The more nervous you are when infiltrating, the easier it is to be exposed. Han Xiao had experience in infiltration, so he remained calm and composed, walking with a brisk pace, and did not attract attention.
After wandering around the base for a while, he gradually figured out its layout. The base was hidden inside the mountain and was quite large, five or six times larger than the laboratory he had stayed in before. It had two exits: one was the main entrance, and the other was a side door that directly connected to the outside world, which was used to facilitate the entry and exit of personnel alone.
For some reason, Han Xiao felt that something was off about the base, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
Most of the people had serious expressions, as if a storm was brewing, and were hurriedly moving important supplies.
"Have you heard? We're ordered to evacuate. It seems the Hesla people have discovered us."
"The higher-ups say the spies in Crow Forest Town have gone missing; it seems war is indeed imminent."
As Han Xiao rounded a corner, he heard voices. Several armed guards were gathered together, talking with worried expressions. Upon seeing Han Xiao, one of them called out, "Hey, Talamande, what did you find during your search?"
Talamande is H223's real name, a Caucasian. Han Xiao had wrapped himself up tightly in his uniform, obscuring his skin color.
These guards seemed to know Talamande. Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and he said, "The sentries outside have all been Sniping, and no enemy has been spotted. I suspect this is an operation by the Hesla people."
The guards looked worried; they were armed and would be responsible for repelling any enemy attack.
"I really envy those civilian staff who were able to evacuate first," a guard said indignantly.
Han Xiao's eyes flashed. The evacuation of Dark Crow Valley Base was expected, after all, they were facing the regular army of Hesla, and this was just a branch base. It was impossible for everyone to stay and fight to the death. But evacuation was not an easy task. So many people would leave traces in the jungle and be tracked by the Hesla army. Therefore, some armed personnel had to stay behind to cover the rear and engage the enemy, while the officers, cadres, and civilian personnel took important supplies and left first. Some classified materials were more important than people. The armed personnel who stayed behind would only receive the evacuation order after the cadres were out of danger.
The ultimate goal of the faction mission is to destroy Dark Crow Valley Base, which includes the enemy's manpower. If you only capture an empty base, the mission completion rate will be very low.
Han Xiao suddenly realized something, "The base knew about Hesla's invasion, so why didn't they evacuate beforehand? Ye Fan invaded last night, and now twenty-four hours have passed, which should be enough time for them to leave... Something's strange."
Just then, a burly man walked over and shouted, "What are you all idling around for? Don't you have anything to do? Get moving some things!"
Several guards hurriedly apologized with trepidation. Han Xiao's eyes lit up. This officer was none other than Dormon, the base's guard captain, a burly Shanu.
Such key figures certainly know the secrets of the base.
After scolding him a few times, Dormon turned and walked away. Han Xiao followed him from a distance. After turning a few corners, he suddenly froze. Dormon had disappeared, only out of his sight for two seconds.
The corridor was deserted, except for a storage room.
Han Xiao walked over and turned the doorknob of the storage room; there was no access control.
I pushed the door open and went inside. There was no one there. Various odds and ends were piled up inside. The room was about 100 square meters. The lights were off, but the light from the outside corridor shone in through the crack in the door.
Han Xiao suddenly frowned, noticing something was amiss.
The storage room was spotless, with not a single footprint on the floor.
Logically speaking, very few people should be active in the storage room. Even five-star hotels are too lazy to organize staff to clean it every day, so it's even less likely that these rough men from the Germinal Organization would be there.
Han Xiao was certain there was a hidden door here, otherwise Dormon couldn't have disappeared into thin air, but he couldn't find the location of the hidden door.
What lies behind the hidden door?
Han Xiao suddenly coughed, covering his mouth. Taking advantage of the bending over, he pulled out the only spider detector he had on him from his pocket, quietly tossed it into a corner of the storage room, and then quickly left the storage room. He found a blind spot without surveillance cameras, took out his tablet, turned on the spider detector, and kept a close eye on the storage room.
This lasted for two hours, far exceeding Han Xiao's time estimate. His mind remained highly tense, and he felt a bit tired.
At this point, things finally changed in the storage room.
A crack appeared in one of the walls, revealing a hidden metal door. Two men emerged from it; they were not armed and appeared to be technicians.
"It really is a secret door."
