Dawn. The secret rendezvous point.
It was time to pull out. Both teams of agents packed up, ready to move.
"Bro Xiao? Bro Xiao! Where is he?" Lin Yao slapped the side of the truck, thoroughly exasperated. He'd been knocking for three minutes now, and the Bureau 13 agents waiting nearby were losing patience.
Li Yalin frowned. "Doesn't look like he's in the vehicle. Where did he go?"
The group exchanged bewildered glances.
Last night, Han Xiao had said he was going back to the truck to lie low. But now he was gone. What had he been up to overnight?
Qi Baijia turned to Zhang Wei's team. "What are you going to do?"
Zhang Wei: "...We'll stay. Wait for him to get back."
"Is that really necessary?" Di Susu raised an eyebrow.
"He's got the keys to the truck!" Zhang Wei gritted his teeth. He could feel the vein on his forehead threatening to burst free and ascend to the heavens like a furious dragon.
The others' faces twitched. Having this guy on your team—was it a blessing or a curse?
Qi Baijia looked displeased. He hated loose variables in an operation. He'd actually thought Xiao had a decent grasp of the bigger picture, but clearly, he'd been kidding himself. Any agent who acted on his own was a liability.
If this went sideways, he'd be the one taking the fall!
What a disaster.
---
On the other side, the Hai Xia agents noticed the Bureau 13 crew's behaviour and started whispering among themselves.
"Looks like some of them want to stay behind."
"Wasn't the plan to move together?" Ye Fan frowned. He went to ask Qi Baijia, got the full story, and returned to brief his team.
"Who's missing?"
"That logistics guy who always wears a mask. Name's Xiao Han."
"Him." Wen Na's expression tightened. "Think about it. Yesterday, as soon as we brought back the intel, Xiao Han dismissed it with zero evidence. Then last night, he vanished without a word to anyone. Doesn't come back all night. That's pretty damn suspicious. You think he could be a... mole?"
The Hai Xia agents froze.
"Easy." Ye Fan frowned. He didn't buy that theory, but he couldn't deny that Xiao's behaviour looked bad. He lowered his voice. "When we get back to camp, we report the facts to the commander."
---
The agents pulled out, leaving Zhang Wei's four-man team behind at the rendezvous point.
"So where the hell did Bro Xiao go?" Lin Yao couldn't help asking.
Li Yalin rolled her eyes. "How should I know? He didn't say a word last night."
Zhang Wei just shook his head, utterly drained.
That guy really doesn't see me as the team leader, does he?
---
Hours later, both teams of agents made it back to the border.
Wen Na and Ye Fan immediately reported to Kelte.
"A Bureau 13 agent didn't come back all night?" Kelte paced back and forth, brow furrowed. "You're sure?"
Wen Na nodded. "He slipped away last night without a word. Right after we got the intel on the Raven Valley base."
Ye Fan added, "It's suspicious, sure, but that doesn't make him a spy."
Kelte gave a slow nod. "I'll verify this with the Star Dragon people later. First, let's talk about the intel."
Wen Na: "The prisoners we brought back have been polygraphed—everything they said checks out. And the data Ye Fan pulled from their network is solid. We can trust it."
Kelte's eyes sharpened. "Then we move immediately. Delay could cost us."
Ye Fan hesitated. "If the military rolls out now, the Bureau 13 team still at the rendezvous point will be caught right in the middle of it."
Kelte waved it off dismissively. "Sacrificing one or two Star Dragon agents for a strategic objective is no great loss. A different flag flies above their heads—their loyalty will never be ours."
---
Meanwhile.
Xiao Han had taken the long way around, dragging his two captives with him, dodging every detector and guard post until he finally made it back to where he'd buried his toolkit. The journey had been brutal; he was on the verge of collapse. These dead weights didn't have environment-sealing suits, and it had taken him hours to bypass every security zone. Luckily, his prisoners were tech guys—they handled the detectors and mines, and their intel had been invaluable. Without it, slipping away silently would've been impossible. They'd tried to pull a fast one on him once or twice, attempting to steer him into the surveillance zones. He saw through it instantly and made them regret it. After that, they fell in line.
