The Perfect Bait

"Three followers, two are from your Special Agent agency, what about the other one? Could it be a member of the Dawn Redemption Traitor Organization?"

"Regardless of who it is, my suggestion is to apprehend this third unidentified follower and eliminate the security risk."

With that, An Xiaoxue looked at Zhou Sheng, the Director of the Special Agent agency, "Director Zhou, will you arrange for your people to act, or should I?"

An Xiaoxue felt a faint sense of eagerness.

However, Zhou Sheng's face showed difficulty. He glanced at Colonel Liu Tianhu, then looked at An Xiaoxue and said, "Professor An, my suggestion is to maintain the current situation. Two Special Agents should be able to guarantee the safety of this student named Xu Tui."

An Xiaoxue's delicate eyebrows suddenly rose. "What do you mean? You've discovered a suspected member of the Dawn Redemption Traitors but won't act? What are you planning?"

An Xiaoxue, being extremely intelligent, saw Zhou Sheng's hesitant expression and immediately understood.

"Bait?"

Suddenly, An Xiaoxue slammed her hand on the table and stood up.

"Director Zhou, how dare you gamble with the lives of my Gene Evolution University students! To use a student who has activated fourteen Gene Points as bait, who approved this? If something goes wrong, who will take responsibility? As far as I know, you don't have the authority to do this, do you?"

Zhou Sheng, the Director of the Jincheng Special Agent Agency, looked somewhat helpless. "This..."

Just as Zhou Sheng was struggling, Colonel Liu Tianhu, sitting at the head of the conference table, spoke up, "After his plan was reported to me, I approved its commencement. Professor An, do you have any objections?"

An Xiaoxue's expression turned cold. "Colonel Liu, you are the Commander of the Jincheng Garrison. I cannot have any objections. Formulating the Bait Plan is the right of the Special Agent Agency, and approval is your duty. However, I want to say that the Special Agent Agency cannot disregard the lives of students for the sake of merit. These children who have just completed the Gene Aptitude Test currently have no ability to protect themselves!"

An Xiaoxue's words were like poking a tiger's backside, instantly causing the Director of the Special Agent Agency, Zhou Sheng, to stand up. He stared at An Xiaoxue with an extremely cold gaze. Liu Tianhu's gaze was also very chilling.

The next moment, Zhou Sheng spoke, "Professor An, you are correct, but this does not conflict with the fishing plan. We have dispatched Special Agents to track and protect the chosen bait, and simultaneously formulated a meticulous action plan to maximize the guarantee of the bait's safety. Furthermore, Xu Tui was not sent out by us as bait. It was our intelligence personnel who discovered early on that Xu Tui had already been targeted by members of the Dawn Redemption Traitor Organization. Therefore, the Special Intelligence Agency dispatched Special Agents immediately to protect Xu Tui," said Zhou Sheng, Director of the Special Agent Agency.

"Then why not arrest them directly?" An Xiaoxue asked.

"Doing so would alert the enemy. Secondly, we want to use the fact that the Dawn Redemption Traitor Organization has targeted Xu Tui as a line to follow. By playing the long game and fishing for a big catch, we hope to uncover the entire operation team of the Dawn Redemption Traitor Organization this time. This is solely to apprehend the Dawn Redemption Traitor Organization members lurking in Jincheng early and minimize the losses during this period of university student arrivals."

"Follow the trend? Maximize? What if something goes wrong?" An Xiaoxue was not intimidated by Zhou Sheng and Liu Tianhu's gazes at all.

"An accident?" Zhou Sheng sneered, "This plan has no accidents. We have made very thorough contingency plans to deal with any unforeseen circumstances. Even the extremely unlikely scenario of the bait being abducted out of the city has been included in the emergency plan. Of course, there is nothing in this world that can be controlled one hundred percent. If there is accidental death, I will bear the responsibility, but we are doing our best to avoid such a situation."

"I would like to remind everyone present that starting three days ago, Jincheng has begun partially implementing wartime regulations! At the same time, I understand Professor An's feelings, but once the operation begins, it can only be carried out. Temporarily suspending it will only cause more accidents and harm! However, I will order the Special Agent Agency to do its utmost to ensure the students' safety."

While he said he was reminding everyone, he was actually reminding An Xiaoxue.

An Xiaoxue bit her lip. Wartime regulations. That was not something a professor from Gene Evolution University could meddle with. Not even the Mysterious System could.

"Professor An, do you understand now?" Seeing An Xiaoxue back down, Liu Tianhu pressed his advantage and asked loudly.

"I understand." An Xiaoxue bit her lip again and slowly sat down.

"Director Zhou, tell those two idiotic subordinates you sent out to be more careful. They were discovered by a high school student. Can they be any dumber?" Liu Tianhu's words made the Director of the Special Agent Agency, Zhou Sheng, look very displeased. However, it was only because those two subordinates were not present. If they were, Zhou Sheng would have wanted to kick them. They were experienced veterans, Gene Liberators at that, and to be discovered while tailing a student was simply... unforgivable!

Everyone thought this minor conflict or interlude would end there, but when Liu Tianhu saw An Xiaoxue start fiddling with her personal communication device, his expression darkened again.

"Professor An, don't you understand wartime regulations?"

"You should know the confidentiality level of today's meeting. If you reveal information you shouldn't to that student and cause the plan to fail, you will have a seat on the tribunal of the Gene Committee's trial court."

Upon hearing this, An Xiaoxue laughed in anger.

With a light tap of her personal communication device, she projected the chat page and content between herself and Xu Tui for everyone to see.

