Chapter 1633: Whether to Restart the Investigation into Ye Shiyi

"Yes."

The team members who had joined the Ninth Intelligence Group together with Li Yanuo pulled up the investigation information on Shi Jiaran's family and displayed it on the large screen, beginning their briefing.

"In August of the second year of the Calamity, after the twin calamities of the Scorching Rain and the Insect Tide, Shi Jiaran's parents and her elder sister's family of six escaped the human gathering point seventy kilometers north of the Hui-3 Safe Zone and entered the quarry dormitory located four kilometers southwest of the Number Fifty Mountain hot spring valley."

The team member pulled up two more images—one an aerial view of the quarry taken in the fifth year of the Calamity, the other a current aerial view of the same area—and continued the briefing. "The quarry is on the southwest side of the First Peak of Hui-3's Number Forty-Nine Mountain, in Area Eight of the Blue Dragon Battle Team's training ground. At the time, the survivors inside the quarry were the quarry workers and their families. Shi Jiaran's brother-in-law's paternal cousin was a quarry worker. The total population was between eighty and ninety."

"In October of the second year of the Calamity, an evolved-microbe infection broke out inside the quarry, killing sixteen people. The survivors began to flee. They split into two groups. Over forty responded to a broadcast call and hurried toward the Hui-3 Safe Zone, which was under construction; of these, eight survived until the sixth year of the Calamity, and two are still living outside the outer city of the Hui-3 Safe Zone to this day."

After displaying the survivors' files, the team member continued, "The remaining thirty-plus people headed for the military encampment northwest of the quarry. Shi Jiaran's family was among them, but this group never reached the encampment. Their whereabouts remain unknown."

Li Yanuo analyzed the situation in light of the intelligence obtained today. "This survivor group of more than thirty was very likely the discoverers of the Hui-3 Number Fifty Mountain hot spring valley shelter. Going to the military encampment was just a pretext—their real goal was to monopolize the constant-temperature valley and build a paradise away from the world during the Calamity years."

After the Fire Phoenix went missing, Li Yanuo's intelligence squad, which had been specifically tasked with searching for Shi Jiaran's whereabouts, was merged into Qu Fangzhou's Ninth Intelligence Group, with Li Yanuo serving as deputy group leader.

The Blue Blood Alliance's purpose in this move was to combine the strengths of these two squads and locate the two missing Recovery-type Evolvers as quickly as possible.

After obtaining the intelligence on the hidden valley in Hui-3's Number Fifty Mountain, the members of the Ninth Intelligence Group were all very excited.

But the group leader, Qu Fangzhou—grey-haired and hollow-cheeked—was, as always, calm. "After Shi Jiaran's abilities were exposed, the Blaze Battle Team dispatched a total of seven search squads between the seventh and eighth years of the Calamity to conduct a carpet search of the area around the Number Forty-Nine Mountain quarry."

It was only after the Fire Phoenix escaped the underground laboratory, took Blaze Volcano, and secured her position within the Blaze Battle Team that she began sending people to look for Shi Jiaran's whereabouts, so the search started rather late.

Qu Fangzhou opened the search-area maps of the seven squads, turned, and used the indicator light on the page-turning pen to illuminate the location of the hidden valley displayed on the large screen. "Two of Blaze's squads searched this area. The first time was in March of the seventh year of the Calamity. At that time, the evolved forest at the base of this mountain was occupied by a pack of evolved jackals. The squad lacked sufficient combat power and did not conduct a full-area search."

Turning the page of the PPT, Qu Fangzhou continued, "The second time was in September of the seventh year of the Calamity. We dispatched a second squad that exterminated the evolved jackals and led olfactory-type evolved dogs to search this mountain area. The olfactory dogs did not pick up any clear, sustained signal of human habitation outside this crevice, so we assessed that no long-term human settlement existed in this area and ended the search mission for this mountain region."

After finishing the briefing on Blaze's intelligence, Qu Fangzhou looked toward Li Yanuo.

Deputy group leader Li Yanuo opened Blue Blood's intelligence database and pulled up the relevant information. "In the fifth year of the Calamity, our Alliance dispatched four squads and, through other channels, ordered the troops stationed at the old Hui-3 regiment headquarters to search this area. They also found no human survivors. These are the photographs taken by the search squads."

Li Yanuo selected one of the photographs—an overhead shot of the mountain crevice above the hot spring valley—and displayed it on the large screen. "In the first two years before the Calamity, this area suffered frequent geological disasters, producing a large number of mountain crevices and faults."

Li Yanuo then pulled up another document. "This is the search report from the squad dispatched in August of the fifth year of the Calamity."

Then Li Yanuo circled a piece of information in the report with a red line. "This is the exploration data for that crevice in the hot spring valley—a depth of 320 meters. If the search team had been able to investigate more deeply at the time, or had chosen different detection points…"

Li Yanuo's tone carried regret, and the team members shared it. If the search team had been a little more thorough, they would very likely have discovered the hot spring valley and found the Shi family.

