Chapter 481: Cunning Boy!

Zhang Su and his group stepped out of the room, walked down the corridor, turned a corner, and found the massive laboratory occupying nearly half of the fifth floor, clearly showing Liao Youzhi's high regard for it—though in terms of sheer area, Cuileng Pavilion wasn't far behind, just lacking in hardware.

"When we get back, we'll haul these instruments with us—Fu Bo's team's research will really take off."

Zhang Su walked happily to the lab door, tugged the handle—it wouldn't open—and realized it was another password lock. He frowned. "Why the hell are there password locks everywhere? Did Leigou Mall used to have a dedicated counter for them?"

"That's right…"

But no sooner had he spoken than Pan Ru gave him a strange look and confirmed his guess, pointing downstairs. "There's a MiLian experience store over there—these door locks and some household appliances were all found in that exhibition hall…"

"Seriously…"

Zhang Su was speechless. Cities were full of all sorts of random junk, but it was useless.

He'd planned to try opening it himself, then remembered he could ask the captured researchers—but when he pulled out the walkie-talkie, he realized Guo Dachao was probably already nearing Tianma Island and unreachable.

He sighed, tapped the password lock, and turned to ask, "I heard Gong Chengming lives on this floor too?"

"That's right—just that small room we passed. Gong Chengming's room is tiny; he hardly ever works in it except when sleeping at night."

Ouyang Qiao explained his habits clearly.

Pan Ru bit her lip, admitting she couldn't compare to Ouyang Qiao, who was a spy by nature.

"Let's go take a look! Don't tell me it's another password lock!"

"I don't think so."

Ouyang Qiao recalled.

They arrived at the small room's door—and sure enough, it was just a regular lock. The door itself was ordinary too, like a wooden door ripped from somewhere else, worn and old.

"Gong Chengming lives plainly!"

Zhang Su stared at the wooden door—compared to Liao Youzhi's grand double doors, this place could be called a hovel.

He reached for the handle—click—it opened easily, no lock engaged at all. "This… hey."

Zhang Su opened the lock but didn't pull the door open yet—he sensed something odd. Slowly, he pulled it—and a pencil lead fell from the tripwire, landing silently on the welcome mat inside. Had it not been for the white mist's awareness, no one would've noticed.

As Zhang Su suspected, only Ju Wuying noticed this tiny trap—the rest were completely unaware.

"Didn't expect Gong Chengming to be this careless—he doesn't even lock his door when he leaves…"

Ouyang Qiao looked surprised at the neat, orderly room.

"Careless?"

Zhang Su gave Ouyang Qiao a sly look, then bent down and carefully picked up the thin pencil lead between his fingers.

"He's not careless—he's cunning."

"What do you mean?"

"A pencil lead?"

"A pencil lead is cunning?"

Everyone present was baffled.

"It's an anti-surveillance tactic. This pencil lead was placed on the tripwire—probably after he locked the door. If someone opens it, the lead falls. So if Gong Chengming returns and finds the lead gone, he knows someone broke in."

"I bet he opens his door slowly every day, pretending to be casual and calm, right?"

Zhang Su looked at Ouyang Qiao and Pan Ru.

Pan Ru stared at the door, then slowly nodded. "Come to think of it… he really does!"

"Wait, seriously?"

"Damn, this is Mission: Impossible!"

"Do you really need to be this careful in headquarters?"

"It's not just the pencil lead!"

Ju Wuying stepped forward, pointing at the welcome mat. "This mat isn't flush against the doorframe—it looks crooked, but I'm certain the two corners are positioned at a precise distance from the frame, known only to Gong Chengming. Also…"

Ju Wuying pulled Zhang Su away from the door, then grabbed the handle. "Look—this handle is loose, wobbling more than ten degrees. I suspect that before we opened it, the handle was resting at an angle only Gong Chengming knew." "Holy shit, heartless boy!"

Zheng Xinyu, Zhao Dezhhu, Lu Yubo, and the others stared, dumbfounded.

