Chapter 11: The Perfect Bait
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Three stalkers. Two of them are men from your Special Intelligence Division. What about the other one? Could he be a member of the Dawn Salvation Traitor Organization?”
“Whether or not the last stalker is from the Dawn Salvation Traitor Organization, my suggestion is to take down the third stalker who is unaccounted for to remove the threat.”
After she finished speaking, An Xiaoxue looked toward the Division Captain of the Special Intelligence Division, Zhou Sheng, and said, “Division Captain Zhou, are you going to send men to take action? Or should I do it?”
An Xiaoxue gave off a slight feeling that she was eager to go.
Zhou Sheng’s expression turned a little complex. He looked toward Colonel Liu Tianhu, then turned his gaze toward An Xiaoxue and said, “Professor An, my suggestion is that we maintain the status quo.” He waited for a reaction. When there was none, he continued, “The two special agents we sent out can guarantee the safety of the student called Xu Tui.”
An Xiaoxue raised her brow. “What do you mean? We discovered a suspected member of the Dawn Salvation Traitor Organization but are not taking action. What do you guys want to do?”
An Xiaoxue was extremely intelligent. She immediately reacted when she saw how Zhou Sheng stammered.
“Bait?”
An Xiaoxue suddenly slammed her hands on the table and stood up.
“Division Captain Zhou, you sure have the guts. To think that you would dare to joke around with the life of a student from the Huaxia Genetic Evolution College… Allowing a student who had activated 14 genetic base points as bait… Who permitted it? Who’s going to be responsible if something really happened? Based on my knowledge, you don’t have that kind of authority, do you?”
The Division Captain of the Jincheng Prefecture Special Intelligence Division, Zhou Sheng, was a little conflicted. “This…”
“A student from the Mystery Branch who has activated 14 genetic base points and an Enlightened Mind Type at that. It wouldn’t be a big deal even if he meets with an accident. This bait is perfect!” Jin Qiqiang, the person-in-charge of student recruitment from the Huaxia Genetic Military College, added.
It caused the gazes of everyone present to fall on the Division Captain of the Special Intelligence Division, Zhou Sheng.
Just as Zhou Sheng was forced into a corner, Colonel Liu Tianhu, who was sitting at the main seat of the meeting room, spoke, “I approved the plan. Do you have any objection, Professor An?”
An Xiaoxue’s expression turned cold. She replied, “Colonel Liu, you are the commander of the Preparatory Defense Force. I cannot have any objections,” she paused and sighed, then continued, “Coming up with a plan involving a bait is within your authority. However, you can’t disregard a student’s life just because you want to contribute and look good. These children who had just completed the genetic exams do not have any means of self-defense yet.”
An Xiaoxue’s words seemed to have triggered a reaction. It instantly caused Colonel Liu Tianhu to stand up and stare at An Xiaoxue with a sinister expression.
“Professor An, you are right. I do want to obtain a military contribution. I do want to be promoted and become a general,” he shamelessly admitted. “However, this does not come into any conflict with the plan. We have already sent special agents to tail and protect the bait we chose. We have also come up with a comprehensive action plan. It will guarantee the safety of the bait to the greatest extent.”
“Also, we did not proactively decide to use Xu Tui as bait. Instead, it is because our informants had discovered that Xu Tui was being targeted by the members of the Dawn Salvation Traitor Organization beforehand. Hence, the Special Intelligence Division immediately sent special agents to protect Xu Tui.”
“Then are you not going to apprehend the stalker immediately?” An Xiaoxue asked.
“That would alert the enemy. Also, we want to take advantage of the fact that Xu Tui has been targeted by the Dawn Salvation Traitor Organization and see if we can get anything more out of the operation. We want to see if we can apprehend all of the members of the Dawn Salvation Traitor Organization who are involved in this operation.
“What we want to do is to capture all of the members of the Dawn Salvation Traitor Organization hiding within the Jincheng Prefecture and minimize the losses to the reporting date of this batch of students as much as possible.”
“Taking advantage? Largest extent… What if there’s an accident?” An Xiaoxue did not avert Liu Tianhu’s gaze.
“Accident?”
Liu Tianhu laughed coldly. “There will be no accidents. We have come up with an ample number of contingency plans. Those are enough to deal with any emergencies. We have even considered extreme cases like the bait being abducted out of the city within our contingencies.
“Of course, there’s nothing we can fully control in this world. I will take responsibility if there are any accidental deaths. However, we have already done all we can to prevent something like that from happening.”
