he opened the latch.

The micro-camera in the lining was only the size of a fingernail, black, and impossible to spot without looking closely. George's people had taught him how to use it—press the side once, the red light turns on, and recording begins; press it again, the red light goes out, and it stops.

He looked up and glanced at the door.

Xiao Liu was standing with his back to him, twenty meters away, talking into a walkie-talkie.

Zhang Jianguo gritted his teeth, took out the camera, and gripped it in his palm.

He began to "inspect" the first pressure gauge.

His fingers pressed against the dial, but his eyes darted toward the camera. No one noticed him. He aimed the camera at the instrument panel, blocked it with his body, and pressed it lightly.

A slight vibration came from his palm—the red light was on.

He maintained that posture, pretending to read the data, and counted silently in his heart: one, two, three, four, five...

Five seconds later, he released the button, hid the camera back in his palm, and jotted down a number in his notebook—just a random one, not the real reading at all.

His heart was pounding like a drum.

He moved to the next instrument panel and repeated the action.

The third, the fourth...

He lingered at every instrument panel for longer than usual. The camera in his palm recorded the temperature, pressure, and flow rate—the data George wanted him to steal.

"Engineer Zhang?" Xiao Liu's voice suddenly came from outside the door. "Are you not done yet?"

Zhang Jianguo's hand shook, and he almost dropped the camera on the floor.

"A... almost done!" he raised his voice. "This gauge has a bit of an issue, let me check it again!"

Xiao Liu didn't speak again.

Zhang Jianguo gasped for air, finished recording the data for the last instrument, shoved the camera back into the toolbox lining, and closed the lid.

He stood up, his legs feeling a bit weak.

As he walked out of the reactor area, Xiao Liu glanced at him: "Engineer Zhang, you don't look so good. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's probably just too hot in there." Zhang Jianguo wiped his sweat.

Xiao Liu nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

The two walked toward the next equipment area.

In the surveillance room, three large screens were displaying real-time footage of every corner of the base.

The duty soldier, Xiao Sun, was holding a teacup, watching the screens listlessly. Suddenly, his gaze fixed on the footage of Area 3.

Zhang Jianguo was "inspecting" the equipment in the reactor area.

But Xiao Sun noticed that the time he spent in front of each instrument panel was much longer than normal. And his posture was very strange—his body was slightly turned to the side, as if he were trying to block something.

Xiao Sun put down his teacup and zoomed in on the footage.

Zhang Jianguo's hands were always hidden between his body and the instrument panel, making it impossible to see what he was doing.

"Captain." Xiao Sun picked up the walkie-talkie. "There's a situation in Area 3."

Captain Zhou soon appeared at the door of the surveillance room.

"What's the situation?"

Xiao Sun pointed at the screen: "Engineer Zhang has been by the reactor for almost twenty minutes today. Look at his movements; it's like he's filming something."

Captain Zhou stared at the screen, his brows slowly furrowing.

When Zhang Jianguo came for maintenance last week, he already felt that something was off about this man. Today, that feeling was even stronger.

"Pull up all the footage of him just now," Captain Zhou said.

Xiao Sun quickly rewound the footage.

In the footage, Zhang Jianguo lingered in front of every instrument panel for five to ten seconds, his body posture almost identical—turned to the side, arm blocking, head bowed.

Captain Zhou's eyes turned cold.

"Where is his toolbox?"

Xiao Sun switched the footage to find the video of Zhang Jianguo when he first entered the base. The toolbox was an ordinary canvas bag, just like before.

But Captain Zhou noticed a detail—before Zhang Jianguo entered the gate, his hand kept touching the toolbox, as if he were confirming something was still there.

"Notify Zhao Gang," Captain Zhou said.

Zhao Gang arrived at the surveillance room five minutes later.

He stood in front of the screen and watched the footage three times over.

"Captain, what do you think?" Captain Zhou asked.

Zhao Gang didn't answer immediately, staring at Zhang Jianguo, who was still "inspecting" on the screen, and remained silent for a long while.

"How many times has this Engineer Zhang been here before?"

"Four times," Xiao Sun said. "Every time he was very normal, and no problems were found."

"And today?"

Xiao Sun hesitated for a moment: "Today... I feel like he is very nervous. His walking posture, his tone of voice—it's all not quite right. And he spent too long in the reactor area; a normal inspection doesn't take that long."

Zhao Gang nodded.

He remembered what Lin Mo had said: George's people have been stalking them, and there would definitely be a next move.

Now it seemed that this "next move" had already extended into the base.

"Captain, should we arrest him now?" Captain Zhou asked in a low voice. "While he hasn't left yet, we can catch him red-handed."

Zhao Gang shook his head.

"Don't arrest him."

Captain Zhou was stunned: "Why?"

Zhao Gang stared at Zhang Jianguo on the screen, a cold sneer appearing on the corner of his mouth.

"What's the point of catching one Zhang Jianguo? The people behind him will just send an Imposter or a Wang Jianguo. We need to play the long game and catch the big fish behind them."

Captain Zhou thought for a moment and nodded: "Understood. What do we do now?"

Zhao Gang turned to look at Xiao Sun: "Save all of today's surveillance footage, and specifically mark the locations and times where Zhang Jianguo lingered. Note down which equipment the instrument panels he filmed belonged to, and what the data was."

Xiao Sun acknowledged.

Zhao Gang said to Captain Zhou again: "When he leaves, let him pass as normal; don't act abnormally. But after he goes out, send someone to follow him and see who he makes contact with."

Captain Zhou nodded: "Understood."

"Also," Zhao Gang paused, "tell Professor Lin and Professor Chen to keep this in mind. But don't make a fuss; just go about business as usual."

Captain Zhou saluted and turned to go make arrangements.

Zhao Gang stood in the surveillance room, watching Zhang Jianguo on the screen continuing to walk around the equipment room.

This honest-looking maintenance worker had no idea at this moment that his every move was being watched.

Zhao Gang remembered when he first came to the base, he had prejudices against the scientific researchers, thinking they were just a bunch of nerds. Later, following Lin Mo and Chen Xueming, he slowly understood—the things these nerds held in their hands were incredibly valuable, valuable enough that foreign forces would spare no cost to steal them.

Now, it was his and his soldiers' turn to hold this line of defense.

He picked up the walkie-talkie: "All teams pay attention, let the target in Area 3 pass according to the normal procedure, but monitor him the whole way. I repeat, monitor him the whole way."

A uniform "Received" came through the walkie-talkie.

Zhao Gang walked out of the surveillance room, stood in the corridor, and looked at the Gobi Desert in the distance.

The setting sun was sinking, dyeing the sand dunes a golden red.

He knew that a war without smoke had already begun.

When Zhang Jianguo walked out of the base gate, his legs were so weak he could barely walk.

The camera was still in the toolbox, having recorded over thirty sets of instrument data. He didn't know how he had finished the inspection of the last two pieces of equipment; he only remembered that he had been sweating and shaking the whole time.

"Engineer Zhang, thank you for your hard work." The soldier on duty at the gate greeted him with a smile.

"It's no trouble, it's my job." Zhang Jianguo tried hard to squeeze out a smile.

He climbed into the company van, started the engine, and slowly drove away from the base.

In the rearview mirror, the base gate grew further and further away, finally disappearing into the yellow sand.

He didn't notice that another inconspicuous off-road vehicle in the distance was quietly following him.

Nor did he notice that the red light on the camera in the toolbox lining was still flickering slightly.

He just wanted to go back quickly, get the money, and make all of this end.

But could it really end?

He didn't know.

He only knew that there was no turning back for him now.