Chapter 130: Tracking and Counter-Tracking

Chapter 130: Tracking and Counter-Tracking

Everyone agreed with Ji An's reasoning, and the idea of making a public announcement was temporarily abandoned.

Determining whether the unidentified objects were flying saucers piloted by aliens was one of the most critical tasks at hand.

As soon as Gu Jinsheng finalized the duty roster, he immediately set off for Base H to conduct the investigation.

High-ranking superpowered individuals like Wan Xueying, Kong Zhongcheng, Zhou Qin, Owen, and Jiang Fuzhong had all been to Base H for tracking but detected no anomalies.

Among them, Owen had worked the hardest. She persisted in suspecting that this matter might be connected to Du Ruanlan, yet she still found no clues.

However, they didn’t come back entirely empty-handed. Though no anomalies were detected on-site, enhanced frame analysis of the recorded footage revealed the presence of those unidentified flying objects. While their exact nature remained unclear, it was certain that they were not mere system glitches caused by malfunctioning mech systems.

"I’ll go myself," Gu Jinsheng decided. Nearly all the elites had already visited Base H without success, and sending more people would be futile.

"Let me go with you," Ji An offered.

Gu Jinsheng gave a slight frown. "Next time. You’ve had your hands full lately."

"This won't delay things," Ji An insisted. "Please let me accompany you. With my research background, I might notice details you’d overlook."

"And if we do find anything suspicious, we’ll stand down and return to strategize before taking action."

Wan Xueying interjected, "Boss, let Director Ji go. As a psychic superpowered, he’s naturally more perceptive than the rest of us. He might actually discover something."

Ji An protested with a pout. "You promised me earlier. Are you going back on your word now?"

Gu Jinsheng lowered his gaze at Ji An, heaving a resigned sigh. "No impulsive actions, no matter what happens."

"Fine, I promise." Ji An made to swear an oath, only for Gu Jinsheng to push it down.

"Don’t swear so casually," Gu Jinsheng chided, his tone more exasperated than angry, laced with fond exasperation.

Ji An grinned.

"Get on," Gu Jinsheng said, and Ji An hurried after him.

As they watched Gu Jinsheng’s mech depart, Kong Zhongcheng made an exaggerated choking motion. "Why do I feel like I’m choking?"

"After all this time, you still haven’t gotten used to it?" Wan Xueying raised an eyebrow.

"I’m used to it, but force-fed this much PDA without water is still rough."

"Then drink some water next time."

"That’s not the point!" Kong Zhongcheng spluttered, but no one paid him any attention. Everyone had too much work to do and soon dispersed.

Gu Jinsheng guided the mech over Base H, conducting standard reconnaissance over the site of the missile explosion as usual.

All civilian population and animals had already been relocated. The humans were sent to various locations by the Capital Base based on individual preferences, while the non-mutated animals—valuable specimens Ji An needed—were retrieved and handed over to him.

Ji An had released them into his dimensional jade pendant.

"Wait, what’s that?" Ji An pointed at something moving rapidly on the ground.

Gu Jinsheng immediately acquired the target using the mech’s tracking system. Upon magnification, they saw what looked like a person—or rather, a mutant zombie.

It had two heads, three legs, and four arms.

"Wait, fly a bit lower. Something about its three limbs feels off to me." The distance was still a bit too far, making some details hard to see clearly.

Gu Jinsheng maneuvered the mech to descend slightly, now only a few meters away from the mutated zombie.

This time, Ji An could finally get a clear view of the rapidly sprinting freak on the ground.

"Its third leg..." Ji An saw it, but he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

Because that "third leg" was indeed a "third leg," but not in the way one might expect. It was positioned right in the middle.

"That’s not a leg for running or jumping, it’s more like..." By then, Gu Jinsheng had also finally seen what it really was. He covered Ji An’s eyes.

"Don’t look. It’s disgusting."

Ji An pushed Gu Jinsheng’s hand away. "You jealous control freak, it’s just a zombie, and you’re still getting possessive... Tsk tsk. But seriously, this must be a radiation-induced mutation. I wonder if some insecure men would envy it and want to get irradiated too, just to grow a... holy shit—"

Ji An’s eyes bulged like dinner plates.

The zombie, seemingly unsatisfied with its speed, suddenly used its "middle leg" to push off the ground while kicking back with its two normal legs, catapulting itself several meters forward in a single leap.

"Holy hell!" Even Ji An, who never cursed, couldn’t help but blurt it out. He winced in sympathetic pain and instinctively clenched his thighs. "Damn, that’s strong. That hardness puts every man on earth to shame."

He shot a sidelong glance at Gu Jinsheng. "Including you."

Gu Jinsheng’s fingers paused on the controls. He turned his head, his eyes glinted dangerously.

