Chapter 126: Entrance

Lei Yin touched the very distinct tire tracks on the ground and exchanged a glance with Chang’an.  

Chang’an nodded, and Lei Yin stood up, motioning for the group to follow the tire tracks down the road.  

After walking about a kilometer, the tracks disappeared in front of a large cave.  

“Sir, should we go in?” Chang’an asked quietly.  

Lei Yin shook his head. “This is clearly a base, and this cave must be the main entrance. The interior is bound to be filled with surveillance cameras. There’s no way we can enter unnoticed with so many of us.”  

“Then what do we do? If we don’t go in, we can’t confirm if Little Lei is inside.” Chang’an’s face showed concern.  

“Don’t worry. A place this size is bound to have ventilation ducts. We can enter through those.”  

“Then let’s split up to search for the ducts,” Chang’an suggested.  

“Wait, let me try to locate them first.” With that, Lei Yin removed his gloves and placed his hands on the ground.  

Five minutes later, he opened his eyes and smiled.  

Seeing his expression, Chang’an knew Lei Yin had found the location, though he had no idea how.  

Lei Yin led the group to a cliff behind the cave.  

He pointed upwards, and the others immediately understood. They began taking out climbing equipment to ascend.  

Lei Yin checked his watch—it was around 4 AM. Dawn was approaching, and they needed to infiltrate the base before daylight.  

Gesturing to Chang’an and the team, Lei Yin started climbing first.  

The cliff was exceptionally steep and high, so it took the entire group half an hour to reach the top.  

After taking out and donning infrared goggles, Lei Yin could see that the area ahead was filled with invisible infrared beams.  

The group carefully avoided the beams by jumping or stepping over them. This was a critical moment—any misstep could alert the people inside.  

Once everyone successfully passed through the beams, Lei Yin brushed aside some hanging wild grass, revealing a square ventilation duct about a meter wide, slanting downward.  

Time was tight. Without a word, Lei Yin used his hands and feet to brace himself against the sides of the duct and began climbing in.  

Inside, the duct branched off into several paths. Lei Yin randomly chose the one on the right and continued crawling forward.  

The other team members followed close behind.  

After crawling for quite a while, Lei Yin finally reached a room. Through the gap in the vent, he saw that the room was small, containing only a bed and a desk with a laptop on it. A large man was fast asleep on the bed.  

Finally spotting someone, Lei Yin silently removed the vent cover and jumped down like a cat.  

Approaching the man’s bed, Lei Yin’s fingers moved rapidly, pressing several acupoints on the man’s body.  

After finishing, he slapped the man’s face hard.  

The man woke up with a start, drenched in cold sweat at the sight of a shadowy figure in front of him. He wanted to scream but found he couldn’t. He tried to move, but his body wouldn’t respond no matter how hard he tried.  

This terrifying feeling of being unable to move or speak nearly drove him insane.  

In the dark, Lei Yin could clearly see the fear in the man’s eyes. He slapped him again.  

“I can let you speak, but if you dare to scream, I’ll kill you immediately. Blink twice if you understand,” Lei Yin said in English.  

The man just stared blankly at him.  

Seeing this, Lei Yin struck his stomach with an elbow, causing him to grunt in pain.  

“I’ll say it again—blink twice if you understand,” Lei Yin said coldly.  

The man quickly blinked twice.  

After tapping his body twice, Lei Yin asked, “You can speak now. First, tell me—who are you?”  

“I…” The man opened his mouth, surprised to find he could actually speak.  

“Answer me. Who are you?” Lei Yin repeated.  

“I… My name is George Cornell. I’m a researcher here. Who are you people?” he asked, noticing two more individuals jumping down behind Lei Yin.

“What are you researching here?” Lei Yin asked.

“Anti-rejection agents for biological cells. I’m just one of the members in the research team,” George stammered.

Seeing his evasive demeanor, Lei Yin grabbed the bedsheet, shoved it over George’s mouth, and delivered several heavy punches to his stomach.

Watching George writhe in pain, Lei Yin removed the sheet and said coldly, “Don’t try to fool me. My patience is running thin.”

“It’s true! I’m really just a researcher working on that! It has nothing to do with me!” George cried, nearly in tears.

“What’s the purpose of this research? Don’t tell me it’s for organ transplant medication. You don’t seem like people with such noble intentions,” Lei Yin said, sensing there was more to it.

“They… They want to implant other things into the human body. To prevent rejection reactions, they had me develop this. But the drug has severe side effects and can’t be used on ordinary people. That’s all I know, I swear! Stop asking me!” George yelled.

Lei Yin quickly covered his mouth. “Who told you to yell? Are you trying to die?” He punched him again.

“Do you know where the young man your people captured two days ago is?” Lei Yin asked.

“I don’t know! I’m just a researcher. I spend all my time in the lab. I have no idea who they capture.”

