Chapter 123: Finding a Needle in a Haystack

When he struggled, a soldier realized with a start that he was completely unable to move freely; his hands and feet had already been pinned. What terrified him even more was that his limbs felt as if the pain had made them no longer belong to him. Even a slight, controlled movement of his arms or legs was entirely out of the question. Aside from an intensification of agony, it felt as though he had been reduced to nothing more than a head, a neck, and a torso.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm!" Realizing his predicament, the subdued soldier tried to cry out, but before the sound could even escape his throat, he received a heavy blow that pierced his soul with pain. The interrogator seemed highly experienced, not forgetting to clamp a hand firmly over his mouth as he delivered the strike, turning a string of anguished screams into muffled groans.

"My patience is limited. Answer my question, or else..." The assailant did not finish the sentence; instead, he slowly brought a gleaming, blood-stained military dagger closer to the captive's chest.

The soldier could see the tip of the dagger steadily approaching his skin. A creeping numbness spread across his chest, as if he were wearing no clothes at all. Then, watching the hand holding the blade apply slight pressure, he felt a faint sting in his chest as the dagger pierced his flesh, oozing a drop of blood.

Throughout this, with his mouth still firmly covered, the soldier could only respond to this slow yet effective threat with terrified struggles. Yet his consecutive, violent efforts proved completely useless against the captor's powerful grip.

"I will ask again: what kind of people are you, and what are you doing here?" A low voice echoed right beside his ear, though the soldier could catch no glimpse of any figure. All he could see was a ragged jungle-camo sleeve and a hand smeared with camouflage paint. "You should know that you aren't the only one from your group. If you don't talk, someone else will."

Jungle camo. This seemed even more menacing than the dagger itself. Three days ago, a total of ten squads—nearly sixty men—had been completely wiped out by just two guys wearing jungle camo. Later, when their positions were tracked via positioning system, it was discovered that the vast majority of them had either had their necks snapped or their hearts pierced by military daggers.

Was the owner of this jungle-camo hand one of those two? The soldier entertained this thought and suddenly found himself completely unable to maintain the hostage-response protocols taught by his instructors during training.

"I... I..." The hand covering his mouth relaxed just a fraction. The soldier managed to stammer out only two syllables before feeling a wave of utter collapse. People who showed unyielding loyalty and preferred death over surrender looked and sounded very simple in theory, but when it actually happened to oneself, one realized it was nothing of the sort.

Taking advantage of the slight looseness in the enemy's grip, Zhao Li pressed the attack while the iron was hot. "Who are you?"

"I'm a security guard from the Ninth Squad of the Red Spider Security Company on the fringe planet." Facing Zhao Li's threat, the soldier finally revealed his identity.

"Very well. What are you doing here?" The dagger pressing against the soldier's chest eased back slightly as Zhao Li continued his interrogation, his mind spinning frantically. Security guards? Why would they appear here?

"I don't know! Just following orders!" The soldier probably spoke the truth; sweat poured from his brow as he answered. "It seemed like we were escorting something, but I don't know the specifics. I'm not lying to you, I really don't know!"

"Then what are you hunting?" Zhao Li threw out another question, firing them off one after another to prevent the captive from having any time to think.

"I don't know! It seemed to be... a monster!" At the mention of the monster, even though the soldier could not control his limbs, his body still gave a twitch, as if gripped by sheer terror. His answer immediately reminded Zhao Li of the creature he and Sanders had killed not long ago.

Damn it, Zhao Li desperately wanted to slap himself. No matter how he tried to hide and dodge, he still couldn't avoid it and had run right into it head-on. But since they had already crossed paths, Zhao Li felt no fear. They had already taken down one; at worst, they would just kill another.

"What is the disabling virus?" This was what Zhao Li wanted to know most.

"I don't know." To every subsequent question, the guard pleaded total ignorance, leaving Zhao Li so infuriated he wanted to curse out loud.

"Move, fast! We've been spotted." Sanders's hurried voice came from behind. He materialized soundlessly behind Zhao Li, instantly breaking him out in a cold sweat.

