Sudden Incident

"Yes. No. 325 was the most meticulous person. When he sent those images yesterday, he personally promised to report the latest developments at nine tonight. There was no way he could have forgotten. If no information had come through, there was only one explanation—something had happened to him."

"That place can't be located," Changye said. "Trying to find him would be like fishing a needle out of the sea."

"That's why I wanted to ask this criminal investigation genius to give it a try. See if he can create a miracle in a godforsaken place like Prison Mountain!"

Two pairs of eyes turned toward Lin Xiaosu.

Lin Xiaosu frowned deeply...

Number 88 said, "The main mission of this operation is to find No. 325. If you complete it, you'll receive 300 points. The side mission is to discover the major finding he mentioned. If you can accomplish that, points will be awarded separately based on your contribution."

Lin Xiaosu shook his head. "A comrade's life hangs in the balance, and you're talking about points? The key is... why can that place transmit information, yet not be located?"

Number 88 explained the reason.

Prison Mountain lay on the border of Southern Sichuan Province. Its interior was extremely mysterious, with abnormal magnetic fields. Once someone entered the depths of Prison Mountain, all signals became impossible to transmit, and there was no way to locate them.

To send a signal outside, those within could only actively seek out special areas with satellite reception, such as the summit of a high mountain, and send information out from there.

But it was difficult for those outside to send signals to those within, because when a signal was sent, the person inside was most likely in a signal dead zone and simply could not be contacted.

"He sent over some images before? Where are they?" Lin Xiaosu asked.

Number 88 smiled faintly. "Accept this mission, and you'll be able to see the image data!"

"Fine, I accept!" Lin Xiaosu agreed without hesitation.

"Let's go!"

The three rose at the same time and stepped out of the library. They had just reached the flying vehicle when a huge macaque suddenly dropped from a tree—oh, no, Xin Yue had dropped down.

The instant Xin Yue landed, she sprang to Changye's side and grabbed her hand. "Sister Changye, I'm going too, I'm going too..."

"You don't even know what the mission is, and you want to go?" Changye said.

"Who cares what mission it is? As long as it earns points!" Xin Yue said. "Respected Instructor, this mission has points, right?"

She was asking Number 88.

In front of Number 88, she was always getting points deducted. Now she had learned her lesson somewhat—even her form of address had started edging toward fawning.

Number 88 said with a stern face, "The points are generous enough, but you'll need to make a contribution to earn them."

Xin Yue leaped eight feet into the air and climbed straight into the flying vehicle. "Wonderful! On one hand, I'll earn points and soar straight into the clouds; on the other, I'll snatch this brat's points and stomp him into the mud. Killing two birds with one stone! Instructor, even if this trip means facing your coffin face every moment, I'll do my best to imagine that face as an idol star..."

Lin Xiaosu wore an expression of toothache as he looked from one to the other. "She's targeting me this openly. Out in the middle of nowhere, are we going to end up fighting?"

"Don't worry. I equipped you with a gun!" Number 88 replied coldly.

Once inside the flying vehicle, he looked outside and saw a sky full of stars.

This was still Unit 101, where classified information was not permitted to leak, so everything outside was sealed off.

Number 88 tossed Lin Xiaosu and Xin Yue a set of equipment each.

The gear looked light, but when Lin Xiaosu opened it, he became excited.

Standard Qianlong equipment.

There was a suit of clothing that looked like a skintight outfit, but its material was highly unusual. It was insect-proof and moisture-proof while still breathable. It could not be torn or ripped, and had outstanding elasticity. Once worn, it could not stop heavy machine guns or submachine guns, but it could block one or two waves of pistol bullets—not to mention the thorns and brambles in the mountains and forests.

There was a dagger, its snow-bright blade etched with a dragon pattern.

There was a pistol, the training weapon he knew best. The difference was that this was a real gun.

There were also several hundred rounds of ammunition. All the equipment was connected to the suit in the most practical arrangement. The moment Lin Xiaosu put it on, he felt as if his entire being had been elevated.

Xin Yue put hers on at the same time, and she swelled with confidence as well. Patting Lin Xiaosu on the shoulder, she said, "Lin Little Pervert, don't get too puffed up over there. You may have gotten the gun you're best with, but this Dragon Armor of mine is bulletproof!"

"Lin Little... Pervert? What have I done that's perverted?" Lin Xiaosu glared at her.

"You didn't aim anywhere else when you fired. You aimed at this lady's... boobies. How is that not perverted?"

Lin Xiaosu was completely speechless.

Changye and Number 88 had probably long since grown used to her utter lawlessness. They were no longer surprised.

Number 88 tapped the screen lightly with a finger, and several images appeared amid the starry sky surrounding them. These were the images No. 325 had sent...

It was a strange orchid.

The plant was exceptionally tall. Its height had been measured at 1.89 meters.

Its orchid blossoms had eighteen petals, with filaments like those of red spider lilies.

The entire plant had an extremely peculiar coloration. Rather than the vivid colors of ordinary flowers, it was a deep green like tree leaves. In a primeval forest that was a sea of green, it would have been impossible to notice from a distance. No. 325 had only discovered it after getting close.