Judging by his fear, Lei Yin believed he wasn’t lying. With time running out, Lei Yin decided not to dwell on their experiments and asked, “Do you know where captives are usually held? Do you have a map of this place?”

“The map is on my computer.”

Lei Yin gave a signal, and Chang’an immediately retrieved the laptop from the desk.

“Bring up the map of this place now,” Lei Yin said, unlocking George’s acupoints and placing the laptop on his lap.

George, his hands trembling, operated the computer. After a moment, he displayed a map for Lei Yin and his team to see.

“Call everyone down here and make sure they memorize this map. Whether we live or die depends on this,” Lei Yin instructed one of his men.

“Yes, sir.” The man quickly went to the ventilation duct to summon the others.

In less than three minutes, over twenty people crowded into the room, leaving George dumbfounded.

“What are these red-marked areas?” Lei Yin pointed at the map.

“I don’t know. They just told me those areas are restricted zones. Entering without approval means immediate execution,” George replied.

“Where do you think captives are most likely held?” Lei Yin pressed.

“I… I don’t know.”

“Is there anything you do know?” Lei Yin growled, landing another punch on him.

Ignoring him further, Lei Yin said to his team, “Memorize this map immediately.” He passed the laptop around.

“Sir, this place is massive. Searching it room by room would waste a lot of time,” Chang’an pointed out.

“I know. That’s why we’ll split into groups and search separately. How many explosives did we bring in total?”

“Each of us has three, so about seventy in total,” Chang’an replied.

“Good. Place explosives in key areas, especially those restricted zones. Set them all to detonate at 8 AM sharp. But plan your escape routes carefully. Don’t get caught in the blast. Whoever finds Lei Li first, send out a signal immediately. I’ll come over at once. Now, split up into groups of four and move quickly. Chang’an, you go too.”

“Yes, sir.” Chang’an led a group back into the ventilation duct.

“Once you’ve memorized the map, go. I don’t need anyone following me,” Lei Yin instructed the remaining team members.

After everyone left, Lei Yin unexpectedly struck George’s body at a specific point, leaving him lifeless on the bed without a single visible wound.

Placing the laptop back on the desk, Lei Yin adjusted George’s posture, arranging him to look like he had passed away peacefully. After ensuring everything appeared as though he had died in his sleep, Lei Yin climbed back into the ventilation duct.

Since the map didn’t indicate the location of the surveillance room, Lei Yin, like the others, had to search for Lei Li while also locating the surveillance room to take control and avoid detection.

Inside the ventilation ducts, Lei Yin crawled toward the area he suspected to be the surveillance room, relying on memory.

After nearly fifteen minutes of crawling, he arrived at a room. Looking down through the vent, he saw rows of seven or eight large file cabinets. It seemed to be a document storage room rather than the surveillance room.

Not wanting to waste time, he quickly moved toward another suspected location.

His luck turned when he reached the second room—it was indeed the surveillance room.

From the vent, he saw two tall Caucasian men inside. One was asleep, slumped over the monitoring console, while the other was engrossed in a copy of Playboy.

Lei Yin carefully removed the vent cover, extended his right hand, and flicked his fingers sharply. A gust of energy struck the man reading the magazine on the back of his neck, causing him to collapse unconscious.

Jumping down from the vent, Lei Yin approached the monitoring console and swiftly immobilized the sleeping man with a series of precise strikes. Then, he began scanning the dozens of surveillance monitors on the wall, carefully observing each feed.

Finally, on one screen, he saw Lei Li tied to a bed. A wave of relief swept over him.

Lei Yin woke the unconscious man who had been reading. After a round of threats and intimidation, he extracted the exact location of Lei Li’s room from him.

Using his radio, Lei Yin relayed Lei Li’s location to Chang’an, who immediately set off to rescue him.

So far, everything seemed to be going smoothly, but Lei Yin couldn’t shake an inexplicable sense of unease since entering the facility.

With no time to dwell on it, Lei Yin struck the two men’s death points, silently ending their lives without leaving visible wounds. Then, he hid a timed explosive under the surveillance console, set the timer, and locked the surveillance room door, barricading it with a cabinet.

After completing these tasks, Lei Yin re-entered the ventilation ducts and crawled toward Lei Li’s room.

“How’s the kid?” Lei Yin asked Chang’an after jumping down into the room.

“Sir, it seems Lei Li was injected with something. No matter what I do, I can’t wake him up,” Chang’an replied.

“Let’s get out of here first. You, carry him,” Lei Yin instructed another team member.

The team member nodded and immediately lifted Lei Li onto his back.

As they reached the doorway, Lei Yin suddenly felt a chilling sensation that made his hair stand on end.

“Get down!” he shouted, pulling Chang’an to the ground.

