Chapter 335: Official Stranglehold, The Prodigal Breaks the Deadlock

"A body double doesn't need to be an exact match; as long as it buys us time, that's enough." Lin Yu's gaze swept over the unconscious mole in the corner. "Take care of this person, and... those 'Ouroboros' scouts caught outside. That should be enough to handle the first wave of inspections."

"The key is that within the Liu Family, we must have absolutely reliable personnel to wipe away all our traces. At the same time, we must create chaos outside—the bigger, the better. Muddy the waters and draw their attention away completely."

"Create chaos..." the steward mused, subconsciously glancing at Liu Chengfeng nearby.

Liu Chengfeng had been sulking just a moment ago, but upon hearing Lin Yu's plan, especially the words "create chaos," his spirit suddenly surged. He slapped his thigh hard.

"I'm an expert at this!" Liu Chengfeng leaned forward a few steps, his face showing a hint of reckless excitement. "Isn't it just causing trouble? I'll take people out! I'll claim someone is smashing up a Liu Family venue, and I'll go take revenge, damn it! Muddy the waters! Zhou Minghui wants to investigate? Let him deal with the mayhem all over the city first! With my connections, causing a scene outside to stall them for a few hours is a piece of cake!"

He patted his chest, speaking with his usual second-generation heir tone, but this time, there seemed to be something else mixed in. Perhaps it was the lingering fear from his brush with the Ghost Sect, or perhaps he was stunned by Lin Yu's methods, or perhaps he simply wanted to prove that he wasn't just good at squandering the family fortune when the family truly hit a rough patch.

The steward looked at Liu Chengfeng, then looked at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu nodded slightly: "That will work. But it must be fast, and it must look real."

The steward no longer hesitated and immediately walked to the communication panel to begin issuing a series of orders. The Liu Family's hidden intelligence network and personnel, like a massive machine, began to operate at high speed around this audacious plan. Erasing traces, preparing the body double, setting up the "chaos" outside, arranging secret evacuation routes...

In the medical room, Xuanyuan Qing had been given another dose of sedatives and nutrients and had fallen asleep again. Yet, even in her sleep, her brows remained lightly furrowed. She seemed to sense something, her lips moving slightly, emitting murmurs like sleep-talk, though it was impossible to hear what she was saying.

Xu Xiaochuan sat by the stretcher, looking at Xuanyuan Qing's pale face, feeling uneasy. The burning pain in his back was getting worse with each passing moment, as if something were trying to claw its way out from under his skin. He couldn't help but reach into his pocket and touch the cold Chip.

Just as the evacuation plan was in full swing, and moments before Liu Chengfeng led a group of people, charging out of the Liu Residence with great momentum to "settle the score."

In the secret room, Xu Xiaochuan was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, trying to ease the pain in his leg and the turmoil in his heart.

Suddenly!

The Chip in his pocket, without any warning, lit up! Through the fabric of his Combat Uniform, it emitted a faint yet very clear white light!

Hum—

A very soft, very light humming sound that rang directly inside his brain!

At the same time, the scorching mark on his back reached its peak temperature! That sharp, stinging pain actually formed a strange, perfectly synchronized frequency with the humming sound emitted by the Chip!

Xu Xiaochuan opened his eyes abruptly, his muscles tensing instantly.

White light!

Through the thick fabric of the Combat Uniform, the Chip suddenly lit up, making the corners of Xu Xiaochuan's eyes twitch.

The humming sound crashed directly into his brain, sharp and overbearing.

The flesh on his back felt as if it were being pressed down by a red-hot iron, every inch of his nerves screaming. The burning pain and the humming sound overlapped and resonated at a bizarre frequency!

Xu Xiaochuan's body arched violently, his teeth chattering as he clenched his jaw, the veins on his forehead throbbing.

Lin Yu sat leaning against the wall, his already pale cheeks losing even more color; he caught the moment of the bursting light and Xu Xiaochuan's sudden agony.

He moved his body with difficulty, leaning close to Xu Xiaochuan, his voice lowered to an absolute, unquestionable command: "Take your hand out and press it."

Xu Xiaochuan trembled, reaching into his pocket almost by instinct, his fingers touching the Chip that was cold yet burning hot and vibrating.

The moment his fingertips touched the Chip, the white light grew even brighter!

The humming sound suddenly spiked!

The Chip detached from his fingers, hovering in mid-air, barely a few inches from his chest.

The light twisted and converged, projecting an extremely dim, constantly flickering 3D image above the Chip.

It looked like a blueprint that had been torn to pieces and then haphazardly pieced back together. Countless fine lines and strange symbols were intertwined, the structure so complex it was impossible to comprehend. The image was extremely unstable, flickering and breaking apart rapidly, with a few recurring characters occasionally captured.

"YA... Core..."

"Threshold... out of control..."

"Rejection... reaction..."

The steward's pupils contracted, his body leaning forward, staring fixedly at the fragmented light and shadow.

Liu Chengfeng was also stunned, the cigarette case in his hand crushed out of shape.

The image flickered faster, the blueprint shattered and vanished, and a blurred human silhouette flashed by, too fast to catch any specific features. Immediately following it was a fragmented audio clip, interfered with by strong electrical currents, leaking from the Chip; it was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, yet every word was chilling.

"... must... balance... shattered... find... otherwise... disaster..."

The sound stopped abruptly.

The light on the surface of the Chip dimmed rapidly, and with a *clatter*, it fell back into Xu Xiaochuan's outstretched palm, feeling cold to the touch, as if everything that had just happened were merely a hallucination.

Xu Xiaochuan gasped for air, his entire body soaked in cold sweat, the burning pain in his back slowly receding, leaving only waves of numbness and itching.

"Key..." Lin Yu repeated in a low voice what Xuanyuan Qing had said before falling unconscious, his fingertips unconsciously tracing lines on the floor. "It's not just Authority; it also records core technology, or... it's a warning."

This thing was even hotter to handle than he had imagined.

The steward straightened his body, his face returning to its habitual gentleness, though there was something else in that gentleness now. "It seems that what Miss Xuanyuan's father left behind is truly of great significance."

He walked up to Lin Yu and bowed slightly. "Mr. Lin, Brother Xu, this Chip is of great importance. The Liu Family may be able to provide some technical equipment to attempt... to decode the complete information within it. Of course, the item will remain in your custody."

Lin Yu didn't respond, simply helping Xu Xiaochuan up and letting him sit back against the wall.

He knew the Liu Family's calculations all too well.

The communication panel on the wall flickered again, signaling that the evacuation time had arrived.

The steward said no more and immediately turned to arrange the final steps of the withdrawal. The secret door on the other side of the passage slid open silently, revealing the even deeper and more complex darkness outside.

Just as they were about to step into the new passage.

In Haicheng, on the top floor of a brightly lit private club.

Zhou Minghui hung up the communication with an insider at the City Security Bureau, a cold, sinister smile on his face. He picked up another encrypted phone and dialed a number that hadn't been used in a long time.

The call connected, and a hoarse, slightly mocking male voice came from the other end: "Yo, Director Zhou, what wind blew you my way?"

Zhou Minghui tapped his fingers on the desk, his voice steady: "Tu Laoban, let's do business. The Liu Family... is sending a few mice out of the city tonight. Help me intercept them, alive."