The sun was high now. Xiao Han checked the time and sighed. "Not good. I'm way past schedule. The others have probably pulled out already."
He dug up his toolkit, grabbed the comms device, and patched through to Zhang Wei.
"Yo, yo—Yangtze, Yangtze, this is the Yellow River. Come in, over."
"Yellow River, my ass!" Zhang Wei's furious voice crackled through the earpiece. "Where the hell have you been? Gone all night! Everyone else bailed—we're stuck at the rendezvous waiting for you!"
"Yeah, yeah! You owe us! I want a new gear!" Li Yalin butted into the channel. You could practically hear her pouting through the static... which was kind of cute, actually?
Xiao Han shook it off and got down to business. "I infiltrated the Raven Valley base. Found some classified intel."
Zhang Wei's expression turned serious. "I'll patch you through to Chief Qi."
---
At the border camp, Qi Baijia picked up the comm. "Zhang Wei? What's going on—did Xiao Han turn up?"
"He wants to talk to you."
Qi Baijia's tone was frosty. "Then he'd better have one hell of an explanation."
Xiao Han came on the line. "I've got intel. The Raven Valley base is split into two sections—outer and inner. The outer zone's where the peripheral personnel—the low-level grunts—work. The inner base is deep in the mountain, reserved for core personnel. The peripheral members don't even know it exists. Intel on the inner base is classified from all peripheral personnel. And the passage between them can be sealed off at any moment..."
His interrogation of the two prisoners had revealed that Raven Valley was layered. Hidden deeper in the mountain was a secret facility stocked with vital supplies—the real heart of the operation. Command hadn't told the peripheral personnel about it. It was classified even to most of their own people. Even players in his past life hadn't known.
The inner base is connected to multiple escape routes. Core members could slip away without a trace. A crafty rabbit always has more than one hole. The locations of these passages were top secret—no one knew which route command would take until evacuation was underway.
Qi Baijia grasped the value of this intel immediately. If the Hai Xia forces didn't know about the inner base, they'd storm the outer layer, declare victory, and pull out. Meanwhile, the enemy's core would remain untouched, the inner base intact, ready to be quietly reoccupied later as an even more hidden stronghold.
Qi Baijia was stunned. He hadn't expected Xiao Han's unauthorised operation to actually yield results, and such critical intel at that!
'Cough. Well played, but let's be clear—acting without orders is still a bad habit...'
"Hold on. I'm reporting this to the commander right now."
Qi Baijia requested an audience with Kelte. The adjutant stopped him. After five agonising minutes of waiting, he was finally ushered in. As he entered the office, he noticed Ye Fan and Wen Na were already there.
Kelte gave him a curt glance. "What is it?"
"One of my agents has uncovered classified intel. I need to brief you."
"Xiao Han?"
"Yes."
Qi Baijia nodded, oblivious to the strange look that passed between Wen Na, Kelte, and Ye Fan.
Kelte's eyes flickered. "Go on."
Xiao Han's voice came through the comm, repeating his findings. He added, "If we strike now, all we'll take is an empty shell. I recommend delaying the operation. Let our people scope out the enemy's evacuation timeline and route, and map the inner base's layout. Then we can intercept their evacuation forces directly, avoid a frontal assault on their fortifications, and minimise losses."
Kelte listened, expressionless. Then, abruptly: "Where did you get this intel?"
"I disguised myself, infiltrated the Raven Valley base, and grabbed two insiders—"
Kelte cut him off with a sharp bark. "You're lying!"
In Kelte's mind, infiltration was impossible for Xiao Han. Even with a disguise—it didn't add up. Crafting a convincing false face took at least dozens of minutes. You couldn't prep one without knowing who you'd be facing. It was a paradox—like climbing a tree, realising you're too high, going home to grab a ladder, then using it to climb back down. Pure logical nonsense.
Xiao Han froze, then understood. These people didn't know about his mimic mask.
That ability was his ace in the hole. He wasn't about to reveal it. But without it, he couldn't explain the infiltration.
"It's... my ability," Xiao Han said vaguely.
"Then show us. Otherwise, it's meaningless."
Kelte's face was stone, his guard up.
This man... is highly suspicious indeed.