A barrage of bullets rained down behind them, followed by a blood-curdling scream. One of their teammates, unable to duck in time, was hit by the gunfire, blood gushing from his body.

Bullets continued to spray through the doorway, shredding the door into a hive of holes.

“Damn it! It’s a trap!” Lei Yin cursed, dragging Lei Li’s unconscious body to cover.

Outside, blinding lights suddenly flooded the room, and several high-powered spotlights illuminated their position.

“Mr. Shen, I didn’t expect we’d meet so soon,” a man’s voice boomed over a loudspeaker.

“Sir, that’s the man who spoke on the phone earlier,” Chang’an whispered to Lei Yin.

“Stall him while I find a way out of here,” Lei Yin said.

Chang’an nodded, then shouted back, “Is this how you treat your guests?”

The man chuckled and replied, “We warmly welcome our guests, of course. But for rats sneaking around, that’s another story. Naturally, Mr. Shen, you’re an honored guest. Why don’t you come out so we can talk?”

Chang’an glanced at Lei Yin, then stepped toward the doorway.

Under the blinding lights, Chang’an could barely make out a slightly overweight figure on the second floor. In front of him was a row of armed men in black uniforms.

“Shining lights in your guest’s face—is that your idea of hospitality?” Chang’an asked, his tone calm but firm.

“I admire your courage, Mr. Shen,” the man on the second floor said, clapping his hands. The glaring spotlights were turned off, leaving only the original fluorescent lights to illuminate the area.

At this moment, Chang’an finally got a good look at the man. He appeared to be a Caucasian in his fifties, slightly bald, and dressed in a white suit.

He looked no different from the average middle-aged man one might see on the street. It was hard to believe that such an ordinary-looking man was actually the person in charge here.

“What happened to the people who came with me?” Chang’an asked, this being his most pressing concern.

“They were just a group of rats trying to cause trouble. My subordinates have already dealt with them all,” the man replied.

Hearing this, both Chang’an and Lei Yin felt a pang of anguish.

The team that came here consisted of the elite members of their covert unit, each trained at great expense and effort. Any one of them could have been a top assassin in the underworld. Losing more than twenty of them in one stroke was the Black Dragon’s greatest loss in years.

“I’d like to know—how did you know we were coming tonight?” Chang’an asked, quickly regaining his composure.

“In exchange, I’d like to know how you found this place. That’s something I’m very curious about,” the man countered.

“Since you call us guests, shouldn’t you treat us with some courtesy? I’d prefer to hear your answer first,” Chang’an said assertively.

“You’re quite the negotiator, Mr. Shen. Very well, I’ll tell you. Come on out,” the man said, clapping his hands.

A moment later, someone stepped out from behind the group of men in black.

When Chang’an saw the person, his pupils contracted slightly. “You betrayed us?” His voice carried an unmistakable killing intent.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Shen, I had no choice,” the covert unit member said, lowering his head.

“Now you understand, don’t you, Mr. Shen? This man informed us of your plans before you even began your operation,” the leader said smugly. “I bet you’re wondering how I got him to betray you, aren’t you?”

Chang’an said nothing, his gaze fixed on the covert unit member.

Seeing this, the man smiled and pulled out a vial resembling a test tube.

“Number 18, bark like a dog for me, and this will be yours.”

The covert unit member lifted his head to glance at the man. When he saw the vial in his hand, an intense look of desire flashed in his eyes—a look Chang’an had never seen before.

“Woof… woof, woof…” To Chang’an’s shock, the man actually began barking like a dog.

The leader laughed triumphantly.

“You must be surprised, Mr. Shen,” he said.

Indeed, Chang’an was stunned. Although the covert unit members were his and Lei Li’s subordinates, they were proud elites. If anyone had dared humiliate them like this, they would have revolted immediately. What on earth could reduce someone to such a state?

The cause was undoubtedly the man on the upper floor. Chang’an raised his head to glare at him.

“As a gesture of goodwill toward my guest, let me answer your second question. Do you know what this is?” the man said, holding up the vial. “No, you wouldn’t. This is called T5, a drug our team recently developed. Initially, it was intended as a cell filtration agent. But during testing, we discovered something fascinating—it’s over five times more addictive than heroin. Every test subject who tried it became uncontrollably dependent on it.

“Unfortunately, it has a side effect—long-term use significantly lowers intelligence. If your subordinate hadn’t been so stubborn, I wouldn’t have resorted to using it. But it does have an advantage: unlike heroin, which is widely available, T5 can only be obtained from us. So, I never have to worry about anyone rebelling.”

Chang’an looked on in anguish at the covert unit member still barking like a dog.

“Now then, Mr. Shen,” the leader said, smiling like a gentleman, “shall we discuss how we might cooperate?”

“Go negotiate with your mother instead,” a sudden voice interjected.

Before anyone could react, a small, round object was hurled toward the group of men in black.