"What about him? We can't just..." Zhao Li started to ask without turning around. But before he could finish, Sanders grabbed the hand with which Zhao Li held the dagger and forcefully drove the blade straight into the guard's chest. There was no need to finish the sentence anymore; nothing else carried any meaning.

Pulling out the dagger, Zhao Li bolted after Sanders. Things had reached this point; there was no way to let the guard live. Even if he wanted to reprimand Sanders, that was a matter for after they reached safety. There was no sense in getting distracted during combat.

"They are some kind of Red Spider security!" In a relatively safe location, Sanders began exchanging intelligence with Zhao Li. "Damn it, why would a security company have that kind of missile? You've got to be kidding me! Did you get anything else on your end?"

"There's definitely something wrong. But we can only investigate after we get back." Zhao Li knew no more than Sanders. All in all, this sequence of events was extremely bizarre, yet without any immediate clues. The most suspicious thing of all was that monster. "What on earth are we here for?"

"To look for a life-saving miraculous medicine, what else could it be?" Sanders replied with a huffy tone. "I used up my share on you and your lover last time, so you damn well better leave me some capital!"

Mysterious sand grains? Zhao Li instantly perked up. "Here?"

"Of course. Why else do you think I'd come back to this bird-forsaken fringe planet?" Sanders replied, casting a vigilant eye around their surroundings with a slightly disgruntled expression.

"Didn't you have some to begin with? Why come back?" Zhao Li failed to follow Sanders's logic. Since he already had five grains on him, why return to this wretched place?

"I wanted to see if I could find the source." This time Sanders answered quite honestly, without any detectable flaws.

Zhao Li lowered his head and fell silent. Everyone harbored greed; having five grains and wanting even more was only human nature, so he couldn't judge Sanders's character solely on that.

"Is getting locked up for this really worth it?" After a long silence, Zhao Li asked another question. The moment it left his lips, he felt it was inappropriate. Having spent so much time with the old fox Kang Hongyuan, his mindset seemed to be drifting toward the dark side; his very first thought was that once he mastered this secret, the first person he should eliminate would be Sanders. Strictly speaking, Sanders wasn't afraid of the secret leaking—he was just trying to save his own skin.

"Whether it's worth it or not, things have already reached this point. What else is there to say?" Sanders saw the look in Zhao Li's eyes and knew he had figured it out, offering a nonchalant reply.

"Besides, you're on the same pirate ship now. If things go badly for me, you won't have an easy time either." Looking at Zhao Li, Sanders could not resist reminding him.

Upon figuring out Sanders's motives, Zhao Li was mentally prepared. This fellow had purely dragged him down into the muddy waters; it was hardly out of the goodness of his heart for rescuing him from prison. Of course, part of it might have been out of camaraderie, otherwise, Sanders wouldn't have pulled out that substance to save Li Mengdie's life.

As for what benefits dragging him down might bring—perhaps to leave himself a fallback option, who knew? But regardless of anything else, Sanders had saved Li Mengdie's life; that was a fact that could not be erased. No matter what, Zhao Li had to acknowledge this favor.

"Is that stuff right here?" Far from showing the violent rage Sanders had anticipated, Zhao Li appeared completely calm, which surprised Sanders somewhat.

"Right within this area. But as for its exact location, we'll need to search carefully." Sanders first answered Zhao Li's question, then added with a smirk, "Kid, you've gotten formidable over the past two years. That little fellow who used to pick fights with me over a single sentence seems to have vanished."

"People change," Zhao Li brushed it off casually, then looked around and frowned. "With an area this big, finding a few grains of sand is way too hard! Are there any obvious characteristics?"

"When I found them back then, I was severely injured and saw a badly wounded animal licking sand grains from a small pit. It ate with extreme caution, swallowing only a single grain, and recovered almost instantly." Sanders recalled his experience. "After the animal left, I found six grains in that small pit. I ate one myself and kept five."

"As for distinguishing features? None!" After a moment of recollection, Sanders gave a definitive answer. "You've seen the stuff yourself. It's utterly ordinary, completely indistinguishable from the outside."

"Are you sure it's definitely here?" Zhao Li only asked out of routine. Since Sanders was confident enough to drag him along, he must have had sufficient certainty, making the question somewhat redundant.

