Chapter 348: We’ve Got the Hook

Chapter 348: We’ve Got the Hook

Why do foreign forces always have to resort to using Wu Hanran?

Xiao Yu just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

If you were in charge of an intelligence agency yourself…

There’s no way you would make such a foolish move.

Who would risk exposing that your agents are stirring up trouble in another country?

You’re practically digging your own grave!

Take National Security, for instance—they would certainly follow the Wu Hanran lead.

They’d uproot and annihilate all those external forces!

Unless…

“They have no choice but to use Wu Hanran? Or rather…”

A look of sudden clarity flashed across his face as Xiao Yu smiled. “Wu Hanran’s three sets of blueprints have always been in his control?”

“What do you mean?” Zhou Lie asked, clearly puzzled.

“I’ve figured it out,” he replied.

Shen Mei’s eyes lit up. “Leverage!”

“Yeah, something like that,” Xiao Yu confirmed.

He continued, “Those people are using Wu Hanran’s daughter as leverage, and in turn, he can threaten them with his blueprints. If he ever handed them over, he’d be an utter fool.”

“Think about a kidnapping case. The kidnappers typically tear up the ransom note after extorting money. With his daughter’s life on the line, Wu Hanran would never risk handing over the blueprints.”

“So they have no choice but to force him into finding what they want as an exchange—and even then, they must protect him, because if anything happened to him, they’d never get what they need!”

“Exactly!” Both Zhou Lie and Shen Mei nodded in agreement.

The analysis made perfect sense.

Were they in the same situation, they’d do exactly the same.

But there’s one unfortunate twist.

The opposition is using a ‘discarded pawn’ to distract us; their real aim is to snatch Wu Hanran.

I bet they’ve already fled Capital City S.

The lead has completely dried up…

“It doesn’t matter if the trail goes cold!”

Suddenly, Xiao Yu’s expression turned oddly eerie.

Shen Mei and Zhou Lie were stunned, staring blankly at their little brother.

“What’s with the looks? Trying to get a rise out of me or something?” Xiao Yu shrugged. “The ninth Hideout—wait, no!”

Smack!

Zhou Lie patted his head while Shen Mei finally caught on.

They’d been so busy chasing a suspect that they completely forgot the main point.

“When we were tracking Wu Hanran, I took a quick look at that exposed area—there wasn’t a single hint of a passage underground.”

Xiao Yu grinned broadly. “Which means my deduction was off!”

Getting the hideout’s location wrong and still being happy?

Of course I am.

It shows that the other side also missed the mark—they ended up doing exactly as I predicted.

And what does that tell us?

It means they don’t actually know the precise location of the hideout either.

We’re all starting from the same line!

Their plan is to locate the final two hideouts to secure a certain item.

But what if Xiao Yu and the others beat them to it?

Then their operatives will inevitably show up, right?

Can we just sit tight and wait for a lucky break?

Sure!

It all comes down to who finds it first.

If they do it first, National Security’s efforts will have been for nothing.

But if National Security is the first to act, then they’re finished.

Sound about right?

Both Zhou Lie and Shen Mei, not lacking in wit, instantly understood Xiao Yu’s plan.

“But…”

Zhou Lie clutched his head, groaning, “How exactly are we supposed to find it?”

“Exactly,” replied another in silent agreement.

Shen Mei nodded. “Those blueprints have been kept hidden for decades, and now we’ve only managed to identify eight locations. If they were that easy to find…”

The message was clear—clever minds aren’t exclusive to us.

Do they really think those ‘experts’ are just bluffing?

They haven’t found a single one in decades, so why should we have any hope?

“I remain steadfast,” Xiao Yu declared.

With a smirk, he added, “We’ll follow our own path. Let others chatter away… or as the saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way!”

Zhou Lie could only respond with silence.

Shen Mei, likewise, just stared.

Is our little brother due for his meds?

“I refuse to believe it!”

He grabbed the Military Tablet nearby, pulled up the hideout blueprints, and gritted his teeth.

For some inexplicable reason, a surge of hope filled him.

Because… we’ve got the hook!

……

Without disturbing Xiao Yu, who was busy analyzing the blueprints, Shen Mei and Zhou Lie left.

Xiao Yu stood motionless like a statue, the tablet firmly in hand.

His eyes meticulously scanned every detail on the blueprints.

No, this won’t do!

Snapping back to reality, Xiao Yu shook his head.

Time to start over!

Step one: What should be our first move?

Replication Expert… first, commit these ten blueprints to memory.

Imitation Expert… begin replicating the patterns and textures on the blueprints.

Psychological Expert… analyze the mindset of the blueprint’s original designer.

Finally… push your mental analysis to its absolute limit.

From the very start, Xiao Yu’s greatest asset wasn’t his system.

It was his colossal brain!

So that he wouldn’t be branded a monster like in his past life.

In this life, Xiao Yu vows never to push his mind to such extremes.

Because when he does, he becomes nothing more than an emotionless, humanoid automaton.

In his previous life, no one liked that side of Xiao Yu.

People kept their distance from him—even if he cracked countless high-profile cases, his colleagues shunned him.

Nobody wants to work alongside a monster, let alone have their thoughts so easily dissected.

It’s like standing naked in front of him.

Facing those emotionless eyes.

Back then, Xiao Yu was utterly alone.

He despised loneliness!

So in this life, he changed—learning to master his mind.

He became upbeat, goofy, and joyful.

He learned to be childish, witty, gentle, cheerful, reckless, or calm… mastering life as a normal person.

He even learned to be a little spoiled in front of Mu Qingwu, knowing his sister adored that side of him.

“Why force me to revert to being a monster? I hate uncooperative, non-violent standoffs. Why not just sit down, enjoy some tea, and chat?”

But then, shaking his head, Xiao Yu’s eyes turned gradually icy and numb.

“What if… I were actually the original designer of the hideout!”

“Just because someone can’t design blueprints doesn’t mean they can’t build hideouts,” he mused. “That ‘ri’ character carries a heavy significance—it represents the nation!”

“Since there’s ‘ri,’ then… could there also be a ‘ben’?”

“The first eight hideouts were established at the four corners of the split ‘ri’ character.”

“Could the final two hideouts also be located at the corners of the ‘ben’ character?”

“If one character is used this way, then must the other still represent corners?”

“Or could it be more about the inner essence… What exactly is the substance of ‘ben’?”

“It’s in the two blank spaces within the ‘ben’ character!”

“If so, where does this ‘ben’ character reside?”

“Right next to the ‘ri’—adjacent!”

“By judging the size of the ‘ri’ on the map, we can infer the overall scale of ‘ben’ too!”

“This two-character necklace… by analyzing its font, we can deduce the distances on the map!”

“Then the positions of the two blank spaces in the ‘ben’ character should be…”

Xiao Yu looked up, his eyes suddenly sparkling with clarity.

“Found it!”