Chapter 182: The Mole

He Yun was currently in a difficult position; he had not expected that just as success was within reach, such a situation would arise.

A duel between level-nine powerhouses was no trivial matter; a battle between them could easily flatten this entire area to the ground.

He himself had nothing to fear, but what about the youngsters behind him?

Especially Lin Xiao—if anything were to happen to Lin Xiao, he was certain those veteran chiefs would swallow him alive.

It was precisely because of this that he was hesitant to act, fearing he might break the vase while trying to hit the rat.

"Hehe, you trash from the Sakura Country, how dare you provoke trouble in Huaxia? Aren't you afraid this will spark a conflict between our two nations?"

"I don't understand what Your Excellency is talking about. I take full responsibility for my own actions, and they have nothing to do with my country."

Seeing the other party's utterly shameless attitude, He Yun felt a sense of helplessness.

He had no desire to keep exchanging empty words with him, yet he dared not strike here—how annoying!

"My name is Matsushita Teru. Reaching this point was a last resort. I know your concerns, and I don't want to fight you here either. How about we head up first and talk?"

He Yun never expected Matsushita Teru to be so reasonable, which saved him a lot of breath.

However, he also sensed that something was amiss; the other party seemed equally reluctant to fight down here.

The exact reason was unknown, but this was precisely the outcome he wanted.

"Fine, we can't fully unleash our power here. Let's go outside to fight!"

Before leaving, He Yun exchanged a glance with Lin Xiao. He needed to hold Matsushita Teru back, and he felt much more at ease leaving the situation here in Lin Xiao's hands.

Lin Xiao nodded, as he too wished to avoid having two level-nine titans fighting in this location.

He Yun and Matsushita Teru departed just like that, without the slightest hesitation.

The two men who had accompanied Matsushita Teru opened their mouths several times to speak, but ultimately gave up.

They knew Matsushita Teru's capabilities, and they also knew they had been abandoned.

Lin Xiao rubbed his nose and looked at Zi Shu and the others beside him.

"What are you waiting for? Take these two fellows down!"

Zi Shu and the others snapped back to reality, charging toward the two men like ravenous wolves and fierce tigers.

Coming out on this mission, aside from executing a small fry upstairs, they hadn't done anything at all.

If they didn't strike now, they wouldn't get another chance!

The two men left behind—one at level six and the other at level seven—were not weak by any standard.

Yet in the face of absolute numerical superiority and raw power, all of that appeared utterly laughable.

Before the two men could even properly channel their spiritual skills, they were beaten to the ground by a group of rugged men.

"I said watch yourselves, leave some alive!"

"Don't you worry, Chief Commander, they won't die!"

Knowing that these men knew how to hold their punches, Lin Xiao began to search the surrounding area once more.

He truly couldn't figure it out. There had clearly been four people earlier, so why were there only three left now?

Where on earth had the remaining one gone?

Right now, his spiritual senses were operating at full capacity, yet no matter how hard he searched, he failed to trace the whereabouts of that fourth person.

What the heck! Could that fellow be a space-attribute user?

Seeing that things looked unfavorable, did he simply teleport away?

That was impossible. If he were truly a level-nine space-attribute powerhouse, how could he foolishly stay behind waiting for them instead of whisking these people away long ago?

Then where did the problem lie?

It wasn't a space-attribute user, nor was it anything from the dark-attribute. After all, even if dark-attribute abilities hid in the shadows, he would still be able to detect them.

Eliminating all impossibilities, only one possibility remained.

The detective's eternal truth: there is only one logical deduction!

This person had hidden among the existing people.

First to be ruled out were the special spiritual martial forces; the enemy wouldn't be foolish enough to hide among them. Therefore, he could only be hiding among the researchers.

Lin Xiao's gaze swept swiftly across the researchers, and his eyes quickly narrowed.

Just as he had anticipated, the number of researchers on the scene had become twenty-eight. In other words, taking advantage of the chaos during the explosion, someone had slipped in among them unnoticed.

Things seemed to be getting interesting.

At this moment, all the researchers had the black cloth removed from their eyes. Realizing that someone had come to rescue them, they broke down in tears of joy.

Lin Xiao looked over the crowd, finding no abnormalities among any of them.

That made things rather intriguing.

"Person in charge, please step forward for a moment. There are some details I need to verify with you."

As soon as Lin Xiao finished speaking, an elderly man immediately stood up. The old man's posture was somewhat hunched, and he looked to be at least seventy or eighty years old.

Perhaps from squatting for too long, he was unsteady on his feet.

Lin Xiao quickly stepped to the old man's side and steadied him.

"Thank you, young man. I am Wen Xu, the person in charge here. I knew you would come to rescue us."

Lin Xiao held a deep sense of respect for these individuals.

" Elder Wen, step aside with me for a moment. I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

"Alright, as it happens, I have some things to say as well."

Lin Xiao nodded and led Wen Xu to the side.

Before Lin Xiao could speak, Wen Xu took the initiative.

"Young man, we must not let these villains off lightly. Our research results were copied onto a flash drive by them; we cannot let them take it out, otherwise all the hard work we put in over these many years will benefit outsiders."

Hearing Wen Xu's words, Lin Xiao quickly offered reassurance.

"Elder Wen, rest assured, not a single one of them will get away. They won't be able to steal our work. Could you briefly tell us what happened here?"

Wen Xu gave a concise account of what had transpired in the research facility, allowing Lin Xiao to roughly piece together the sequence of events.

This research institute specialized in novel materials. If successful, it would drastically reduce costs across numerous fields.

Recently, the development of these new materials had achieved a major breakthrough, inspiring everyone greatly.

However, right at that moment, the enemy struck, killing the guards assigned to protect them and taking them hostage.

Those individuals had even directly copied their research data, leaving Wen Xu deeply worried.

"That's how it happened. Furthermore, I suspect there is a mole inside our institute. For the enemy to strike at this exact moment and precisely know the positions of the guards—it's all far too suspicious."

Lin Xiao cast a slightly surprised glance at Wen Xu.

He hadn't expected Wen Xu to notice even this.

"Elder Wen, do you have any suspected candidates in mind?"

"To be honest, I really don't. Most of my energy was devoted to research, so I don't know these people very well."

"Don't worry, Elder Wen, leave the matter of finding the mole to me."

Lin Xiao already knew who that person was. The first time he laid eyes on the researchers, he had memorized every single one of their faces. How could he possibly miss an extra person?

The surrounding surveillance cameras weren't just for show, either.

The reason he hadn't made a move yet was because that person was extremely cautious, constantly remaining among the other researchers.

Lin Xiao genuinely feared that exposing him outright might cause the individual to lash out in desperation and harm others.

Without absolute certainty, he would not act rashly.

Besides, he already had another plan in mind.