The moment he found this species he had never seen before, he used the high-precision specialized camera he carried to photograph it and transmit the images back to base for analysis.

Changye stared at the flower. "The major discovery Number 325 mentioned wasn't really this mutated flower?"

"Probably not. By the time he said that, he had already collected samples from this flower. If this had been the major discovery, he should have stated it plainly. He didn't, which shows that he had only discovered some clues regarding this major finding, but had not truly pinned it down."

Xin Yue's eyes flickered. "Sister Changye, you think this flower itself is a major discovery, don't you?"

"Yes! Judging from the plant's form, it is an ordinary orchid, but its size has inexplicably become so enormous. Its flower color has also evolved into camouflage. Such evolution is rare even in the animal kingdom, and even rarer in the plant kingdom."

When it came to understanding plants, if Changye called herself second, no one would dare call themselves first.

Because she was a poison person.

Her life's mission was to study the various genes within plants.

At the Qianlong Botanical Garden, she was one of the few authorities.

There were very few plants in the world that she did not understand.

Most plants bloomed, and most flowers were delicate, vivid, conspicuous, and fragrant.

Why?

Plants had little sense of aesthetics. When they bloomed, it was not because they wished to admire their own beauty in solitude.

They bloomed bearing the duty of passing on life.

Flowers were conspicuous, fragrant, or even foul-smelling because their fundamental purpose was to attract little insects that found things through smell and sight. Those insects pollinated the flowers, allowing their line of life to continue.

Orchids were the same.

Small size, bright flowers, and fragrance were the result of millions of years of natural selection, because those traits were best suited to the continuation of orchids as a species.

But the orchid before them had abandoned its ancestors' decision...

Its plant was as tall as a tree.

Its blossom color blended into the surrounding environment.

And according to the monitoring data Number 325 had sent back, the flower had no scent at all. It was neither fragrant nor foul.

That was strange...

It avoided every key point in the chain of life's continuation. It seemed intent on letting a lonely orchid bloom silently...

Lin Xiaosu stared at the images from different angles inside the flying vehicle, and his thoughts quietly branched off as well. Botany was not only Changye's specialty; he was proficient in it too. He also felt this was a suspicious point.

"No. 325 can't be located at present, but what about the place where he sent these images? Can that be located?"

His Temporal Reversal could currently only trace scenes back five days.

As long as he could find any point connected to Number 325 within those five days, he could follow that point all the way to track his movements.

How to make the process appear as scientific as possible was a matter for another level.

The key was that as long as the point could be located, completing the mission would be inevitable.

In theory, he was right.

No. 325 had sent images just last night. Image transmissions could be tracked and located as well; through various high-tech methods, it should have been possible to precisely determine where the signal had originated.

Yet Number 88 shook his head. "It seems you don't understand Prison Mountain's peculiar nature. Prison Mountain is called Prison Mountain because, in a sense, it resembles a prison between heaven and earth. From the summit of a mountain there, signals may occasionally be sent out, but the location from which they are sent cannot be pinpointed."

If it could not be located, what could they do?

Number 88 laid out the plan he had long prepared in full.

No. 325 had entered Prison Mountain Tavern a month ago, then entered Prison Mountain twenty-nine days ago. If they followed the route by which he entered and walked it once more, perhaps they could find traces of his passage. After all, Qianlong members were basically taught from the same textbook, and jungle survival had its habitual patterns.

Qianlong members would recognize these patterns at a glance. For example, what places were suitable for camping and what places were convenient for climbing—their judgments would be broadly similar. As long as they found his campsite, they might be able to judge his next route based on the traces and find him in the primeval forest.

This method was stupid, and the outcome was impossible to control. But when they reached a place where high technology could not set foot, the most primitive method became the only method...

Changye and Xin Yue looked at each other, somewhat dumbfounded.

Yes. From where they stood, they had long grown accustomed to Qianlong's high technology. For people in the world, let Dragon Eye search; for matters in the world, look them up online. But in places Dragon Eye could not reach and the network could not access, in a boundless primeval forest, searching for someone who had entered the mountains a month ago made both of them feel their heads swell.

Lin Xiaosu let out a soft breath. "It seems we can only use the most primitive method. But I don't recommend your method, because it's far too uncontrollable."

Number 88 frowned. "My method may be uncontrollable, but it is the only method!"

"No, it isn't the only one!" Lin Xiaosu said.

Xin Yue's eyes widened. "Talking back to an instructor—under Article 135, Clause 1 of the Reserve Corps Regulations, twenty points deducted! Instructor, deduct them already..."

Number 88 shot her a glare, then turned to Lin Xiaosu. "Go on."

Lin Xiaosu pointed. "For example, these four images convey some information."

Number 88's eyes flickered. "You mean this small river?"

Changye's eyes lit up...

Finding a person in the forest was difficult, but finding a river was comparatively much easier. Did Lin Xiaosu mean they should find this river?

As long as they found the river, the search area would shrink drastically.