The two hurriedly left the storage room, Han Xiao quietly followed them. His eyes darted around, and he quickened his pace, bumping into the two from behind, causing all three of them to stumble.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Han Xiao quickly apologized and helped the two of them steady.
Neither of them knew what to say.
Han Xiao circled around and continued to follow the two. At this moment, he had a white card in his hand, which was the access card that one of them had put in his jacket pocket.
Learn to Pickpocketing, and you can go anywhere in the world.
The card looked exactly like a regular ID card, but Han Xiao felt that the chip inside was different, giving it the ability to access a secret door.
Following the two, they arrived at the side gate of the base. The two greeted the guards at the gate and then went out.
Han Xiao suddenly had a flash of inspiration and finally realized what was unusual about this base.
Atmosphere!
Most people looked tense, worried that the Hesla army would launch a major attack, but a small number of people remained steadfast in their posts, seemingly without any fear, as if they had something to rely on, quite different from the tense people.
Without careful observation, it's difficult to spot the small group of the latter.
The two people who just walked out of the secret door looked completely confident.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, having a guess, but still needed to verify it. When he arrived at the side door, the guard stopped him.
"No one may enter or leave the base without a mission."
Han Xiao took out the ID card he had just stolen and said, "I bumped into those two just now, and they dropped this ID card. I'll take it to them before they go too far."
The guard at the gate nodded and then let them through.
Han Xiao walked out of the side door. Outside the base was a mountain valley. It was already past midnight. The two people walked a few hundred meters away and could only be seen as tiny the Sight of Father's Back. He hurriedly chased after them.
Hearing footsteps behind them, the two turned around, looking wary.
Your ID cards have been lost.
When Han Xiao approached, the two men realized Han Xiao was a colleague they had met at the base, and their expressions relaxed. The one who had lost his ID card patted his pocket and exclaimed in surprise, "When did you lose it? Thank you!"
"No need for thanks. We are all revolutionary comrades working together to build Germinal spiritual civilization in its early stages. This is just what I should do."
Han Xiao approached with a smile.
"You have an interesting way of saying things."
One of them smiled and was about to reach for the ID card when Han Xiao's expression suddenly hardened. He struck out with a powerful downward hook punch to the man's abdomen, the force penetrating through his flesh and impacting his gallbladder, causing the man's eyes to widen and spit out a mouthful of bile. Before the other man could even cry out, Han Xiao grabbed his neck, choking him, and slammed his head to the ground. With two consecutive palm strikes, he knocked both ordinary people unconscious.
Han Xiao pulled out his belt, tied the two of them together, and dragged them behind him. He made a wide circle to avoid any possible sentries. Once he estimated that they were far enough away from the base, he slapped them repeatedly to wake them up.
The two regained consciousness, their faces filled with terror. "You... you're not from the base!"
Han Xiao drew his Folding War Blade, his fingers tracing the Blades, his threat palpable. He coldly said, "I know you possess information that ordinary members don't know. Please tell me honestly."
The two swallowed hard, stammering, "We low-level members know nothing."
"A low-level member?" Han Xiao chuckled, then suddenly thrust his sword down, aiming straight for the lower body of one of them.
"Ah--"
The man was terrified, screaming like a pig being slaughtered. Suddenly, he realized it didn't hurt anymore. He looked down and saw the gleaming Blades grazing his inner thigh and piercing into the soil, only three centimeters away from his genitals. The cold, metallic sensation clearly reached his crotch.
"I know there's a secret door in the storage room. Tell me everything you know, or I'll turn you into the first eunuch in the Germinal Sect." Han Xiao's tone was filled with murderous intent.
Although the two didn't know what "eunuch" meant, Han Xiao's actions already indicated what he was going to do, and their expressions changed drastically.
"How... how did you know about the secret door?!"
"I'm the one asking the question." Han Xiao raised his knife, the blade gliding lightly along the other man's lower jaw, as if he were about to slice down at any moment, instantly scaring the man so much he peed his pants... Damn, he really peed his pants, my knife!!!
The two were dejected. Since the secret had already been discovered, there was no point in hiding it anymore, so they cautiously revealed the confidential information.
Ten minutes later.
Han Xiao frowned deeply.
"So that's how it is..."
[Reconnaissance II] Completed. You have gained 8000 experience points.