Chapter 112: Rescuing Rose

The meeting with Qin Yuanwei secured Qin Feng a degree of tacit leeway for his grey-zone operations, but that did not mean he could rest easy. On the contrary, it was more like a "license" to be used with caution—one wrong move and the consequences would be unthinkable.

Back at headquarters, Qin Feng immediately threw himself into the backlog of work. The collaboration project with Longteng Group had entered its substantive phase; the Joint Laboratory was being set up, and the technical handshakes were a tangled mess. The main structure of the Future Technology Research Institute was nearing completion, with interior fit-out and equipment installation next on the agenda. Su Jin's Gene Optimization Fluid project had also reached the most critical breakthrough stage for the Energy Stabilization Module…

Everything seemed to be barreling forward at full speed, step by step.

However, an urgent message from the Marseille safehouse shattered the calm once again.

The message came from Lei Zhan himself, his tone graver than ever:

"Boss Qin, Miss Rose… has been abducted!"

"What?!" Even Qin Feng's eyes hardened instantly at the news. "What happened? What about the safehouse's defenses?"

"The other side was extremely skilled. They exploited a brief maintenance window in the city's water supply system to pump a high-concentration nerve agent into the standalone building housing the safehouse! Our outer sentries and some of the interior team members were knocked out without the slightest warning. By the time the backup ventilation and CBRN units kicked in, the enemy had already breached the inner defenses and made off with the unconscious Miss Rose with a clear target in mind! They left no survivors at the scene—the operation was clean and precise, the work of… a professional intelligence agency or top-tier Mercenaries, far beyond the Shadow Trade Guild's level!" Lei Zhan's report carried deep self-reproach and fury.

Nerve agent? Professional methods? A clear target?

Qin Feng's heart sank. This was absolutely not the Shadow Trade Guild's revenge—they had just suffered a devastating blow in Marseille and could not possibly have organized such a precise, efficient operation in such a short time. Moreover, if it were them, the goal would have been to silence her, not go to such lengths to abduct a critically wounded person.

Then who? And for what?

The Key Fragment of Pandora's Box!

A thought flashed through Qin Feng's mind like lightning! The only thing of value on Rose was that Key Fragment. Whoever took her must be after it! And the enemy's intelligence capability was terrifyingly formidable—not only had they pinpointed Shield's safehouse, they also knew Rose's exact condition and value!

"Investigate! Throw every resource we have at it! I want to know who did this! Where was Rose taken!" Qin Feng's voice was ice-cold, brimming with towering rage. Taking someone he had just rescued, right under his nose—this was nothing short of a naked provocation!

Shield's intelligence network went into overdrive once more, vast sums of money poured out like water, and countless overt and covert lines were activated. At the same time, Qin Feng also tapped certain Special Channels authority he had gained from the partnership with Longteng Group, trying to pull information from a higher level.

Under pressure, efficiency was startling.

In just half a day, Shadow brought back preliminary—but chilling—leads.

"Boss Qin, based on the fragmented comms signals we've intercepted and feedback from certain unspeakable channels, we can basically confirm that the ones who abducted Miss Rose were the Alpha Squad!"

"Alpha Squad?" Qin Feng's gaze sharpened. He had heard the name before. It was not some fixed Mercenaries outfit, but something far more mysterious—a loose alliance of retired agents from the intelligence services of several Western powers, specializing in "wet work" that official channels couldn't be seen doing. Their strength was unfathomable, and they had no bottom line!

"Their destination is the Mediterranean Sea. The exact location is still being confirmed, but it's very likely some untraceable private yacht belonging to a certain multinational conglomerate! That yacht is most likely a temporary base for Alpha Squad, or… a transit point for a 'transaction'!" Shadow added quickly.

A private yacht? The Mediterranean Sea?

Qin Feng instantly grasped the enemy's intent! They had taken Rose to a moving target on the Public Sea precisely to evade any nation's jurisdiction, giving them the leisure to thoroughly wring out the whereabouts of the Key Fragment—and then… dispose of Rose!

Time was running out! Once the yacht sailed into wider waters, or once the "transaction" was complete, Rose was as good as dead!

"Pin down that yacht! Exact coordinates!" Qin Feng ordered at once.

"We're already trying, but their counter-surveillance capability is extremely strong—the signal keeps drifting. We need time!" Shadow replied.

Time… right now, time was the one thing they were shortest on!

Qin Feng's mind raced. Bring official pressure to bear? Too late, and it would tip them off. Send a Shield team to rescue her? In the vast Mediterranean Sea, how could they quickly locate and approach a heavily guarded yacht? Even if they found it, fighting an opponent of Alpha Squad's caliber on the Public Sea would be a coin toss—and it could easily get Rose killed in the crossfire!

Conventional options all seemed to lead to a dead end.

Just then, Qin Feng's gaze drifted, almost of its own accord, to a blank wall on one side of the office. Behind it lay the entrance to the Virtual Reality Deep Simulation Pod.

A wild, audacious plan instantly took shape in his mind!

He needed speed! Stealth! A delivery and combat capability beyond the conventional!

And right now, only one thing could provide all of that—the Shadow Shuttle aerospace craft, still sitting in System Space, waiting to be unlocked!

Although he couldn't pilot it in reality yet, in the virtual environment he had already fully mastered every one of its capabilities and operations! He could use the simulation pod to run an unprecedented "virtual rehearsal" and devise the perfect rescue plan! At the same time, this would also be an extreme test of the Shadow Shuttle's real-world combat capability!

"Shadow, keep tracking the yacht's coordinates—notify me the moment you have anything! Lei Zhan, pick our six best operators, kit them out with the most advanced individual gear and diving equipment, and have them on standby at all times, ready for long-range insertion!" Qin Feng rattled off orders.

"Long-range insertion?" Lei Zhan was taken aback. At present, they didn't have any suitable rapid transport that could guarantee pinpointing and approaching the target on the Public Sea.

"Just execute the order!" Qin Feng didn't explain, his tone brooking no argument.

"Yes, sir!"

Once his orders were given, Qin Feng immediately entered the simulation pod.

Consciousness linked. Virtual space unfolded.

"Activate the Shadow Shuttle, load real-time hydrological and meteorological data for the Mediterranean Sea. Simulation objective: covertly approach and storm a high-speed private yacht, complete personnel rescue, and extract…" Qin Feng fed a string of complex commands to his AI butler.

"Commands confirmed. Simulation beginning…"

In the virtual world, the Shadow Shuttle sliced silently through the clouds like a phantom of the night, closing in on the simulated target yacht at astonishing speed. Qin Feng was utterly focused, piloting the craft through a series of extreme maneuvers, evading potential radar detection, calculating the optimal penetration point and extraction route…

This was a race against time, and a precise, life-or-death rehearsal conducted inside a virtual world!

He had to succeed!

Not just to save Rose, but to declare to every force that dared provoke him—touch one of Qin Feng's people, and even if you flee to the ends of the earth, even on the Public Sea, the only road ahead is death!

The rescue operation was about to begin in a way no one could have imagined!