130: Chapter 130 A Cunning Plan: Luring the Enemy into a Trap
The thrill of that first near-miss didn't cause lasting panic within fortress-1; instead, it acted like a shot of adrenaline, sharpening the nerves and clarifying the thoughts of Lin Mo and the entire guardian team.
"He's doubting the 'script'," Lin Mo repeated his judgment, his fingers tapping rapidly on the virtual keyboard to bring up a three-way encrypted communication interface with Long Zhantian and Su Xiaowan. "This means the passive deceptive effect of the 'information fog' has reached its limit. Against an opponent of 'Ghost's' caliber, simple information interference and false leads will only make him more vigilant and prompt him to seek deeper, harder-to-forge breakthroughs."
On the screen, Long Zhantian's holographic image frowned deeply. "You mean he might try to physically hack into the underlying databases of the city's infrastructure? Or activate higher-clearance 'Sleepers'?"
"Both are possible," Lin Mo nodded. "More importantly, our time is running out. The system's counter-mission has a 72-hour limit, and the opponent's window of activity is roughly the same. We can't let the initiative remain hanging in the air."
Su Xiaowan's image appeared beside him, her expression carrying the characteristic calm of a technical expert. "Engineer Lin, Director Long, based on Weaving Net's retrospective analysis of Ghost's behavior patterns over the last hour, he is attempting to bypass conventional monitoring layers and trying to access some offline backup servers of the municipal transportation system. These servers have relatively low security levels but contain massive amounts of data. If he finds the raw logs for comparison, some of the false traffic trajectories we planted earlier are at risk of being identified. Although we've implemented multiple layers of protection and logical obfuscation, we cannot entirely rule out this possibility."
"In other words, he's about to touch the boundaries of our 'forgery'," a cold light flashed in Long Zhantian's eyes. "Since passive defense might be breached, we'll proactively give him a 'truth' he can't refuse."
Lin Mo immediately understood Long Zhantian's meaning. "You want to... turn his own game against him? Use a highly valuable 'real lead' that looks like something he 'painstakingly discovered' to lure him to a location of our choosing?"
"Exactly!" Long Zhantian's tone was decisive. "People like Ghost are extremely confident; they only believe in the 'truth' they've dug up through their own hard work. We'll create such a 'truth' for him. Pick a location, set up an inescapable net, and let him walk right in!"
Su Xiaowan's eyes lit up. "Do you need me to coordinate the creation of data trails? They need to be deep and hidden enough to make him feel like he broke through heavy obstacles to find them."
"No," Lin Mo suddenly spoke, rejecting Su Xiaowan's suggestion, his eyes flashing with the light of calculation. "This time, we won't 'create' trails."
Both Long Zhantian and Su Xiaowan looked at him.
Lin Mo continued, "We will 'leak' trails. Using the most authentic, hardest-to-fake thing there is—energy signatures."
He pulled up a spectral analysis of fortress-1's own faint energy leakage. This was a characteristic ripple, nearly non-existent but definitely there, produced by the internal miniature fusion energy core and quantum communication terminal that could only be captured in extreme testing environments.
"This is the 'fingerprint' of fortress-1, unique and extremely difficult to imitate. If we intentionally allow a 'shadow vehicle' or a specially arranged fixed device at a selected location to release this attenuated and distorted 'fingerprint' signal for a short time at low power... if Ghost captures this signal, with his professional ability, he will surely recognize its extraordinary nature. He will be convinced—this is the ironclad proof of the hiding place of the high-value target he's been searching for!"
Long Zhantian understood instantly. "Because he'll believe that an energy signature of this level is something the opponent could never easily fake, let alone leak as bait! This is the 'golden signal' that would only accidentally spill out from the location of the true core target!"
"Precisely," Lin Mo nodded. "Furthermore, this signal cannot appear too easily. We need him to 'just happen' to capture it at a 'critical moment'—when he's about to break through a preset data defense line or when he's using a precious resource, like waking a 'Sleeper' to gain key permissions. We must make him feel that it was his effort and wisdom that finally pried open a crack in our protective shell."
Su Xiaowan quickly recorded and began simulations. "Understood! Location selection? It needs to be suitable for surrounding and capturing him, while also fitting the logic of a 'temporary hiding spot'."
Long Zhantian pulled up a 3D map of the city, his fingers sliding rapidly before finally stopping on an area in the southwest corner of the city. "Here! On the edge of the Old Industrial Zone. There are several semi-abandoned joint warehouses with complex structures and underground storage spaces converted from old air-raid shelters—hidden enough. The surrounding visibility is relatively open, which helps us set up outer observation and blockades. We've modified the internal passages beforehand, so it can serve as a preset battlefield. Most importantly, due to historical reasons, municipal surveillance coverage in this area is weak, which fits the opponent's expectations for a 'safe house' location."