"To be precise, I don't know." Sanders seemed intent on testing Zhao Li's temper and gave a thoroughly irresponsible answer.

"Then why did you drag me here?" Zhao Li finally lost his cool. Without any identifying characteristics, in an area this massive, amid rotting branches, tangled vines, bushes, and weeds, searching for a few peculiar grains of sand was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack. Most importantly, they couldn't even be certain if the stuff was still here.

"Searching alone is boring." The unprincipled fellow's reply instantly made Zhao Li's blood boil. "Do you realize I'm a military commander here, leading a force of two hundred men!"

"Exaggeration, pure exaggeration!" Sanders completely ignored Zhao Li's attitude. "A hundred and eighty-some men, not two hundred. As a military commander, you should know the importance of accurate military statistics, don't exaggerate!" Since he was already here anyway, no matter how furious Zhao Li was, he had no choice but to search alongside him.

There was still an unidentifiable monster prowling around, a group of inexplicable security guards as enemies, and warships hovering above ready to strike the moment they revealed themselves. Under such circumstances, hunting for nearly impossible-to-find objects of uncertain existence was something Zhao Li could never have imagined before setting out.

Fortunately, he had taken precautions earlier and had "practiced" with Li Mengdie once, absorbing all the unrefinable true qi from his meridians. Otherwise, encountering enemies this time would have left him without even the strength to resist. Apart from fighting along the way, Zhao Li spent every spare moment practicing the foundational body-conditioning techniques. Thankfully, actual combat had been sparse, and he could still manage.

Searching meticulously? This was unquestionably the stupidest method possible. "Sanders, what kind of animal was it that you saw injured back then?" Zhao Li turned and asked.

"A deer!" Sanders replied promptly. "Though you needn't bother thinking about it; I tried tracking several deer later on, and found nothing!"

It seemed that encounter was merely the stroke of luck belonging to that one specific deer, and not something known to every animal. Just like that, even the most promising lead was blocked off.

This truly left them with no options left. Judging by Sanders's expression, he wasn't lying; dragging Zhao Li along likely stemmed from a desire to utilize his abilities or his luck. Unfortunately, it seemed Zhao Li had been plagued by bad luck the entire journey, constantly hunted down or running into bizarre occurrences, entirely devoid of good fortune.

Gunshots continued to ring out, though they had thinned out considerably. It was safe to assume those fellows were running low on ammunition. Sure enough, a short while later, the gunfire died down completely and did not resume for a long time.

"How should we handle those guys?" Zhao Li glanced at Sanders, trying to gauge his intent. But catching the gleam of light in Sanders's eyes, he shook his head. "Never mind, pretend I didn't ask."

That murderous intent was exposed so nakedly; Sanders was likely projecting his frustration over failing to find the sand grains onto those people. Those guys were truly pitiful. It turned out Zhao Li wasn't the unlucky one—those security guards were the ones whose luck had run out.

The aerial drone appeared in the sky once more. This time, hovering above a specific coordinate, Zhao Li and Sanders could see with the naked eye a group of people climbing up the rope ladder dropped by the drone. Shortly after, the craft vanished from sight once again.

Leaving was for the best, at least sparing them the fate of the previous batch. Zhao Li had zero doubt about Sanders's murderous intentions. He only wondered how things had turned out for that tracking monster.

With the disruptions gone, they could search boldly and freely. After turning a couple of bends, Zhao Li spotted an unusual trail of blood.

"Sanders, come take a look." Zhao Li waved Sanders over and pointed at the blood streaks. The stains were strange—very long and thin, as if whipped out at high velocity. Following the direction of the blood trail, they searched a dozen meters forward and found another trace.

Meanwhile, aboard the aerial drone in the sky, the commander was fuming. "Didn't you say our drone could evade the military's scans? How did we get locked onto?"

"The positioning signal was too weak, so we had to emit an active scanning signal to boost it. There was no other way," replied the same lab-coat-wearing man from earlier, who apparently served as the technical officer aboard the drone.

"Damn it, locked on the moment we got a precise fix. Evade first; we'll come back after the military's lock-on expires." With no other choice, the commander issued the order. "Everyone, pack your gear and replenish supplies. We cannot afford a repeat of last time."