Only after the footsteps faded did the two dare to slowly exhale, feeling as if their hearts were about to leap out of their chests.
“This can’t go on…” Gao Yuan wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice raspy.
“They know the terrain better than us, they have the numbers, and they have communications… We’re like rats trapped in a cage.”
Du Qiang didn’t speak.
He just gritted his teeth, his eyes searching the darkness.
Suddenly, he pointed to a dark branch ahead that looked narrower and seemed to lead deeper.
“There… I didn’t hear any movement that way. Want to try it?”
Gao Yuan hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
They didn’t have a better choice.
They set off again, keeping their footsteps as light as possible as they moved toward the dark passage.
The branch was relatively wide at first, but it grew narrower as they went, and the light disappeared almost completely.
They had to feel their way forward.
This made them feel slightly more at ease; at least it didn’t look like a place people came to often.
However, just as they thought they were temporarily safe and had progressed about several dozen meters into a slightly more open area that looked like a small natural stone hall…
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Several bright flashlight beams, like searchlights, suddenly blasted in from the entrance they had just used and from two other unexpected exits partially hidden by stalactites!
The piercing light instantly enveloped the two, leaving them nowhere to hide!
“They’re here! Target located!” an excited shout of relief rang out.
“Quick! Surround them! Don’t let them run again!”
Rapid, heavy footsteps echoed from three directions as at least a dozen fully armed soldiers lunged out of the shadows like leopards, quickly forming a perimeter!
The muzzles of their rifles glinted with a cold, eerie light under the flashlights, all pointed at Gao Yuan and Du Qiang, who were trapped in the center of the hall.
It was a trap!
This seemingly remote branch had likely been predicted as an escape route, or it was simply a bait-filled snare.
Gao Yuan and Du Qiang turned pale instantly.
Backed against the cold stone wall, watching the cold-faced soldiers close in, a sense of despair washed over them like ice water.
“Commissar Lu, Director Wang, please stop resisting pointlessly.”
A second lieutenant leading the squad stepped forward.
His tone was relatively polite, but his eyes were as sharp as knives.
“Come with us. It’ll be better for everyone.”
Gao Yuan and Du Qiang exchanged a look, seeing the same determination in each other’s eyes.
Go back?
If they fell into the hands of Su Xiji, who had total control of the situation, who knew what their fate would be?
They probably wouldn’t even get a chance to speak.
They had to fight!
A silent understanding was reached in an instant.
Gao Yuan stepped forward abruptly, as if he were going to speak to draw their attention, while Du Qiang tensed his body, preparing to strike the moment the soldiers relaxed — even if he could only take down one or two to cause some chaos…
Right at that tense, hair-trigger moment —
Creeeeeak — Clang!
A sudden, loud sound of twisting metal and a heavy object falling echoed from the darkness near the ceiling, diagonally above the stone hall.
In that instant, everyone was involuntarily drawn to the unexpected noise.
They all looked up or turned their heads at once — only to see a ventilation duct maintenance cover, which had been perfectly camouflaged against the surrounding rock wall, suddenly kicked open from the inside.
It flipped outward and hit the ground with a loud clang.
Immediately after, a figure leaped down from the pitch-black duct like a diving hawk or a flickering ghost!
The figure adjusted his stance in the air and landed with a heavy thud, standing firmly between Gao Yuan, Du Qiang, and the group of soldiers.
He was positioned perfectly with his back to Gao Yuan’s group, facing the encirclement.
An uninvited guest!
The sudden turn of events stunned the soldiers.
Their muzzles instinctively shifted slightly toward the intruder who had dropped from the ceiling.
The lieutenant’s pupils constricted, and he shouted sternly, “Who are you?! Don’t move!”
The intruder wore a tattered, stained combat uniform.
He was covered in soot and blood, and his face was dirty, but his eyes shone with startling brightness in the dim light.
He ignored the shouts and the guns around him.
His gaze quickly swept over Gao Yuan and Du Qiang behind him, then shifted back to the soldiers in front of him.
He didn’t give anyone more time to react!
In the brief moment when the soldiers were distracted by his sudden appearance and the encirclement wavered, he moved!
Whoosh — !
A bone-chilling coldness erupted from him without warning!
Although he wasn’t at his peak where he could freeze everything, the sudden drop in temperature and the spreading white mist still caused the nearest soldiers to gasp, their movements involuntarily slowing down.
At the same time, Lin Mo’s figure lunged forward like a ghost!
He didn’t choose to clash head-on.
Instead, he slipped through the relatively weak point between the soldiers on the right!
His speed was incredible.
Despite the limitations of this body, driven by the short-term burst of his Oracle power and his exquisite combat skills, he achieved an overwhelming surprise effect!
Crack! A hand-knife strike landed precisely on a soldier’s wrist, sending his rifle flying!
Thud! A side-thrusting elbow slammed hard into another soldier’s ribs.
With a muffled groan, the man stumbled back!
Snap!
A spinning heel kick swept away a rifle butt thrusting from the left!