If the Shi family inside the valley were still alive, they might be Recovery-type Evolvers; if they were dead, Blue Blood could still use their relics as bait to lure out the hidden Shi Jiaran.

Qu Fangzhou quickly reviewed the contents of the report Li Yanuo had displayed and spoke calmly. "The data in this report is seriously inconsistent with the scale of the valley we confirmed today. That is because the search squad had no auditory-type Evolvers, and their detection equipment was limited, so they only selected two points along the four-hundred-plus-meter crevice to conduct depth measurements."

The team members nodded, listening attentively.

"The people living inside only widened a seventy-meter section on either side of the hot spring, and the upper portion lies in a steep area. It is reasonable that the search team did not probe the depth of that part of the mountain crevice."

Hearing Qu Fangzhou pause, the four team members who had worked under her for many years began to feel a chill run up their spines.

Sure enough, Qu Fangzhou's tone turned stern. "Based on erroneous or incomplete data, it is technically possible that the search team failed to discover the valley that year. But from the standpoint of rigorous intelligence work, this was a major blunder. Yanuo, who was responsible for analyzing this intelligence at the time?"

That person was either not professional enough… or was a traitor within the organization.

The filing path of this old report's analysis itself might be a lead. Within the Blue Blood Alliance, blunder reports on important missions are usually subject to multiple reviews. If the analyst of the time reached the conclusion that 'no further exploration was needed,' they had to provide supporting evidence sufficient to back that judgment. Those supporting records might reveal even more!

Li Yanuo answered seriously, "I do not have clearance to access the relevant data."

Qu Fangzhou nodded. "File a report to request clearance."

"Yes."

"We must obtain the detailed intelligence from when Professor Fu Tianfeng's team discovered the valley in the tenth year of the Calamity—preferably image and video intelligence." Qu Fangzhou gave the order. "Pull up the data on the severely wounded veterans from Territory Fifteen in Northern Area One of Hui-3."

"Yes." A former member of the Blaze intelligence analysis team quickly pulled up the relevant data.

In order to confirm the true identity of Ye Shiyi, who had been adopted by Ye Yang, the Blaze intelligence team had conducted a detailed investigation of Hui-3's Territory Fifteen. This data had been brought back to the Blue Blood Alliance by Qu Fangzhou.

"In May of the tenth year of the Calamity, Yue Haiying, second-company commander of the First Main Combat Regiment of Hui-3, was discharged due to disability, and moved into Territory Fifteen with forty-two wounded veterans, nineteen of them severely wounded. Within half a year of moving in, twelve of the severely wounded died. In mid-December of the tenth year of the Calamity, the seven surviving severely wounded all disappeared at the same time. This is the personnel list…"

Qu Fangzhou continued her analysis. "Based on today's intelligence, we can confirm that these seven surviving severely wounded were transferred into the Number Fifty Mountain hot spring valley. Among them, the ordinary person Zhang Wenshe was healed and stayed in the valley to raise crabs; the tri-system Evolver Zhang Hongda and the dual-system Evolver Ye Yang left the valley and returned to Territory Fifteen. The three are still in the treatment stage, and one person's situation is unknown."

Deputy group leader Li Yanuo agreed with Qu Fangzhou's analysis. "At the time, Professor Fu Tianfeng was under surveillance by Hui-1 officials, so he needed combat power to help guard the valley. The retired personnel from Territory Fifteen, who needed his help, were the best candidates available to him."

After analyzing this decision, Li Yanuo began to analyze the significance of the hot spring valley to Professor Fu Tianfeng. "Analysis of Professor Fu Tianfeng's behavioral patterns shows that when he invests resources, he combines pragmatism with a certain long-term strategic vision. Healing the severely wounded and entrusting them with guarding the valley fits his 'investment-control' behavioral logic; and arranging the healed to do aquaculture shows he is attempting to build a sustainable internal supply system, which further confirms the strategic value the hot spring valley holds for him."

After a brief pause, Li Yanuo turned her gaze to Qu Fangzhou. "Based on the above analysis, I believe the intelligence foundation is solid enough."

What this meant was: Group leader, you may begin deploying the next specific investigation tasks.

Qu Fangzhou nodded and began assigning tasks. "Contact the Eighth Intelligence Group—we need to obtain more information about the valley. Contact the mole in the Hui-3 outer-city hospital and have her return to the Northern Area One territory together with the Number Twenty-Two Lord…"

After the assignments were given and the team members had left the conference room, Qu Fangzhou turned, poured two cups of distilled water, handed one to Li Yanuo, and asked gently, "Yanuo, do you think it is necessary to restart the investigation into Ye Shiyi?"