"Damn, is this even my own home? Why the hell is it like this?"

Zhao Dezhhu couldn't help asking.

"Probably because Gong Chengming is guilty—he's been planning to betray Liao Youzhi and fears exposure. But if he went to all this trouble with the door yet left it wide open, the room's probably empty. He just set these traps to see if anyone was investigating him."

Zhang Su stepped inside. The entrance led straight to the bedroom—like a cheap rental room—with a double bed in the corner, covered by a single quilt, neatly folded.

"Better safe than sorry. If Gong Chengming hadn't joined yesterday's operation, I wouldn't have targeted him. Too bad he had ulterior motives."

As he muttered, he walked to the bed and opened the wardrobe. Clothes hung inside; two elegant daggers lay in the corner; a micro-submachine gun, identical to the one Zhang Xin carried, hung on the side panel.

"Uncle!"

While everyone was inspecting Gong Chengming's room, Pang Dakun's excited voice echoed from around the corner.

"Gong Chengming won't leave anything useful here. Feel free to search if you're curious—I'm more interested in Liao Youzhi's office."

With that, Zhang Su turned and left the room.

"No secrets? Doesn't matter. These weapons are coming with us!"

Zhao Dezhhu happily stepped toward the wardrobe to take the daggers and the micro-submachine gun.

But Ju Wuying moved faster—like a ghost—and snatched both daggers in her hands.

"Hey, that's not fair—I saw them first…"

Zhao Dezhhu was furious. Seeing her smile at the daggers, he snapped: "Give me one! Why do you need both?"

"Sorry, I can't. One for me, one for Xiao Ling."

Ju Wuying fondly traced the blade of the special quench-forged, pale-blue dagger. The two daggers—one long, one short—were nearly identical, perfect as a pair.

"Ugh…"

Zhao Dezhhu was deflated. He'd planned to give one to Yu Qing—just like her—but he couldn't beat her, couldn't argue, and she'd gotten there first…

He grumbled and grabbed the micro-submachine gun instead.

"Uncle, did you time it?"

Pang Dakun saw Zhang Su and immediately stunned him with the question.

"Why would I time it? Go away—no one's keeping track of minutes or seconds. By the way…"

Zhang Su stepped forward, pointing to the end of the corridor. "Go straight to the end, turn right—you'll see a big room. That's the lab. Still got a password lock. Go figure it out."

"Really? Ha! Great, I'm on it—I've got experience, I'll crack it in three or five minutes!"

Pang Dakun, thrilled at another password lock, dashed off.

Zhang Su led the group back to Liao Youzhi's residence and headed straight for the secret room. Others wanted to follow, but the space was cramped—just eight square meters with a desk, chair, and bookshelf—so they stayed out.

Zhang Su's first attention went to the bookshelf's row of walkie-talkies labeled with tags. He checked each one—each bore the name of a survivor faction. There were eleven total, including Civilization Protectors, Little Eagle Society, and Tianqi Group. The Water Bear mentioned by Xiao Xuejian, and Absolute Justice in the Development Zone were also there.

Factions that traded walkie-talkies had at least dozens of members—significant groups. Liao Youzhi ran this exchange hub, taking risks while building familiarity with nearby survivor factions—and likely gathering intelligence too.

At the desk, Zhang Su found the notebook Pan Ru mentioned. Its new leather cover felt icy. He opened it—completely blank. Not a single word.

"Fuck!"

Zhang Su was disappointed. He pulled open the drawers—only to find them locked. But the lock was weak—he yanked hard and the drawer came out. Inside, newspapers and magazines were stuffed haphazardly—but beneath them lay another notebook, identical in design to the one on the desk.

He opened it—filled with messy, crooked scribbles.

"What's the point? This level of detail is nothing compared to Gong Chengming's!"

Zhang Su internally scoffed. Liao Youzhi was clearly setting up decoys—but his methods were crude.

(End of Chapter)