Watching from the Shadows

I don't know why.

It was morning.

The sky in the distance, however, was somewhat gray.

Qin Yiguan sat in the cockpit of the Shadow.

He stared at the coordinates that God's Abandoned had traced through the mysterious bracelet.

"42117067/93214808..."

"That's a very long distance."

Qin Yiguan frowned slightly. "Xiao Ning has been out of contact for 13 hours. She was supposed to return in 12 hours. Did she encounter some powerful person? Did she fail?"

"God's Abandoned, can the speed be increased?"

"That's already the Shadow's top speed!"

Qin Yiguan frowned. He didn't really believe in 'premonitions' or any sense of foreboding.

Xiao Ning will be fine.

She was just delayed!

Brother's here to pick you up!

Qin Yiguan rose from the driver's seat, his gaze fixed intently on the road ahead.

11 hours ago.

Xiao Ning led 89 team members to the depths of the Experimental Zone, to an extremely barren area.

The distance from this place to the Core Earth is simply immeasurable.

Far from home, far from reliance, cut off all escape routes.

There's a saying that goes, "Looking at plums can quench thirst," but nowadays, this already impractical concept has become even more impractical.

The surrounding area is barren, still the typical Gobi Desert landscape, not strange at all, and quite common.

But a sense of fear crept into everyone's hearts—a fear of utter isolation and helplessness.

"It's just ahead, 400 kilometers away, there's something!"

Xiao Ning kept her eyes closed, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.

Hui gritted his teeth, "Overcome all hardships. This time, we can only rely on ourselves, we must rely on ourselves, and we must complete the mission!"

Along the way.

The team members were generous in sharing their Reality Enhancement, and the teams had already gained a basic understanding of each other.

Suddenly, a pretty girl with a ponytail from the Primordial Squad, codenamed Primordial-11, stretched out her hands, covering her eyes with two fingers, pinching her nose with two fingers, and plugging her ears with her thumbs.

Her Reality Enhancement, called ' Concealment '.

To be frank, it's the ability that countless wolves dream of—invisibility.

A semi-transparent beam of light, visible to the naked eye, emanated from the body of Primordial-11, slowly growing larger until it enveloped all the team members.

After her Fusion Rate exceeded 80%, her ability evolved from individual invisibility to group invisibility. She could not only reflect visible light but also shield herself from various electronic detection signals.

In other words, if you have this ability, you can benefit all your roommates in the dorm.

"Ning World" was activated, and everyone teleported forward another 300 kilometers.

They were completely shrouded in ' Concealment ', and there was nothing unusual about the yellow sand where they landed; no one could detect their presence.

But on the ground ahead, a cluster of buildings was clearly visible.

Amidst the swirling yellow sand, there stood a white, hemispherical building, connected by circular passageways several meters high.

Overall, it doesn't have that eerie or terrifying feel; instead, it exudes a technological vibe.

The Dragon Scale Captain, codenamed Radiance, squinted and whispered, "Captain Ning, that's a cluster of white buildings, it looks..."

"Thanks."

Xiao Ning suddenly smiled, "You don't need to describe it to me. Remember, I have my own understanding."

Hui pursed his lips. "Okay."

"Captain Ning."

"This looks like a large cluster of high-tech buildings; it must be a manufacturing plant for those kinds of robots."

Someone couldn't contain themselves and said, "I think we can just take care of it directly."

Xiao Ning's eyes remained tightly closed. "No rush."

Those around were puzzled. "Why? Does Captain Ning have some kind of battle plan?"

"No."

Xiao Ning shook her head. "No rush, no rush. I already promised my brother I would be cautious and make sure everything goes smoothly."

"Elder brother?"

Hui paid more attention to Xiao Ning than to others, asking, "Does Captain Ning have another older brother?"

As he spoke, Hui looked at Building 12-1.

Building 12-1 simply shrugged and spread its hands, clearly unaware of the situation as well.

Xiao Ning slowly began, "Brother Yiguan is an excellent detective. He has told me more than once that before doing anything, you must observe carefully and collect as much useful information as possible. Then, you must combine this information. If you can't find a breakthrough, you need to observe further and collect more information."

Hui looked puzzled.

Xiao Ning added, "That robot was so powerful; we must not act rashly."

Upon hearing this, Hui nodded emphatically, "Captain Ning is right!"

Hui then turned to his teammates, "Don't be impatient, everyone needs to observe carefully!"

The Dragon Scale Squad members were somewhat puzzled.

What's wrong with Captain Hui?

When faced with Captain Ning, they completely lose their opinions?!

If it were up to Hui's personality, he would have charged out already!

We watched from afar, 100 kilometers apart.

The crowd then began to observe quietly.

But in reality, no one could see anything. The buildings in the distance were as quiet as the surrounding world; not only were there no living people, but not even a single unmanned machine appeared.

What everyone relied on was still Xiao Ning, who was blind.

Hui looked at the girl in the red dress in the wheelchair, at her serene face, and at her gently swaying hair.

"Team Leader Hui."

One of the team members sidled up to Hui and said, "You seem to be paying a lot of attention to Captain Ning?"

"Don't talk nonsense."

"I just like her."

Hui blurted out something without thinking.

The team member exclaimed in surprise, "What did you say?!"

"Ah?"

What did I say?

Hui suddenly realized what was happening, his face flushed red, and said, "You've misunderstood! We're just on a mission together, and the situation is so dire, that... well, because of... that so-called reason... codename Dragon Claw! What are you doing? Get back to observing the enemy situation!"

Hui couldn't continue editing.

He could only glare angrily.

Dragon Claw Claw's mouth gaped slightly. "Captain, you... you concealed it so well."

Hui stretched out his arm and pointed into the distance, "Get back to your seat right now. If you dawdle again, I'll change your performance score for this month to a failing grade."

"Failure is failure... I'm going all in!"

Dragon Claw stood up, grinning mischievously, "Captain Hui has a one-sided crush on Queen Ning. I'll tell the announcer, Xiao Li, when we get back!"

Hui's face flushed even more, "You traitor..."

Xiao Ning smiled gently from a distance.

Is she 'observing' the buildings across the street?

No, that's not the case.

She was 'observing' this teenage Reality Enhancement Squad.

This girl Linglong perceptive; she had already realized a problem.

Azure Sword No. 0 was exposed just like that, and destroyed just like that.

Everyone turned their suspicious gaze toward the interior of the China Scientific Research Center, suspecting that there was a traitor among them.

But no one paid attention to the small team behind them.

Not only the employees of the China Scientific Research Center knew the location of Azure Sword No. 0, but also everyone in this team.

What if there's a traitor among them?

Let's assume it really exists.

How can we rashly attack the base ahead without finding this person?

There is another crucial issue.

Three Reality Enhancement Squad, totaling 96 people.

Before the assembly, seven people had been murdered.

In other words, the current total number of people in this team should be 89.

Including Xiao Ning, there were a total of 90 people present.

Why...

Until now, no one had realized that there was an extra person in the team.

Xiao Ning lowered her head slightly.

Moreover, the strangest thing is that everyone's existence is reasonable. They all know each other to some extent, chat and laugh, and even cooperate tacitly.

Has an extra 'ghost' appeared in the team?

Furthermore, it carries corresponding social relationships, is logically consistent, and no one can discern its true nature.

Xiao Ning raised her head slightly again, tucking a strand of her flowing hair behind her ear.

In her eyes, all 89 people were a tangled mess of black ropes, all very similar.

Xiao Ning was unable to contact headquarters to verify the list.

You can't even trust the people in Building 12-1 next to you.

Although she is blind, she must be able to identify this 'person'!