Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 115 - 27 Modern Anti-Tracking

Chapter 115: Chapter 27 Modern Anti-Tracking

After concluding that "the beasts of Wuxue Town are likely connected to Huadu," Chen Jian quickly synchronized the news with the Ring Chamber of Commerce.

Their reaction was also within Chen Jian’s expectations.

They were not aware of this and were even skeptical.

However, to maintain the cooperative relationship between them, they promised to increase the reward for this mission correspondingly after receiving solid evidence.

Chen Jian’s demand was simple, which was just to upgrade the level of equipment.

Aren’t you offering "Level 3 controlled" equipment?

Then raising it to Level 2 shouldn’t be excessive, right?

This demand was actually quite reasonable, and Wang Lizhi did not refuse.

However, whether it could be implemented or not, he still needed to consult with the so-called "leader" for an opinion.

Chen Jian didn’t force him to make a promise immediately since such a response from the other party was more genuine and credible.

After ending the radio call with the other party, the few of them returned to the room Zhao He had prepared as a temporary resting place for them.

He Shuo was still diligently flying his drone, and after briefing the team and other members stationed in Yellow Stone City, Chen Jian took Zeng Yi and Xie Liu to the busiest dock area in Wuxue Town, hoping to catch a Huadu merchant by chance.

This place gathered many merchants from downstream, most of whom had been forced to stay here due to the previous conflict between Yellow Stone City, the Mechanical God Sect, and the Holy Blood, and as the mission left and the extreme standoff situation had basically ended, the merchants began to gradually leave.

It was also here that Chen Jian truly witnessed the diversity of means of transportation in this post-apocalyptic world.

Some merchants used small steamships of the Mechanical God Sect, some used manually paddled rowboats, and there were even barges pulled by manpower.

In contrast, the ground transportation tools were relatively simple, mainly using animal-powered transport, with a few human carriers.

This was probably related to the road conditions, as even if the Mechanical God Sect had steam locomotives, they couldn’t smoothly travel on most of the already damaged roads.

After watching for a while, Chen Jian couldn’t help but sigh:

"Traveling is difficult... No wonder the traditions of Yellow Stone City can still be relatively stably passed down over such a long period."

"Without the Mechanical God Sect, they might still maintain the purest form of ancestor worship..."

Upon hearing this, Zeng Yi, standing by his side, chimed in:

"Actually, not just Yellow Stone City."

"From what I know, various human settlements began to connect with each other only in the past hundred years or so."

"Over a hundred years ago, because transportation was too backward and the monsters were too powerful, humans in different places were mostly isolated from each other."

"It was only after the rise of the Mechanical God Sect and the Holy Blood Temple, which cleared some key routes of monsters, that humans reconnected."

"So these two organizations... one can’t say they were completely useless."

"At least during a certain period, they indeed played a significant role."

"That’s indeed true, I know."

Chen Jian nodded slowly.

Based on the information currently available, humans underwent at least one large-scale secondary disaster after the great catastrophe, and the human race only re-emerged after that secondary disaster.

This process must have been quite challenging. If it weren’t for the Mechanical God Sect and the Holy Blood Temple, independent human settlements could likely have gradually perished under the pressure of monsters.

Therefore, the historical achievements of these two organizations cannot be easily denied.

The reason for opposing them is just because they have gradually fallen behind.

Retracting his somewhat messy thoughts, Chen Jian coughed lightly, then said:

"Let’s not talk about this now. The most important thing right now is to find the Huadu merchants hidden among these ordinary merchants."

"Sigh, if only Xu Lie were still alive, with his nose, he could definitely pick up the scent of what we’re looking for."

"Speaking of which, is there anyone like him among the Holy Blood? Someone with sensitive smell, who can help us, is there?"

"Very hard to find."

Zeng Yi shook his head slowly and answered:

"His ability is quite special—this is also why he stands above us."

"To find a Holy Blood with the same ability, it would require the Holy Blood Temple to issue a personal order."

