Qing Ruyan chuckled softly and said no more as they ate breakfast and covertly reviewed the documents.

Leder had checked into the "Moonship Hotel" ten days ago, while Liu Shichan had arrived three days prior. However, since Leder's arrival, all hotel expenses had been charged to Liu Shichan's account.

Chen Gu noticed that it was a very high-end hotel, with a daily room rate of six thousand Starshields. Big Sister's family is really wealthy, he couldn't help but marvel inwardly.

The factory Leder frequently visited, coincidentally, produced high-end, high-nutrition synthetic foods. They had their own laboratory, and their products had always maintained a good reputation. They owned their brand and also manufactured products for some large companies.

"Shall we go check out this factory?" Chen Gu suggested.

Qing Ruyan, seemingly bored that day, readily agreed with great animation. "Sure, but this is Empire River Star, your turf. If anything goes wrong, you handle it."

In broad daylight, the two sauntered over to the factory's exterior. This was the confidence of a professional. Chen Gu's perception could preemptively neutralize any threats nearby, and Qing Ruyan's abilities, similar to those of a Psychological Spy, meant they were easily overlooked, as others would subconsciously ignore them.

Then, under Qing Ruyan's lead, Chen Gu swaggered into the guardroom. The two security guards on duty turned a blind eye to their presence, continuing their tasks as usual. Qing Ruyan, with Chen Gu in tow, took two security uniforms, and they began patrolling inside the factory.

Chen Gu was internally assessing Qing Ruyan's professional abilities. They were different from a Psychological Spy's psychological invisibility, which was actually a form of mental suggestion that made one appear as an agreeable figure in the target's mind, engendering a kind of familiarity. Qing Ruyan's abilities were obviously more complex and powerful. She could mimic a President or make people turn a blind eye to her. Clearly, she wasn't a Psychological Spy; her profession was more mysterious and powerful.

As they patrolled deep into the factory, they encountered several armed warriors outside a small, standalone workshop. The warriors chased them away with guns raised, shouting, "No need for you to interfere here; we've already told you! Do you idiots need bullets to jog your memory?"

The two "left in anger and fear." Such a performance was a walk in the park for Great Actor Chen, but Qing Ruyan's ability to do the same was impressive.

After departing the factory, Qing Ruyan stroked her chin. "There's definitely something off. We'll come again tonight."

During the day, other members of the task force had already started checking into the "Moonship Hotel."

Chen Gu and Qing Ruyan continued their covert surveillance and recognized "Big Rabbit" at first glance.

She was not very tall and sported a pair of denim hot pants, her straight legs tanned to a healthy wheat color. She donned tactical boots and an olive-colored, tight tactical vest. Carrying a huge black tactical bag in one hand slung over her shoulder, with each step she took, her ample chest bounced vigorously. Chen Gu stole a glance. Remembering the girl's enthusiastic invitation to 'play with her rabbits,' I must have been a fool! How could I have refused such a hospitable host? he thought.

Despite dressing like a cool tomboy, Big Rabbit wore sunglasses with five-pointed star-shaped, colorfully bordered frames, lending her an instant lively and playful air. However, Chen Gu would never underestimate this girl; he was certain that her huge black tactical bag was filled with various types of beyond-limit weaponry.

After a day of covert observation, the two had a general understanding of everyone involved in the mission, yet they hadn't joined up with the group.

By nightfall, they had donned black tactical suits and quietly appeared outside the factory. This was Chen Gu's first mission without the support of the internal affairs, action, and cleanup teams, and he couldn't help feeling a bit nervous. However, in front of Qing Ruyan, he acted "firm and decisive," just like a veteran special agent.

The external guards posed no obstacle to them, and they easily reached the vicinity of the standalone factory building. Qing Ruyan pressed Chen Gu down and, after observing for a while, gestured to him with several hand signals.

Following her cues, Chen Gu noticed a hidden observation and sniper post on the workshop's roof, with sentry posts on the high points of the buildings on both sides as well. In covert areas around the factory building, there were four fire support points, all equipped with mechanically enhanced rapid-fire weapons.

Flawless, Chen Gu murmured to himself. In this state, it's absolutely impossible to enter silently.

Suddenly, Qing Ruyan sent Chen Gu a bill: 600,000!

Chen Gu was startled. He then saw Qing Ruyan press a button on her belt, and several ants crawled out, slowly making their way toward the factory building.

"Hyper-realistic scout bugs," Qing Ruyan explained in a low voice. "They can evade most surveillance and jamming methods."

Chen Gu saw that the fire support points hidden in the darkness were equipped with various superwave, infrared, and magnetic surveillance and jamming devices, yet they had no effect on these ants. He nodded. "Really useful, and really expensive."

He glanced at Qing Ruyan. But aren't you doing this to make money? The initial investment seems a bit high, doesn't it? So, not a word this woman says can be trusted.

The price of their complete realism was that these bugs moved at the actual speed of crawling ants. Chen Gu waited tediously for over an hour before the ants finally entered the factory building. Even then, they couldn't directly transmit images, as the signal would be detected.

Chen Gu and Qing Ruyan spent another two hours waiting before the ants finally emerged. Once they had slowly crawled back, Qing Ruyan collected them, and the two immediately left—the sky was almost dawning.

「Back at their dwelling,」

Qing Ruyan immediately accessed the bugs' records. After watching for a while, she didn't seem to find anything significant. This workshop appeared to be just an ordinary production site.

But as they watched it over and over, analyzing carefully, Qing Ruyan suddenly pointed to a corner in the video. "Here!"

Chen Gu saw someone taking something out of what looked like a refrigerator.

"It's so late, and the workshop has already stopped production. Who would come to get something at this time?" Qing Ruyan mused.

As she spoke, she began working quickly on her interface. The video angles weren't ideal, but she soon connected to the local bureau's AI via the network. Applying sophisticated algorithms, she stitched together the footage from each ant, finally piecing together a complete image from the fragments.

A person dressed in a special biohazard suit opened the freezer. In fact, from another angle, it was clear that this wasn't a real freezer but a built-in safe disguised as one. Even more eerie, the item taken out was sealed inside a transparent structure and looked like some kind of mechanical component.

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