The sprinting zombie seemed to sense something. It abruptly changed direction and leaped upward, its claw-like hands reaching for the mech hovering above it. At the same time, all three of its faces tilted up toward the screen.

"Ah!" Ji An, caught off guard, shrieked.

Those three faces were nothing like human ones—their features were jumbled like a bad Picasso. The nose, if it could even be called that, looked more like an oozing abscess.

Gu Jinsheng tore his eyes away, smug. With a flick of his fingers, three green lasers shot out, each striking one of the zombie’s heads. The zombie’s heads burst, and its body plummeted, the horrifying visage vanishing from the screen.

With a smirk, Gu Jinsheng asked, "Still envious of its hardness?"

Ji An stared blankly. "..."

Was this man’s pettiness atomic?

Gu Jinsheng glanced at Ji An from the corner of his eye, his mouth quirking in amusement.

But suddenly, that faint smile froze.

Noticing the shift in Gu Jinsheng’s expression, Ji An asked, "What’s wrong?"

Gu Jinsheng’s expression went icy. "Something’s following us."

Ji An immediately leaned in to check the rearview feed on the screen, but there was nothing.

"I don’t see anything."

Gu Jinsheng shook his head. "It’s outside the camera’s range. They’re probably latched on to the mech’s hull."

Ji An’s expression darkened. "How did you notice?"

"The feedback’s off." Gu Jinsheng had piloted this mech in countless battles, his muscle memory razor-sharp. The slightest discrepancy was instantly apparent to him.

Ji An fell silent, swiftly called up the mech’s system readouts.

This mech was built by Ji An. If Gu Jinsheng had achieved perfect symbiosis in operating it, then Ji An understood every spec of this mech down to the decimal.

Sure enough, Ji An noticed discrepancies in some of the mech's parameters—minor fluctuations had appeared.

The two exchanged glances, and Ji An shot him a look for Gu Jinsheng to find a way to shake them off.

Gu Jinsheng gave a slight nod before abruptly jerking the mech into a sudden vault.

The move was unexpected, with no prior warning. Logically, even if the pursuers were highly responsive, they should have shown some lag. Yet, in reality, it was as if everything was just their minds playing tricks—as if nothing was there at all.

Gu Jinsheng muttered darkly, "They must be latched onto the mech's hull. We can't shake them off like this."

"How about sending Thunder Dragon out to check?" Gu Jinsheng suggested.

"No," Ji An refused flat-out. "We still don’t know what they are, and if we can’t lose them, it only means their tech outclasses ours. If they harm Thunder Dragon, you’d be in danger too."

Ji An’s eyes narrowed a fraction. "Ignore them. Let’s just proceed as planned. After all, we came here to find them. If they’re willing to follow us back to the base, even better. Once they’re on our turf, we’ll find a way to keep them there—no escape."

Gu Jinsheng stopped worrying about the unknown objects attached to the mech’s hull and continued piloting, scanning for other UFOs. However, throughout this time, he remained alert to any disturbances behind the mech.

The unidentified objects didn’t seem hostile—as if they were merely hitching a ride out of exhaustion, with no ill intentions.

The two fell silent. After about ten minutes, Gu Jinsheng instantly felt the mech’s controls snapping back to normal.

"They’re gone."

Ji An, seated in the mech, hadn’t noticed anything unusual. He quickly called up the diagnostics again and confirmed that all parameters had returned to normal.

He then reviewed the footage from the rear camera in the last minute and, upon careful observation, spotted three black dots swiftly zipping out of frame.

Gu Jinsheng wrenched the mech into a hard turn and accelerated in pursuit.

Ji An glanced at the screen—the targeting had auto-engaged and had already locked onto the objects.

"Earlier, they were tracking us. Now, it’s our turn to track them." Understanding Gu Jinsheng’s intent, Ji An grinned.

The unidentified objects were blazing fast. Even at full speed, the mech couldn’t keep up.

Ji An watched as the locked targets suddenly vanished. "They’re too fast. We lost them."

Gu Jinsheng remained silent, continuing to pilot the mech in silence. About five minutes later, the screen unexpectedly locked onto the targets again.

"We caught up!" Ji An whooped in surprise and delight. "Jinsheng, how did you know their direction?"

"Instinct." In truth, Gu Jinsheng didn’t know—it really was just instinct.

Ji An laughed. "I’ve always had these inexplicable gut feelings in my research. They’re surprisingly accurate."

This time, Gu Jinsheng didn’t lose them again—or rather, before they could, they reached the spot.

The unidentified flying objects weren’t making a beeline for anywhere else but straight to a volcano in Base R. This volcano was active, though it hadn’t erupted in roughly 300 years.

Scientists still classified it as active due to its documented history of multiple eruptions.

Currently dormant, the volcano still showed signs of life.