"But obviously, they are unlikely to do such a thing."

"We are still on opposing sides with them."

"Indeed..."

Chen Jian nodded somewhat disappointedly, continuing to scan the merchants at the dock.

Those merchants were also watching him, with eyes full of wariness and a bit of curiosity.

At this moment, Chen Jian suddenly had a strange intuition.

He felt that someone was watching him.

No, not the gazes of ordinary merchants, but a gaze filled with hostility, making him feel as if he had a thorn in his back.

----Hold on a moment.

If even the town mayor Zhao He knew that his team was here for the beast, would the Huadu merchants who orchestrated this know any less?

They also know the strength of his team.

So, it’s very likely that ever since the team entered Wuxue Town, they have been watched.

Chen Jian discreetly took a step back, then typed on the tactical goggles to issue an order:

"Move the drone over here, conduct thermal feature recognition of the dock area."

"1."

He Shuo immediately responded, and shortly after, the drone hovered hundreds of meters above the dock.

One thermal feature after another was identified and recorded by the artificial intelligence processing module, and Chen Jian with Xie Liu leisurely wandered through Wuxue Town, like aimless tourists, sometimes stopping at shops, sometimes sneaking into alleyways.

His actions baffled Xie Liu somewhat.

"Aren’t we supposed to find the Huadu merchants? Why don’t we go directly to the dock area to inquire?"

"Though they will hide their identity, they can’t be foolproof."

"There might be clues..."

"The team leader is searching."

Zeng Yi interjected:

"Stay close to the captain, act relaxed as if you are here to enjoy."

"Huh?"

Xie Liu was puzzled, but still followed Zeng Yi’s advice, relaxing his tense body.

Meanwhile, Chen Jian was multitasking, watching the flow of thermal feature images on his tactical goggles.

It was now 11 a.m., and the activities of Wuxue Town residents were frequent.

His vision was filled with dense thermal signals, and it’s impossible to find potential stalkers relying solely on manpower or naked eyes.

Fortunately, he had a PDA.

And in the PDA was integrated a comprehensive artificial intelligence tactical analysis system.

All thermal features were marked, and then their distance from Chen Jian and his two companions was calculated and iterated in real-time.

Chen Jian expanded the squad’s action range as much as possible, trying to move along alleys that were not easily observed.

Soon, a large amount of invalid data was filtered out.

Finally, only a dozen potential targets remained.

The distances of these target thermal signals from the trio remained relatively stable, matching the characteristics of "stalking."

But this wasn’t the final result.

Chen Jian still needed to rely on personal experience to rule out the last coincidences.

Thermal imaging instantly switched to white light images, and marked targets were gathered before Chen Jian’s eyes one by one.

He first ruled out residents who originally lived near their final stop, and then eliminated two children chasing a dog around, coincidentally sharing the squad’s route.

The range of suspected targets was narrowed once more, leaving only six people.

Of these six, four were armed city patrol guards patrolling various parts of Wuxue Town.

Their suspicion could be basically excluded.

That left only two.

Chen Jian zoomed in the lens on one of the men.

With just one glance, Chen Jian almost confirmed this was the target he was looking for.

Face greasy, full of pustules, emaciated frame, slightly floating footsteps.

But his eyes were sharp, even with a bit of excitement.

Damn.

The anti-drug radar rang.

"It’s him."

Chen Jian whispered, then handed the PDA to Zeng Yi and Xie Liu.

"Remember this face."

"On our way back, take him out!"

"Aren’t we going to continue tracking him? He might lead us to his base in Wuxue Town..."

Zeng Yi asked.

"No need."

Chen Jian exhaled gently, then said:

"The longer it drags on, the more uncertainty, and since the other party knows we’ve arrived, if they abandon this pawn to protect the car and retreat, our tracking would be in vain."

"Rest assured, no one can withstand interrogation."

"He will talk, in this aspect... I’m quite proficient."