"Xu Tui discovered he was being followed and was very panicked, so he asked me for help. Since Colonel Liu mentioned the secrecy regulations, I won't reply," An Xiaoxue said.

Zhou Sheng, the director of the Special Intelligence Agency, twitched the corner of his mouth.

Xu Tui discovered he was being followed and became suspicious.

He asked An Xiaoxue for help.

An Xiaoxue replied halfway and then suddenly stopped responding.

Heaven knows what would happen next.

A 18-year-old high school senior, under extreme fear, was very likely to do things outside of common sense, even exhibit some bizarre reactions.

Once such a situation occurred, it would lead to a consequence—variables in the operation, or even failure!

This was not something Zhou Sheng wanted to see.

Even less so was Colonel Liu Tianhu.

"Reassure him! But don't reveal the plan," Colonel Liu Tianhu immediately made a decision.

"This is you, Colonel Liu, who told me to reply, so I'm not violating the secrecy regulations."

An Xiaoxue added a sentence, first clearing herself, then her fingers flew across the keyboard, typing a message, but she didn't send it immediately. Instead, she displayed it first.

"Xu Tui, after my confirmation, among the three people following you, two are Special Agents from the Special Intelligence Agency assigned to protect your safety. The other one's origin is unknown and may be dangerous. Be careful.

During the meeting, do not disturb unless it's an emergency."

"Is this okay?"

An Xiaoxue asked, pointing at the projected reply.

Colonel Liu Tianhu and Zhou Sheng carefully read the reply several times. It was not only flawless but also excellent.

It appropriately revealed that two Special Agents from the Special Intelligence Agency were protecting him, which would prevent the student from panicking and taking extreme actions that could lead to the plan's failure.

The calming effect was very strong.

"It's fine."

Colonel Liu Tianhu said.

An Xiaoxue lightly tapped her finger to send it. The message showed as delivered. She sat back in her seat and remained silent.

This was all she could do. She hoped the young man would have good luck.

Outside the milk tea shop, Xu Tui, who received the message, was very surprised and confused.

Among the three people following him, two were Special Agents from the Special Intelligence Agency, and the other's origin was unknown and potentially dangerous.

At first glance, Xu Tui was quite happy.

Special Agents from the Special Intelligence Agency, whom he had only heard about on the news before, were actually protecting him.

This meant he was highly valued by the government, even having dedicated personnel assigned to protect him.

But Xu Tui's mind was very clear, and he quickly discovered a problem.

Those two Special Agents were there to protect him.

Then why weren't they dealing with the unknown, dangerous follower?

If the two Special Agents hadn't discovered him before, then after An Xiaoxue's verification, they should know now, right?

Even if they didn't, with An Xiaoxue as a communication channel, they could have directly asked Xu Tui.

But neither happened.

Moreover, An Xiaoxue's reply was also strange—telling him to be careful himself.

"In TV shows and novels, those tasked with protection always nip the danger in the bud.

Any threat source is investigated and completely eliminated.

Someone like me, who discovers a threat but doesn't act and leaves it hanging, is usually a decoy!"

Holy crap!

Holy crap!

Upon reaching this conclusion, Xu Tui felt a million 'grass mud horses' stampeding through his mind.

He, a genius who had activated fourteen Gene Points, was actually being used as a decoy!

Xu Tui felt that the possibility of his judgment was as high as seventy to eighty percent.

Xu Tui's heart grew cold.

An unprecedented sense of crisis immediately enveloped him.

"Go to the police station and sleep for two days, until school starts?"

This was the most cowardly option, and it was also very difficult to achieve.

You couldn't just sleep at a police station whenever you wanted.

Moreover, Xu Tui felt that since he was chosen as bait, he would likely be kicked out even if he went to the police station!

The Special Intelligence Agency's authority far surpassed that of the police department.

As for other options, there were even more variables and dangers!

He absolutely couldn't bring the danger home.

Self-rescue!

He needed to end his current dangerous situation!

Xu Tui's mind raced, analyzing every possible factor, course of action, and potential outcome.

At this moment, the three trackers were not far from Xu Tui.

They were behind Xu Tui, not far away, in the queue at the milk tea shop.

The two trackers who had been smoking together earlier had now separated. One was standing not far from Xu Tui, while the other had gone to buy fried chicken next door.

He took a bite.

Crunch.

The sound wasn't appetizing to Xu Tui anymore.

He could confirm that these two were likely Special Agents sent by the Special Intelligence Agency to track and protect him, the bait.

They could be utilized.

Soon, Xu Tui had an action plan.

His heart pounded a few times, a mix of nervousness and excitement.

"Calm down, you must stay calm!"

Xu Tui tried using his meditation breathing techniques, inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth, breathing as deeply and slowly as possible. Within a few breaths, he calmed down.

Not only did he calm down, but everything within a three-meter radius of him became incredibly clear.

"One hot vanilla coffee milk tea, I want the hottest one."

"Use freshly boiled 100-degree water, my girlfriend wants it!" Xu Tui emphasized to the shop assistant.

The shop assistant gave Xu Tui a strange look.

Boiling water?

Was he trying to scald his girlfriend into quitting milk tea?

However, the shop assistant complied.

Taking the milk tea, Xu Tui turned, lifted the lid, smelled the aroma and felt the heat from the scalding milk tea, and walked back along the long queue.

Soon, he approached the middle-aged man in shorts who had bought fried chicken earlier.

This was the tracker of unknown origin.

Sensing intently, Xu Tui suddenly perceived a strange piece of information from the middle-aged man.

The man's legs and nose felt unusually active.

"A Gene Liberator?"

An unknown Gene Liberator tailing him definitely meant trouble.

Xu Tui no longer hesitated.