Liu Tianhu had casually brushed off the possible death of a teen by saying that he would a.s.sume responsibility. An Xiaoxue, who had just wanted to help Xu Tui, was instantly infuriated. Her eyes widened, and she glared at the colonel.
However, without waiting for An Xiaoxue to say anything, Colonel Liu Tianhu’s next statement completely quelled the matter.
“Let me remind everyone present. The entire Huaxia, including the Jincheng Prefecture, have entered Level Two Wartime Preparatory Status three days before the start of the genetic exams.
“Currently, wartime provisions are in effect in the Jincheng Prefecture. Anything that involves safety and the genetic exam will be decided by the Jincheng Prefecture Preparatory Defense Force.”
Colonel Liu said that he was reminding everyone, but he was actually directing those words at An Xiaoxue.
An Xiaoxue bit her lips.
Wartime provisions…
That was not something a professor from the Huaxia Genetic Evolution College like her could object to.
Not even if she was from the Mystery Branch.
“Professor An, do you understand?” Liu Tianhu asked her loudly. He pressed his advantage when he saw An Xiaoxue showing signs of weakness.
“Under…stood.” An Xiaoxue bit her lips and slowly sat down.
“Division Captain Zhou, please tell the two idiots that you sent out to pay more attention. To think that they would be noticed by a third-year student. Could they be more stupid?”
Liu Tianhu’s words caused Special Intelligence Division Captain Zhou Sheng, to grimace.
However, Zhou Sheng did want to kick his two subordinates if they were present.
They had been in the Special Intelligence Division for many years and were both Genetic Liberators. However, they were noticed even though they were just tailing a student. It was unpardonable!
Everyone thought that the minor conflict was over. However, Liu Tianhu’s expression turned dark again when she saw An Xiaoxue fiddling with her communication device.
“Professor An, do you not know about the wartime provisions? The meeting today is confidential. You should know that. If you cause the plan to fail because you revealed something you are not supposed to, especially to that student, there will be a place for you in the tribunal court of the Huaxia Genetic Committee.”
An Xiaoxue became so angry that she grinned when she heard Colonel Liu.
She gently tapped onto her communication device with her finger and displayed her chat history with Xu Tui to the people in the room.
“Xu Tui noticed some people tailing him and was very fl.u.s.tered. He asked me for help. Since Colonel Liu mentioned the confidentiality clause, then I guess I should not reply to him,” An Xiaoxue said.
The corner of Zhou Sheng’s lips twitched.
Xu Tui realized he was being tailed.
He asked An Xiaoxue for help.
If An Xiaoxue stopped replying midway, who knew what would happen after that?
An 18-year-old student could do something completely illogical out of fear. He might even have a peculiar reaction.
There would only be one outcome if that situation happened. There would be countless complications to the operation which might even result in failure.
That was not something Zhou Sheng was willing to see.
Even more so, that was not something Colonel Liu Tianhu was willing to witness.
Xu Tui was a Mystery Branch Student who had technically activated 14 genetic base points. However, his genetic base points were a relatively weaker Enlightened Mind Type. They had spent a great deal of effort in selecting such a bait.
What’s more, someone had taken the bait in less than half a day.
They were just waiting for the target to bite, and they would be able to take it from there.
“Placate him! But you must not reveal the plan,” Colonel Liu Tianhu immediately decided.
“This is a reply that you, Colonel Liu, approved. I did not go against the confidentiality clause,” An Xiaoxue clarified. She first absolved herself from all blame, then quickly tapped on her communication device and input a message. However, she did not send the message out immediately. Instead, she displayed the message for all to see.
“Xu Tui, based on what I managed to find out, two of the three people tailing you are special agents from the Special Intelligence Division. They are sent to ensure your safety. I do not know where the other stalker is from, and you might be in danger. You have to pay attention to your safety. I am in a meeting. Don’t disturb me if there are no emergencies.”
“Will this do?” An Xiaoxue asked as she pointed at the projection.
Colonel Liu Tianhu and Zhou Sheng carefully read through the message multiple times. Not only were there no problems, but it was actually pretty good.
It sufficiently revealed that there were two special agents from the Special Intelligence Division protecting him and would not cause the student to become so fl.u.s.tered that it would lead to the failure of the operation.
It worked very well to placate the student.
“It’s fine,” Colonel Liu Tianhu agreed.
An Xiaoxue tapped on the b.u.t.ton to send the message. The interface showed that the message had been sent. She returned to her seat and did not say anything more.