Lin Mo quickly browsed the location information and performed a tactical simulation with the system. He nodded after a few seconds. "The location is viable. The signal release point will be set in the reinforced old power distribution room on the second basement level of Warehouse No. 3. We need to pre-position a device there that can accurately simulate the 'fingerprint' signal and has a self-destruct function."
"I'll handle the device and the site setup," Long Zhantian immediately took the task. "I'll send the most elite Dark Blade squad in advance to complete the setup and ambush. As for the timing of the signal release..."
"I'll control that," Lin Mo interjected, his gaze fixed on the monitoring window representing Ghost's data activity flow. "I will monitor his breakthrough progress at all times. When he hits the 'threshold' we've set, that will be the 'optimal moment' for the signal release."
The plan was quickly finalized, code-named—'Luring the Tiger'.
The operation unfolded with startling efficiency.
Personally commanded by Long Zhantian, a top-tier anti-special operations squad code-named Dark Blade used the cover of night and complex terrain to silently infiltrate Warehouse No. 3 in the Old Industrial Zone. They installed a specially modified energy signal simulator at the designated location, its core data derived from the 'fingerprint' spectrum provided by Lin Mo, and set up multiple safeguards and remote self-destruct programs. Simultaneously, squad members placed hidden sensors, non-lethal control devices (such as flashbangs, stun grenades, and anesthetic gas release points) at key nodes throughout the warehouse, and arranged observation posts and sniper positions at peripheral high points.
Su Xiaowan led the Weaving Net team to meticulously prepare a 'breakthrough path' for Ghost. On the periphery of the municipal traffic offline backup servers, they set up several seemingly tight virtual firewalls and logic traps, intentionally leaving a few 'backdoor' clues that required specific skill and patience to find. These clues would eventually point vaguely toward a need to access the logs of an old communication base station near the Old Industrial Zone—and the access rights for that base station just happened to be obtainable through a locked, long-dormant backup management account. The information for this account was cleverly 'hidden' within a massive pile of disorganized old data.
Lin Mo sat in the mobile fortress, like a patient fisherman watching the 'float under the water'—Ghost's data activity. On the screen before him, a percentage bar representing Ghost's breakthrough progress was climbing extremely slowly. 35%... 40%... Every point of increase meant that Ghost was following their preset 'script', cracking those seemingly difficult obstacles step by step, and trudging toward the 'truth'.
Time passed. Less than 40 hours remained until the 72-hour window closed.
Finally, after Ghost used a rare low-level data mining tool and underwent hours of sleepless, continuous cracking, the progress bar on the screen suddenly jumped to 78%! Simultaneously, the system monitored that Ghost was attempting to invoke a long-buried municipal backup management account, with the target aimed directly at that old base station in the Old Industrial Zone!
Now was the time!
A sharp light flashed in Lin Mo's eyes as he issued commands to Long Zhantian and Su Xiaowan without hesitation: "Threshold breached! Release the 'fingerprint' signal, duration 1.2 seconds, attenuation level three! Simultaneously, activate the 'bait record' in the base station access logs!"
The orders were executed instantly.
Deep in the basement of Warehouse No. 3 in the Old Industrial Zone, the signal simulator silently activated. A carefully modulated, faint but distinct energy ripple, like a pebble thrown into a calm pond, spread outward and completely vanished after 1.2 seconds.
Almost at the same time, Ghost, who was remotely brute-forcing that backup account, suddenly captured that fleeting, long-sought energy spectral characteristic on his device screen! Its uniqueness and high energy level made his whole body shudder!
Meanwhile, in the old base station logs he had just gained access to, an abnormal record from a few hours ago 'just happened' to appear: Detected unknown faint directional energy pulse, source roughly pointing toward... Warehouse No. 3 area!
Two clues, appearing almost simultaneously, perfectly corroborated each other!
Ghost stood up abruptly from his chair, a terrifying light erupting from his weary eyes. All doubts, all caution, were diluted in this moment by this 'ironclad' discovery. He had found it! After going through untold hardships and breaking through the opponent's layers of fog and protection, he had finally caught the tail of that cunning prey!
He didn't hesitate for a second, not even performing a longer verification as he usually would (because that signal characteristic was too unique and too brief; the opportunity for verification was fleeting). He immediately issued a highest-priority action command to 'Viper', with only two short words and a set of coordinates:
"Target confirmed. Warehouse No. 3. Move."
And he himself, like an arrow released from a bow, grabbed his pre-prepared gear bag and rushed out of his temporary hiding place, speeding toward the Old Industrial Zone. He wanted to be there personally to confirm while Viper launched the assault, preventing the target from escaping through other secret passages.
He had no idea that while he was pouncing toward that abandoned warehouse full of excitement and killing intent, within fortress-1, the progress bar for the [information fog] mission on the screen before Lin Mo finally broke the 80% mark along with the full deployment of Ghost and Viper, and it was still rising rapidly.
"The trap is set," Lin Mo whispered to himself as he watched the light points representing Ghost and Viper quickly converge on Warehouse No. 3. "Please... step into the trap."