His movements were simple, sharp, and efficient.
Every strike targeted vital spots or key points sufficient to temporarily incapacitate his opponents, never wasting an ounce of energy.
The chill brought by the Oracle power didn’t just interfere with his enemies; it also kept his own muscle responses eerily clear and precise under the stimulation of the cold.
In the blink of an eye!
In what was barely a single exchange, seven or eight soldiers were knocked aside, lying on the ground and temporarily losing their ability to fight.
It all happened too fast.
From the moment Lin Mo broke out of the pipe to the moment he took down several men, only two or three seconds had passed!
Seeing that no one else was standing, Lin Mo turned around quickly.
In a few steps, he reached Gao Yuan and Du Qiang, who were gaping in shock.
His face remained expressionless, but his eyes were sharp as knives.
He lowered his voice and asked a phrase that sounded completely nonsensical to an outsider: “… Blue Silver Grass Entanglement?”
“???”
Hearing this, Gao Yuan and Du Qiang were stunned, their faces filled with bewilderment.
Lin Mo’s gaze quickly scanned their faces, observing the slightest changes in their expressions.
After about two or three seconds, the pale woman in the female military uniform on the right had a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.
She seemed to use a great deal of effort to control her expression before she tentatively replied in an equally low but uncertain voice, finishing the second half of the phrase: “Spi… Spirit Power… Rank 3?”
Lin Mo’s eyebrow twitched imperceptibly.
It matched!
Only someone who also came from the “outside” could possibly complete the identification code decided upon by his Senior Sister.
His gaze locked onto the woman, his tone still calm and urgent.
“You are…?”
“Cough, cough.”
The woman’s expression suddenly became extremely complicated — a mix of helplessness, embarrassment, and the relief of catching a lifeline.
She used a tiny voice, almost a whisper, to speak quickly.
“I’m Du Qiang… my current identity is the Director of the Confidential Office of the 103rd Division, named Wang Yun…”
After speaking, she immediately pointed to the still-dazed Gao Yuan beside her.
“He’s Gao Yuan… his current identity is Political Commissar Lu Sanshan of the 103rd Division.”
“I’m Lin Mo.”
Lin Mo also responded quickly in a low voice, confirming his identity.
Outside the cavern hall, more footsteps and shouts were drawing closer.
Clearly, the commotion and the brief battle from earlier had attracted the nearby search teams.
Time was of the essence!
He frowned, suppressing the countless questions swirling in his mind and the intense impact of learning his teammates’ identities.
Making an immediate decision, he ordered even faster, “No time to explain! Get up, into the ventilation duct! Fast! We’ll talk once we find a safe place!”
He pointed to the squeaking maintenance hatch he had kicked open earlier.
That was currently the only path to temporarily lose the pursuers on the ground!
Gao Yuan immediately crouched down.
“Quick, Old Du, step on my shoulders!”
Du Qiang didn’t hesitate.
Although the lack of coordination in this body made him uncomfortable, he gritted his teeth and stepped up.
Gao Yuan stood up abruptly, and Du Qiang seized the chance to grab the edge of the pipe, struggling to climb up.
Lin Mo stood guard, kicking the walkie-talkie of an unconscious soldier several meters away.
As Du Qiang crawled into the pipe and Gao Yuan was about to follow, new silhouettes appeared at the nearest entrance.
“They’re over there! Don’t let them escape!”
Lin Mo’s gaze sharpened.
He flicked his wrist, throwing the last smoke grenade he had intended to save for a critical moment toward the pursuers!
Bang!
With a muffled sound, thick smoke instantly filled the entrance!
“Hurry!”
Lin Mo urged.
Gao Yuan seized the moment, leaped with all his might, and grabbed the edge of the pipe.
Lin Mo gave him a boost from below, and with their combined effort, Gao Yuan quickly scrambled up.
Lin Mo took a final look at the smoke-filled hall below, where shadows flickered and shouts continued.
No longer hesitating, he agilely grabbed the edge of the pipe, pulled himself up, and flipped into the duct like a monkey.
The moment he was inside, he didn’t forget to reach back and pull the deformed maintenance cover back into place.
Although he couldn’t close it completely, it would block the line of sight and delay the pursuers’ judgment.
Inside the ventilation duct, they were once again in a relatively dim and enclosed environment.
Only the faint chaotic noises from below and the lingering effects of the smoke served as a reminder of the narrow escape they had just had.
Lin Mo, Gao Yuan, and Du Qiang looked at each other in the dark, narrow pipe, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat.
The brief silence was filled with the relief of surviving, the shock of their confirmed identities, and countless questions waiting to be answered.
They had finally regrouped.
But now was not the time to talk; the danger was far from over.
“Let’s go!” Lin Mo broke the silence, his voice low and firm.
“We need to leave this area first and find a place where we can talk.”
He turned around and took the lead again, crawling back the way he came.
Gao Yuan and Du Qiang followed closely behind, and the three figures soon vanished into the complex maze of shadows within the ventilation system.