That was all she could do. She hoped that the boy’s luck would not be too unfortunate.
In front of the bubble tea stall, Xu Tui, who had just received the message, was very surprised and a little confused.
Two of the three people tailing him were special agents from the Special Intelligence Division. The other was from unknown origins, and the situation posed a real danger.
Xu Tui was still very happy when he read the message.
He did not expect there to be special agents from the Special Intelligence Division, an organization that he had only seen on the news, protecting him.
This meant that he had been taken seriously by the government. They even specially sent someone to protect him.
However, the logic in Xu Tui’s head flowed clearly. He soon noticed a problem.
The two special agents were here to protect him.
Then why were they not attempting to eliminate the other unknown stalker who was said to be dangerous?
Even if the two special agents had not noticed the third stalker earlier, they should know now about the enemy after An Xiaoxue investigated it, right?
Even if they did not know that, the special agents should be able to ask Xu Tui directly, given his connection to An Xiaoxue.
However, they did not do anything.
Furthermore, An Xiaoxue’s reply was also very weird. She asked him to pay attention to his safety.
‘Television dramas and novels all show that people who are sent to protect someone else would often nip the threats in the bud. They would often thoroughly investigate the threat and immediately eliminate it, no matter where the threat is from,’ Xu Tui contemplated. ‘A situation like this where no action is taken despite the threat being identified usually means…a bait!’
F*ck!
F*ck!
Xu Tui, who had arrived at that conclusion, felt as though a million wild horses were racing through his heart.
A genius like him who activated 14 genetic base points was being used as bait!
Xu Tui felt that his deduction was 70% to 80% right.
However, in all of the novels and movies he had seen, it was highly probable that the bait would meet with an accident.
Furthermore, under normal circ.u.mstances, the people they sent out as bait were unimportant. They were people that the higher-ups could give up on at the critical moment.
Xu Tui felt his heart turn cold.
An unprecedented sense of crisis enveloped his heart.
“Do I spend a few days at the police department until school starts?” Xu Tui asked himself.
That was the most cowardly option. However, it was also extremely difficult for that plan to succeed.
The police station was not a place he could stay in just because he wanted to.
Furthermore, Xu Tui felt that since he was chosen as bait, he would be thrown out of the police station even if he went there.
The authority of the Special Intelligence Division was much greater than the police department.
His other options had even more variables and were much more dangerous.
Even more so, he could not bring the threat back home.
He had to save himself.
He had to resolve this current state of crisis.
Xu Tui’s mind turned wildly. He a.n.a.lyzed any variable he could use and the possibility of every course of action.
At this moment, Xu Tui’s three stalkers were not far away from him.
They were all queuing not far behind Xu Tui in front of the bubble tea stall.
The two stalkers who had huddled together to have a smoke just now had split up. One of them was queuing not far away from Xu Tui, while the other had gone to the side and purchased a bag of fried chicken.
He bit into the chicken.
Crunch.
Xu Tui didn’t find the chicken delicious.
He could conclude that these two people were the special agents that the Special Intelligence Division had sent to protect their bait.
He could use them.
Soon, Xu Tui decided on a course of action.
His heart beat anxiously. He was nervous but also excited.
“Calm down. I have to be calm.”
Xu Tui tried using the breathing technique he used in his meditation. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth. He tried to drag the breaths for as long as possible. It only took him a few breaths to collect himself.
Not only did he calm himself down, but the 3-meter area around him became clearly reflected in his mind.
“A cup of hot vanilla milk tea. I want the hottest one you have.” He quickly added, “Please use the water that you have just boiled. My girlfriend needs it.”.
The attendant observed Xu Tui with a strange gaze.
Boiling water?
Do you want to burn your girlfriend’s tongue so that she quits drinking bubble tea?
However, the attendant did as she was told.
After fetching over the bubble tea, Xu Tui turned around and pulled off the cover of the cup containing the drink. He smelled the hot tea and felt its heat. He then walked back, keeping close to the queue.
Soon, he got close to the middle-aged man who had bought the fried chicken alone just now.
That man was the stalker with unknown origins.
Sensing the area with his full concentration, Xu Tui suddenly got a strange sensation coming from the middle-aged man’s body.
This middle-aged man’s legs and nose gave him the feeling that they were exceptionally active.
‘Is he a Genetic Liberator?’ Xu Tui mused.
An unknown Genetic Liberator was observing him. There was definitely a problem.
Xu Tui hesitated no longer.